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Doc Project Resources

These are resources for students completing doctoral projects.

Dr. Fass's Writing Tips

Dr. Fass’ Writing Tips

General Writing Advice

Your goal is to keep the reader’s eye moving. Poor or awkward grammar will make your reader stop reading or re-read something. Here are some tips to improve the flow of your writing:

  1. If you have to read a sentence more than one time to understand it, then rewrite it. Have someone else read your work. If that person has to read a sentence more than once, rewrite it.
  2. If a sentence is longer than 2-3 lines, then break it into at least two sentences.
  3. Each paragraph should have at least three sentences and should be no more than ½ page double spaced and should address only one idea/thought/concept.
  4. The actor in your sentence should never be the collective we, us, our, or you.
    1. If you need to replace these words, try words like people, the public, society, or mental health professionals.
    2. Wrong: We often accurately diagnose clients.
    3. Corrected: Mental health professionals often accurately diagnose clients.
  5. ALWAYS USE HEADINGS!!!  Make your headings consistent with the rubric for your assignment.
    1. Only put information relevant to the heading under each heading.
  6. Never write “in my opinion,” “I believe,” “I think,” or “it is important to note.”  If you are writing something, the reader can assume it is what you think/believe, and if you are including information in your paper, your reader can assume it is important (if it’s not important, leave it out).
  7. Turn on spell check and grammar check in Word. Something is spelled wrong if it is underlined in red. Something is grammatically problematic if it is underlined in blue. Right click on something that is underlined to see why Word thinks it is problematic.

Grammar

  1. Sometimes you will have a sentence that starts with a conditional clause followed by a comma. Divide the sentence into two sentences if the part before the comma is more than five words.
    1. These sentences often start with words like while or although.
    2. Example
      1. Wrong: Although children in other parts of the world score higher on X than Y, children in the United States score higher on Y than X.
      2. Corrected: Children in other parts of the world score higher on X than Y.  In contrast, children in the United States score higher on Y than X.
  2. For every sentence, identify the actor and the verb.  If the actor is missing, add the actor.  If the actor is there, make sure the actor comes before the verb.
    1. Actor before verb = active voice
      1. Ex. Smith (2018) conducted a study.
      2. Ex. Mary had a little lamb.
      3. Ex. Jack and Jill climbed up the hill.
    2. Actor after verb = passive voice
      1. Ex.  The study was conducted by Smith (2018).  OR  The study was conducted.
      2. Ex.  The little lamb was had by Mary.
      3. Ex.  The hill was climbed by Jack and Jill.
    3. Generally, AVOID PASSIVE VOICE!!!
  3. When you make a list, ensure that all items follow parallel form. You should be able to read the beginning of the sentence with each item in the list separately, and each should make sense.
    1. Wrong: The participants read the informed consent, a vignette, and responded to the questionnaire.
      1. This reads as:
        1. The participants read the informed consent.
        2. The participants read a vignette.
        3. The participants read responded to the questionnaire.
    2. Right: The participants read the informed consent and a vignette. Then, they responded to a questionnaire.
    3. Right: The participants read the informed consent, read a vignette, and responded to a questionnaire.
  4. Avoid anthropomorphism. This is when a writer attributes human characteristics/feelings/behaviors to a non-human thing.
    1. Wrong: The study asked participants…
    2. Right: Smith (2018) asked participants…
    3. Wrong: The study found…
    4. Right: Smith (2018) found…

Word Choices

  1. The word since suggests the passage of time.  Use because instead of since if you can substitute the word becausefor the word since and the sentence still makes sense. (All examples are correct)
    1. Ex. Since leaving the house, Joe got three phone calls.
    2. Ex. Joe got three phone calls since leaving the house.
    3. Ex. Because he didn’t follow the rules, Joe was terminated from the group.
    4. Ex.  Joe was terminated from the group because he didn’t follow the rules.
  2. The word while suggests the passage of time (that two things are happening at the same time).  The word althoughsuggests a contrast between two things.  Use although, and, or but if you can replace the word while with one of those words and the sentence still makes sense.
  3. Use the word who when referring to humans and the word that when referring to non-humans.
    1. Ex. The participants who were in the experimental group.
    2. Ex. The dogs that were in the experimental group.
  4. Don’t use the words feel and think interchangeably. The word feel refers to an emotional or tactile experience. The word think refers to a cognitive process.
  5. Only use the word and if you are referring to two things.  Don’t use and to break up one thing.
    1. Wrong: This study will investigate cognitive behavioral therapy and its effect on depression.
    2. Corrected: This study will investigate the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on depression.
  6. The word between should be followed by two things that you are comparing.
    1. Wrong: Smith (2018) evaluated the difference between type of offender and whether they reoffended.
    2. Corrected: Smith (2018) evaluated the difference between sex offenders and other types of offenders on whether they reoffended.
  7. Avoid using the word it.
    1. Wrong: It will benefit mental health clinicians to know how to distinguish between two diagnoses.
    2. Corrected: Mental health clinicians will benefit from knowing how to distinguish between two diagnoses.

Punctuation

  1. Use apostrophes correctly
    1. Singular: Participant (there was one participant)
    2. Plural: Participants (there were two participants)
    3. Singular possessive: Participant’s (the participant’s response)
    4. Plural possessive: Participants’ (the participants’ responses)
    5. Singular possessive ending in ss: Dr. Fass’ house
    6. Plural possessive ending in ss: The Fasses’ house
  2. Use a comma before and or but when the rest of the sentence would be a full sentence on its own. Don’t use a comma when the rest of the sentence would not be a full sentence on its own.
    1. Wrong: Smith (2018) sought to determine whether the treatment was effective for people with depression, and found that it was.
      1. This breaks up to: Smith (2018) sought to determine whether the treatment was effective for people with depression. Found that it was.
    2. Right: Smith (2018) sought to determine whether the treatment was effective for people with depression and found that it was.
    3. Right: Smith (2018) sought to determine whether the treatment was effective for people with depression, and she found that it was.
    4. Wrong: Jones (2020) surveyed people in Massachusetts about their experiences wearing masks, but didn’t ask whether they caught COVID.
    5. Right: Jones (2020) surveyed people in Massachusetts about their experiences wearing masks, but he didn’t ask whether they caught COVID.

Formatting

  1. Insert a page break instead of pressing enter/return multiple times to get to a new page.
    1. Also, use the “center” function instead of pressing tab or space bar many times to get to the center.