Common errors that will cost you marks on your reports
Never use the first person pronoun - I, we, you. Especially grievous
is using "I". Find another way to write the sentence.
Numbers greater than ten are written as numerals and less than 11 as words,
unless they start a sentence. And the general rule is don't start
a sentence with a number. Find another way to write the sentence.
REALLY IMPORTANT: Every idea or fact you borrow (unless it
is very widely known) must be referenced, otherwise you may be accused
of plagiarism even if you did not quote word for word in your essay.
When in doubt, reference. It's hard to have too many.
A parenthetical reference (one in parentheses at the end of a sentence;
this is MLA style) is part of the sentence and therefore the punctuation
comes after the "close bracket".
Do not use contractions (e.g., don't, won't, can't, etc.)
Watch the spelling/use of "its" and "it's". As per the above rule,
you should not be using contractions and "it's" is a contraction of "it
is". If you aren't sure, use this test: Read the sentence aloud and
if you can replace the "it's/its" with "it is", then do so; if you can't,
then use "its".
Never use short forms like "e.g." and "i.e.". "E.g." means "for example"
and "i.e." means "that is". And never ever use "etc."
Avoid run-on sentences. Keep sentences simple and short.
All "borrowed" maps, charts, graphs, etc. must be separately referenced
beneath the actual picture.
"Affect" is the verb; "effect" is the noun.
"However" is not a conjunction and cannot be used to join two sentences
together. Use "and" or "but" instead. Or make two sentences
and start the second one with "However, .....". (And note the comma
after "however".)
Always underline the title of a book or a magazine; put the title of an
article in a magazine in quotation marks.
And learn how to set up a Works Cited page. Click
here.