50 Adverbs to avoid in academic writing

July 2, 2013

Most academic writing is strengthened by eliminating adverbs. To emphasize a point, provide more evidence to support it. Avoid unnecessary words and in particular, adverbs. Instead, choose more precise verbs.

An adverb modifies or describes:

  • A verb (e.g. He runs quickly.)
  • An adjective (e.g. His writing is extraordinarily descriptive.)
  • Another adverb (e.g. He runs extraordinarily quickly.)

Often, but not always, adverbs in English end in –ly. Here are 50 adverbs that I have seen in academic papers that you can eliminate and your writing will be better for it:

  1. Adroitly
  2. Amazingly
  3. Awesomely
  4. Badly
  5. Basically
  6. Carefully
  7. Clearly
  8. Completely
  9. Convincingly
  10. Deftly
  11. Desperately
  12. Dexterously
  13. Effortlessly
  14. Extremely
  15. Faithfully
  16. Fundamentally
  17. Generally
  18. Goodly
  19. Honestly
  20. Inherently
  21. Instantly
  22. Interestingly
  23. Narrowly
  24. Naturally
  25. Nearly
  26. Necessarily
  27. Obviously
  28. Precisely
  29. Previously
  30. Preposterously
  31. Quite
  32. Really
  33. Relentlessly
  34. Simply
  35. Spectacularly
  36. Successfully
  37. Suddenly
  38. Surely
  39. Truthfully
  40. Ubiquitously
  41. Unequivocally
  42. Ungodly
  43. Unnecessarily
  44. Unquestionably
  45. Utterly
  46. Unwittingly
  47. Usually
  48. Very
  49. Widely
  50. Zealously

Often, when writers make a conscious choice to eliminate adverbs and instead find stronger and more precise verbs, the result is writing that is clearer and more powerful.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Why “as cited in” should be avoided in academic writing

May 21, 2013

For my graduate students… and other readers:

When you are referencing others’ work in our course, whether it is on the discussion board, in your presentation or in your final paper, I urge you to find the primary sources for your citations.

I will be upfront about this and say that I am not at all a fan of citing a work that someone else has cited. Please find the original reference yourself and cite that instead.

The reason for this is three-fold:

  1. You want to be sure that the “original” author actually exists. As heinous as it may seem, people have been known to fabricate references.
  2. More common is that a researcher will mis-quote an author or take someone’s work out of context. By going back to the original source, you have the opportunity to verify for yourself what the original author was trying to say.
  3. “As cited in…” can be an indicator of either a lazy or disinterested scholar who does not care enough to find and cite original authors. I do not think this is the case with anyone in our course, but it is not uncommon for other scholars to dismiss the credibility of a researcher who does not take the time to find primary sources.

Earlier this year, I conducted an informal in-class experiment with a Master’s level class at the U of C. I challenged them to find the original version of Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”. To their surprise, they found that the pyramid that has become an iconic representation of Maslow’s hierarchy is nowhere to be found in his original work. (You can read about it here: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Is the pyramid a hoax?  http://wp.me/pNAh3-1rU)

I tell my students, “My point to you is this: Please cite only primary sources in our course. Avoid using ‘as cited in…’ or similar strategies. If you can’t find an original source, don’t cite it.”

The only exception to this would be original works of extreme rarity which are almost impossible to source without physically visiting historical archives.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

10 Great writing resources for grad students

April 23, 2013

Sarah Eaton blog technology researchAfter teaching “Writing Educational Research” for Master’s of Education students at the University of Calgary a number of times now, I’ve come up with a list of my top 10 favorite, free online resources for grad students, emerging scholars and educational professionals:

Basics of APA Style (Tutorial) – The tutorial is “chunked out” into 23 sections, each less than 1 minute long. In total, the tutorial is about 21 minutes long. It is highly practical and full of “how to” information.

Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) – One of the best online resources for APA style for students and faculty. The APA Formatting and Style Guide is particularly helpful.

APA Quick Reference Guide – Produced by the University of North Carolina School of Social Work, this quick reference guide highlights the most important points of the APA manual for students.

Academic Writing and Publishing by James Hartley – This comprehensive 209-page resource book is available free of charge to students in .pdf format. It is a must-have for grad students.

Worksheets for academic writers by Wendy Belcher – Designed to accompany Belcher’s text, Writing Your Journal Article in 12-weeks, these worksheets help writers plan and organize their writing projects.

Advice on Academic Writing from the University of Toronto -This site offers academic writers advice on topics such as planning, organizing, using sources, style, editing and more.

Outlining and Organizing Your Writing from the University of Maryland – This site has links to a number of different resources designed to help students learn how to outline and organize their writing projects.

English Grammar Handbook from the University of Athabasca – This free online e-book addresses many grammar concepts that academic writers need to know such as sentence and paragraph structure and how to avoid misusing common words in academic writing.

Graduate Writing Checklist from John Hopkins University – This handy checklist is designed specifically for graduate students to review before they hand in their papers.

Academic Writing Checklist from the University of Warwick – This checklist is more reflective in nature, challenging emerging scholars to engage in a metacognitive process about their own writing.

Academic writing takes practice and time to learn and with these free online resources to help you, it will be even easier.

Related posts:

12 Phrases to Avoid in Your Academic Research Papers http://wp.me/pNAh3-1JX

Active vs. passive voice — How to tell the difference http://wp.me/pNAh3-1HX

Why APA formatting matters http://wp.me/pNAh3-1Hc

How many sources do you need in a literature review?  http://wp.me/pNAh3-1Hu

What’s the difference between a citation and a reference? http://wp.me/pNAh3-1F9

Why “as cited in” should be avoided in academic writing  http://wp.me/pNAh3-1BH

_______________________

If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Share or Tweet this: 10 Great writing resources for grad students – http://wp.me/pNAh3-1Bc

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on 10 Great writing resources for grad students | education, research | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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