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Author: Martin Guzi (2023)
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Mechanics of Academic Style

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Spelling of plural forms
The plural forms of some words of Latin or Greek origin can be troublesome
Singular:
Appendix
Criterion
Curriculum
Datum
Hypothesis
Phenomenon
̶Correct:    The data indicate
̶Incorrect: The data indicates
̶
̶“data base” has become “database,” and “e-mail” has become “email”
Plural:
Appendices
Criteria
Curricula
Data
Hypotheses
Phenomena

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Capitalization
Capitalize
1.The first word in a complete sentence
2.Names of racial and ethnic groups (“We interviewed 25 Black women”)
3.Nouns Followed by Numerals or Letters (Figure 2.4, Chapter 5)
4.Job Titles and Positions when the title precedes a name
“Executive Director of Marketing Carolina Espinoza….”
Do not capitalize
1.A personal name that begins with a lowercase letter when the name begins a sentence;
alternatively, reword the sentence
“… after the test. van de Vijver et al. (2019) concluded …”
2.Statistical terms (t-test, p-value)
3.A proper noun that begins with a lowercase (iPad, eBay)
4.

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Use of italics
̶Do not use italics for quotations.
̶Use italics
•for words in other languages (the first use of a word)
•for titles of works (book titles, journal names, films, poems)
•to provide emphasis
Ex: The word very is often unnecessarily added to academic writing.
•for scientific and technical terms (names such as Homo sapiens)
•for key terms/phrases
•In the reference list, journal and book titles use italics:
Borjas, G. J. (1995). The Economic Benefits from Immigration. The Journal of Economic Perspectives,
9(2), 3–22.
̶
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/italics-quotations/italics

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Use of Abbreviations
̶Use abbreviations to save space and avoid repetition
̶If you use the abbreviation only one or two times, readers may have difficulty remembering what it
means (better do not abbreviate).
̶There is no limit for the use of abbreviations but do not overuse
̶Text is generally easier to understand when most words are written
̶Define all abbreviations used in all tables and all figures
Compare sentences written with and without abbreviations:
̶“The advantage of the LH was clear from the RT data,
which reflected high FP and FN rates for the RH.”
̶“The advantage of the left hand was clear from the reaction time data, which reflected high
false-positive and false-negative rates for the right hand.”

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Latin Abbreviations
̶Avoid e.g. and i.e., instead use for example and for instance.
̶Avoid etc. (and so forth)
̶Avoid vs or v, instead use versus or against
̶abbreviation “et al.” is a short form of et alia (and others)
It is acceptable when giving in text citations with multiple authors. The full stop should always
be included afterwards to acknowledge the abbreviation. It does not need to be italicised as it is
in common usage.
̶
̶Vis-à-vis is from French and its meaning is “face-to-face”
It is used to compare things, or as synonym for “opposite” or “facing.”
Ex: Upgrading immigrant integration policies reduces the gap in unemployment and thus improves
immigrants’ labor market position vis-à-vis the natives.

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Use Numbers expressed in Numerals
̶Numbers higher than nine can be written in numerals
̶Numbers that represent statistics, percentages, ratios, percentiles
Ex: In January 2022, car production fell by 11.4% to 92,657 vehicles.
̶Time, dates, ages, scores and points on a scale, exact sums of money
Ex: Monday 6 March, 2023, was 2 years old, scored 4 on a 7-point scale,
3 years ago, GDP per capita US$15,027, price increased by $5.
̶Number after a noun vs. Number before a noun
Ex: Table 2, Column 8, but the second table, the eighth column
̶Use commas between groups of three digits in most figures of 1,000 or more
Ex: $200,000 but “about two hundred thousand dollars”
̶Most data can be effectively presented with two decimal digits of accuracy
̶

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Use Numbers Expressed in Words
̶Numbers zero through nine should be written in words
̶Ordinal numbers less than 10th (e.g., fourth, second)
Exceptions for number usage:
̶Any number that begins a sentence, title, or heading (or reword the sentence)
Ex: Twelve students improved, and 12 students did not improve.
̶Common fractions, Ex: Three fourths of the population…
̶Common phrases, Ex: Seven Wonders of the World, Twelve
̶It is acceptable to use either numerals or words depending on the context
Ex: a thousand people or 1,000 people
̶Vague numbers, and less precise large numbers
Ex: half of the population, several thousand, around eight o’clock
̶Rounded numbers, Ex: four hundred, two thousand, six million.
̶
̶

 “The year 1066 saw one of the most famous battles in English history.”

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̶Out of 18 students in the group, 12 were women.
̶One in three engineering students is from China.
̶Twice as many women as men study business law.
̶There was a fivefold increase in the price of oil.
̶The rate of infection halved after 2001.
̶The unemployment rate doubled after 2008.
̶A fifth of all employees leave every year.
̶More than 80 per cent of British students complete their first degree course; in Italy, the figure
is just 35 per cent.
̶The course fees rose from $1,200 to $2,500 in two years.
̶Since 2008, the number of prisoners has risen by 22 per cent.
̶

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References and Quotations (APA 7th ed.)
Wikipedian Protester




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Why use references?
Reasons for providing references and citations:
1.To show that you have read some works of experts on the subject,
which will give added weight (and quality) to your writing.
2.To allow readers to find the source, if they wish to examine the topic further
3.To avoid plagiarism.
Decide if you need to give a reference in the following cases.
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No

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Basic principles
̶Cite only works that you have read
̶Cite primary sources when possible
̶All sources that are cited in the text must appear in the references at the end of the paper
̶Ensure the spelling of author names
̶Avoid using online sources that cannot be retrieved
̶If an idea or theory is in a textbook and does not carry a specific citation there, then you
probably do not need to cite anyone.
̶BUT empirical work is nearly always specific and must be cited.
̶If in doubt – cite it!
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In-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative
̶Friedman (1991) pointed out that inflation is effectively
a kind of taxation.
̶It could be also said that that inflation is effectively
a kind of taxation (Friedman, 1991).
̶
̶Friedman (1991) pointed out that ”inflation is the one form of taxation
that can be imposed without legislation” (p. 93).
̶It could be also said that “inflation is the one form of taxation
that can be imposed without legislation” (Friedman, 1991, p. 93).
̶
̶
References
     Friedman, M. (1991). Monetarist Economics. Basil Blackwell.
̶
̶
narrative citation
parenthetical citation
with a page number because of a direct quotation
parenthetical citation

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SOURCE: American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
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Six Steps to Proper Citation
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Use of quotation
̶When you use the work of others as primary data
̶When you want to appeal to their authority
̶When the original is more concise than your summary could be
̶To avoid any ambiguity or misrepresentation of source material
̶When the original version is well known
̶You dispute your source and you want to state her case fairly
̶The words of the source are especially vivid or significant

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Direct quoting from a work
̶Short quotations appear in double quotation marks
̶Long quotations (40+ words) appear in the block quotation format
̶Include the author, year of publication, and page number
̶Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for more pages) before listing the page
number(s). Use en dash for page ranges.
̶For example: (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201)
̶
̶Do not use italics for quotations.
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According to Jones (1998), "students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was
their first time" (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using
APA style" (p. 199).
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not
offer an explanation as to why.
Mindfulness is defined as "the act of noticing new things, a process that promotes flexible
responding to the demands of the environment" (Pagnini et al., 2016, p.91).

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Place long quotations (40+ words) in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation
marks.
Long quotation
Short quotation
Text highlighting

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Definujte zápatí - název prezentace / pracoviště


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Paraphrasing Sources
Paraphrase as much as possible, rather than quote
̶when you are more interested in content, findings or claims
̶to summarize or acknowledge another author’s ideas
̶when you want to explain difficult material in a way which is easier for your reader to understand
̶
̶You cannot write a paper out of a series of quotations. You must make your own arguments with your
own claims and evidence
̶

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Definujte zápatí - název prezentace / pracoviště
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Paraphrase citations
̶Include the author and date in every in-text citation
̶In parenthetical citations (Author, year) there is a comma between the author and year
̶In narrative citations Author (year), there is the date in parentheses after the author
̶For a work with three or more authors include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in
every citation. Ex: (Author et al., year)
̶All works in the reference list need to be cited in the text
̶Avoid undercitation = it can lead to plagiarism
̶Avoid overcitation = for longer paraphrases use one citation when introducing the idea and not
repeated the citation
https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/in-text-citation-checklist.pdf

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Basic In-Text Citation Styles
Author
Parenthetical citation
Narrative citation
One author
(Luna, 2020)
Luna (2020)
One author with a quote
(Luna, 2020, p. 37)
Luna (2020) (p. 37)
Two authors
(Salas & D’Agostino, 2020)
Salas and D’Agostino (2020)
Three or more authors
(Martin et al., 2020)
Martin et al. (2020)
Group of authors
(OECD, 2020)
OECD (2020)
•In parenthetical citations, use an ampersand (&) between names
(Salas & D’Agostino, 2020)
•In narrative citations, spell out the word “and”
Salas and D’Agostino (2020)
•Works with the same author and same date
(Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012a)
(Judge and Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012b)
•If multiple authors within a single reference share the same surname
(Chen & Chen, 2019)

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Parenthetical citation
̶Include citation in the sentence = put the period after the closing parenthesis
Many Americans fail to vote (Hobolt et al., 2006).
̶When citing multiple works in parenthesis, place the citations in alphabetical order, and separate
them with semicolons.
… (Hobolt et al., 2006; Westinghouse, 2017).
̶Multiple sources in narrative citation can appear in any order
Suliman (2018), Gutiérrez (2012), and Medina and Reyes (2019) examined…
̶Arrange works by the same authors by year of publication
(Carraway et al., 2013, 2014, 2019)
̶You can cite specific parts of a source
(Armstrong, 2015, pp. 3–17), (Kovačič & Horvat, 2019, Table 1)

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For decades, organizational stress researchers have focused on how work in general and job
stressors in particular affect workers’ well-being, health, and performance behaviors (Bliese et
al. 2017).
Bliese et al. (2017) noted that “mobile devices enabled employees in many jobs to work ‘anywhere,
anytime’ and stay electronically tethered to work outside formal working hours” (p. 391).
Reference
Bliese, P. D., Edwards, J. R., & Sonnentag, S. (2017). Stress and well-being at work:
A century of empirical trends reflecting theoretical and societal influences. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 102(3), 389–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000109

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References (Bibliography)
̶List of references is placed at the end of a work.
̶Each entry provides the author, date, title, and source of the work.
̶The reference allows readers to identify and retrieve the source.
̶Sources are listed in alphabetical order by the author last name.
̶You should have a reference entry for every source you cite.
̶

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Organizing the list of references
̶Use a citation manager like Zotero or Citace PRO to organize your research and to easily create a
bibliography
̶Always check the reference list for mistakes
̶Use the most recent 7th APA style
•

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References
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton University Press.
Foltýnek, T., Mach, J., Kozmanová, I., Holeček, T., Vorlová, H., Henek Dlabolová, D., Vorel, F.,
Válová, A., Tesaříková Čermáková, K., & Gojná, Z. (2021). How to Avoid Plagiarism: Student
Handbook. Karolinum - Charles University Press.
Giovannetti, G., & Lanati, M. (2016). Migration and Development. A focus on Africa. In Routledge
Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies. Edited by Anna Triandafyllidou (pp. 236–242).
Routledge.
OECD. (1992). The Employment Outlook. OECD.
Stark, O., & Bloom, D. (1985). The New Economics of Labor Migration. The American Economic Review,
75(2), 173–178.
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples
Notice differences:
Book with one author
Book with many authors
Book chapter
OECD report
Journal arcticle

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Source: American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
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