If you're writing at a university or on an education beat, chances are great that you'll reference academic degrees. The Associated Press Stylebook provides specific rules to negate questions about how to reference academic degrees in your writing. According to the Stylebook: Avoid abbreviations like M.A. or Ph.D. when writing academic … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Using Abbreviations in Your Writing
Abbreviations are tricky because you don't want your writing to look like alphabet soup, but you also don't want to insult or confuse your reader by spelling out things that commonly are known by their abbreviated titles. In general, you should avoid abbreviations on first reference unless you're certain the majority of your readership would … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Using A or An
It's just a single letter, but the differences regarding when to use a or an can be confusing. Most of us learned to use an before words that start with vowels and use a everywhere else. For example, She ate an apple. I want a prize. Honestly, this is a pretty good rule, and will serve you well most of the time. The problem arises when … [Read more...]