Always use a formal tone in your writing. This means avoiding conversational or casual language.
Active voice focuses on the actor and sounds clear and concise, while passive voice focuses on the action and sounds awkward.
Avoid passive voice: “The ball is thrown by Jane,” or “The cake is baked by Ben,” or “The paper was written by Avery.”
Use active voice: “Jane throws the ball,” and “Ben bakes the cake,” and “Avery wrote the paper.”
For example, “isn't” becomes “is not,” “can't” becomes “cannot,” and “would’ve” becomes “would have.”
Show your reader that you are a credible researcher. Evidence shows how you developed your claim and/or that other scholars agree with you.
Generally, use third-person writing. In other words, things and other people are doing things. “You” and “I” are not. For example:
YES: "The study from KSU states that..."
NO: "I read in a study that..." | "You see..."
Use conjunctive adverbs like “however,” “therefore,” “additionally,”
“furthermore”, etc. to transition between topics, paragraphs, and sections.
A quote within a quote uses apostrophes.
The author remembers, “I asked Bill if he wanted to go bowling. He said ‘I guess’ unexcitedly.”