Carpenter Document Consulting

As the word processor of choice, Microsoft Word is used across academic disciplines and industries to develop a range of documentation. If you work in Word regularly, you probably use its Spelling and Grammar tool to correct any errors. Although this tool can catch obvious typos and misspellings, it has its limitations. For instance, Word cannot distinguish between commonly confused words, like “it’s” versus “its” or “their” versus “there.” Moreover, the Spelling and Grammar tool does not catch omissions of letters that create unintended words and, ultimately, alter meaning. So, if you miss a keystroke, your “friend” can become a “fiend,” and Word won’t catch it.

Despite these limitations, Word’s Grammar tool offers some unique features that can be customized based on your style guidelines. Here are some quick tips for taking advantage of these features:

• On the toolbar, select Tools > Options.
• Select the Spelling & Grammar tab.
• Under Grammar, select Grammar & Style as the writing style, and select Settings.

Here, you can adjust the settings based on your needs. You can ask Word to check for the serial comma, you can choose whether you want punctuation inside or outside quotation marks, and you can indicate how many spaces there should be between sentences. Plus, you can select specific grammar rules that you want Word to check. Once you’ve identified your standards, Word’s Grammar tool with indicate deviations from these standards with that all-too-familiar green underline.

Use Word’s features to your advantage, and you can produce a cleaner copy of your document. Even though you can’t rely on Word as your only resource, you can maximize its capabilities with these tips.

The graduate students we work with almost always ask us to check APA style in their theses and dissertations. One of the biggest causes for confusion is APA headings, which, until now, varied based on the number of heading levels used in a document. However, the sixth edition of the APA manual has standardized the heading guidelines, which is a relief to editors and students alike.

Learn more about these new guidelines: Five Essential Tips for APA Style Headings.

After researching, outlining, and writing, your paper is finally finished. The only thing preventing you from clicking “Send” is that pesky Works Cited page. Where do you begin?

In today’s digital age, access to a wealth of style information is just a click away. Rather than flipping through cumbersome style guides, you can now type in a query and find an answer in seconds. Check out these websites to save time and improve your style:

Learning APA Style gives you access to tutorials on a variety of topics, ranging from the basics of APA style to the latest edition’s updates. Don’t forget to check out the APA Style Blog, which offers excellent input from APA experts.

If you are in the journalism/communications field, stop by the AP Style Book site. An annual subscription provides you with online access to all things AP style, complete with a helpful search tool.

As we mentioned in an earlier blog post, the Chicago Manual of Style includes a thorough Q&A section that is searchable. Best of all, it’s free! With an annual subscription, you can search the full manual online.

With all of these tools just a click away, you can polish your paper with proper style in no time.