Writing

Using the Active Voice

In scholarly writing, the scholar often disappears behind the words.

Funding Your Dissertation

Whether you’re looking for a few extra dollars to fund research or a larger fellowship that will pay for a year or two of focused work on your dissertation, a research grant can be just the ticket for finishing your dissertation and launching your

Using Commas Correctly: Punctuating with Confidence

Correct comma usage is an art, not a science. Writers will sometimes disagree on when to use a comma or omit one; to help you as you write, here are a few general rules for using commas.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The general rule of thumb for conjugating verbs is that if there's one person, place, or thing as the subject (not just one noun), then the verb is conjugated in the singular. If there are multiple people, places, or things, then the verb is conjugated in the plural. In other words, the verb and subject agree in number.

Attributing Words and Ideas in Your Work

As a graduate student, you engage with diverse ideas and academic work. Writing papers for your seminars and later your thesis and dissertation require you to account for other voices while establishing your own academic voice.

Resources for Writing a Thesis or Dissertation

Developing Quality Dissertations: A Graduate Student’s Guide to Achieving Excellence

Barbara Lovitts and Ellen Wert

Dissertation Support Groups for PH.D. Students

Finishing your dissertation? You don’t have to go it alone.

The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition

By William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Longman/Prentice Hall

Twenty Steps to Writing a Research Article

Article reproduced with permission from Beth A. Fischer and Michael J. Zigmond, Survival Skills and Ethics Program, University of Pittsburgh

Academic Writing for Graduate Students

(2nd edition, 2004) Michigan Series in English for Academic & Professional Purposes
John M. Swales & Christine B. Feak