Category Archives: General Writing Tips

Writing by the fire

Don’t Let the Holidays Halt Your Momentum! Tips for Staying Productive Throughout the Festive Period

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The holidays can be both a wonderful and stressful time. Between preparing food, reconnecting with family, seeing friends, and buying gifts—not to mention the fact that everyone else is “out of the office”—it can be hard to find time to stick to your writing schedule and get work done. It’s important to be flexible with your writing schedule during the holidays, but that doesn’t mean that you have to set aside all of your work and wait for the new year to roll around. Below are some tips to keep you productive throughout the holiday period while still enjoying the festivities.

Protect Your Time

It’s important to remember that during the holidays you are likely to have less time to write. Things may get in the way, plans may change, and you might have to allocate some of your time to family and friends. Thus, it’s important to protect the free time that you do have. Think about points in your day during which you can carve out time—whether it’s a couple of hours or 30 minutes. It might be when you first wake up, after everyone else has gone to bed, or in between parties. Block that time out for yourself and protect it at all costs. Let people close to you know that this time is important, and make sure they understand why. That way, you won’t feel stressed about other things taking time away from your work.

Put in Place a Serious Schedule

If you struggle to use the free time you have for writing and find yourself waylaid by other tasks, it might help you to put a schedule in place ahead of time. Consider what time of the day you are usually the most productive (or what time of day you are claiming for your own—see the point above), how much time you have, and your ability to access a quiet and productive workspace. Then, sketch out a rough plan of what you will do during this time each day. Dedicating yourself to this schedule and putting your writing above other tasks will help you stay productive and on track, while still giving you time and space to do the million other things that need to be done during the holiday season.

Be Flexible and Forgiving

While the above points are important, it’s also vital to remember that life happens and sometimes other things may get in the way of writing, despite your best efforts. Being flexible and forgiving with yourself and your time is an important way to reduce stress and achieve a balance between work and fun. Maybe you’ve been invited to a family lunch during your scheduled writing hour, and have to choose between sticking to your writing plan or spending time with family you haven’t seen in a while. Sometimes it’s important to listen to yourself and follow your heart. Writing is important, but it might not be as important as family and friends. Plus, spending time with others can often give you a much-needed inspiration boost, or clear your head so that you’re more productive in the long run.

Engage in Writing in Other Ways

Even if you aren’t writing, there are other ways you can engage in your work or field. Whether it’s reading books or journals, revisiting an old draft, or catching up with what colleagues are working on, it’s possible to further your academic pursuits without actively writing. Sometimes it’s hard to sit down and find a quiet space to create new work during the holidays, so revision or editing are also great options to help move your work forward.

Balancing writing and the holidays can be tough if you don’t have the right mindset. By carving out time for yourself, sticking to a schedule, and also remembering to be flexible with yourself, you can achieve a balance of enjoying yourself while still getting work done.

To help you stay productive and meet your deadlines, we’re offering $20 off our Express Service (two-day turnaround rather than the standard four) throughout December. That means our two-day Express Service is $30 instead of $50! Just enter code “BlogExpress20” at checkout.

Happy holidays from the Stickler team!

Goodbye Procrastination! Five Tips for Getting things Done

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No matter where you are in your academic journey, getting things done can be difficult. Life gets in the way, your motivation drains, and suddenly you find it difficult to meet impending deadlines or finish important projects. This is especially true when it comes to writing—no matter whether you’re working on a grant proposal or a PhD thesis, writing and procrastination go hand in hand. We hope these tips will help you find your motivation and start checking things off your to-do list.

1. Get Your Priorities Straight

No matter how much you plan, throughout the day new things pop up and start to overload your schedule. Whether it’s a software issue that needs to be fixed, an errand that needs to be run, or a lengthy email that needs to be answered, these small tasks can add up and can even contribute to procrastination. To counter this, it’s important to set firm boundaries. What absolutely needs to be done today, and what can wait? On the other hand, maybe you have a few tasks on your list that will only take a couple of minutes to complete, in which case it can be helpful to follow the mantra “If it takes two minutes, do it now”—in other words, go ahead and get these done immediately so you can tick them off.

2. Break Tasks Down

Writing “finish thesis” on your to-do list may not be the best way to complete such a mammoth undertaking. Instead, think about the different sub-tasks that make up this overarching goal, and create lists from there; for example, your sub-tasks may include “create research questionnaire,” “gather prior works for literature review,” “ask supervisor about revised title,” or “finish writing introduction.” From there, think about what you can realistically get done today. It may be that asking your supervisor about your title will only take a few minutes and can be done right away, then you’ll definitely have time to create your questionnaire, and tomorrow you will finish writing your introduction. Breaking the overall task down into bite-sized chunks in this way not only makes the entire thing less daunting, but also gives you much more regular “wins” in the form of completed tasks, which will help keep you motivated.

3. Know that Delegation is Your Friend

If you come across a task that you don’t have time to do or don’t want to do, another option may be to delegate it to someone else. Delegating can be hard because it involves asking others for help, letting go of control over the task at hand, and possibly spending money. But this strategy is a great way to get a load off your plate and allow you to focus on your project or paper, which can be well worth the resources invested in getting the help you need. Delegating tasks can be as simple as asking a partner to pick up some household chores, or paying someone to run an errand, but with specific regard to academic work a company such as Stickler can help with aspects such as putting your reference list in the correct style, adding an automated table of contents, or ensuring every formatting and style requirement stipulated by your university is followed.

4. Give Yourself Deadlines

Deadlines are one of the most powerful tools for motivating yourself and breaking the cycle of procrastination. Even if a project you’re working on doesn’t have a set due date per se, creating one can provide just the right amount of pressure to help you focus and get things done. That said, self-determined due dates can be tricky if there is nothing holding you to them. Consider getting an “accountability buddy” in the form of friend or colleague, with whom you have regular check-ins in which you each share your work and report on whether you’ve accomplished your respective goals. Even something as simple as knowing you’ll have to report any failures to your accountability buddy can work wonders for your productivity.

5. Don’t Let Planning Take Over!

It is possible to spend so much time trying to prioritize tasks and create lists that you end up being counterproductive and still not focusing on the task you should be working on. So remember not to focus too much on the planning and prioritizing; the key to productivity is finding the right balance of motivation and focus that works for you and your schedule.

Getting Your Article Published: Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

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“The volume of scientific research being published is constantly increasing, making it harder and harder to get a manuscript accepted. Language quality plays a particularly important role in guaranteeing the success of a submission.”—Elsevier

“Every year hundreds of papers are rejected due to English language editing requirements.”—Wiley

Whether you’re a student or a seasoned academic, getting your work published in a respectable journal is important in furthering your academic career. However, you might be facing frustrating barriers if you are not a native English speaker, since most top-tier English-language journals want articles to be well written, using appropriate and correct academic terminology, before they will even consider publishing them. Across the board, research shows that articles written in clear English are more likely to get published than those in another language or in poor-quality English (Di Bitetti & Ferraras, 2016). In fact, English proficiency is a good predictor of publication output in top journals, even more than total research spending (Man et al., 2004).

Below are a few tips specifically aimed at non-native English speakers, which can get you closer to seeing your work appear in your ideal journal.

Stay Patient and Be Persistent

Nobody becomes an expert in the English language overnight. Mastering a second or foreign language, especially when it comes to academic terms and jargon, takes time and effort. Be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes. Even having articles rejected from journals can be useful, as this will give you a feel for what editors think about your research and the standard of your overall communication. If you’re not getting the acceptances that you want, take a look at what the editors are saying in their feedback. Study their comments and think about how you can apply them to the next iteration of your writing.

Collaborate with Others

If you find yourself struggling to write in English, a great way to overcome this is by seeking out native English speakers to collaborate with. Reach out to colleagues or other researchers in your field and find potential ways that you can work together to publish work based on shared interests. Collaborating with other professionals is not only a great way to enrich your work overall, but also gives you the chance to learn from native speakers how to strike the right tone, and to pick up some of the terms that frequently crop up in academic writing.

Imitate the Style of Authors You Admire

There’s no better way to practice your English writing skills than to imitate those whose work you admire. Try to find some articles whose style you like and that have been published in your target journals, and examine the ways in which the author utilizes language. How do the words flow together? What tense is the writing in? How does the author structure their sentences? How is punctuation used? Studying other work you respect can help you get a better understanding of how native English functions and give you a formula that you can work from.

Hire a Professional Editing Service

You knew we would get here eventually! But we make no apologies for this point—almost all top-rated journals recommend having your paper edited by a professional prior to submission. For example, Wiley (one of the world’s leading journal publishers) state the following on their website:

“If you are not a native English-language speaker, we strongly recommend that you have your manuscript professionally edited before submission.”

Professional editing services can help to ensure that:

  • your article proceeds in a logical manner;
  • academic and statistical terms have been used correctly;
  • spelling is consistent and correct; and
  • there are no typos, grammatical mistakes, or awkward phrasing.

In other words, we can make sure that the text reads as though written by a native English speaker. We know exactly what journals are looking for when it comes to tone and academic language standards, and will also check that your work meets all journal style requirements.

Now through August 31st, we’re offering new customers $20.00 off our proofreading/copy editing services! Just enter the promo code Summerblog20 when you submit your work.*

 *Cannot be combined with any other offer, and applies to documents of at least 3,000 words. New customers only. Discount expires at midnight PST on August 31, 2019. 

Plagiarism: What it is and How to Avoid it

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Whether you’re writing academic papers or completing your thesis or dissertation, you’ve probably come across the topic of plagiarism at some point in your writing career. Plagiarism is a big deal, especially in academia—so much so that nearly every educational institute in the world has a policy regarding plagiarism, and often one that involves serious consequences for those who commit it.

Plagiarism, as defined by the New Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, is “the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own” (508).

6 Types of Plagiarism

There are six distinct types of plagiarism that cover the unauthorized use of ideas and words in different mediums and formats. Gaining a better understanding of these different forms of plagiarism can help you know how to spot them and avoid using them in your own writing.

Verbatim Plagiarism—Copying and pasting another author’s words without giving them the proper credit.

Mosaic Plagiarism—Mixing one’s own words with those of an uncredited source.

Paraphrasing—Restating someone else’s ideas in your own words.

Self Plagiarism—Using your own ideas or words as a source, which, while not a form of theft per se, is a form of dishonesty and still equates to plagiarism.

Cyber Plagiarism—Using a downloaded version of an author’s article or publication and not citing it properly.

Image Plagiarism—Using an image or video without first receiving permission.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism should be avoided at all costs. Not only is it dishonest and a form of theft, it can lead to serious consequences for your academic or professional career. Many institutes and publications have a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism and will not give you a second chance if you’re caught out. Plagiarism can also ruin your reputation as a credible and trustworthy writer and researcher. Sounds scary, but with some due diligence and attention to detail, you can easily avoid the pitfalls. Here are some of the golden rules.

Learn how to quote and paraphrase correctly—You can usually use as many sources and words from other authors as makes sense for your work, as long as you know how to quote and paraphrase them in the right way. This means always making it clear in your writing that the ideas you’re using are not yours.

Always cite your sources—Citations are how you give credit to other authors’ ideas and thoughts. But citing your sources isn’t enough to avoid plagiarism by itself; you also have to do so correctly. This means following one of the several citation formats that aligns with your discipline. MLA, APA, Harvard, and Chicago are a few popular ones. If you’re not sure which system you should be following, check with your school or the journal you’re planning to submit to.

Get your work checked—One of our jobs as professional editors is to check that all necessary citations are present, adequate, and correctly styled. We can also run plagiarism checks using dedicated software that checks your work against a database of academic sources, highlights any potential issues, and notes the potentially plagiarized documents, making it easy to address the problems as needed.

For more on this topic, check out our August 2016 article, “What’s Mine Is Mine, What’s Yours Is Mine”: A Quick Reminder about Plagiarism.

Writer's block

5 Inspirational Quotes to Help You Overcome Writer’s Block

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Writer’s block is a serious issue that affects authors and academics of every discipline. Whether you’re writing a thesis, an essay, or a novel, feeling stuck can hinder your progress and kill your motivation. Luckily, many other famous and successful writers have dealt with this issue and have tips on how to conquer it. If you’re currently dealing with a bout of writer’s block, let these words of wisdom help you overcome it and get going again.

Get Over Blank Page Syndrome

“Unfortunately, many people suffer from BPS—Blank Page Syndrome. Let’s face it: starting to write is scary. Seeing the cursor blinking at you on that bright white screen, realizing that you now have to come up with three or ten or twenty pages of text all on your own—it’s enough to give anyone a major case of writer’s block!”—Stefanie Weisman

As author Stefanie Weisman puts it, Blank Page Syndrome is real and can be debilitating if you don’t recognize it and work to overcome it. When you know that you have a certain page or word count to hit, being faced with a blank screen can be one of the worst things in the world. One way to get over BPS is to try writing in a range of forms. For example, if you find yourself sidetracked by all the distractions a computer has to offer, or if the blinking cursor on the blank screen is giving you anxiety, going the old fashion route with a pen and paper can help you get back in the groove. You can also try speaking your writing out loud and recording your ideas in audio that can later be transcribed into text.

Write Through the Block

“Writing about writer’s block is better than not writing at all.”—Charles Bukowski

If you’re stuck on a writing project, whether you’re just trying to get started or are somewhere in the middle, writing something is always better than writing nothing. As Bukowski put it, the best way to jumpstart your ideas is to write through the block. This could mean writing about how difficult it is to write, writing about your cat, or writing about basically any other topic—it doesn’t necessarily have to be related to your project. Just the act of writing itself can help you overcome the block.

Break it Down

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”—Mark Twain

Mark Twain was a man of organization and discipline. His suggestion for how to overcome writer’s block involves breaking down a larger task into smaller, more manageable tasks. This is a good strategy for a wide variety of large projects, but especially for writing. Any writing task, whether it’s a thesis, an essay, or a book, can be broken down into multiple steps. For example, you might think of things like research, drafting, writing the introduction, or writing each paragraph or chapter as separate steps. Then write down all of the steps in an order that makes sense and work on each step one at a time to help you feel less overwhelmed.

Persistence is Key

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”—Octavia Butler

Nobody understood writer’s block better that Octavia Butler. Her words of advice involve persistence when writing, even if you feel certain that what you’re writing isn’t good. You should never be afraid to write poorly, because sometimes getting out all the bad writing is the only way to get to the good stuff. No matter how bad you think your writing is, keep at it and eventually it will get better. Persistence and determination are some of the best cures for writer’s block.

Stick to a Schedule

“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.”—William Faulkner

Writing is not all about the creativity and fun of the craft. It’s also about putting in the work and having the self-discipline to write every day. If you find yourself lacking motivation or struggling with writer’s block, sometimes treating writing like a job, complete with a set schedule, can help you be more productive and overcome writer’s block. Consistency and discipline of the kind alluded to by Faulkner is sometimes necessary for progressing on a large project.

Writer’s block can be a writer’s worst enemy, but it doesn’t have to be as daunting as it’s made out to be. If you’re struggling with what to write or being confronted with the blank page, looking to professional writers for advice can be helpful.

Grammar Rules That You Should Forget

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Grammar rules are drilled into our heads from a very young age. As we grow older, we learn how to memorize these rules and incorporate them into our academic and everyday writing. As with most things in life, times change—and so have grammar rules as we know them. With the advent of social media and digital writing, traditional grammar rules have started to be bent, broken, and rewritten. Some grammar rules are just antiquated and others inhibit writers from making creative and beautiful work. Below is a list of four grammar rules that, no matter what your school teacher told you, you should forget. Unlearning these rules will open up a world of freedom and exploration in your future writing projects.

Ending Your Sentences With a Preposition

This antiquated rule stemmed from writers in the 19th century who were obsessed with the way the Latin language structures its sentences. While it’s true that that the English language can find its roots in Latin, they are not one and the same. People who work hard to follow this rule often end up switching their sentences around so they sound unnatural and awkward. See the example below:

Ending with a preposition—“Where did it come from?”

Ending without a preposition (following the rule)—“From where did it come?”

You can see how differently the two sentences sound from one another just by switching the placement of the preposition. As English has modernized, the latter sentence sounds unnatural and out of the ordinary. So feel free to forget this 19th-century grammar rule in exchange for writing that sounds like it’s from the 21st century.

Adverbs Ending with “-ly”

Many grammar students have been taught that an adverb is only an adverb if it ends in “-ly.” This is just not true. There are a number of adverbs that do not have this ending and are just as grammatically correct when used in a sentence. These adverbs that do not end with “-ly” are often referred to as flat adverbs. Some examples of these are “safe,” “fast,” “soon,” and “bright.” Below is an example of a pair of sentences that are both grammatically correct even though one has an adverb with an “-ly” and one doesn’t.

Adverb with an “-ly”—“Drive safely!”

Adverb without an “-ly”—“Drive safe!”

Starting a Sentence with “And” or “But”

Beginning a sentence with a conjunction was once considered a big “no-no” in the grammar rule world. But we’re here to tell you that it’s perfectly okay to start a sentence with “and” or “but.” Children are often taught this rule by grammar teachers so that they don’t fall into the trap of starting every sentence with “and.” As long as you aren’t overdoing it, starting a sentence with a conjunction can add much needed emphasis and clarity to your writing. See the examples below:

Starting without a conjunction—“Mary killed the man who had been chasing her. Additionally, she killed his accomplice.”

Starting with a conjunction—“Mary killed the man who had been chasing her. And she killed his accomplice too.”

Splitting Infinitives

It is a common grammar rule that a writer should never split an infinitive in a sentence. In other words, you shouldn’t place a word in between “to” and its subsequent verb. Splitting an infinitive doesn’t work all the time, but it shouldn’t be a hard and fast rule to avoid it because sometimes splitting an infinitive just feels right. Splitting infinitives can change the mood or tone of a sentence and add emphasis on particular words. Here’s an example a split infinitive that made the sentence better—“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

The rules of grammar are important for giving structure and stability to writers, especially those who are just learning the English language. But as you become a master of the writing craft, you should rethink how steadfastly you stick to those rules. Breaking some grammar rules can give your writing emphasis, clarity, and a unique voice.

 

How to Reference Your Sources Like a Pro

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Referencing your sources is an important part of any academic writing process. Having correct references can lend to credibility to your arguments, and lets your readers know you’ve analyzed authoritative works in your field. Referencing correctly can lead to higher grades on your papers and allow you to avoid plagiarism.

 

Understand When Citations are Needed

When you’re working with a lot of ideas and extant literature, it can be difficult to know when a citation is needed. But it’s vital to give credit where credit’s due. These six points below can help you identify whether a source needs to be cited, and can help you avoid plagiarism when quoting or summarizing a source.

  1. Ideas that belong to a particular source—Always cite ideas or opinions that are distinctive and not your own.

 

  1. An argument or analysis with a distinctive structure—Whether you’re paraphrasing or summarizing, always cite an author’s particular approach to solving a problem or argument.

 

  1. Specific information and data—If you’re using data that you found in another source, whether it’s facts, diagrams, or statistics, you should always cite the original source and give credit to the author. This can also help your readers if they are looking for additional information from that source.

 

  1. Phrases or quotes—Verbatim phrases or quotes used by an author in their argument should always be cited and placed in quotation marks.

 

  1. Uncommon knowledge—If you mention part of an author’s work in your writing, it’s important that you cite the source even if you’re paraphrasing or not quoting the author directly. Unless the information is common knowledge or widely held opinion, a source has to be cited.

 

  1. If in doubt, cite—If you’re not quite sure whether you should cite something, it’s better to err on the side of caution. That way you don’t have to worry about plagiarism or not giving credit for the work on which your own is based.

 

Identify an Appropriate Referencing System—And Stick to it

Whether you’re working with APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, or the myriad other referencing systems available, it’s important that you identify the appropriate one and stick to it. Failing to do so can lead to docking of marks or rejection from your target publication.

The referencing system you use can depend on your field of study, your faculty’s/target publication’s preference, or your paper’s format. Most schools and journals will tell you which style to follow, but if not, consistency is key (some journals, for example, are happy for papers to adhere to any style at submission, provided it’s consistent).

Style guides will help you stay on track and avoid combining different systems, but a professional academic editing service can also polish this up for you—at Stickler, for example, applying referencing styles is a core part of our work.

 

Take Good Notes

One of the keys to referencing effectively is to take good notes. These notes should include important information about your research, including a detailed record of the literature used. Every time you find a source that you might use in your paper, jot down the relevant information based on the style you’re following. Having everything organized and gathering the necessary information as you go will save you a lot of time and step-retracing as you write your paper.

 

Always Get a Second Pair of Eyes

As mentioned above, it’s always a good idea to get a second pair of eyes on your references and citations before submitting your project. In addition to ensuring that your specific referencing system has been applied correctly, we offer plagiarism checks to catch any similarities between your paper and extant work that might require a citation.

Getting your Foot in the Door: How to Write a Cover Letter That Will Get You Hired

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Cover letters are often key when applying for a job. They let your future employers know who you are and get a glimpse of why you might be a great fit for the position. Needless to say, cover letters are a vital part of any job application and can make or break your chances of getting hired. Learning how to write a good one takes some time and effort, but once you master this skill it can help you reach your goals in the future and land your dream job.

Using the right format, length, and customizations are of course vital, but it’s also worth having a professional proofreader look at your letter to help you avoid making simple mistakes and turn your letter from good to great.

Use the Proper Format

While there’s no official way to format a cover letter, there are certain things that you can do to make your cover letter look more professional and appealing to the eye. Always keep it as concise as possible; a guide is to stick to a maximum of three paragraphs that are around three or four sentences each, but you may need to extend this depending on the situation. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to formatting your cover letter, a good template can be found here: https://bit.ly/2ITEgnQ

Customize the Letter to the Specific Job

If you’re applying to multiple jobs at once or you’re on a job hunt, never write a generic cover letter that could be used for any job on the market. While it’s a good idea to have a base template that you can customize for each job, every letter you write should be specific to the position you’re applying to. The more specific a cover letter, the better. Take time to do some research on the company, the person you’re addressing the letter to, and the position you want so you can tailor your cover letter accordingly.

Don’t Rehash Your Resume

One of the biggest mistakes people make when writing a cover letter is to summarize the information that is already on their resume. Your cover letter is a space for you to show your talents, your likeability, how good you are with language and writing, and your attention to detail. Think of your cover letter as a place to write about things that your resume can’t convey.

Be Authentic

Using a conversational tone in your cover letter is a good way to show your authentic self and personality without coming across as too formal or robotic. That being said, you still want to uphold the standard rules of grammar and language in your writing and avoid things like overused clichés or aphorisms. Show why you’re excited about the job, what led you to apply to this position, why you’d be a good fit, and how likable you are as a person.

Edit, Edit, Edit

Setting your cover letter aside for a few days and coming back to it with fresh eyes is a great way to make sure you’re getting across what you want to say, but getting someone else to look at your letter is also imperative to check for things like typos and confusing wording, and to provide additional suggestions. Your cover letter provides the hiring party with the first impression about you, and is your ticket to an in-person interview, so getting it right can make a world of difference to whether you’re considered for the position.

The Pomodoro Method

The Pomodoro Method—Improve Your Productivity Levels

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Scientists believe that, thanks to technology, the human attention span is now less than that of a goldfish. If you’ve ever had a hard time focusing while studying or writing, a short attention span can be to blame. While there’s not a lot we can do to change our shortening attention spans, there are a few proven techniques that can help you stay focused and improve your productivity levels. Being productive is all about staying away from distractions and keeping your head in your work. The Pomodoro Method of productivity encourages you to take regular breaks while you’re working, in order to stay focused. Keep reading to learn more about the Pomodoro Method and how you can use it to improve your productivity levels.

What is the Pomodoro Method?

Developed in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, this time-management technique gets its name from the common tomato-shaped kitchen timer. The system operates on the belief that by dividing your work and breaks into regular, short increments you can avoid feeling overwhelmed by looming tasks while also preventing burn out. Today, it’s a widespread method that’s used by professionals in a variety of fields, from science and technology to writing and academia.

How Does it Work?

  1. Set a timer for 25 minutes, and start your task. You don’t have to use a traditional kitchen timer, of course—there are several apps and websites that were specifically developed to be used with this method.
  2. If a distraction pops into your head, write it down on a piece of paper and return to your task.
  3. When the buzzer rings, put a checkmark on your paper. You’ve completed one increment, also known as a pomodoro.
  4. Take a five-minute break. During this time you can check the distractions that popped into your head, stretch, grab a cup of tea, and so on.
  5. After four pomodoros, take a 30-minute break.
  6. Repeat!

How Does the Pomodoro Method Improve Your Productivity?

Although taking frequent breaks may seem counterproductive, in reality they help keep your mind fresh and focused. The official Pomodoro website says, “You will probably begin to notice a difference in your work or study process within a day or two. True mastery of the technique takes from seven to twenty days of constant use.” By keeping up with the Pomodoro method, you should see steady improvements in your productivity.

 

Whether you’re working on a short project, studying for an exam, or writing something longer, like a thesis, the Pomodoro Method can help you get through projects faster by forcing you to adhere to strict timing. Watching the timer go down can give you the motivation you need to finish up a task before the clock runs out. The constant timing of your work also makes you more accountable for your tasks and minimizes the time you spend procrastinating. Instead of trying to ignore distractions completely, by carving out a specific time for yourself to address distractions you can actually be more productive in the long run.

To “s” or not to “s”: Common Statistical Terms, their Abbreviations, and how to Pluralize Them

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Ever get confused when using statistical terms? You’re not alone. In writing for the social sciences in particular, the worlds of mathematics and grammar collide. Academic authors not only have to run statistical tests, but discuss the results in a clear and cohesive way—and since you can lose marks or have a paper rejected from a journal for poor use of English, getting these terms grammatically correct is key. Below are a few common statistical abbreviations, and how they should appear in singular versus plural form.

 

Written-out Form Abbreviation/Symbol
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Cohen’s d Cohen’s ds d ds
degree of freedom degrees of freedom df dfs
F statistic or F value F statistics or F values F Fs
mean means M Ms
sample size (subsample) sample sizes (subsample) n ns
sample size (full sample) sample sizes (full sample) N Ns
p value p values p ps
r value r values r rs
R2 value R2 values R2 R2s
standard deviation standard deviations SD SDs
standard error standard errors SE SEs
t value t values t ts
z score z scores z zs
Cronbach’s alpha Cronbach’s alphas Cronbach’s α Cronbach’s αs
beta betas β βs
chi-square chi-squares χ2 χ2s
delta deltas Δ Δs

Source: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/statistics/

 

Although the above information is based on APA preferences, for some plural abbreviated forms many publishers and institutions would prefer that you write, for example, “Cronbach’s α values” rather than “Cronbach’s αs,” as the latter version could lead to confusion. If you’re not sure which to use, that’s definitely something we can help with.

When deciding between using the singular or plural form of a statistical abbreviation, it’s important to refer to the syntax of your sentence (again, we can help make sure your plurals are perfect!). When using plural abbreviated forms, add a lowercase “s” to the end of the abbreviation, but don’t add an apostrophe before or after the “s” (it’s not “Cronbach’s α’s,” for example) and don’t italicize or capitalize the “s” either—just a simple “s” will do.

Understanding how and when to correctly use statistical terms in your paper, thesis, or dissertation can be headache-inducing, so a professional academic editing service can be invaluable. At Stickler, we have over a decade of experience editing statistical analyses, and we understand the conventions expected by journals and research institutions. Contact us today and let us help you sort your ps from your SEs!