Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

Nurse Author & Editor, Fall 2001 by Robinson, Ruthie

The Purdue University Online Writing Lab offers information valuable to authors, editors, and reviewers with questions related to grammar, spelling, or punctuation. I was able to find several items I was searching for in each of the main sections, including:

Punctuation: The period and comma always go inside quotations. Capitals: The second word of a hyphenated word is not usually capitalized.

Spelling: Affect is a verb meaning to influence and effect is a verb meaning to accomplish.

Sentence Construction: Appropriate use of colons and semicolons.

Parts of Speech: Do not shift from one tense to another, if the time frame for each action remains the same.

Basics such as proper use of commas and apostrophes, strategies for improving sentence clarity, and active vs. passive voice are reviewed. I found the section on American Psychological Association (APA) format helpful when trying to cite online sources. If you have forgotten some of these basic rules of writing or just need help "cleaning up" or editing a manuscript, this web site offers a good review of these principles and offers numerous examples of good and poor writing style.-Ruthie Robinson, RN, MSN, CNS, Beaumont, TX.