Using the correct punctuation in a sentence enables your audience to understand your ideas more clearly. Let's learn how to use punctuation correctly.
Accurate punctuation is essential in your academic writing. Incorrect or unclear punctuation can lead to misunderstandings, cause confusion, weaken your argument, and result in lower marks due to lack of clarity.
How punctuation can change meaning
All the sentences in the box below are punctuated very differently and, as a result, have very different meanings. A confusing effect can result in your academic writing if you have no control over your punctuation.
(A) Employees are required to work ‘twenty-four hour’ shifts.(24hr shifts)
(B) Employees are required to work twenty ‘four-hour’ shifts. (20 x 4hr shifts)
(C) Employees are required to work twenty four ‘one-hour’ shifts. (24 x 1hr shifts)
Frequently used punctuation marks and their common uses.
| Punctuation mark | How to use it | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| , Comma | Commas are most often used to separate ideas in a sentence or phrase. Commas also separate items in a list. | E.g. Matt is studying law, economics and industrial relations this semester. E.g. When you arrive at UTS, be sure to drop into the HELPS Centre. | ||
| ; Semi colon | Semi colons are used to separate two complete sentences (often on the same topic) which have been linked together. Semi-colons are often used instead of a full stop in order to lengthen the sentence. | E.g. You must try the food in the UTS student café; it is usually very good. | ||
| : Colon | A colon usually indicates that a list, summary or a set of bullet points is about to follow. You can also use a colon before ‘explaining’ something. It can also indicate that a long quote will follow next. | E.g. UTS students usually want to know about: essay writing, exam preparation courses and academic writing improvement. | ||
| … Ellipsis | An ellipsis consists of three full stops together. You use it to show where you have ‘left out’ material from a chosen text, perhaps due to irrelevance or to shorten the piece. | E.g. ‘[As] accounting standards are updated frequently…it is important for accounting students to be aware of these changes and review them occasionally’ (Jenkins, 2014, p. 34). | ||
( ) Parentheses / Brackets (Usage 1) | Parentheses or brackets are often used to include extra or additional information into a sentence. Use these sparingly in your academic work but they can be helpful for clarifying your ideas. | E.g. The biology experiment (on photosynthesis) was carried out over a six-week period during semester 2. | ||
( ) Parentheses / Brackets (Usage 2) | Parentheses are commonly used to include the original source of information for the bibliographic reference citations within an academic text. | E.g. Effective hand hygiene is seen as an imperative element in disease and infection control (Collins & Weatherley, 2009; Kelleher, 2011; Zhang, 2010). | ||
‘’ Quotation marks (also referred to as inverted commas) | Quotation marks are used to show the exact words you have used from a text.
Single or double quotation marks? Single quotation marks are recommended in keeping with the trend toward minimal punctuation. Single quotation marks (‘) denote text taken from written sources. They can be used to add extra ‘emphasis’ or ‘stress’ to your text. We usually use single inverted commas for this emphasis/stress effect. Double quotation marks (“) are often used to denote a quote within a quote or direct speech. | E.g. Collins (2009, p. 34) states that ‘nursing practices involves systematic problem analysis’. Refer to the example above. E.g. Please take a copy of the ‘lecture slides’ not the tutorial ones. E.g. The lecturer said, “Hello.” | ||
| . Full stop | Full stops indicate that the sentence has come to an end. They are also used to punctuate dates and numbers. | E.g. Please use 12.5 size font in your literature review assignment. | ||
Capitalisation | Capital letters need to start each new sentence. We also capitalise names of things (proper nouns) such as job titles, proper nouns, organisations and countries. | E.g. Welcome to the University Of Technology Sydney. E.g. Professor Wu was a leading academic at Hong Kong Polytechnic before arriving in Australia to work in the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney. | ||
- Hyphen Dash | As a general rule, hyphens ‘join’ items together. They are most commonly used in prefixes, compound words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) and a small number of suffixes. Dashes separate ideas or items. They indicate an abrupt change, introduce an explanation, expand a statement, or set apart items that would normally be included in parentheses/brackets. A hyphen is the shortest of the horizontal punctuation lines (-); dashes are longer (--). | E.g. Post-industrialisation / a two-fold increase E.g. National policies may change the decision-making environment – water licencing reform is an example – or provide guidance on suitable areas for government investment. | ||
Punctuation to generally avoid in academic writing
| Punctuation mark | Why avoid? |
|---|---|
| Use of question marks ‘?’ | Generally, you want to inform rather than ‘question’ your reader. |
| Use of ‘etc.’ | This can lead to giving vague and unclear information. |
| Use of exclamation marks ‘!’ | Academic writing is ‘non-emotional’, so exclamation marks are not necessary. |
| Contractions such as I’ll, you’ll, can’t, doesn’t and aren’t | These are features of informal speech. In academic writing, spell the two words in full. |
| Use of the ampersand (&) | Do not use these in your sentences to abbreviate ‘and’; however, in a citation it is permitted e.g. (Smith & Collins, 2015). |
Still not sure?
One of the best ways to know how to punctuate a sentence if you’re not sure, is to read it ALOUD to yourself. Notice where you naturally pause, or add extra emphasis or perhaps extra information. Noticing these aspects will help you to decide where and when to punctuate.
Recommended Reference:
Snooks & Co. (2002). Style manual: For authors, editors and printers (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd.