Brigham Young University - Idaho

Categories

Elements

Reasoning

(R) There are problems with the soundness of the arguments, ideas, and conclusions.

• (Un) Unsupported: the conclusions do not follow from the arguments and ideas that have been presented.
• (I) Illogical: the premises and conclusions don't match; there is no real argument or structure; it is random
• (C) Clarify: a point needs to be developed or is unclear
• (Th) Thesis: the thesis or topic of the paper is not stated or is unclear
• (Pr) Premise: the premise of an argument is incorrect

Structure

(S) There are issues with how ideas are presented even though the ideas, arguments and conclusions may be reasonable.

• (O) Organize: the structure makes it difficult to understand but reorganization would make it more clear
• (N) Unnecessary: the point isn't important to this part of the paper or perhaps doesn't contribute to the overall organization of the paper
• (Red) Redundant: the point has already been made and the paper is not improved by including it again. Perhaps limiting it to a different part of the paper would help.
• (T) Transition: there isn't a transition between one point and another or the transition is unclear
• (U) Unpack: the points are too condensed and the paper would benefit from elaboration on a point or points

Mechanics

(M) There are problems with the technicalities of writing such as grammar, word usage, punctuation, spelling, etc.

• (G) Grammar: the grammar is incorrect
• (Use) Usage: a word is used incorrectly
• (Ref) Referent: the referent word is unclear
• (P) Punctuation: incorrect punctuation
• (Sp) Spelling: word is misspelled

Style

(Sty) There are problems with the style of the paper.

• (APA) APA style has not been used or has been used inappropriately
• (Cit) Citation: a citation is missing or an incorrect citation format
• (K) Awkward: the sentence is grammatically correct but doesn't read well; it could have been worded better
• (Q) Quotation: too many quotes or there is plagiarism
• (W) Wordy: the point could be made more succinctly
• (WC) Word Choice: the word being used is technically correct but not stylistically correct
• (Cas) Casual: too many colloquialisms or the tone is unprofessional
• (E) Unengaging: the writing style makes the paper dry and uninteresting