Online Resources

Open-Source Writing and Research Software

Zotero (George Mason University & Corporation for Digital Scholarship) is an open-source research tool that helps writers collect, organize, analyze, and share research. 

Develop an Assignment Timeline

Assignment Calculator (University of Minnesota Libraries, Center for Writing, and Center for Teaching & Learning Services).  An online tool to break down an assignment for any course into manageable steps.  Enter today’s date and the due date to generate a series of suggested stages and deadlines.

Publishing Style Guides

AU 1, Style and Author Guide, 2nd Edition (Air University).  Part 2 of the Air University Press Author Guide provides instructions for manuscript submission for publication by Air University Press. 

The Tongue & Quill (U.S. Air Force Handbook 33-337).  The Tongue and Quill has been a valued Air Force resource for decades.  Focusing on communication, the chapters follow the writing process (Chapter 3, Analyze Purpose & Audience; Chapter 4, Research Your Topic; Chapter 5, Support Your Ideas; Chapter 6, Organize & Outline; Chapter 7, Draft; Chapter 8, Edit; Chapter 9, Fight for Feedback & Approval).

Chicago Manual of Style Online (University of Chicago Press).  The Chicago Manual of Style Online provides recommendations on editorial style and publishing practices.

Documenting

BibMe (Chegg Service).  Online bibliography, reference page, or work cited page generator that auto-fills to generate citations for APA 6th Edition, MLA 7th Edition, Chicago 16th Edition.

KnightCite (Calvin College). Online citation generator for formats according to APA 6th Edition, MLA 7th Edition, Chicago 16th Edition.

Citation Machine (Chegg Service). Online citation generator for formats according to APA 6th Edition, MLA 7th Edition, Chicago 16th Edition.

Online Grammar Guides

Grammar Handbook (University of Illinois). Grammar Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign explains and illustrates the basic grammatical rules concerning parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentences and sentence elements, and common problems of usage.

Guide to Grammar and Style (Dr. Jack Lynch, Chair, Department of English, Rutgers University).  Online guide of grammatical rules and explanations, comments on style, and suggestions on usage.

Grammarly Handbook (Grammarly.com).  Online guide to grammar, punctuation, mechanics, style, and techniques.

The Grammar Book (grammarbook.com).  Online guide on rules of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and writing numbers. 

Revising & Editing Tools

The Writer’s Diet – an Online Diagnostic Writing Tool (Dr. Helen Sword).  The algorithm-based diagnostic tool that gives feedback on 100 to 1000 words and identifies how often you use specific parts of speech (i.e., strong verbs versus be-verbs, nouns, prepositions, adverbs, adjectives, and over use of waste words – it, this, that, and there).

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary & Thesaurus

Podcasts

WriteCast: A Casual Conversation for Serious Writers (Walden University) is a monthly series of academic writing podcasts.  Download a podcast app to your smartphone.  Use iTunes Podcast Player for Android and Podcasts for iPhone.  You can also stream podcasts directly and listen to them on your computer.  Access the link above to learn how to listen and view the complete episode archives.

Grammar & Style Checkers

Grammarly.com (Grammarly) scans text for proper use of advanced grammar rules and correctly spelled words used in the wrong context (i.e., affect vs. effect), and provides context-optimized word choice suggestions to improve readability. 

StyleWriter (Editor Software) assists with style, clarity and readability.  Maintains a database of style faults, advice on correct word usage, and grammar checks. 

Corpora

Brigham Young University Corpora developed and consolidated the 10 most widely used online corpora.  In addition to these corpora, Google Books Advanced interface and a number of corpus-based resources are available.

A corpus is a searchable database of electronic texts.  Corpora databases allow writers to examine how native speakers speak and write; determine the frequency of words, phrases, and collocates; examine language variation and change (i.e., historical, dialects, genres); and allow writers to gain insight into the culture of language (corpus.byu.edu).

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