Today’s Topic: Use Exact Dates and Time frames
Sentence: CURRENTLY, the ethnic majority and minority populations are shifting.
Edited Sentence: AS OF 2019, the ethnic majority and minority populations are shifting.
Explanation: When writing dates, scholars often use such words as “today,” “presently” and “currently.” However, providing such vague descriptors will not make the information relevant beyond the "present" month or year. Since scholarship is intended to be read for years and decades ahead, scholars should use exact dates and time frames rather than vague references to “contemporary” times.
In the sample sentence above, the word “currently” is replaced with “As of 2019.” Therefore, when someone reads the research in a few years and the “current” situation has changed, the point remains accurate because a specific year is referenced. Even when a scholar does not have an exact date, he/she should refer to a decade (i.e. the early 1990s or during the 1980s) or some other time period (during the first half of the 21st century).
When editing your academic documents, be sure to replace vague references to time with specific dates, months, years or some other measure of time so that your research remains accurate.
Until next week, Happy Writing!!!
Dr. V Writing Coach-Editor-Speaker Author of I'm Not a Writer...I am Just in Graduate School (order your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Not-Writer-Just-Graduate-School/dp/1533392919)
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