When speaking aloud, you punctuate constantly—with body language. Your listener hears commas, dashes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks as you shout, whisper, pause, wave your arms, roll your eyes, wrinkle your brow. In writing, punctuation plays the role of body language. It helps readers hear the way you want to be heard.” These words by Russel Baker encapsulate the importance of using punctuation marks correctly when writing in English to better control your research story and how it is perceived by journal reviewers and readers.

In scientific communication, the right punctuation facilitates clarity, simplicity, precision, and readability. This two-part program will help you use punctuation correctly in your academic writing projects to draft sentences that are short, direct, and simple. Covering 11 different punctuation marks, with detailed explanations, summaries and short quizzes for every topic, this course will help you enhance your writing and communicate your research most effectively!

Course Narrator:

Dr. Christina Cho, Cancer biologist, Freelance scientific and medical writer Christina Cho, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and is investigating the molecular mechanisms driving the development and progression of colorectal and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. She’s spent the last ten years working in academic research, developing a range of skills that will help her lead a research laboratory. Her skills include the ability to independently develop and execute experiments, lead research projects, teach and train junior postdocs and students, write manuscripts and grants, and give oral presentations in both intramural and extramural conferences.