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ACEING ACADEMIA #16: Be Consistent

A competitive grant proposal is clear, credible, and compelling. When it comes to ACEing Academia and avoiding common errors in communication, there is another C to add to the mix.

Consistency.

Applicants must ensure that their proposal (or paper) is consistent from beginning to end. This includes the format used for referencing and citations as well as the pronouns. Are you using I or we? “My research has involved…” or “Her research has included…”? Whether first person or third, pick one and use it consistently throughout the document.

The latter often get overlooked in proposals, especially if it’s an idea that has been repurposed from one funder to another. Teams grow (or shrink) and requirements change. If you’re not careful, though, there’s the danger that a Frankenproposal will emerge as a result.

A Frankenproposal is just what it sounds like: a proposal that has been stitched together from other bits and pieces. It doesn’t hang together well as a grant written for a specific purpose, and it lacks the cohesiveness of a competitive proposal. It can send the wrong message to the reviewer, namely that the applicant hasn’t taken the necessary time to check their work and doesn’t pay much attention to detail. I’ll talk more about Frankenproposals in a future post, but right now, let’s look at how to avoid inconsistent grant proposals:

1️⃣ TAKE CONSISTENCY SERIOUSLY: This may seem an unusual recommendation; after all, most of the tips I share to avoid common errors involve concrete actions. However, this is more of a mindset shift: recognise that consistency is important and that being consistent will benefit your proposal. Doing this will put you well ahead of others who think an inconsistent proposal is no big deal.

2️⃣ WRITE A STYLE SHEET: A style sheet is where you keep track of the decisions you make regarding a document’s style. Some of these choices may already be decided for you by a funder, but you will often have to make the choice yourself, e.g. what reference format will you use? Are you going to refer to yourself using first-person pronouns (I and my, or we and our) or third-person pronouns (him, her, their)? Record all of your decisions in one place.

3️⃣ GET FEEDBACK: Style sheets not only help you keep track of your decisions, but you can also give them to whoever is providing feedback to use as a reference. Have you followed your own guidance?

See the other posts in the ACEing Academia series:

♠  Content
♦  Clarity
♣  Structure
♥  Style