Comments From the Editor: Write Right

Along with my wonderful editorial assistant, I review all manuscripts for general acceptability when authors submit them to Update. Although my initial overview is cursory, the reviews undertaken by our Editorial Board in helping our authors improve all aspects of their writing from the conceptual to the granular are not. I have always thought it would be fascinating for prospective authors to see how the submitted manuscript differs from the one that is ultimately published. In nearly all cases, there are substantial changes made during the review process. Given the myriad of feedback that is received from authors by the Editorial Board, me, and the copyediting team at Sage, the final product that appears online is a collaborative effort. Having seen the types of comments that are provided from our Editorial Board (and ones that I have received from anonymous peer reviews of my own research), I would like to provide eight general writing tips that I think will prove helpful for graduate music education students, novice researchers, and even experienced authors when submitting their academic work.