1. Preparing for the Walden Form & Style Review
Dissertation Editors
Walden Writing Center

2. Agenda Overview of form and style process
Review of students’ and editors’ responsibilities
Resources to prepare for the review
Resources for titles, abstracts, IRB, and copyright
Examples of F&S feedback
Q & A

3. The Form & Style Process
F&S review is required for all doctoral studies and dissertations.
F&S review is part of a collaborative effort to produce publication-ready manuscripts.

4. Capstone Review Process
Draft approval
Chair approves for URR review; TII report, consensus documents, and committee-approved manuscript sent to URR
URR approves for Form and Style review and sends to OSRA
Revisions
Review returned to student, committee, and URR; changes made
Orals conducted; changes made
Final approvals
Chair approves for URR review; document sent to URR
URR approves for CAO review of abstract

5. Process-Related Support
The Office of Student Research Administration oversees and tracks the approval process.
Degree-specific documents are available on the Center for Research Quality website.
Questions about the approval process: EdD: PhD: DBA:

6. Students’ Responsibilities
Use the program-specific evaluation tools and rubrics for guidance.
Use the dissertation or doctoral study template and meet page formatting guidelines (access templates here) .
Know basics of APA style documentation, spell and grammar check your work, align citations with references.
Write and conduct research with integrity.
Apply the feedback committee has given you.
Ask for help along the way.
Correspond respectfully with faculty and staff.

7. Resources for Students
Doctoral capstone resource guide

8. More Resources
Assure page formatting, IRB compliance (check out our FAQ document), and copyright compliance.
Carefully review and interpret a Turnitin report. For help, view the resources on the Writing Center website.
Check all text citations against references for accuracy.
Use the program-specific APA checklists on the PhD, EdD, or DBA pages of the Writing Center website.
Read more about the F&S review on the Writing Center website.

9. Editors’ Responsibilities
Help students write more concisely, grammatically, and in accord with all aspects of APA style by providing constructive, positive, collegial feedback.
Watch for intentional or unintentional integrity and confidentiality violations.
Ensure that research problems, theory, questions and hypotheses, methods, findings, and conclusions are articulated in a way that demonstrates basic alignment.

10. The Editorial Review Averages about 6 hours.
First chapter (PhD) or section (EdD, DBA) read thoroughly; at least 10 pages of other chapters/sections are skimmed for typical patterns.
Main concerns: APA style, overall format, integrity, copyright & IRB violations
Track changes and comment balloons are used.
Some line-by-line mark-up but much pattern identification.
Detailed letter and checklist to guide revisions.

11. APA 6th Edition Basics
Ensure use of serial comma throughout, per APA 4.03.
Use first person appropriately, per APA 3.09 and Walden academic leadership.
Study APA manual table and figure examples and do more than copy and paste tables from SPSS (APA Ch. 5).
Report the literature in the appropriate verb tense (APA 3.18), and update the proposal language before final form and style review.
The purpose of the study is/was / I will interview/interviewed 12 school principals.

12. Titles and Abstracts
Abstract guidelines at Administration.htm
Students tend to top-load their proposal abstracts so there’s insufficient room left to report the findings and articulate the social change implications.
One page, one paragraph, no indent.
CAO abstract reviewer requires the words “social change” in the implications piece near the end.
CAO abstract reviewer has the final word on abstracts and titles.
Short and sweet titles sell.
Phrase as statement, not as question.
Avoid starting with “An Exploration of” “A Study of” and so on.
See APA 2.01 for excellent guidance.

13. Titles ↓ Examples (Exaggerated. A little, anyway)
An Investigation Into Whether or Not Victims of Crohn’s Disease Tend To Feel Discriminated Against, and The Effectiveness of Staff and Faculty Awareness Programs on Reducing Discrimination: An Exploratory Study ↓
Effectiveness of Awareness Programs on Treatment of Students With Crohn’s Disease
Moving Up the Pyramid: A Phenomenological Look at Unmet Needs.
Rewrite based on APA guidance:
*The title should be a concise statement of the main topic and should identify the variables or theoretical issues under investigation and the relationship between them (APA 2.01).  

14. IRB and Copyright The IRB number is required in text or an appendix.
Keep schools, job sites, interviewees anonymous. Use guidelines in the FAQ document.
In acknowledgments
In appendices
In the curriculum vitae
Permission to use a test instrument for a study is separate from permission to include it in the dissertation or doctoral study. Visit
Tables and figures not in public domain require copyright clearance beforehand. Ensure tables and figures are APA compliant and are legible.

15. Example Form and Style Review Feedback
The form and style review is sent to the student and committee members.
Three kinds of feedback
Changes that are required.
Changes that are strongly recommended.
Changes that would improve quality of ProQuest published manuscript and any publication beyond dissertation.

16. Example 1: Required Changes
Trends and research related must have some currency [1998 estimate?].
The headings MUST conform to APA 6th. Left margin must be 1.5”. Basic APA errors must be corrected

17. Straightforward punctuation, usage, and APA errors must be fixed
Edited for economy of expression (wordiness)

18. Example 2: Strongly Recommended Changes
This editor marked a lot of wordiness. Accept tracked changes in the edited document to revise per these recommendations

19. Example 3: Changes To Improve Quality
“This paragraph sounds like the Purpose section.”
“You’re arguing the need for your study, so ‘seems to’ detracts from your authority. See APA 3.09”

20. Typical Marked Page

21. Expectation for Revisions
F&S review is not a rubber stamp.
Committee will expect you to abide by the editor’s required and recommended changes.
Make sure you work from the editor’s edited document.
Six hours of review generally results in X hours of work, so plan ahead.
Editors have 14 days to return the document, so plan ahead.

22. Full checklist available on the Writing Center website:
Letter and Checklist
Full checklist available on the Writing Center website:

23. Reasons a Review Would Be Halted
Academic integrity violations
Low writing assessment rubric score*
Formatting wreck**
* Scores of 1 or 2 in two out of the three rubric categories.
** Wrong version of APA edition; incorrect margins, pagination, line spacing, heading styles.

24. F&S Writing Assessment Rubric
Rating Scale
1 - Needs Substantial Revision
2 - Needs Revision in most areas
3 - Needs moderate revision in some areas
4 - Needs minor revision
5 - No revision
Cohesion and Flow
Difficult to understand; no topic sentences or transitions
Connection of ideas is difficult to follow; shifting focus; scarce transitions
Minor problems with cohesion; overall, paragraph structure and sentences are clear
Logical sequence of ideas; topic sentences are supported with evidence; frequent use of transitions
Clear and easy to understand; "sense of wholeness;" information presented in logical order with connection between ideas
APA
APA style is rarely followed; numerous APA errors
APA style is present, but inconsistently used
APA style used throughout; common errors exhibited
APA style is used consistently and with few errors
APA style is exemplary and used appropriately
Voice and Grammar
Informal/personal voice; uses other scholars' voices through direct quotes; numerous spelling/grammar errros
Voice occasionally appropriate for scholarly writing; grammar errors found on almost every page
Attention and effort evident in voice; good understanding of audience; occasional grammar errors
Scholarly voice is present; attention and effort given to grammar; tense is consistent
Voice is appropriate for topic, purpose and audience; exemplary spelling and grammar; consistent tense; appropriate complex sentence structure

25. Summary We direct all queries to the student and cc: the committee.
We ask that you ensure all the straightforward patterns are attended to in all chapters or sections and that you discuss the recommended ones with your chair.
We ask that you and the chair use the checklist we send back as a guide to the required changes throughout.

26. For Help at the Proposal Stage
Make an appointment with the tutors for help on proposal drafts. Appointments are made through the Walden scheduling system, accessible from your MyWalden portal.
For answers to questions about APA style or doctoral capstone formatting, we’re an message away. Responses are sent within 24 hours.

27. We All Want To Help: Questions? Concerns?
Martha King
Manager of the Editing Services
Questions for the Editors
Review of a Proposal Draft
MyWalden portal, Academics tab