Error (Pet Peeve) #3: Poor Punctuation Usage (continued)

Parentheses Errors

Parentheses are the last type of punctuation covered in this lesson. Parentheses are used in the following situations:

To introduce abbreviations for the first time.

• American Psychological Association (APA)
• American Counseling Association (ACA)

To set off the letters used in a series of items within a sentence.

• Jane's treatment plan included the following goals: (a) to decrease negative attention seeking behaviors, (b) to increase the use of self-control strategies, and (c) to increase social skills.  

Tip: Enumerating items in a series that are lengthy or complex assists with clarity for the reader. Identify items by lowercase letters with parentheses when items are within a paragraph or sentence; identify items in a series using Arabic numbers followed by a period (no parentheses) when items are separate paragraphs. To read more about items in a series see section 4.09 - 4.10 (pp. 93 - 94) of the Publication Manual.

To set off structurally independent elements.

• There was a high correlation between the viewing of violent movies and aggressive behavior (See Table 2).

To set off citations within the text.

• Payne, West, Rockinson-Szapkiw, and Castellanos  (2007) wrote  "Overcoming Challenges in Online Counseling Course Practica."
• "Overcoming Challenges in Online Counseling Course Practica" outlines common challenges faced by students taking group counseling courses online (Payne, West, Rockinson-Szapkiw,  & Castellanos, 2007).
• "Overcoming Challenges in Online Counseling Course Practica" outlines common challenges faced by students taking group counseling courses online (e.g., technical difficulty when using e-conferencing systems for online supervision; Payne, West, Rockinson-Szapkiw,  & Castellanos, 2007).

Tip: Do not use back-to-back parentheses. Use one set of parentheses and a semicolon to separate the two pieces of information.

Check Your Understanding Activity

You now have covered the Poor Punctuation Usage section that discussed semicolons, colons, quotes, and parentheses. The following sorting activity will give you an opportunity to test your learning.

	Click the card deck to view a card. Drag the card from the bottom to the category of the punctuation that would correctly fill in the blank(s).
This content requires Flash Player 10 or higher.