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APA Style Guidelines for Numbers | Words or Numerals?

Published on August 7, 2015 by Sarah Vinz . Revised on July 23, 2023.

Numbers can be written either as words (e.g., one hundred) or numerals (e.g., 100). In this article we follow the guidelines of APA Style , one of the most common style guides used in academic writing .

In general, words should be used for numbers from zero through nine, and numerals should be used from 10 onwards. This is true for both cardinal numbers (e.g., two, 11) and ordinal numbers (e.g., second, 11 th ). However, there are some important exceptions to this rule.

Note that other style guides, such as Chicago Style,  address numbers differently (for example, in Chicago, you use words for numbers up to 100). Regardless of what style guide you follow, the most important thing is to be consistent in how you treat numbers throughout your document.

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Writing percentages, reporting statistical results that include numbers, writing numbers that are accompanied by measurements, writing long numbers, consistency may not be obvious, other interesting articles.

Use numerals for numbers from zero to nine that are followed by a precise unit of measurement.

The samples measured 7 cm in diameter. (“cm” is a unit of measurement)

But: These three samples were subjected to further testing.

Use words for any number that is used to start a sentence, with the exception of years.

Seventy-two thousand ink cartridges are sold every day.

Nineteenth-century novels often feature complicated plot lines.

But: 2008 saw record olive crops throughout the Mediterranean.

Use words for common fractions and set expressions.

According to the survey, two thirds of the employees are dissatisfied.

Understanding the Five Pillars of Islam is a critical first step.

The Fourth of July is traditionally marked by a firework display.

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With percentages, the standard is to use numerals and “%” (not “percent”).

According to the report, 45% of the workforce is employed in the service sector. Only 6% currently work in agriculture.

The main exception is if you are using a percentage to begin a sentence. In this case, use words to express the entire percentage.

Thirteen percent of the patients reported that their symptoms improved after taking the experimental drug.

If your paper includes quantitative research, you probably have data to report. Statistics, mathematical functions, ratios, and percentages are all written using numerals. This is true regardless of whether they are included within a table or as part of the actual text. Keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Report most statistics to two decimal places (such as M = 5.44).
• Report statistics that could never exceed 1.0 to three decimal places (such as p < .001).
• If a value has the potential to exceed 1.0, use the leading zero. If a value can never exceed 1.0, do not use the leading zero.
• Italicize values that are not Greek letters (such as M , SD , p , and F ).
• Include spaces before and after =, >, and <.

The average IQ of the participants was relatively high ( M = 137.33, SD = 4.54).

The results of the second test were statistically significant, t (12) = 4.11, p < .05.

There are further detailed guidelines about reporting statistics in APA .

If a number comes immediately before a unit of measurement, use numerals.

Each patient received  5 mg  of the experimental drug.

The tallest participant was 2.03 m .

Also use numerals for precise ages, times, dates, scores, points on a scale, and amounts of money.

The final score of Ghana 2, Brazil 1 did not represent a decisive victory.

Children under 8 years receive a $50 discount.

But: Most girls start reading when they are about five years old. (“about” makes the number imprecise)

Longer numbers follow specific rules:

• Use a period to indicate a decimal point.
• Starting with 1,000, use commas to separate every three digits.

The region has an average of 43.75 doctors for every 10,000 people.

Some predict that the number of users will reach 2 billion by 2020.

One of the main reasons why writing numbers is complicated is that consistently applying the rules may lead to a text that actually seems very in consistent. Consider the following paragraphs:

At about the age of seven , the girl’s height was 1.47 m. This placed her in the fifth percentile, although her weight placed her in the top 7% of her class. By the time she was 9 years old, she was taller than half of the boys in her year. Five years later, she was still ranked 15 th .

Thirteen thousand viewers watched the performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the park, while another 2,000 watched from the surrounding buildings and 1.2 million watched it on television. As one  out of every 11 residents saw at least part of the play, this one event can definitely be considered a success.

These texts may look awkward because so many different number formats have been used, but don’t be deceived – the above guidelines have all been followed.

If you are not required to strictly follow a particular style (such as APA format ), you may have some flexibility to modify the guidelines presented in this article. Just be sure to apply any modifications you make throughout your entire document.

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Writing numbers When to use words and when to use numerals

It can be difficult to know how to write numbers in academic writing (e.g. five or 5 , 1 million or 1,000,000 ). This section gives some guidelines on when to use words to write numbers, and when to use numerals . There are also some exceptions to the rule which are considered, i.e. times when you might expect to use words but should instead use numerals. There is also a checklist at the end, that you can use to check the use of numbers in your own writing.

When to use words

In general, words should be used for zero to ten , and numerals used from 11 onwards. The same rule should be applied to ordinal numbers, i.e. use words for first, second up to tenth, and numbers plus 'th' (or 'st') from 11th onwards. However, it is always best to check what the accepted practice is at your university (or in your department/on your course), and remember that some common referencing systems have their own, different requirements, as follows.

• MLA . Use words if the number can be written using one or two words (e.g. three , twenty-seven ).
• APA . Use words for numbers zero to nine.
• Chicago . Use words for numbers zero to one hundred.

Before looking at when to use numerals (which is almost all other situations, see next), it is useful to look at important exceptions.

(1) When the number begins a sentence , you should use words , whatever the size of the number (though if possible, rewrite the sentence so the number is not at the beginning).

• Fifty respondents agreed with the statement.
• There were 50 respondents who agreed with the statement. [ rewritten sentence ]
• 50 respondents agreed with the statement.

(2) When expressing part of a very large round number , e.g. million, billion, you should use words for that large number part (it is common to use abbreviations m for million and bn billion ).

• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7 billion people.
• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7bn people.
• The population of the earth is now in excess of 7,000,000,000 people.
• The population of the UK is approximately 70 million.
• The population of the UK is approximately 70,000,000.

Conversely, numerals should be used rather than words, whatever the size of the number, when large and small numbers are combined , since this makes comparisons easier.

• There were 2 respondents in the first category, and 22 in the second.
• There were two respondents in the first category, and 22 in the second.

When to use numerals

Numerals are used for almost all other situations. These include the following.

• Measurements (e.g. 6 kg, 3 cm, 10 min, 2 hr, 3 days, 6 years, 5 decades )
• Currency (e.g. $10, £50, £60 billion )
• Statistical data , including survey data (e.g. A survey of participants revealed that 4 out of 5 students worked. )
• Mathematical functions (e.g. v 2 = u 2 + 2as )
• Decimals (e.g. 2.5, 4.54 )
• Percentages (e.g. 75% )
• Ratios (e.g. 3:1 )
• Percentiles/quartiles (e.g. the 95th percentile, the 1st quartile )
• Times (e.g. 12.30 a.m., 6 p.m., 16:00 )
• Dates (e.g. Wednesday 25 December 2019 )
• Scores/points on a scale (e.g. This item scored 5 on a 9-point scale )

Other important points

The following are a few other points to remember when using numbers.

• Consistency. You should be consistent in how you write numbers; for example, if write a figure like 7bn in one place, do not write a figure like 5 billion in another.
• Use of commas. When giving numerals of 1,000 or larger, use commas for each thousand, e.g. 5,500, 8,326,500 .
• Use of hyphens. When displaying a range, use a hyphen, with no space, e.g. 30%–50%
• Expressing fractions. Fractions can be written either as numerals e.g. 2/3 or words e.g. two-thirds . If using words, use a hyphen.

American Psychological Association (2019a) Numbers Expressed in Words . Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/words (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

American Psychological Association (2019b) Numbers Expressed in Numerals . Available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/numerals (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

Harvard Wiki (2019) Numbers . Available at: https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/display/HSG/Numbers . (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of Bristol (2015) Using numbers . Available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_33.htm (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of New England (nd) Numbers in academic writing . Available at: https://aso-resources.une.edu.au/academic-writing/miscellaneous/numbers/ (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

University of Oxford (2015) Style Guide . Available at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University%20of%20Oxford%20Style%20Guide.pdf (Accessed: 26 December, 2019).

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Below is a checklist for using numbers in academic writing. Use it to check your writing, or as a peer to help.

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Writers often need to discuss numbers and statistics in their manuscripts, and it can be a challenge to determine how to represent these in the most readable way. APA 7 contains detailed guidelines for how to write numbers and statistics, and the most common are listed below. These guidelines, however, are not exhaustive and writers may need to evaluate particular instances of numbers in their own writing to determine if the guideline applies or if an exception should be made for clarity.

Numbers 

Generally, you can spell out numbers below 10 in words (seven, three), and use numerals for anything 10 and higher (10, 42). 

• You should use Arabic numerals (1, 7) instead of Roman numerals (II, XI) unless the Roman numerals are part of established terminology in your field. 
• In numbers greater than 1,000, use commas to separate groups of three digits except in page numbers, binary code, serial numbers, temperatures, acoustic frequencies, and degrees of freedom. 
• Do not add apostrophes when writing a plural of a number (the 2000s, the 70s).

Use a numeral in these cases:

• a number 10 or higher anywhere in the paper
• a number right before a unit of measurement (3 m, 24 g)
• a number denoting: mathematical functions, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, percentiles (2:1 ratio, 5%)
• a number denoting: time, a date, an age, a point on a scale, an exact amount of money, or a numeral (the 3 key on your keyboard, 7 years old, a 5 on the test)
• a number indicating a place in a series or a part of a book/table, if the number is after a noun (i.e., Item 4, but words are used in cases like "the fourth item")

Spell the number out in words in these cases:

• a number from 0-9 anywhere in the paper, except the specific cases above
• a number that starts a sentence, heading, or title (though this should be avoided)
• a number that is a common fraction (one half, two thirds)
• a number that is part of a common phrase (Noble Eightfold Path)

When numbers are written next to each other in a sentence, one strategy to help readers parse the sentence is to combine words and numerals (3 two-year-old owls, four 3-step plans), but rewording to separate the numbers may be the best choice for clarity in some cases. Clarity for readers is always the most important consideration.

Ordinal Numbers 

Treat ordinal numbers (3rd, fourth) the same way as other numbers, using the guidelines above. You may use a superscript or not (1 st , 1 st ), but you should maintain the same usage throughout your paper.

Decimal Fractions 

In numbers less than 1, writers may include a leading 0 before the decimal point or not. This choice is based on the maximum possible amount of the statistic:

• If the statistic can be greater than 1, use a leading 0 (0.24 in)
• If the statistic cannot be greater than 1, do not use a leading 0 (p = .042)

APA's general principle for rounding decimals in experimental results is as follows, quoted here for accuracy: "Round as much as possible while considering prospective use and statistical precision" (7th edition manual, p. 180). Readers can more easily understand numbers with fewer decimal places reported, and generally APA recommends rounding to two decimal places (and rescaling data if necessary to achieve this).

Some more specific guidelines for particular values are listed below.

One decimal place:

• standard deviations

Two decimal places:

• correlations
• proportions
• inferential statistics
• exact p values (can be reported to two or three places; when p is less than .001, write p < .001)

Statistical Copy 

These rules cover presentation of data, not accuracy of data or the best way to conduct analysis.

You can represent data in the text, in a table, or in a figure. A rule of thumb is:

• <3 numbers → try a sentence
• 4-20 numbers → try a table
• >20 numbers → try a figure

Clarity is always paramount.

When discussing statistics in common use, you do not need to provide a reference or formula.

If the statistic or expression is new, rare, integral to the paper, or used in an unconventional way, provide a reference or formula.

The purpose of reporting statistics is usually to help readers confirm your findings and analyses; as such, the degree of specificity in reporting results should follow in line with that purpose.

When your data are multilevel, you should include summary statistics for each level, depending on the kind of analysis performed. When your data are reported in a table or figure, you do not need to repeat each number in the text, but you should mention the table or figure in the text when discussing the statistics and emphasize in-text key data points that help interpret your findings. 

Use words like "respectively" or "in order" to clarify each statistic mentioned in text and their referent.

For instance:

Confidence intervals should be reported: 90% CI [ LL, UL ], with LL as the lower limit and UL as the upper limit of the interval. You do not need to repeat confidence intervals in the same paragraph or in a series when the meaning is clear and the confidence interval has not changed. When CIs follow the report of a point estimate, you do not need to repeat the unit of measurement.

Statistics uses a great deal of symbols and abbreviations (when a term can be both, the abbreviation refers to the concept and the symbol indicates a numeric value).

You do not need to define these when they represent a statistic or when they are composed of Greek letters. You do need to define any other abbreviation (such as ANOVA, CFA, SEM) in your paper. If the analysis you are performing uses multiple notation styles for symbols and abbreviations, only use one consistently throughout your paper.

Some other statistical symbol guidelines include:

• use words rather than symbols in narrative text; when you report a stats term with other mathematical symbols like = or +, use the symbol
• population parameters use Greek letters while estimators use Latin letters in italics (usually)
• uppercase, italicized N indicates the total membership of a sample; lowercase, italicized n indicates the membership of a subgroup of a sample such as a treatment group or control group
• % and currency symbols like $ should only be used with numerals (15%, $25) or in table headings and figure labels to save space
• use standard type (no italics or bold) for Greek letters, subscript and superscript identifiers, and abbreviations that are not variables such as log
• use bold type for vector and matrix symbols
• use italics for all other statistical symbols

Mathematical Copy 

For ease of reading, use spaces between elements in a mathematical expression ( a + b = c ), except in the case of a minus sign indicating a negative number which uses a space before the minus but not between the minus and the numeral.

Use subscripts first and then superscripts, except in the case of key symbols like the superscript for prime.

All equations should be punctuated to fit in the syntax of the sentence, even if they are presented on their own line.

Short, simple equations can be written in a regular line of text, with a slash (/) for fractions. Parentheses, square brackets, and braces should be used (in that order, from innermost to outermost) to indicate order of operations. Equations that do not fit vertically in the line of text should be shown on their own line. 

All displayed equations (equations on their own line) should be numbered, similarly to tables and figures, so that they can be referred to later (and simple equations may be displayed rather than written in a line of text if they will need to be referred to later by number).

In text, equations should be referred to by name (Equation 1 or the first equation are both acceptable). The equation number does not need a special label, and instead should be displayed in parentheses toward the right margin of the page:

  If a symbol in your equation cannot be entered with your word processor, use an image; otherwise, type all equations exactly as you would like them to appear in the publication.

When to Spell Out Numbers in Writing: Guide and Examples

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The Rules for Writing Numbers in English 

You may have noticed a theme when it comes to the English language: most rules are not standardized. This (somewhat frustrating) fact is especially true when it comes to spelling out numbers. Should you write them out in words or leave them as numerals? To write numbers properly, you will also need to identify potential differences between major style guides (such as MLA , APA , and Chicago , to name a few) because these guides often outline different rules for using numbers in writing.

To make it easier, let's use an example. Say you're working on a paper evaluating the importance of the local public library in your community. The document will make use of small numbers, large numbers, decades, and statistics. Each type of number may follow a different rule.

Thankfully, when using numbers in writing, you can count on a few conventions that apply to most situations; just be sure to consult your specific style guide if one has been assigned. If you don't have time to review each number yourself, a professional editor or proofreader can ensure that your numbers are written correctly.

Writing Small and Large Numbers

A simple rule for using numbers in writing is that small numbers ranging from one to ten (or one to nine, depending on the style guide) should generally be spelled out. Larger numbers (i.e., above ten) are written as numerals.

For example, instead of writing "It cost ten-thousand four-hundred and sixteen dollars to renovate the local library," you would write, "It cost $10,416 to renovate the local library."

The reason for this is relatively intuitive. Writing out large numbers not only wastes space but could also be a major distraction to your readers.

Beginning a Sentence with a Number

Here is a rule that you can truly rely on: always spell out numbers when they begin a sentence, no matter how large or small they may be.

Incorrect: 15 new fiction novels were on display.

Correct: Fifteen new fiction novels were on display.

If the number is large and you want to avoid writing it all out, rearrange the sentence so that the number no longer comes first.

Revised: There were 15 new fiction novels on display.

Whole Numbers vs. Decimals

Another important factor to consider is whether you are working with a whole number or a decimal. Decimals are always written as numerals for clarity and accuracy.

To revisit our library example, perhaps circulation statistics improved in 2015. If a number falls in the range of one to ten and is not a whole number, it should be written as a numeral.

Incorrect: The circulation of library materials increased by four point five percent in 2015.

Correct: The circulation of library materials increased by 4.5% in 2015.

Paired Numbers (Two Numbers in a Row)

When two numbers come next to each other in a sentence, be sure to spell out one of these numbers. The main purpose of this rule is to avoid confusing the reader.

Incorrect: There were 12 4-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Correct: There were 12 four-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Correct: There were twelve 4-year-old children waiting for the librarian to begin story time.

Decades and Centuries

Decades or centuries are usually spelled out, especially if the writing is formal.

Incorrect: The library was built in the '50s.

Correct: The library was built in the fifties.

If you are referring to a specific year (e.g., 1955), use the numeral.

Consistency Is Key When Using Numbers in Your Writing

Always strive for consistency, even if it overrides a previous rule. For example, if your document uses numbers frequently, it is more appropriate for all numbers to remain as numerals to ensure that usage is uniform throughout. Similarly, if a single sentence combines small and large numbers, make sure that all the numbers are either spelled out or written as numerals.

Incorrect: The library acquired five new mystery novels, 12 new desktop computers, and 17 new periodicals.

Correct: The library acquired 5 new mystery novels, 12 new desktop computers, and 17 new periodicals.

Style Guides May Have Slightly Different Rules for Writing Numbers in Words

Let's complicate things a bit, shall we?

If your work must follow the rules of a specific style guide, understand that various guides all have rules for spelling out numbers that may differ slightly from the rules listed above. For example, MLA style indicates that writers may spell out numbers if they are not used too frequently in the document and can be represented with one or two words (e.g., twenty-four, one hundred, three thousand ). APA style advises that common fractions (e.g., two-thirds ) be expressed as words. A number of specific rules for spelling out numbers are outlined in Section 9.1 of the Chicago Manual of Style.

Your ultimate authority will always be a style guide, but in the absence of one, following the rules outlined above will help you stay consistent in your use of numbers in writing.

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Writing Numbers: How to Write Numbers Correctly (Examples)

Are you confused about how to write numbers correctly in your writing? Should you spell them out or use numerals? After reading this article, you'll wonder no more.

You have several options when writing numbers: spell them out or use digits. Which one you go for will depend on common number writing conventions and the style guide you're using.

This article is part of our free online Grammar Book .

What Are the Different Types of Numbers?

Before diving in, let's review the different kinds of numbers. The two main types are cardinal and ordinal numbers.

• Cardinal numbers are what you think of when you think of numbers: one, two, three, etc. They tell you how many of something there is, and you use them for counting. 

Here are some examples of sentences that use cardinal numbers:

I have one dog and three cats. The concert was attended by over a thousand people. There were nine of us in the office this morning. 

• Ordinal numbers tell you what order things are in or their rank or position: first, second, third, etc . As the word 'ordinal' suggests, ordinal numbers allow you to put things in order.

Here are some examples of sentences that use ordinal numbers:

She came second in the competition.  I'm the third tallest girl in my class. Our offices are on the sixteenth floor.

There are also other types of numerals, such as nominal, iterative, multiplicative, and many more.

How to Write Numbers Correctly

Now that we've established what numbers are and the different types, let's learn how to write them.

You can either spell out a number as such:

Or you can write it in numerals , as such:

This can be a little tricky because different style guides follow different rules. Your best bet is always to consult your chosen style guide if you have one. If you don't , this article will provide some guidance in the form of commonly used conventions for writing numbers.

I'll use the words 'numeral, ' 'Arabic numbers,' 'digits,' and 'figures' interchangeably to refer to numbers ('1') and the terms 'spell out' and 'letters' to refer to words written out ('one').

Writing Cardinal Numbers

I'll start by outlining standard practice for cardinal numbers. Again, these are just general guidelines that are most commonly agreed upon, and you can feel free to deviate from these. The key is to remain consistent: pick a style and stick with it.

Spell the First Word

Firstly, it's standard practice to spell out a number if it's the first word in the sentence , which trumps any other rule. So, for example, even though dates are usually written in numerals, if it's the first word in the sentence, you should spell it out.

If you'd prefer to write it in numerals for better aesthetic and readability, you can always rephrase your sentence so the date isn't the first word.

For example:

Nineteen-ninety nine was a big year for us. A big year for us was 1999.

Small and Large Numbers

A good rule of thumb is to spell out numbers zero through nine and use numerals from there onwards. However, some style guides disagree with this, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, which suggests that you spell out the numbers zero through one hundred and use numbers from 101 onwards.

Just pick the rule that makes the most sense to you!

Years, Decades, and Centuries

Generally, it's best to write specific years in Arabic numerals.

I was born in 1972.

Spell out decades in formal writing, but know that it's also safe to write them in numerals. Just remember there's no apostrophe before the 's.'

I love the fashion in the sixties. I love the fashion in the 60s. I love the fashion in the 1960s.

The same rule applies to centuries: spell it out in formal writing, but numerals are acceptable the rest of the time.

This is the twenty-first century, you know . This is the 21st century, you know. 

Percentages

Write percentages in figures followed by the percent sign.

I'm about 80% certain this deal isn't going to go through .

Units of Measurement

Write units of measurement in figures:

I weigh 65kg. The park is 100m to the right. He ran the race in 3h45mn.

Write money in figures, too:

I've only got $1 to my name. The house is about 10 grand over my budget. You're 5 cents short.

Fractions and Decimals

Fractions aren't technically cardinal numbers, but we use a mixture of cardinal and ordinal numbers to spell them out. Depending on the context, they can be written in numerals or letters. Usually, if it's a scientific or mathematical text, the fraction will be written in figures, but if it's any other kind of text (such as an essay discussing research findings,  you'll most likely want to spell it out.

About one-fifth of the class is behind in Mathematics. 

Write decimals using numerals. If you have to spell it out, round it up to the closest number:

Unless it is half, then you can write:

one and a half.

Multiple Numbers in a Sentence

If your sentence has two numbers in a row, you should use different formats for each one so they don't get mixed up.

There are five 4-year olds in my class.

If a sentence has multiple numbers and one of them requires numerals, then use numerals for all of them, even those under 10.

The farm has 3 goats, 11 cows, 5 horses and 8 pigs.

Using Hyphens in Numbers

Sometimes when spelling out numbers, you'll need to use a hyphen . We use them to connect two-word numbers. Hyphenate all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.

There are one thousand, three hundred and fifty-six children that go to this high school .

Als,o hyphenate fractions:

About two-thirds of the population have tried meditation at least once.

Writing Ordinal Numbers

Now we've covered how to write cardinal numbers, let's learn how to write ordinal numbers. First of all, you might want to know how to make them.

For the most part, you create ordinal numbers by adding 'th' to cardinal numbers.

That's with the exception of the following:

Other than those, it's pretty smooth sailing:

• fifteenth, and so on.

To write them in numerals, it's even easier: you add the last two letters of the written number to the end of the cardinal number:

• Fir st  → 1st
• Seco nd → 2nd
• Thi rd → 3rd
• Four th → 4th
• Fif th → 5th

So what are ordinal numbers used for? The answer is they are pretty much used for any kind of positioning or ranking. That could include floors of a building, dates, fractions, centuries, positions in line,e or lists.

When should you spell vs use numerals with ordinals? The answer is the same as with cardinal numbers: spell them out from 'first' to 'ninth,' and then after that, use numerals.

Concluding Thoughts

That concludes this article on writing numbers correctly. I hope you now feel more confident using numbers in your writing.

Let's summarize what we've learned:

• The two main types of numbers are cardinal and ordinal.
• You can either spell out or use numerals when writing numbers.
• It's generally agreed upon that you should spell out numbers zero through nine and then switch to digits.
• Different style guides have different rules.
• Stay consistent with the rules you decide to follow.

If you enjoyed this article, check out our Grammar Book , a free online database of articles to help you with your writing, just like this one. Check it out!

Learn More:

• Ellipses: When to Use Ellipses in Writing (Examples)
• ‘Ninty’ or ‘Ninety’: How to Spell the Number ‘90’ Correctly
• Simple Sentence: What Is a Simple Sentence? Definition and Examples
• Sentence Fragments: What Are Sentence Fragments? Definition and Examples
• Periods: When to Use Periods in Writing (Examples)
• Question Marks: When to Use Question Marks in Writing (Examples)
• Exclamation Points: When to Use Exclamation Points in Writing (Examples)
• Semicolons: When to Use Semicolons in Writing (Examples)
• Apostrophes: When to Use Apostrophes in Writing (Examples)
• Parentheses: When to Use Parentheses in Writing (Examples)
• Brackets: When to Use Brackets in Writing (Examples)
• Slash: When to Use Slash in Writing (Examples)
• Italics and Underlining: When to Use Italics and Underlining in Writing (Examples)
• ‘Holliday’ or ‘Holiday’: How to Spell ‘Holiday’ Correctly
• ‘Colum’ or ‘Column’: How to Spell ‘Column’ Correctly

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Writing academically: Numbers

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When using numbers in academic writing you need to decide if it’s more appropriate to use a numeral (e.g. 9) or to write the number in words (e.g. nine). It’s worth checking to see if your department has specific advice on this matter, because individual approaches do vary. In the absence of specific advice, here is some general guidance on the matter:

Basic numbers

• Numbers  up to nine  should always be written in  words,  anything higher than nine can be written in numerals. Alternatively, some guides suggest that if you can write the number in two words or fewer then use words rather than numerals. If you are going to take this approach then you should include a hyphen when writing numbers with two words, e.g. twenty-seven.
• For larger numbers, it is acceptable to use either numerals or words depending on context (e.g. a thousand people/1,000 people), but you should always use numerals in technical writing, e.g. 200,000 km. For less precise larger numbers, the written form is better (e.g. several thousand).

Measurements and decimals/fractions

• Use numerals for units of measurement or time, e.g. 500 km, 10 minutes.
• Always use numerals for decimals and fractions (e.g. 0.5 cm) unless the figures are vague (e.g. around half of the population).
• Units of measurement that modify a noun should be hyphenated, e.g. a 3-year-old child.

Dates, money and time

• Always use numerals for dates, e.g Monday 4 April, 2016.
• Use numerals for money (e.g. His pocket money was exactly £1.00 per week) unless the amounts are vague (e.g. He earned well over a million last year).
• Use numerals for indicating the precise time (e.g. 08:00), or words if the times indicated are vague (e.g. around eight o’clock). 

Combining numbers

• If you need to combine two numbers that run together then use words for the shorter number and numerals for the longer number, e.g. a tower of 1000 ten-pence pieces. 

Starting sentences with numbers

• Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral. Either write the number in words or rearrange your sentence. For example, “Three hundred and sixty-five days make one year” could become “There are 365 days in a year”. If you start a sentence with a year, write “The year” first e.g. “The year 1066 saw one of the most famous battles in English history”.
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Rules for Writing Numbers in an Essay

Rules for Using Numbers in APA Format

Four p.m. or 4 p.m.? 1950s or 1950’s? Writing an essay or paper can be challenging enough. Start to consider the various formatting rules that exist for including numbers in your essay, and you might find yourself overwhelmed by the conventions of writing. Fortunately, these rules are actually fairly straightforward and easy to remember. Review and practice them and they’ll soon become second nature, allowing you to spend less time thinking about guidelines and more time thinking about your writing.

Standard Numbers

When writing numbers in your essay, the general rule is that whole numbers below 10 should always be spelled out. You would assert that there are "three cars" or "eight baseballs." Numbers 10 and above should be written in numeral form: "21 bugs," "52 cards." When a number below 10 is grouped with a number above 10, the rule for the higher number takes precedence: "8 to 12 weeks."

Statistical Measures

Exact statistical measures, such as percentages, decimals, and mathematical operations, should always be written in numeral form. For example, “The success rate is 8%,” “Fill 5.5 cartons,” or “Divide the answer by 2.”

Use numerals for dates, times, and ages. For example, "October 27, 1986," "4 p.m.," or "37 years old." Spell out the number when writing out a time, such as "eleven o'clock."

Identification Numbers

Identification numbers should be written as numerals: "Room 7," District 4," "Channel 22."

Write years and decades in numeral form. Something might take place in 2005 or in the 1990s (decades do not use an apostrophe before the "s"). Centuries can be spelled out ("fifteenth century") or written in numeral form ("18th century").

Beginning of Sentence

Numbers that begin a sentence should always be spelled out: "Sixty-seven movies were released last month." However, for prose purposes, avoid using numbers at the beginning of sentences.

Inexact Numbers

Spell out rounded or inexact numbers. Also spell out common fractions. You might say there were "about a thousand" people at a gathering, or that "one-quarter of the audience found it funny."

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• Writing Rules: Spelling Out Numbers

About the Author

A transplanted New Yorker currently living in Boston, Kevin Ryan is a new face in the professional writing industry. He graduated with a Master of Arts in human development from Boston College, where he served as sports editor for The Observer and a columnist for The Heights, the school's premier independent student newspaper.

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Numbers In Academic Writing – APA Style Guidelines

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Numbers are an imperative part of academic writing , serving as vital tools to represent quantitative data, statistical data, or measures in an accurate and precise manner. Numbers are used across various fields, including sciences, humanities, and business. However, adherence to specific rules is necessary in terms of using numbers effectively in academia, which vary depending on the style guide followed. This article will provide insights into how numbers are used appropriately.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Numbers in Academic Writing – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: Numbers in academic writing
• 3 Numbers in academic writing: Exceptions
• 4 Numbers in academic writing: Percentages
• 5 Numbers in academic writing: Statistical results
• 6 Numbers in academic writing: Measurements
• 7 Numbers in academic writing: Long numbers

Numbers in Academic Writing – In a Nutshell

• Academic writing uses numbers in distinct ways depending on style guide.
• Conventions apply to technical number writing and non-technical number writing.
• Numbers are usually written out from one to nine, and numerals are used from 10.
• Technical data and statistics should always appear as numerals for reference.

Definition: Numbers in academic writing

The APA Style is one of the most widely used academic writing styles and is largely adopted by the behavioral and social sciences. A number can be written both numerically or in words within this style.

Typically, a number from one to nine should be written out as words, while numbers from 10 and above should be written out numerically. This general rule also applies to ordinals (first, 10th). Some exceptions do apply, as found next in this article.

Other writing styles utilize different number rules. The Chicago style , for instance, requires numbers to be written out as words up to 100. The MLA style spells out all numbers that can be written within one or two words (three, one hundred, etc.).

Numbers in academic writing: Exceptions

Exceptions to the general rule above apply in the following cases:

1. All numbers should be represented numerically when they are detailing an exact unit of measurement.

• The rock was chiseled 6 cm deep.

2. Write out numerals as words when they begin a sentence, except when dealing with specific years.

• Eighteenth-century scientists advanced the practice of medicine
• 1921 marked the discovery of insulin.

3. A number should be written out when dealing with fractions, set expressions, or other known numeric titles.

• John Milton crafted the poem in 1626, also referred to as the Fifth of November poem.
• According to sources, one-third of the English population perished from the Black Death.
• Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in an alternative world in the year 1984 .

Numbers in academic writing: Percentages

When dealing with percentages in the APA Style, use numerals followed by the percent sign % , instead of “percent” or the abbreviations, “pct.”, “pct,”, or “pc”.

• The Spanish flu affected over 25% of the US population.

The same rule when beginning sentences with numerals applies to percentages, i.e., they should be written out as words when they start a sentence.

• Twenty-five percent of the US population was affected.

Numbers in academic writing: Statistical results

Reporting statistics in APA and papers that deal with technical numerical language in qualitative research have their own rules.

Here, all data is written in numerals to remain consistent and easily digested. This applies to the main body, tables, and figures sections of a paper.

Other statistical conventions include:

• Report the majority of statistics to two decimal places.
• Report statistics that can’t exceed 1.0 to three decimal places.
• For values that could exceed 1.0, use a leading zero. Those that can’t exceed 1.0 do not feature a leading zero.
• Italicize statistical values that aren’t Greek letters. E.g. SD .
• Spaces should be left before and after equal, more-than, and less-than signs.

Numbers in academic writing: Measurements

Always use numerals for units of measurement.

• Ampules contain 100 mg in 2 ml .

Numerals should be used for precise ages, timescales, dates, score lines, points of scale, and monetary sums.

• The final score was France 4 , and Croatia 2 .
• The students were aged 18 to 21 years in the study.

Imprecise ages and generalizations are not numbered but written out.

• She was roughly six years old based on his estimation.
• The outcome will be approximately seven times .

Numbers in academic writing: Long numbers

Longer numbers have their own set of rules. A period should be used to indicate a decimal point.

Commas are to be used to separate large figures every three digits after 1,000.

For sums exceeding 6 numerals, like 1 million and 1 billion, use a combination of numerals and written language.

• HBO Max had 73.8 million subscribers in 2022.
• This is a considerable growth from its 800,000 subscribers in 2015.

Should you write out numbers in academic writing?

As a general rule of thumb, numbers up to nine should be written out in the APA Style, while anything exceeding 10 should appear as numerals.

How are dates written in academic writing?

Dates are always written as numerals.

How are numbers expressed at the beginning of a sentence?

They are written out when they begin a sentence, except for dates and technical data.

Should I use the word "percent" or its symbol "%"?

The APA Style states that the symbol “%” should be used after numerals, while “percent” should be used for written-out figures.

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A Quick Guide to Numbers in MLA Style

• Nov 05, 2020
• Academic Editing
• Proofreading Tips
• Referencing and Citations

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Your client might not know all the details of MLA style. As an academic proofreader, then, your work may involve checking that documents follow MLA conventions. Thus, in this post, we’re looking at how to present numbers in academic writing according to MLA style.

Numbers in MLA: Numerals or Words?

MLA style sets out two approaches to numbers. In writing that involves few numbers , the MLA Handbook advises spelling out numbers that can be written as one or two words:

o ne, thirty-six, ninety-nine, one hundred, three million

It also says that plurals of spelled-out numbers should be treated as nouns:

fives, thirties

Other numbers, however, should be presented as numerals:

5¾, 305, 643, 2,798

For writing that uses numbers frequently , meanwhile, the MLA advises:

• Using numerals with units of measurement (e.g. 55 centimetres , 800 grams ) and other numbers presented alongside them (e.g. comparisons or reports of experimental data).
• Expressing larger numbers as a mix of numerals and words (e.g. 7 million , 1.4 billion ).
• Other numbers should be spelled out if they can be written as one or two words.

In both approaches, the MLA also advises using numerals for:

• Numbers used with abbreviations or symbols (e.g. 8kg , 6:00am , £7.90 ).
• Addresses (e.g. 635 New Street , 81 5 th Street ).
• Items in a numbered series (e.g. Year 5 , chapter 3 , volume 4 ).
• Dates (e.g. 10 September 2020 , 5 August 1996 ).
• Decimal fractions (e.g. 5.6 , 3.142 ).

In addition, in both styles, numbers should be spelled out at the start of a sentence (or the sentence should be rephrased to avoid starting with a number). When proofreading, then, make sure the guidelines above are applied consistently according to the document type.

Commas in Numbers

MLA style recommends placing a comma after every third digit in large numbers. For example:

However, commas are not used in page and line numbers , addresses , or four-digit years .

Page Ranges in MLA Style

For a range of page numbers in a citation or the Works Cited list, the MLA says to write the second value in the range in full for numbers up to 99. For example:

For larger numbers, though, only the last two digits of the second number should be given. The exception is when more are necessary for clarity:

The rules for years are a little different. If a range of years begins AD 1000 or later, MLA says to omit the first two digits of the second year if they are the same as the first two digits of the first year. Otherwise, though, you should make sure both years are written in full:

If the years discussed fall between AD 1 and 999, though, follow the general rules for inclusive numbers. And make sure ranges of years that begin before AD 1 are written in full.

Punctuating Number Ranges

In published work, MLA follows the convention of using an en dash for number ranges:

She spent her most productive period (1907 –1912) in Amsterdam.

However, for simplicity, MLA also permits a hyphen for number ranges in student writing:

She spent her most productive period (1907- 1912) in Amsterdam.

If you’re proofreading student work, then, there is no need to replace hyphens in number ranges. You can simply check that ranges are punctuated consistently.

Roman Numerals

Finally, the MLA Handbook also has a few rules for using Roman numerals :

• Capitalised Roman numerals are used for the primary divisions in an essay or book outline and as suffixes for the names of persons (e.g. Part I , Henry VII ).
• Lowercase Roman numerals are only used when citing pages that are so numbered (e.g. in the preface or introduction of a book), with ranges written out in full (e.g. xxv –xxviii , iv –xii ).

If you see Roman numerals in a document, make sure they follow these conventions.

Becoming A Proofreader

Here, we’ve seen what to look out for when proofreading numbers in a document that uses MLA style. But you can learn all about style guides, formatting, and proofreading in general with our Becoming A Proofreader course! Sign up for a free trial today to find out more.

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The Cowardice of Guernica

The literary magazine Guernica ’s decision to retract an essay about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reveals much about how the war is hardening human sentiment.

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In the days after October 7, the writer and translator Joanna Chen spoke with a neighbor in Israel whose children were frightened by the constant sound of warplanes. “I tell them these are good booms,” the neighbor said to Chen with a grimace. “I understood the subtext,” Chen wrote later in an essay published in Guernica magazine on March 4, titled “From the Edges of a Broken World.” The booms were, of course, the Israeli army bombing Gaza, part of a campaign that has left at least 30,000 civilians and combatants dead so far.

The moment is just one observation in a much longer meditative piece of writing in which Chen weighs her principles—she refused service in the Israeli military, for years has volunteered at a charity providing transportation for Palestinian children needing medical care, and works on Arabic and Hebrew translations to bridge cultural divides—against the more turbulent feelings of fear, inadequacy, and split allegiances that have cropped up for her after October 7, when 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in Hamas’s assault on Israel. But the conversation with the neighbor is a sharp, novelistic, and telling moment. The mother, aware of the perversity of recasting bombs killing children mere miles away as “good booms,” does so anyway because she is a mother, and her children are frightened. The act, at once callous and caring, will stay with me.

Not with the readers of Guernica , though. The magazine , once a prominent publication for fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction, with a focus on global art and politics, quickly found itself imploding as its all-volunteer staff revolted over the essay. One of the magazine’s nonfiction editors posted on social media that she was leaving over Chen’s publication. “Parts of the essay felt particularly harmful and disorienting to read, such as the line where a person is quoted saying ‘I tell them these are good booms.’” Soon a poetry editor resigned as well, calling Chen’s essay a “horrific settler normalization essay”— settler here seeming to refer to all Israelis, because Chen does not live in the occupied territories. More staff members followed, including the senior nonfiction editor and one of the co-publishers (who criticized the essay as “a hand-wringing apologia for Zionism”). Amid this flurry of cascading outrage, on March 10 Guernica pulled the essay from its website, with the note: “ Guernica regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it. A more fulsome explanation will follow.” As of today, this explanation is still pending, and my request for comment from the editor in chief, Jina Moore Ngarambe, has gone unanswered.

Read: Beware the language that erases reality

Blowups at literary journals are not the most pressing news of the day, but the incident at Guernica reveals the extent to which elite American literary outlets may now be beholden to the narrowest polemical and moralistic approaches to literature. After the publication of Chen’s essay, a parade of mutual incomprehension occurred across social media, with pro-Palestine writers announcing what they declared to be the self-evident awfulness of the essay (publishing the essay made Guernica “a pillar of eugenicist white colonialism masquerading as goodness,” wrote one of the now-former editors), while reader after reader who came to it because of the controversy—an archived version can still be accessed—commented that they didn’t understand what was objectionable. One reader seemed to have mistakenly assumed that Guernica had pulled the essay in response to pressure from pro-Israel critics. “Oh buddy you can’t have your civilian population empathizing with the people you’re ethnically cleansing,” he wrote, with obvious sarcasm. When another reader pointed out that he had it backwards, he responded, “This chain of events is bizarre.”

Some people saw anti-Semitism in the decision. James Palmer, a deputy editor of Foreign Policy , noted how absurd it was to suggest that the author approved of the “good bombs” sentiment, and wrote that the outcry was “one step toward trying to exclude Jews from discourse altogether.” And it is hard not to see some anti-Semitism at play. One of the resigning editors claimed that the essay “includes random untrue fantasies about Hamas and centers the suffering of oppressors” (Chen briefly mentions the well-documented atrocities of October 7; caring for an Israeli family that lost a daughter, son-in-law, and nephew; and her worries about the fate of Palestinians she knows who have links to Israel).

Madhuri Sastry, one of the co-publishers, notes in her resignation post that she’d earlier successfully insisted on barring a previous essay of Chen’s from the magazine’s Voices on Palestine compilation. In that same compilation, Guernica chose to include an interview with Alice Walker, the author of a poem that asks “Are Goyim (us) meant to be slaves of Jews,” and who once recommended to readers of The New York Times a book that claims that “a small Jewish clique” helped plan the Russian Revolution, World Wars I and II, and “coldly calculated” the Holocaust. No one at Guernica publicly resigned over the magazine’s association with Walker.

However, to merely dismiss all of the critics out of hand as insane or intolerant or anti-Semitic would ironically run counter to the spirit of Chen’s essay itself. She writes of her desire to reach out to those on the other side of the conflict, people she’s worked with or known and who would be angered or horrified by some of the other experiences she relates in the essay, such as the conversation about the “good booms.” Given the realities of the conflict, she knows this attempt to connect is just a first step, and an often-frustrating one. Writing to a Palestinian she’d once worked with as a reporter, she laments her failure to come up with something meaningful to say: “I also felt stupid—this was war, and whether I liked it or not, Nuha and I were standing at opposite ends of the very bridge I hoped to cross. I had been naive … I was inadequate.” In another scene, she notes how even before October 7, when groups of Palestinians and Israelis joined together to share their stories, their goodwill failed “to straddle the chasm that divided us.”

Read: Why activism leads to so much bad writing

After the publication of Chen’s essay, one writer after another pulled their work from the magazine. One wrote, “I will not allow my work to be curated alongside settler angst,” while another, the Texas-based Palestinian American poet Fady Joudah, wrote that Chen’s essay “is humiliating to Palestinians in any time let alone during a genocide. An essay as if a dispatch from a colonial century ago. Oh how good you are to the natives.” I find it hard to read the essay that way, but it would be a mistake, as Chen herself suggests, to ignore such sentiments. For those who more naturally sympathize with the Israeli mother than the Gazan hiding from the bombs, these responses exist across that chasm Chen describes, one that empathy alone is incapable of bridging.

That doesn’t mean empathy isn’t a start, though. Which is why the retraction of the article is more than an act of cowardice and a betrayal of a writer whose work the magazine shepherded to publication. It’s a betrayal of the task of literature, which cannot end wars but can help us see why people wage them, oppose them, or become complicit in them.

Empathy here does not justify or condemn. Empathy is just a tool. The writer needs it to accurately depict their subject; the peacemaker needs it to be able to trace the possibilities for negotiation; even the soldier needs it to understand his adversary. Before we act, we must see war’s human terrain in all its complexity, no matter how disorienting and painful that might be. Which means seeing Israelis as well as Palestinians—and not simply the mother comforting her children as the bombs fall and the essayist reaching out across the divide, but far harsher and more unsettling perspectives. Peace is not made between angels and demons but between human beings, and the real hell of life, as Jean Renoir once noted, is that everybody has their reasons. If your journal can’t publish work that deals with such messy realities, then your editors might as well resign, because you’ve turned your back on literature.

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It’s Past Time to Quit Hoping the Courts Are Going to Stop Trump

The latest decisions out of the Supreme Court, first on when to hear former President Donald Trump’s immunity appeal, then on how to deal with his Colorado ballot disqualification, have made one thing very clear: We need to stop deluding ourselves that a majority of the Supreme Court sees the same political emergency that many of us do in terms of the threat Trump poses to American democracy. Whether it understood or even accounted for the consequences of the decision to delay the criminal case against him and to expedite its decision to keep him on the ballot, the high court ensured this past week that Trump is extremely unlikely to have a jury decide if he engaged in election subversion before voters cast their ballots for the next U.S. president this fall. After failures by outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and now the Supreme Court, it’s clear that if anyone is going to save American democracy, it is going to be the voters.

To briefly recap how we got here: Trump engaged in a multipronged effort to turn himself from a loser in the 2020 presidential election into a winner by pressuring federal, state, and local officials to find “fraud” or “irregularities” that could serve as the basis to send in a bunch of fake electors to Congress. That might have provided a fig leaf for allowing Congress to ignore the will of the voters and subvert the election outcome by declaring Trump the winner. The plan failed. After Trump’s lies inspired a violent invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Congress counted the real Electoral College votes, and Joe Biden was declared the winner. The House of Representatives impeached (again) Trump for his attempted election subversion ( again ), and 57 senators voted to convict, short of the 67 needed under the Senate’s rules. McConnell pointedly voted no, bringing others with him, arguing that the criminal and civil processes would take care of Trump.

That kicked the ball over to Garland’s court, where he did little—as far as the public is aware—for a long, long, long time . The Justice Department focused instead on the Capitol invaders, not the folks at the top who directed them or who participated in wider attempts to interfere with the peaceful and legal transition of power. Only belatedly did Garland appoint Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate these potential crimes, killing precious time that we all knew was ticking because Trump had said, early on, that he was going to run for president. By choosing to run, Trump put himself in a position to yell “Election interference!” as every charge was brought by a DOJ attorney headed by an appointee of his political rival. (Running also sets himself up for self-pardons or to scuttle ongoing federal cases if he wins the presidency again.)

It sure looks as if Smith moved expeditiously, not only in the election subversion case but also in the Florida classified documents case. But Trump has every incentive to delay, and a key part of his strategy involved taking an “interlocutory” (that is, before trial) appeal in the election interference case, claiming that he is wholly immune from criminal prosecution for official acts as president. (Never mind that many of his acts, such as cajoling the Georgia secretary of state to “find” 11,780 votes, were not in any way part of the official duties of a president, who has no role in running or supervising elections.)

The wheels of justice take time, but in this case the Supreme Court holds all the cards. Smith asked the justices back in December to let this appeal leapfrog over the D.C. Circuit, which sits between itself and the trial court, and the Supreme Court refused. That cost months. Then, after the circuit ruled against Trump, Smith tried to expedite things again.

Many of us wrongly believed that the court would move quickly and let the case get back to trial, on the reality-based theory that the American people deserve to know before voting if Trump, the candidate in 2024, was guilty as the 2020 candidate of trying to steal the election. The case for sending it back for trial is especially strong because Trump’s immunity argument on the merits is loony. As one D.C. Circuit judge noted, it would allow the president to order SEAL Team Six to assassinate political rivals without any consequences.

But the court did not move quickly. Not at all. After 13 days of silence following the end of emergency briefing, it set a schedule allowing almost two months of further briefing, with a likely decision delayed until two months after that, at the end of June. Compare that to Bush v. Gore , in which the Supreme Court went from order to hearing the case to issuing a final decision in just a few days. Or, perhaps more pertinently, compare it to the decision Monday to allow Trump to remain on the ballot, despite arguments for his disqualification under Section 3 of the 14 th Amendment, after a speed run of just three months.

Despite this timeline of a May or June (or July) SCOTUS decision, it is possible that Trump could go on trial for election subversion before the 2024 election. Indeed, over at Just Security, Norm Eisen, Matt Seligman, and Joshua Kolb game out eight-week trials and 12-week trials with different start dates going far into the fall up to and sometimes even through Election Day. And if you watch the cable news channels, you can see all kinds of legal commentators suggesting that the courts could still move heaven and earth to get this thing to trial by Election Day. The chief justice could release an opinion before dissents are authored. The court could still issue a decision in a matter of days after arguments.

But why should we expect the court to do anything of the sort in light of how it has acted already? Just because the court expedited the Colorado ballot removal case doesn’t mean that it considers the election subversion trial an emergency. We made a massive category error in imagining that at least six justices, the number needed to rubber-stamp the D.C. Circuit Court’s ruling without further argument, saw the need for speed in the Trump immunity case.

And what did the court do on the merits in the disqualification case? It not only held that states cannot enforce the disqualification provisions against an insurrectionist running for federal office. It put a straitjacket on Congress’s ability to enforce it too, raising serious questions about whether even Congress could possibly satisfy the Supreme Court if it attempts to say that Trump cannot serve as president again.

With disqualification off the table, attention turns back to the immunity appeal pending before the court and whether Trump can be rushed to trial before the election. There are a lot of people who are devoting their time to crafting scenarios in which the court might still evince interest in saving itself and the possibility of preserving a functioning democracy after the election by expediting a decision in Trump’s immunity appeal. That’s their prerogative, and we fervently hope they are correct. But let’s be candid about the fact that the court has missed its last best chance to do so: A completed trial before Election Day seems highly unlikely. Rolling Stone reports that Trump’s lawyers literally popped Champagne when the Supreme Court’s scheduling order came out.

Even though Smith has now taken the view that the internal rule keeping the DOJ from bringing charges within 60 days of the election doesn’t apply to criminal cases that have already been instituted, it would be quite extraordinary for a court to make one of the two major political party candidates stand for trial in the middle of the general election season and even during the period of early voting (which begins weeks before Nov. 5, Election Day). Would a court even start a trial before Election Day that wouldn’t be finished until afterward? Such trials are rare. We think of the 2008 case of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who wanted to go on trial and clear his name of corruption charges before the election. He went on trial, was convicted , and lost reelection. (A blistering report from the DOJ issued after trial showed that it hid exculpatory evidence from Stevens.)

And even if Judge Tanya Chutkan allows the trial to go forward, Trump has a right to put on his defense, and he would have every incentive to call witnesses and drag out sending the case to the jury until past Election Day.

Do we deserve a Supreme Court that cares about putting the evidence of Donald Trump’s potential criminality before the American people before they head to the polls? We do. Do we have such a court? We do not. Clearly. So, the sole remaining question seems to be whether it is a delusion or a useful exercise to spin out elaborate fantasies in which the justices reverse course to step up. Is producing an elaborate flowchart of a trial that might take place between the first and second presidential debates going to somehow soften and change a justice’s mind?

There are between four and five votes at the court to treat Trump’s presidency as ordinary and his actions in trying to reverse the election results as not a potential national emergency. As Aziz Huq notes , Donald Trump is getting treated infinitely better than most criminal defendants before the court, which doesn’t give a break even to those who are actually innocent of the crimes of which they are accused. We can sit around reading entrails from the court’s scheduling order in the immunity appeal to attempt to parse that breakdown and to hurl our efforts at changing those numbers through hope and limited influence. Or we can thank the court for its inadequate service and move on.

We should move on.

In the end, all this wishcasting about a Supreme Court that is going to save us has material costs. It deludes us into thinking that someone else is going to rush in while we watch and cheer from the stands. Call it Mueller Derangement Syndrome or whatever else you’d like. But let’s stop thinking there’s someone else. The 2024 election, like everything else, all comes down to turnout. That isn’t in the court’s hands. It’s in ours.

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• March 12, 2024

What Constitutes a 3000-Word Essay? 

Time should be the least of your worries when writing a 3 000 word essay. However, you still need to plan and organize your task to make it perfect. Thus, in a way, time is still a factor. Before you can estimate the time it takes to complete such an assignment, you must understand the process of writing a great essay. Academic writing begins with a prompt from your professor or the examining body with instructions and a strict guideline. You may also have access to the grading rubric. With these details, you can plan your essay and organize the writing process.  

Initial preparations for essay writing help you clarify the instructions and plan your time effectively. Give this initiative a day or two. This way, you will have a better grasp of the task ahead and organize your time to meet all the expectations. This is usually the best point to engage an essay writer to help create a topic, a thesis, and an outline. You must also seek clarification from your instructor, which demonstrates seriousness and commitment. You need only write a message or two with specific questions and your professor will respond with suggestions.  

Factors Influencing Writing Time 

Writing speed .

Your writing experience is a critical determinant of the speed and efficiency of your writing. While most people are good in typing, a 3 000 word essay requires slightly more than keyboard skills. You must understand sentence structures and word choices. You must also incorporate multiple sources and integrate evidence from verifiable articles. These factors determine your speed of writing. The faster you are at mastering them, the faster you can complete a 3000-word essay.  

Research and Analysis 

The amount of research required for the specific 3000-word essay will also affect your timelines. In some cases, you might only need to compile some evidence from readily available sources. However, in most cases, a 3 000 word essay requires in-depth research from multiple databases. You should also set some time for analyzing the evidence using tables, figures, and charts. In such cases, writing a 3000-word essay will take slightly longer.  

Essay Type and Complexity 

The paper type also affects writing speed and time spent researching and structuring the document. If you are working on a dissertation chapter, you are more likely to spend more time finding supporting evidence and analyzing sources. When working on an argumentative essay, you’ll spend the time developing your argument and counterarguments. Complexity varies with paper type and discipline, affecting how long it takes to write a 3 000 word essay.  

Individual Differences 

Writing a good 3 000 word essay should take a maximum of eight hours for a professional writer and four days for an ordinary student. If you have a longer deadline, you can take time to perfect your essay and make it more compelling. You can also use the time to engage your peers and enjoy some criticism. If you are working on a short deadline, consider hiring a professional writer. Some expert writers can complete a 3000-word essay in four hours. Note that even the best writers need sufficient time to produce a perfect document.  

Tips and Tricks 

Create a detailed outline .

Creating a good outline can also be challenging for inexperienced writers. You need basic writing skills to generate a useful skeleton for a 3 000 word essay. If you are not confident enough at this point, you may experience a few hiccups when you get to the actual paper. However, with the necessary help, this step shouldn’t take more than an hour. Ensure you understand the instructions and use the grading rubric to generate a comprehensive outline. Countercheck the structure with your thesis statement highlighting all the major arguments and topic sentences. Use headings and subheadings to organize your essay.     

Set Mini Deadlines 

Subdivide the 3 0000 word essay into smaller tasks with defined timelines. Ensure each segment has a definite deadline in line with your smart objectives. Create a task organizer or a checklist to track your progress. Mini deadlines help create a sense of achievement and boost your energy. Avoid procrastination as delays in the smaller tasks will affect your overall productivity.  

Use a Timer for Focused Writing Sessions 

A timer can help you enforce the strict deadlines. You can incorporate a reward system in your deadlines to encourage your progress systematically. For instance, you can reward yourself with a stroll after every task or watch a favorite show between major sessions. A 3 000 word essay should have several smaller tasks, creating multiple opportunities for rewards. Use negative reinforcements where necessary like setting restrictions to your social media platforms between sessions.  

Eliminate Distractions 

Writing a 3 000 word essay can be daunting to inexperienced writers. Due to the complexity and length of the task, you can experience bouts of distractions between sessions. Find a suitable location for your writing away from common distractors like your phone and noise. Take breaks between tasks to avoid burnout and increase your concentration span.      

Leverage AI Writing Tools Wisely 

Capitalize on the most efficient technological development of the 21st century. How long is a 3 000 word essay going to take you without writing from scratch? The best AI writing tool will save you at least two days of research. The programs can generate human-like content within seconds. You can use this information to familiarize yourself with the topic and context of writing. You can even generate templates and sample thesis statements. However, you should not copy the content from an AI tool. Instead, use the program as a guide for writing.  

Strategies for Efficient Writing 

Planning and outlining .

At this stage, your biggest concern should be understanding the prompt and any requirements. You want to clarify any ambiguous instructions before commencing the work. You also need to understand your professor’s expectations and any other requirements from your institution. Identify the writing style required and the implied academic writing languages. Review your institution’s writing guide and recommendations. If you must choose your own topic, request your professor’s approval and advice soon enough. If possible, review the topic with peers or the instructor to conceptualize the scope of your assignment. Identify the possible challenges you might face when looking for information.  

Time Management and Prioritization 

How long is a 3 000 word essay? The answer to this question lies in your time management ability. With a proper outline and enough initial research, you can organize your time effectively. Allocate sufficient time to the most important tasks. Identify possible challenges, especially when finding reliable sources and seek alternatives. Plan for failure and unforeseeable events and give yourself a buffer. Incorporate slack time and scope creep. Allocate the number of words needed for each section and the time you might take to complete it. Planning your time can be time-consuming as most of the allocations are based on assumptions. However, this exercise shouldn’t take more than an hour with the right information. 

Active Research and Note-Taking 

Once you’ve understood the task and its scope, you can now start investigating your topic. The initial research for a 3 000 word essay helps you evaluate the prevailing ideas about the issue you are investigating. You will also encounter arguments from other researchers in research papers, books, and periodicals. Sometimes a simple web search about the topic is sufficient. In other cases, you may need a deeper understanding of the topic before you can generate a reasonable argument. If the topic is straightforward, you only need to take a side and argue for it. Allocate a day for this task if the assignment is not urgent. It will take you less than an hour if you are an experienced writer. 

Utilizing AI Writing Tools 

AI has revolutionized the writing industry with unprecedented levels of efficiency and accuracy. This technology makes writers more effective and helps them write faster. Utilizing these tools in writing saves you lots of time for initial research. You can also produce a sample 3 000 word essay for comparison and guidelines. For security reasons, use only verifiable AI tools and avoid sharing personal details on any online platform.  

Writing Process and Revision Cycles 

Start your 3 000 word essay by developing a strong thesis statement to communicate your main argument. The thesis statement is the equivalent of the whole assignment in a sentence or two. You may want to engage a professional to help with this part if you are not familiar with thesis statements. You can also use AI tools to generate possible theses for your assignment depending on the level of importance and urgency. For a professional writer, this task should take less than half an hour. A good AI tool will generate multiple thesis states in seconds. Revise and edit at the proofreading stage to save more time for writing, research, and analysis.  

What is the average time required to write a 3000-word essay? 

The average time for writing a 3 000 word essay depends on the paper type and complexity. It also depends on the writer’s experience and writing speed. An experienced writer can take less that less than eight hours to complete an urgent 3000-word essay. An ordinary student may need up to four days to achieve the same milestone. 

What factors influence the writing time for a 3000-word essay? 

Writing a 3000-word essay depends on the writer’s abilities and other individual differences. Your writing speed will determine how best you can convert your thoughts into written work. Similarly, your research and analysis capabilities will influence evidence collection and integration in your paper. Most importantly, the time taken to complete a 3000-word essay will depend on the paper type and complexity of the instructions.  

Can the writing time be reduced by using AI writing assistants? 

Leveraging AI technology can help you scale down the writing time significantly. These tools are fast and efficient, helping writers with research and content generation. Experienced writers use AI tools to conduct initial research and compile sufficient details for their documents. Some even use the technology to generate thesis statements and outlines.  

What are effective strategies for planning a 3000-word essay? 

The most effective strategy to tackle any time management problem is planning and prioritizing. Organize your work in mini tasks with mini-deadlines and complete the segments independently. Eliminate all distractors by finding a comfortable working space away from your phone and noise. Leverage the power of AI and conduct active research while taking notes. Start your document with the body and finish with proofreading.  

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