side-shows there. Endnotes have less impact on authors here,
because endnotes are in a much less visible location.
Finally, for completeness, let me mention a newer citations-
handling approach which is even less obtrusive than endnotes.
‘Popular science’ writers follow this style, partly in hopes of
broadening their appeal to readers, especially those outside the
academic community. They provide a full slate of references at
the end of the book, but there are no note numbers or Harvard
references in the text to trigger them. Instead the reference list
gives a page number, perhaps also a line or paragraph number,
and the first few words of a quote or other phrase on that page.
This leads into a full relevant citation in endnote form. This
approach may become more popular in future with academic
books in ‘soft’ disciplines, where authors strive for a better
literary feel. But at present it would still be an unconventional
referencing procedure to use for completing a PhD.
ConclusionsConstructing your text crisply and handling your references
competently are small but quite important parts of achieving
a convincing approach to professional writing. There is no rea-
son to worry overmuch about either aspect. Do not try to
achieve a perfect style by endlessly polishing or tinkering with
your text. And do not get hung up or obsessed about referenc-
ing issues. Once you have achieved a certain level, your sub-
stantive arguments and the quality of your research will be
decisive in shaping readers’ reactions. So these fundamentals
should always get most of your attention. Getting style and
referencing aspects of your writing right simply helps readers
focus on the substance of your argument and the qualities
of your research, instead of being distracted, confused or
annoyed by presentational defects. Producing cleanly written,
well-referenced text will also help maintain your morale as an
author. If your text reads well you will be better motivated to
write more and will have a clearer picture of where you are
going. It should give you the confidence to tackle and surmount
some inevitable major difficulties of the writing and revising
process, to which I turn in the next chapter.
WRITING CLEARLY◆ 133