WHAT IS STANDARD UK ACADEMIC ENGLISH?
The UK has unique spelling and punctuation conventions among English-speaking countries.
UK spelling is predominant outside the United States.
UK punctuation is simpler and more intuitive than American punctuation.
Suffix Spelling Differences
To ensure consistency, we replace:
–ize with –ise
–izing with –ising
and
–ization with –isation
American English
- Standardize
- Criticizing
- Specialization
UK English
- Standardise
- Criticising
- Specialisation
General Spelling Differences
Apart from suffixes, several other words are spelled differently in UK English.
American English
- Labor
- Defense
- Encyclopedia
- Center
- Fulfill
- Skeptic
UK English
- Labour
- Defence
- Encyclopaedia
- Centre
- Fulfil
- Sceptic
Quotation Marks and Punctuation
In UK English, single quotation marks are used for quotations.
Double quotation marks are used for quotations within quotations.
American English
- “Take a seat”
- “He told me, ‘Take a seat’”
UK English
- ‘Take a seat’
- ‘He told me, “Take a seat”’
In UK English, punctuation goes after the final quotation mark unless it is specifically part of the quotation:
American English
- USA.”
- USA,”
- She answered, “Of course!”
- He asked, “What did you see?”
UK English
- UK’.
- UK’,
- She answered, ‘Of course!’
- He asked, ‘What did you see?’
American spelling and punctuation is accepted in the UK at the undergraduate and master’s levels, but inconsistency is not.
We edit for consistent, PhD-level UK-style spelling and punctuation to make the best possible impression on your reviewer.