Parentheses and Brackets - Graduate Writing Center

Nested Applications
Parentheses and Brackets

Parentheses and Brackets

Parentheses (the round ones) and brackets [the square ones] might look like headphones for words, but actually, both are used to insert text into other text. That said, although they occasionally work together, their functions are mostly quite different. Allow us to explain:

Parentheses

You'll probably be using parentheses primarily to set off acronyms or, depending on your citation style, in-text citations.

  1. To introduce an acronym, first spell it out in your text, placing the acronym in parentheses; subsequent uses of the acronym take no parentheses:
     

    An increasingly important technology in expeditionary delicatessen operations is the sandwich-defined network (SDN). Though initially described as "baloney" by its wryer critics, over the past decade, refinements to SDN have rolled out . . . 

  2. Certain citation styles, such as APA, Chicago Author-Date, and INFORMS, place citations in parentheses; see the NPS Citation Guide for more information:
     

    Though initially described as "baloney" by its wryer critics, over the past decade, refinements to SDN have rolled out, allowing it to catch up with the needs of ham operators, who now relish the technology (Coburg 1998, p. 11). 

  3. Parentheses can also set off additional information inside a sentence. (They can even contain whole sentences.) However, doing so will signal to readers that this information is significantly less important than the surrounding text; be sure not to place critical material in parentheses! 

This research investigates whether three taxa of dough-enfolded comestibles (hot dogs, gyros, and hand pies) qualify as sandwiches. ←Case selection is likely too important for parentheses!

In situations like this one, dashes—or simply eliminating the appositive—are stronger (i.e., more emphatic) alternatives:

  • This research investigates whether three taxa of dough-enfolded comestibles—hot dogs, gyros, and hand pies—qualify as sandwiches.
  • This research investigates whether hot dogs, gyros, and hand pies qualify as sandwiches.

Brackets

Square brackets also have a role to play in in-text citation styles, as well as in quotations and translated sources:

  1. When the author of a source is an organization widely known by an acronym, the first in-text citation can define that acronym:

    (Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS] 2017)

    As in the text, subsequent citations can use the acronym only:
     

    (JCS 2017)

  2. Use square brackets when modifying a quotation:

    As Drezner observes, “the challenges [flesh-eating zombies] pose to states are very, very grave.” (source)

  3. Square brackets enclose translated titles in the list of references; see the Essential Rules page of your citation style for more information. 
     

Still have questions about parentheses and brackets? Make a coaching appointment or see the links below. 

Parentheses and Brackets Links

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Writing Topics A–Z


This index links to the most relevant page for each item. Please email us at writingcenter@nps.edu if we're missing something!

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A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

abbreviations

abstracts

academic writing

acronyms

active voice

adjectives, compound

advisor, selecting and working with

AI

apostrophes

appointment with GWC coaches, how to schedule

argument

article usage

artificial intelligence

assignments, understanding them

audience

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B

body paragraphs

booking an appointment with a GWC coach

brackets, square

brainstorming

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C

capitalization

citations

charts

ChatGPT

citation software

citation styles

clauses

clarity

clustering

coaching, about

coaching, how to schedule

colons

comma splices

commas, FANBOYS

commas, introductory

commas, list

commas, nonessential / nonrestrictive information

commas, Oxford

commas, serial

common knowledge

commonly confused words

compare-and-contrast papers

compound adjectives / modifiers

concision

conclusions

conference presentations

conjunctive adverbs

coordinating conjunctions

copyright and fair use

critical thinking

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D

dangling modifiers

dashes

dependent clauses

dependent marker words

display equations

distance learning

double submission of coursework

drafting

Dudley Knox Library

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E

editing your own work

editing: outside editors

em dash

en dash

equations

exclamation points

executive summary

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F

FANBOYS

FAQs

figures

first person, use of in academic writing

footnotes

fragments

free-writing

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G

generative artificial intelligence (AI)

gerunds

grammar

graphics

graphs

group writing

GWC appointment, how to schedule

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H

homophones

Honor Code, NPS

human subjects research

hyphens

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I

ibid.

incomplete sentences

independent clauses

Institutional Review Board

interviews, conducting

introductions

IRB

iThenticate

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J

Joining the Academic Conversation

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L

LaTeX

library liaisons

lists, syntax of

literature reviews

logic and analysis

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M

M dash

making a GWC appointment

mathematics

memos

methodology

modifiers, compound

modifiers, misplaced

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N

N dash

nominalizations

note-taking

noun clusters

numbers

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O

organization

outlining

Oxford comma

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P

paragraph development

parallelism

paraphrasing

parentheses

parts of speech

passive voice

periods

persuasion

phrases vs. clauses

plagiarism, how to avoid

plagiarism-detection software

plain language

polishing

prepositional phrases

prepositions

pronouns, clarity with

pronouns, grammar of

proofreading

publishing

punctuation

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Q

questionnaires, administering

questions

quotation marks

quoting

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R

Reading with Intent I

Reading with Intent II

redundancies

reference software

reflection papers

research

research guides, discipline-specific

research questions

restrictive vs. nonrestrictive information

reusing papers

reverse outlining

revision

roadmaps

run-on sentences

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S

scheduling a GWC appointment

self-citing

semicolons

sentence fragments

serial comma

signal phrases

significance

so what?

source blending

sources, engaging with / critiquing

sources, evaluating the reliability of

sources, citing

spelling

standard essay structure

STEM / technical writing

Strategic Reading I

Strategic Reading II

style

subject–verb agreement

subjects, grammatical

subordinating conjunctions

summarizing

surveys, administering

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T

tables

teams, writing in

technical writing

tense

that vs. which

thesis advisor, selecting and working with

thesis process overview

Thesis Processing Office (TPO)

thesis proposals: common elements

thesis statements

thesis writing

this, that, these, those

tone, professional

topic sentences

transitions

types of papers

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U

United States or U.S.?

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V

verbs and verb tense

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W

which vs. that

why write?

writer’s block

writing in groups / teams

writing process

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Z

Zotero

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