Most students know that contractions should not be used in scholarly writing, but working with a document that takes such a long time to write can make them miss when they are using casual language. To help quickly check for this error, use Word's Navigation function (Control+f or Command+f) to search for common contraction endings, such as n't, 've, or 'll. However, there is no easy way to check for all contractions, but using the tips on our editing guide can help.