In the name of Allah

Scientific & Technical Presentation Leila Sharif Sharif University of Technology

Formatting Scientific Documents

In scientific writing, formats vary considerably to serve different situations Formal Reports Journal Articles Presentation Slides

Not all rules of format are constant Reports Sandia Laboratories Figure 1 Table 1 equation 1 Textbooks Prentice-Hall Fig. 1 Table 1 equation (1) Journals ASME fig. 1 table 1 Eq. 1

Format is the arrangement of type on the page typography layout

Arial abcdefghijklmnopqr stuwxyz Arial Narrow abcdefghijklmnopqr stuwxyz Comic Sans abcdefghijklmnopqr stuwxyz Times New Roman abcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyz Garamond abcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyz Courier abcdefghijklmnopqr stuvwxyz Each typestyle has its own personality and power Serif Sans Serif

Avoid large blocks of capital letters WORDS SET IN ALL CAPS USE MORE SPACE THAN TEXT SET IN LOWERCASE. Words set in all caps use more space than words set in lowercase. TYPE IS TO READ Type is to read

Morton-Thiokol’s presentation to NASA suffered because of all capital letters on the slides Morton-Thiokol Presentation to NASA January 27, 1986 PRIMARY CONCERNS - FIELD JOINT - HIGHEST CONCERN EROSION PENETRATION OF PRIMARY SEAL REQUIRES RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL FOR PRESSURE INTEGRITY IGNITION TRANSIENT - (0-600 MS) (0-170 MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL ( MS) REDUCED PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL ( MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF NO SECONDARY SEAL CAPABILITY STEADY STATE - (600 MS - 2 MINUTES) IF EROSION PENETRATES PRIMARY O-RING SEAL - HIGH PROBABILITY OF NO SECONDARY SEAL CAPABILITY BENCH TESTING SHOWED O-RING NOT CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING CONTACT WITH METAL PARTS GAP OPERATING TO MEOP BENCH TESTING SHOWED CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN O-RING CONTACT DURING INITIAL PHASE ( MS) OF TRANSIENT

Choose a type size that is easy to read 48 point 36 point 24 point 18 point 14 point 12 point 10 point 8 point posters presentation slides titles text footnotes

In your layouts, use white space for association, emphasis, and hierarchy space for margins space for illustrations space for headings

Follow the format that is expected or required for the situation

General Points _ Make attention on how to communicate effectively. _ Engineers write a lot (over 40% of the work). _ A successful engineer career requires strong writing skills. _ Consider good writers & good speakers in research community. _ “No one can be a good writer – only a good rewriter”.

General Points _ Be clear & concise. _ Eliminate noise during communication (it’s, fuzzy). _ Focus on why you are writing. _ Focus on your readers/audience. _ Get to the point.

General Points _ Provide accurate information. _ Present your material logically. _ Convey ideas & results in the least possible time & space. _ Present yourself clearly (engineering is considered as a precise discipline).

General Points _ Highlight your contributions. _ Keep reader’s attention on the main problem. _ Organize the article into sections & subsections properly to help its readability. _ Spell abbreviation out in full when first used & include (parenthetically) the abbreviation [i.e., image processing (IP)]. _ Be consistent with notations & format.

General Points _ The number of figures & tables does not come inside brackets [i.e., Figure 1, Table 5]. _ Figure caption appears on its below & ends with a point. _ Table caption appears on its above & ends with a point. _ Do not put space between a word & its subsequent comma, semi-colon, point, etc.

General Points _ Avoid using apostrophe in formal writing [i.e., don’t]. _ Avoid writing short paragraphs. _ Avoid writing lengthy sentences. _ Avoid writing English or French words using Persian alphabets. _ First time that the Persian translation of a professional word is used, state the English word using footnote.

The Craft of Editing Editing isn’t a cosmetic process. It’s a thinking process. Richard Rhodes, author Making of the Atomic Bomb

Although editing is a large subject, we will focus on the editing that occurs in the sign-off process Editing documents: Reviewing Line editing Online editing Proofreading Reducing friction: Actions by authors Actions by editors

Before editing someone’s document, you should first consider your constraints Other Editors of Document Audience of Document Format of Document Formality of Document Process to Publish Document Politics and Ethics

Three aspects of the writing affect the way that editors assess documents Content Style Form

Editing for content involves deciding what message to send Is the content complete? Is the content correct? Is the content appropriate?

Editing for style involves deciding how to communicate the message Focus on language Focus on illustration Focus on structure

Editing for form concerns whether the communication is properly presented Focus on grammar Focus on punctuation Focus on usage Focus on format Focus on spelling

Disposition of Writer Consistency of Change Importance of Change Difficulty of Change What variables determine how much change you make?

A well-done edit has three characteristics: clarity, consistency, and hierarchy hierarchy most important next most important least important consistency effect affect e clarity deletee

Last year, city engineers came up with a plan to address the tetrachloroethane- contaminated soil required to be excavated for planned thoroughfare construction that will occur within right-of-way adjacent to Building 1817, which houses the Genetics Laboratory. devised One convention is to circle comments, but not added words or letters sentence too long for This construction / #the *au: are you implying that Chem E contaminated the soil? au*

Reducing the friction between editors and authors calls for action on both sides Identifying pet peeves Negotiating gray areas Establishing boundaries Controlling tone Understanding authors Editors Authors Identifying constraints Submitting outlines early Allotting time for editors Mulling over criticisms

When editing someone’s writing, consider tone Edit one another as you would wish to be edited Lead with the positive Editor Author