Style Basics PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC STYLE BASICS

Purpose WHY? What are my goals or objectives?

Research Start at Google or Wikipedia But NEVER end there!

Research Use Specialized Databases and a Research Librarian! Shaver Engineering Library Hours Spring Semester Mondays - Thursdays: 8:00 a.m. - Midnight Fridays: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturdays & Sundays: Closed Spring Break Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Research How to Tell if a Source is Academic On “Advanced Search” You Limited to “Only Peer Reviewed” Government or Major University Link (.gov,.edu) References within text and at the end of text to other works/ sources Valid bibliography with working links/actual articles More text than visuals Journal can be found in Academic Database

Writing Tips Look at models to see what basic components need to be included! Abstract ? Literature Review? Methodology? Experiment? Conclusions?

Writing Tips Develop a narrow, focused, and scholarly significant topic!

Writing Tips Begin with an Outline! Save time in writing and editing Follow the logic at a glance Identify cross references Mark territory in sections and subsections Track and organize outcomes as you work Identify undeveloped or redundant sections

Writing Tips Sections and Subsections should be real divisions of information and focus. Research Tips v. Writing Tips

IN EVERY SECTION … Introduce your Subject: Offer Background Information/ History Establish Objectives Explain why the Topic is an Important One

Writing Tips Demonstrate Your Ability to Find The Required Number And Type of Recent, Relevant Research

Do Identify historically important research and current findings Critically evaluate the material and show why this research is important to YOUR topic

Evaluate Research 1. Identify the thesis 2. What are the main points? 3. What evidence does the author use to support these points? 4. Is this author affiliated with a particular group or theory? 5. What is your position on this researcher’s work? 6. How will this work contribute to the development of your own ideas?

Don’t Omit classic works Discuss core ideas without references Produce a list, data dump, or simply annotate Accept any position at face value Simply describe (without evaluating) the content of what you have read

Writing Tips State Main Ideas at the Start of Paragraphs in Topic Sentences The research on molecular cohesion at this temperature is surprisingly diverse. …

Writing Tips Research results should be clear and complex!

Writing Tips Conclusions Bring all of your points to their logical conclusion. Never introduce new ideas Suggest further study or solutions

Writing Tips Be an Ethical Writer Present Facts Fully and Accurately Include All Results or Test Outcomes Describe Limitations Acknowledge the Work of Others

Choose a Style Manual Style Manuals are discipline specific! APA American Psychological Association SME Society of Mining Engineers Chicago Manual of Style MLA Modern Languages Association … and many more!

Choose a Style Manual Your Professor may also suggest you follow the style of a leading journal!

Style Manual When in doubt ASK!

Citation Cite all numbers and all information that is not common knowledge to an educated reader in this field using the style manual.

Citation What is Common Knowledge to this field? Certain Equations, Compounds, Reactions, Scientific Laws, …

Plagiarism Plagiarism happens in the sciences too! Fouling and scale formation have long been noted as problems (Wilson, 2005; Chen and Johnson, 1997). Make sure you acknowledge your sources!

Style: Transitions USE Transitions within and between sections “In addition, … These results also show … However, … As a result …”

Transitions show logical relationships between data and between sections of your paper

Transitions Transitions can be created with a single word. Time: then, next, after Cause-Effect: as a result, consequently Addition: moreover, similarly, also Contrast: however, but, although

Transitions Transitions can be created with a sentence or even a whole paragraph. While this study reveals much that earlier efforts did not, it is unique in that it raises a new issue in the debate engineers long though was settled.

Style: Coherence Every section of a technical or scientific paper should be able to stand alone as a piece of writing: ABSTRACT INTRO BODY CLOSE

Style: Tone and Language USE AN ACADEMIC TONE and LANGUAGE Good: Conclusive studies remain elusive. Bad: We just don’t know much.

Style: Audience Remember your Audience!

Style Avoid Slang: bummed, hanging out Contractions: Can’t, won’t, It’s Colloquial Expressions: Write up v. Report

Style Define Jargon AMA (American Medical Association) Remember your reader is a general academic audience!

Style Be concise! Based on the fact that ->because Monetary deprivation ->poverty For the purpose of ->for Summarize briefly ->summarize Very few -> few

Eliminate AVOID Unnecessary Qualifiers (In my opinion, It appears, it seems, etc) AVOID Repeated words AVOID Internal References (As I said before, as stated above, etc)

Style Proof Read! Grammar Check! Spell Check! The flows of gazes was continuosly interruptered by volumes …

Style Be precise! The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between light and the lightening bug. -Mark Twain

Be Precise! AVOID Vague Adjectives (good, small, etc) Vague Adverbs (really, very, etc) Vague Pronouns (this, that, etc)

Style Vary sentence lengths for a complex style.

Style Use Active Voice! Passive: The rotation was stopped by indirect pressure. Active: Indirect pressure stopped the rotation.

Style Stay in the Same TENSE! PAST It was … PRESENT It is … FUTURE It will be …

Style Use Gender Neutral Language Chairman v. Chair Man the polls v. Staff the polls Woman doctor v. Doctor His/Her v. Their

Style Don’t Anthropomorphize! Tables and Figures can show or indicate, but not compare. Experiments can not demonstrate, control, or interpret.

Style: Visuals Format Consistently! Have Titles and Labels!

Style: Visuals Choose the right visual aid to present information!

Style: Visuals Use white space wisely! Be clean and clear!

Style: Visuals Don’t Overcomplicate!

Style: Visuals Explain visuals in text BUT visuals should be “readable” alone.

Style: Visuals As the bar graph in Figure 1 shows, my writing is improving. Figure 1. My Writing Improvement BE SIMPLE AND DIRECT!

Style: Visuals Make sure texts and visuals are close to each other! Figure 1: Increase in Homework

Extra Help? The Writing Center M-F 10-2 Sun-Wed 6-9