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Writing For Scientific, Technical & Business Publications – An Editor’s Perspective

Ravi Raghavan Editor Chemical Weekly

+Contents

n  Why publish

n  How are articles selected

n  Before you start

n  Writing the piece

n  Intellectual property issues

n  Writing styles

n  How to hold reader attention

n  Conclusions

+What you may be writing soon

n  Theses, Project Reports and dissertations

n  Journal articles

n  Research grant proposals

n  Letters of recommendation

n  Employee reviews

n  Internal reports

n  Patent applications

n  Conference papers

n  Book chapters

n  Award nominations……

+Why publish?

n  Provides record of your work n  Connotes favourable assessment by others

n  Establishes contact with others with similar interests

n  Conveys knowhow; helps others n  Stimulates constructive discussions

n  Makes timely information available to others

n  Stimulates scientific/industrial progress

Articles become permanent record of your ideas and experience

+Why publish?

n  Builds professional prestige n  Factor in professional appointments, salary reviews, promotions,

tenure, membership of professional societies etc.

n  Promotes personal satisfaction n  Better understanding of your own field

n  Provides valuable experience in self-expression and orderly thinking

n  Earns money n  Modest honorariums! – but a great sense of accomplishment

n  Can be fun!

+How are articles selected?

n  Reader interest determines article's value n  Goal is not what editors, advertisers or authors want, but what

subscribers want.

n  Solicited or otherwise n  Editorial calender

n  Special issues

n  Edited - for length, style & clarity n  In rare instances, rewritten

+Before you start

n  Read journal to get sense of style n  Imitation of good style is great idea

n  Avoids rejections – subject may already have been adequately written upon

n  Ask for ‘Guidelines to Authors’

n  Know your audience n  Research paper: Write for the intelligent graduate student; not a

professor

n  Inter-disciplinary work: Don’t take for granted – explain everything

n  Technical journals: Average reader; non-specialists

+Before you start

n  Decide on length: Series or single long article n  Journals may (or may not) have limitations n  One piece always preferred n  “Long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to be

interesting” n  Shorter is always better, but not necessarily easier n  "I'm sorry this letter is so long, but I didn't have time to write a shorter

one”: Abe Lincoln to a friend

n  Settle authorship carefully n  Multi-author publications on the rise n  Collaborations across institutes, countries and cultures n  ‘My work’ vs ‘our work’ n  Ethical issue: costs scientists jobs & reputation n  Legal issue: costs (usually publishers) money to resolve

+Before your start

n  Conduct thorough literature search n  Helps form cogent, well-thought out paper

n  Absolute must for review articles to ensure state-of-art

n  Avoids nasty surprises – your ‘seminal’ work may have already been reported!

n  Check submission formats [web site, instruction manuals]

n  Electronic – Text, Tables, Figures, Charts

n  Paper – many are detailed

n  E.g. Type Roman 12, double spaced, one side

n  E.g. Equations, Figures, tables, photographs at end

+Writing the piece

n  Prepare an outline n  Promotes logical presentation and clarity n  Sending outline to editor before starting manuscript – option worth exploring n  Research papers - Figures, data tables come first and guide text

n  Prepare rough draft n  Seek inputs: colleagues, co-authors, research guide n  Wiki’s and other web innovations increasingly used for collaborative work

n  Review, reflect and revisit n  Editors are human – form harsh judgments on seeing small errors

n  Mistyping a number can cast doubt on rest of the results n  Edit for language, inaccuracies, inconsistencies

n  Use spell checks, grammar checks – but no substitute to old-fashioned ‘proof reading’ with pen on paper

n  Allow time for revisions – “typical number is 23”

+Writing the piece: Broad structure

n  Introduction

n  Main body

n  Conclusions

+Writing the piece: Introduction

n  Purpose is to prepare the reader to enter the world of your paper n  Places the ensuing discussion in the context that the reader can understand n  Connection between the familiar world of the reader and the less familiar

world of the writer's subject

n  Some ways to do this n  Statement of a thesis [e.g. Computers are a mixed blessing] n  Question [Are gender roles learned or inherited?]

n  In any case n  State the problem to be solved. n  Tell the reader how the paper is organized.

Many productively bypass the introduction and return only after completing the main body of work

+Writing the piece: Main body

n  Include enough detail so reader can understand what you did and how you did it [e.g. equipment, chemicals] n  Replicability is the essence of modern science …. n  …. But more and more are failing on this count [50% in some

biological sciences]

n  Include a brief section covering notation, background information & key assumptions

n  Include sections on theoretical and experimental methods, as required

n  Plan the results section to achieve the most effective mix of text, figures and tables

+Writing the piece: Concluding paragraphs

n  Introduction in reverse

n  Simplest conclusion is an “expanded summary”

n  Explain how the theoretical and experimental results relate to the original problem.

n  State why these results are important.

n  If required, discuss implications for future study and ways in which subject can be further explored

n  One way to conclude is to discuss the larger significance of what you have written

+Intellectual property issues

n  Respect copyright n  Obtain permissions when quoting n  Quoting vs. copying – the difference is a legal notice to the

publisher! n  Accuracy in quoting – resist temptation to put words into someone

else’s mouth

n  Put all text citations in ‘Literature cited’ at end n  Mandatory for research papers; review articles n  Basic courtesy for technical articles

n  Clear submission with organisation – University, company n  Conflict with patenting policy [patent or publish]

+Writing style

n  ‘Bad English’ has become lingua franca of modern science n  Seek help with grammar and language

n  Consult unabridged dictionaries for punctuation tips and guidelines

n  Stick to short works and mostly short sentences; punctuation nearly always will fall into place

n  Write to express, not to impress n  Use straight forward, plain English

n  Don't try create a literary gem; reader isn't interested in your vocabulary size

+Writing style

n  Use common, everyday terms, instead of highly technical ones

n  Strip manuscript of wordiness & padding n  If a sentence reads well without a word – drop it!

n  Long heavy text bores n  Tables, figures, bullets enliven

n  Talk to those with experience in writing

n  Avoid religious, ethnic, or political references; personal attacks; excessive claims about the value of your work; and criticism of the work of other people

n  Use the active voice

+Writing style: Active & passive voice

n  I procured a triangular glass prism, to try therewith the celebrated phenomena of colors. And for that purpose, having darkened my laboratory, and made a small hole in my window shade, to let in a convenient quantity of the sun's light, I placed my prism at the entrance, that the light might be thereby refracted to the opposite wall. It was at first a very pleasing diversion to view the vivid and intense colors produced thereby.

n  For the purpose of investigating the celebrated phenomena of chromatic refrangibility, a triangular glass prism was procured. After darkening the laboratory and making a small aperture in an otherwise opaque window covering in order to ensure that the optimum quantity of visible electromagnetic radiation (VER) would be admitted from solar sources, the prism was placed in front of the aperture for the purpose of reflecting the VER to the wall on the opposite side of the room. It was found initially that due to the vivid and intense colors which were produced by this experimental apparatus, the overall effect was aesthetically satisfactory when viewed by the eye.

Active Passive

+How to hold reader attention

n  Readers can be rid of you by flipping a page n  Unlike audiences at meetings who are pinned to their seats by

good manners.

n  Think of articles as an upside-down pyramid n  The most significant information is on top

n  Less relevant information trails off until article ends

n  Close with a quick, crisp summary of major points

+How to hold reader attention

n  Suggest suitable title to editor

n  Open with a ‘lead’ that will grab attention n  Answer: Who ? What ? When ? Why? Where? How?

n  Summarize benefits and key points

n  Stress value to reader

n  Examples: Reduced costs, better design, solving a problem, safer, more profitable etc.

+Must read: The Economist Style Guide

n  Published by the Economist, renowned for clarity, style & precision of its writing

n  Based on in-house style manual

n  Gives general advice on writing, points out common errors and clichés, offers guidance on punctuation, abbreviations, capital letters, with exhaustive reference material. n  Part 1: Style book, which acts as a position paper of sorts in favor of clear,

concise, correct usage. n  Part 2: Describes many spelling, grammar & usage differences between British

and American English. n  Part 3 :Offers a handy reference to information as common business

abbreviations, accountancy ratios, currencies, laws, measures, and stock-market indices.

n  Over 400,000 sold to date internationally

+Conclusions

n  Writing is not just for English majors

n  Written communication accounts for much of everybody’s job, not just researchers

n  Strong writing [communicating] skills are essential for professional progress

n  If you can’t communicate your work, it does no good to anyone!

n  Good writing is hard work, but the good news is that it can be learnt!