Writing of Scientific Papers

8/3/2019 Writing of Scientific Papers

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Lecture Notes on

English Writing of Scientific Papers(As Reprinted from Published Sources in English)

by Gaoyuan Wei

2003-12-13


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Email: [email protected]

Tel +86-10-62754177(O)

FTP & Homepage Addresses

ftp://ftp.chem.pku.edu.cn/weigaoyuan/http://www.chem.pku.e

du.cn/gywei/


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Course Outline 2003-11-18 (English Writing of Scientific Papers)

Nov. 18, 2003 ~ Dec 25, 2003

Lecture Room & Room 252, Experimental Building Tuesday and Thursday, 18:00-20:00

by Professor Gaoyuan Wei College of Chemistry & Molecular Engineering, Peking University

Day 01 --- Nov. 18 Lecture 01 Introduction on Scientific Writing

1.1 About This Short Course 1.2 What Is a Scientific Paper

Day 02 --- Nov. 20 Lecture 02 Components of a Paper

2.1 How to Prepare the Title 2.2 How to List the Authors

Day 03 --- Nov. 25

2.3 How to List the Addresses 2.4 How to Prepare the Abstract

2.5 How to Write the Introduction 2.6 How to Write the Materials and Methods Section

Day 04 --- Nov. 27

2.7 How to Write the Results 2.8 How to Write the Discussion

2.9 How to Cite AcknowledgmentsDay 05 --- Dec. 02

2.10 How to Prepare the Literature Cited 2.11 How to Design Effective Tables

Day 06 --- Dec. 04

2.12 How to Prepare Effective Illustrations 2.13 How to Type the Manuscript

Day 07 --- Dec. 09 Lecture 03 Publication of a Paper

3.1 Where and How to Submit the Manuscript

3.2 How to Deal with Editors(The Review Process)Day 08 --- Dec. 11

3.3 How to Deal with Printers (The Publishing Process)

3.4 How to Order and Use Reprints

Day 09 --- Dec. 16 Lecture 04 Writing of Other Types of Scientific Literature

4.1 How to Write a Review Paper 4.2 How to Write a Conference Report

4.3 How to Write a Thesis

Day 10--- Dec. 18 Lecture 05 Ethics, Rights, and Permissions

5.1 Importance of Originality 5.2 Copyright Considerations

Lecture 06 Writing Styles

6.1 Use and Misuse of English

Day 11--- Dec. 236.2 Avoiding Jargon 6.3 How and When to Use Abbreviations

Day 12--- Dec. 25 Lecture 07 Summary and Discussion on Scientific Writing

7.1 A Personalized Summary 7.2 Discussion with the Participants

Lecture 01 Introduction on Scientific Writing

1.1 About This Short Course1.1.1 The Importance of

Publication


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The Man of Science appears to be the only

man who has something to say just now and the

only man who does not know how to say it.

SIR JAMES BARRIE

We in science, of necessity, must contribute to the glut of information. But let us

do it with love, especially love of the English language, which is the cornerstone of the

intellectual heritage of the western world;

also do it with energy, the energy we need to put into the scientific paper so that the reader will

not need to use much energy to get the information out of the paper;

husband our materials, especially our words, so that we do not waste inordinate quantities of

paper and ink (or bits) in trying to tell the world more than we know.

LOVE ENERGY

MATERIALS INFORMATION

Publish or Perish?

Whether or not one wholly subscribes to the publish or perish adage, there is no question but

that the goal of scientific research is publication. And scientisits are measured, and become known

(or remain unknown), by theirpublication.

The publication of research results is an essential part of the research process.

A scientific experiment, no matter how spectacular the result, is not completed until the results are

published. In fact, the cornerstone of the philosophy of science is based on the fundamental

assumption that original research mustbe published; only this can new scientific knowledge be

authenticated and then added to the existing data base that we call science.


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The research scientist, perhaps uniquely among the trades and professions, must provide a written

document showing what he did, why he did it, how he did it, and what he learned from it.

Thus the scientist must not only do science; he must write science. Although good writing

does not lead to the publication of bad science, bad writing can and often does prevent or delay the

publication of good science.

1.1.2 The Purpose of This Short Course

By presenting certain basic principles that are accepted in most scientific disciplines, it is hoped

that this course will help scientist and students to prepare manuscripts that will have a high

probability of being accepted for publication and of being completely understood when they are

published.1. Define a Scientific Paper

To write a scientific paper, the writer must know exactly whatit is he is doing and why he is doing

it.

To be guilty of dual publication, or to use the work of others without appropriate attribution, is the

type of breach in scientific ethics that is regarded as unforgivable by ones peers. Therefore, exact

definition of what my go into a scientific paper, and what may not, is of prime importance.

2. Parts Analysis of a Scientific Paper

Each individual element of the scientific paper is analyzed, item by item.

Fortunately, there are certain commonly accepted rules regarding the construction of the title, the

Abstract, the Introduction, etc., so that this parts analysis, once mastered, should serve the scientist

throughout his research career.3.Associated Information Either Technical or Related to the Post Writing Stages

Technical information: e.g., how to prepare illustrative material;

Information Related to the Post Writing Stages: e.g., submission, review, and publication

processes.

4. Rules Relating to Primary Scientific Papers Are Adjusted to Fit Different Circumstances

These circumstances include the writing of review papers, conference reports, and theses.

5. Additional Topics

Some of the rules of English as applied to scientific writing;

A sermon against jargon;

A discussion of abbreviations

A sermon against sin.

1.2 What Is a Scientific Paper

1.2.1 Inexact and Exact Definitions

Inexact Definitions:

Perhaps the best answer to the question What is a scientific paper was provided by the wag who

described a drug as any substance which, when injected into a laboratory rat, produces a

scientific paper.It was once said that a scientific paper is not designed to be read. It is designed


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to be published. Although this was said in jest, there is much truth to it. And, actually, if the paper

is designed to be published, it will also be in a prescribed form that can be read, or at least its

contents can be grasped quickly and easily by the reader.

A scientific paper is (i) the first publication of original research results, (ii) in a form whereby

peers of the author can repeat the experiments and test the conclusions, and (iii) in a journal or

other source document which is readily available within the scientific community. Or as Debakey

(1976) said it, the contents of an article shall be new, true, important, and comprehensible

Exact Definitions:

In 1968, the Council of Biology Editors (CBE) arrived at the following definition:

An acceptable primary scientific publication must be the first disclosure (N.B. Now entry into a

computer data base) containing sufficient information to enable peers (1) to assess observations, (2)

to repeat experiments, and (3) to evaluate intellectual processes; moreover, it must be susceptible

to sensory perception, essentially permanent, available to the scientific community without

restriction, and available for regular screening by one or more of the major recognized secondary

services (e.g., currently, Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, etc., in the United States and

similar facilities in other countries).

N.B. This definition excludes publication such as newsletters and house organs.

1.2.2 Organization and Language of a Scientific Paper

A scientific paper is, or should be, highly stylized, with distinctive and dearly evident component

parts. Each scientific paper should have, in proper order, its Introduction, Materials and Methods,

Results, and Discussion.

Good organization is the key to good writing by M S Peterson (1961)

(i) What was the problem? the Introduction;

(ii) How did you study the problem? the Materials and Methods;

(iii) What did you find? the Results;

(iv) What do these findings mean? the Discussion.

Some people think that the preparation of a scientific paper has almost nothing todo with writing,

per se. it is a question oforganization.

In addition to organization, the second principal ingredient of a scientific paper should be

appropriate language within that organization. We keep emphasizing proper use of English,

because it is in this area that most scientists have trouble.

David B Truman said it well: In the complexities of contemporary existence the specialist who is

trained but uneducated, technically skilled but actually incompetent, is a menace.Language neednot be difficult. In scientific writing, we say: The best English is that which gives the sense in the

fewest short words. Literary tricks, metaphors and the like, divert attention from the message to

the style. They should be used rarely, if at all, in scientific writing.

1.2.3 Other Definitions

Original research report scientific paper;

Research report that are not original, or not scientific, or somehow fail to qualify as scientific

papers a review paper, a conference report, a meeting abstract, etc. A review paper may


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review almost anything, most typically the recent work in a defined subject area or the work of a

particular individual or group. Thus, the review paper is designed to summarize, analyze, or

synthesize information that has already been published (research reports in primary journals).

Although much or all of the material in a review paper has previously been published, the spectre

of dual publication does not normally arise because the review nature of the work is usually

obvious (often in the title of the publication, such as Microbiological Reviews, Annual Review of

Biochemistry, etc.).

A conference report is a paper published in a book or journal as part of the proceedings of a

symposium, national or international congress, workshop, round table, or the like. Rarely, such

conferences are designed for the presentation of original data, and the resultant proceeding (book

or journal) qualifies as primary publication. More often, such conference presentations are

basically review papers, presenting reviews of recent work of particular scientists or recent work

in particular laboratories. Some of the material reported at some conferences (especially the

exciting ones) is mainly in the form of preliminary reports, in which new, original data are

reported, often accompanied by interesting speculation. But, usually, these preliminary reports do

not qualify, nor are they intended to qualify, as scientific papers. Later, often much later, such

work is validly published in a primary journal; by this time, the loose ends have been tied down,

all essential experimental details are recorded (so that a competent worker could repeat the

experiments), and the speculations are now recorded as conclusions.

Therefore, the vast conference literature that appears in print normally is not primary. If original

data are presented in such contributions, the data can and should be published (or republished) in

an archival (primary) journal. Otherwise, the information may be effectively lost. If publication in

a primary journal follows publication in a conference report, there may be copyright and

permission problems affecting portions of the work (see later discussion on this subject), but the

more fundamental problem of dual publication normally does not and should not arise.

Meeting abstracts, like conference proceedings, are of several widely varying types. Conceptually,

however, they are similar to conference reports in that they can and often do contain original

information. They are not primary publications, nor should publication of an abstract be

considered as a bar to later publication of the full report.

In the past, there has been little confusion regarding the typical one-paragraph abstracts published

as part of the program or distributed along with the program of a national meeting or international

congress. It was usually understood that the papers presented at these meetings would later be

submitted for publication in primary journals. More recently, however, there has been a strong

trend towards extended abstracts (or synoptics). Because it is very expensive to publish all ofthe full papers presented at a large meeting, such as a major international congress, and because

such publication is still not a substitute for the valid publication offered by the primary journal, the

movement to extended abstract makes a great deal of sense. The extended abstract can supply

virtually as much information as a full paper; basically, what it lacks is the experimental detail.

However, precisely because it lacks experimental detail, it cannot qualify as a scientific paper.

Conclusion General acceptance of such definition will greatly clarify both primary and

secondary communication of scientific information.


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Lecture 07 Summary and Discussion on Scientific Writing

7.1 A Personalized Summary

Through the years, I have had many occasions to visit various scientific laboratories. Almost

always, I have been impressed, sometimes awed, by the obvious quality of the laboratories

themselves and of the equipment and supplies contained therein. Judging by appearances, one

could only believe that the newest and best (and most expensive) instruments and reagents were

used in these laboratories.

During those same years, I have seen thousands of the products of those same laboratories. Some

of these products (scientific papers) properly reflected the quality and expense that went into their

generation. But many did not.

I want to talk about the many that did not. I ask you, as I have often asked myself, why it is that so

many scientists, while capable of brilliant performance in the laboratory, write papers that would

be given failing marks in a seventh-grade composition class. I ask you why it is that some

scientists will demand the newest ultracentrifuge, even if it costs $40,000, and then refuse to pay

$20 to a commercial artist to draw a proper graph of the results obtained with the ultracentrifuge.

About a dozen similar questions leap to my mind. Unfortunately, I do not know the answers

and I doubt that anyone does.

Perhaps there are no "answers." If there are no answers, that leaves me free to do a little

philosophizing. (If you have gotten this far in this book, you can heroically hang on for another

few paragraphs.)

If we view knowledge as the house we live in, scientific knowledge will tell us how to construct

our house. But we need artistic knowledge to make our house beautiful, and we need humanistic

knowledge so that we can understand and appreciate life within our house.

If we view a scientific paper as the culmination of scientific research, which it is, we can, if we but

try, make it more beautiful and more understandable; we can do this by enriching our scientific

knowledge with a bit of the arts and humanities. A well-written scientific paper is the product of a

well-trained scientist, yes; but the scientist capable of writing a really good paper will also be a

cultured man or woman.

Students of the sciences must not content themselves with study of the sciences; science will be

more meaningful if studied against a background of other knowledge.

Especially, students must learn how to write, because science demands written expression. To

learn to write, you must learn to read. To learn to write well, you should read good writing. Read

your professional journals, yes, but also read Shakespeare.


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Many universities now provide courses in scientific writing. Those that do not should be ashamed

of themselves.

What I have said in this book is this: Scientific research is not complete until the results have been

published. Therefore, a scientific paper is an essential part of the research process. Therefore, the

writing of an accurate, understandable paper is just as important as the research itself. Therefore,

the words in the paper should be weighed as carefully as the reagents in the laboratory. Therefore,

the scientist must know how to use words. Therefore, the education of a scientist is not complete

until the ability to publish has been established.


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Guidelines for Reviewers

American Society for Microbiology


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The unpublished manuscript is a privileged document. Please protect it from any form of

exploitation. Reviewers are expected not to cite a manuscript or refer to the work it describes

before it has been published and to refrain from using the information it contains for the

advancement of their own research.

As a reviewer, adopt a positive, impartial attitude toward the manuscript under review. Your

position should be that of the author's ally, with the aim of promoting effective and accurate

scientific communication.

If you believe that you cannot judge a given article impartially, please return the manuscript

immediately to the editor, with your explanation. Reviews should be completed within 2 weeks. If

you know that you cannot finish the review within that time, send the manuscript to the editor by

return mail with a note of explanation.

A reviewer must not discuss a paper with its author. Although it may seem natural and reasonable

to discuss points of difficulty or disagreement directly with the author, especially if the reviewer is

generally in favor of publication and does not mind revealing his identity, this practice is

prohibited because the other reviewer and the editor may have different opinions, and the author

may be led into undue optimism by having cleared things up" with the reviewer who made contact

with him directly.

In your comments intended for transmission to the author, do not make any specific statement

about the acceptability of a paper, but advise the editor of your recommendation by checking the

review form at the appropriate place. The responsibility for acceptance or rejection lies with the

editor, who will base the decision not only on advice from reviewers but also on considerations

outside the reviewers' purview. Statements concerning acceptability in a reviewer's comments may,

therefore, run counter to the editor's decision and may have to be deleted.

In your review, consider the following aspects of the manuscript as far as they are applicable:

Importance of research question or subject studied

Originality of the work

Appropriateness of approach or experimental design

Adequacy of experimental techniquesSoundness of conclusions and interpretation

Relevance of discussion

Soundness of organization of the paper (and of the Abstract)

Adherence to ASM style as set forth in Instructions to Authors

Careful attention to the title

Appropriateness for the relevant journal

In comments intended for the author's eyes, present criticism dispassionately and avoid offensive


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Therefore, problems of decision are between "modify" and "reject." A paper that requires more

than a trivial amount of experimental material (e.g., a simple enzyme assay or growth rate

determination) to complete the argument should be checked "reject.

When data and experiments appear sound and complete but there are deficiencies in organization

and presentation, the choice of modify or "reject" depends on the extent of the problem. If the

reviewer can follow the argument and feels that the author should be able, with reviewers'

suggestions, to turn out a coherent revision within a month, the choice should be "modify." If the

treatment is so muddled that the meaning of the data comes into question, or the material is

incomprehensible to anyone but a specialist, the choice should be "reject."

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AAppppeennddiixx ::

2-Hour Lecture on Scientific Writing

by Dr R Q Zheng

Peking University

November 2002


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Today, I am going to talk about Scientific Writing, as Gaoyuan and I discussed earlier.

However, Scientific Writing is such a big issue, that we certainly can not finish it within one or

two classes, or even within a semester. Upon my understanding, almost every university in the

United States will offer courses related to technical writings during undergraduate education.

Although I myself received my Ph.D. degree in America, I had not taken such classes. So what I

am going to teach today is mostly based on my experience in writing papers and dissertation, and

on some of my readings. I will only introduce some basic ideas, give you some simple examples,

and provide a general guide. Well, I wish after this time, you would start to pay attention to

writing once you get chance to read, to write or even to listen to.

I know, many of you will continue your education after the 4-years

undergraduate life. Students who want to get a master or Ph.D. degree, for example,

at Peking University will be required to publish your research results. Even if this is

not the case, you can not avoid writing in your future work. Because you are

studying chemistry, today I will mostly introduce ACS style in technical writing,where ACS is the abbreviation of American Chemical Society.

1)

Concerning the writing of a scientific paper, specific guideline for text length,

preparation of figures and tables, and instructions on how to submit your paper differ

from journal to journal and publisher to publisher. For ACS journals and special

publications, read the Guide, Notes, Notices, or Instructions for Authors that appear in

each publications first issue of the year and on the World Wide Web at

http://pubs.acs.org.

Writing a Scientific Paper

Guide, Notes, Notices, or Instructions for Authors

http://pubs.acs.org

2)

Although there is no fixed set of writing rules to be followed like a cook book

recipe or an experimental procedure, some guidelines can be helpful. Lets start by

answering some questions:

What is the function or purpose of this paper?----Are you describing original research results?

----Are you reviewing the literature?

----Something else?

How is your work different from that described in other reports on the same

subject? Unless you are writing a review, be sure that your paper will make an

original contribution. Some publishers, including ACS, do not publish previously

published material.


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What is the best place for this paper to be published?

Who is the audience?

Answering these questions will clarify your goals and thus make it easier for youto write the paper.

3)

Standard Format

Here shows an example of standard format when you organize your material into

a paper. In the section of Introduction or Background, you may introduce why you

choose your research topic, what have been done by others in this field; then comes

with experimental details or theoretical basis, where you introduce how to do your

experiments or how to calculate in your study; followed by results and discussion,

which are the main body of the paper; Finally, go to conclusions.

This format has become standard because it is suitable for most reports of

original research. It is basically logical, and it is easy to use. More importantly, it

parallels the scientific method of deductive reasoning: define the problem, create a

hypothesis, devise an experiment to test the hypothesis, conduct the experiment, and

draw conclusions. Furthermore, this format enables readers to understand quickly

what is being presented and to find scientific information easily.

4)

Components of a Paper

Lets go more details of this format. This transparency shows the components of a

paper.

Title:

The title must be briefly and grammatically correct but accurate and complete

enough to stay alone. 1) A two- or three-word title may be too short, but a 14- or

15-world title is unnecessarily long. 2) Avoid phrases such as on the, a sudy of,

research on, report on, regarding, and use of. 3) In most cases, omit the at

the beginning of the title. 4) Spell out all terms in title, and avoid symbols, formulas,

and abbreviations. 5) Serious titles are of little value. Some publishers do not permitthem at all. 6) If you can not create a title that is short, consider breaking it into title

and subtitle.

Byline and Affiliation

Byline: 1) Include in the byline all those, and only those, who made substantial

contributions to the work, even if the paper was actually written by only one person.

2) Use your first name, initial, and surname of each author as requested by

publications. Many ACS publications request at least one full given name for each

author, rather than only initials. 3) Do not include professional, religious, or official


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titles or academic degrees.

Affiliation: Affiliation is the institution at which the work was conducted. If there is

more than one author, use an asterisk or superscript to indicate the author to whom

correspondence should be addressed. This person is usually your boss, and he isfully responsible for the paper. For example, he will submit the paper, write to

editors, answer the questions raised by reviewers, and revise the paper as suggested.

5)

Abstract: Most publications require an informative abstract for every paper, even if

they do not publish abstracts. For a research paper, briefly state the problem or the

purpose of the research, indicate the theoretical or experimental plan used, summarize

the principal findings, and point out major conclusions. The abstract allows a reader

to determine the nature and scope of the paper, and helps editors identify key features

for indexing. Some tips: 1) The optimal length is one paragraph, and between 80and 200 words is usually adequate. 2) Do not cite references, tables, figures in the

abstract. Do not include equations, schemes, or structures that require display on a

line separate from the text. 3) Use abbreviations only when it is necessary. Define

abbreviation in the abstract (and again at first use in the text).

Introductions: A good introduction is a clear statement of the problem or project and

the reasons that you are studying it. The body of the introduction part usually contains

the following contents: 1) to give a concise and appropriate background discussion

of the problem and also the significance, scope and limits of your work; 2) to

outline precious work by citing pertinent literature; 3) to state how your work differs

from or is related to work previously published, and the continuity from the pervious

work to yours.

6)

Experimental Details or Theoretical Basis:

This section may own different names such as experimental methods,

experimental section, or materials and methods, and theoretical calculations,

depending on specific journals or publications. In this section, you need to give

sufficient details about your materials and methods so that others can repeat yourwork and obtain comparable results.

What we usually do in this part is outlined here:

1) Identify the materials used, but do not reference standard lab reagents;

2) Give the chemical names of all compounds and the chemical formulas of

compounds that are new and uncommon;

3) Describe apparatus only if it is not standard or not commercially available;

4) Describe the procedures used, unless they are established and standard;


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5) Note and emphasize any hazards, and include precautionary handling details

and safety measurements;

6) In theoretical reports, include all background data, equations, and formulas

necessary to the arguments, but not lengthy derivations, which may be

presented as Supporting Information.

7)

Results and Discussion

Results and Discussion can be presented either as two separate sections or as one

combined section. In the section of Results, you need to summarize the data collected.

If necessary, include equations, figures, and tables for clarity and brevity.

The purpose of the discussion is to interpret and compare the results. In this

section, you need to relate your results to your original purpose in undertaking the

project: Have you resolved the problem? What exactly have you contributed? You

may also suggest further study in this section. Usually, Results and Discussion are themost important components of a paper.

8)

Conclusions and Summary

The purpose of the conclusion is to put the interpretation into the context of the

original problem. Do not repeat discussion points or include irrelevant material. And

your conclusions should be based on the evidence presented.

The function of summary is similar to that of conclusions. A summary is

unnecessary in most papers. However, in long papers, a summary of the main points

can be helpful. Keep in mind that a summary should be short.

9)

Acknowledgments

Generally, the last paragraph of the paper is the place to acknowledge people,

organizations, and financing. Do it as simple as possible. It is important to follow the

journals guidelines on what to include in the Acknowledgments section.

References

In ACS books and most journals, the style and content of referenced are standard.So, you need to follow the reference style. The best way is to check the journal you

like to publish your paper.

Special Sections and Supporting Information

Special Sections and Supporting Information are not required sections in many

journals. However, if you have large tables, extensive figures, lengthy experimental

procedures, mathematical derivations, analytical and spectral characterization data

and so on, you may include these in the section of Supporting information.


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10)

Writing Style and Word Usage

Now, we have had too much for the components of a paper. It has 7 slides

already. Lets change a topic, shift away from the components of a paper, and go towriting style and word usage.

When you are writing information that will be read in English by non-native

speakers, and particularly, when authors themselves are not native English speakers

like us, these approaches can be helpful. You may use minimum word strategy

and use Controlled English and Global English. Both Controlled English and Global

English impose some restrictions on writing style and terminology. And the

Controlled English is more restrictive than Global English. We will not go in details

today, because these approaches are not very much emphasized in ACS style.

Here are some tips for us in technical writing: It is better to start with simple

declarative sentences; Write in your own style, but keep in mind that the scientificwriting is not literary writing, because a scientific writing requires the precise and the

unambiguous.

In the following part of the class today, I will provide some examples in terms of

writing style and word usage. Before doing that, lets have some advice from the

authorities in scientific writing. Here presented an advice from Maeve OConnor:

The best writing in science, as elsewhere, is simple, clear, precise, and vigorous.

Decide what you want to say and say it as simply, informatively, and directly as

possible.

11)

Choosing the correct word or phrase

Use appropriate verb tense

Simple past tense is correct for stating what was done;

Present tense is correct for statements of fact;

Present and simple past tenses may both be correct for results, discussions and

conclusions.

Use an affirmative sentence rather than a double negative.

Watch the placement of the word only. It has different meanings in different places

in the sentence.Be sure that the antecedents of this and that are clear.

Use the proper subordinating conjunctions. While and since have strong connotation

of time. Do not use them when you mean although, because or whereas.

Use the more accurate terms greater than or more than rather than over or in

excess of.

12)

Words and Phrases to Avoid


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Be brief is the principle in the scientific writing. Cut the unnecessary words

always.

13)

Editorial StyleNext, I will present recommended stylistic and editorial conventions, mainly but

not solely for ACS publications. The style recommended by ACS is, for the most part,

taken from established authoritative sources, such as The Chicago Manual of Style,

Words into Type, and the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual.

Hyphenation

Lets start with hyphenation.

1) Prefixes

Most prefixes are not hyphenated. Do not hyphenate following prefixes when

added to words that are not proper nouns.However, hyphens are sometimes used when letters are doubled, or when more

than one prefix is present.

2) Suffixes

Abbreviation

An abbreviation is short form of a word; often the individual letters are

pronounced. In an acronyms, the letters always form a pronounceable word. ACS

is an abbreviation, while IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)

is an acronym. If you check out the web site of ACS, you can find a list of

ACS-recommended abbreviations. Again, we will go through quickly for this part.

If a very long name or term is repeated many times throughout a paper, an

abbreviation is needed. Place the abbreviation in parentheses following the spell-out

form the first time it appears in the text. If it is used in the abstract, define it in the

abstract and again in the text.

14)

Gender-Neutral Language

The U.S. government and many publishers have gone to great efforts encouraging

the use of gender-neutral language in their publications. Recent style guides andwriting guides urge copy editors and writers to choose terms that do not reinforce

outdated sex roles. Gender-neutral language can be accurate and not necessary

awkward. 1) Instead of man, use people, human beings or human species,

depending on your meaning. 2) Instead of manpower, use workforce, staff,

workers, labor, crew, employees, or personnel, depending on your meaning. 3)

Instead of manmade, use synthetic, artificial, built, manufactured and

factory-made. 4) Instead of he and his, change the construction to a plural form

(they and theirs) or first person (we, us ours). 5) Instead of wife, use family or


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spouse where appropriate.

15)

Numbers, mathematics and units of measure

Usually, the usage of style conventions for numerals and words are different for

technical and non-technical material. Lets see some of examples.

1) Use numerals with units of time or measure, and use a space between the numeral

and the unit, except %, $, and angular degree, angular minutes and angular seconds.

2) With items other than units of time or measure, use words for cardinal numbers less

than 10, use numerals for 10 and above. Spell out ordinals first through ninth,

use numerals for 10th and greater. But there are exceptions.

a. Use all numbers in a series or range containing numbers 10 or great. For example,the 2nd and 10th samples.

b. Use all numerals for numbers modifying nouns in parallel construction in the

same sentence if one of the numbers is 10 or greater.

c. For very large numbers used in a non-technical sense, use a combination of

numerals and words.

1) When a sentence starts with a specific quantity, spell out the number as well as the

unit of measure. However, if possible, you may recast the sentence.

2) Even when a sentence starts with a spell-out quantity, use numerals when

appropriate in the rest of the sentence.

3) Also, we need to use numerals for expressions used in a mathematical sense.

4) When the suffix fold is used in a non-mathematical sense, spell out the

accompanying number even if it is less than 10.

1) In dates, use numerals without ordinal endings.

2) Use numbers for decades, and form their plurals by adding an s. Do not use

apostrophes in any position.

3) Now lets discuss on the numbers of long digits:

If a number is long, this means, it is with five or more digits, we need to considerthe grouping of digits. You need to check the publication in which your manuscript

will appear. Two styles are possible. In some publications, for numbers with five or

more digits, the digits are grouped with commas. But in some publications, the

digits are grouped with a thin space. Examples of both cases are shown here. Keep

in mind, that numbers of four digits are not necessary to be grouped.

There are also exceptions. U.S. monetary values are always written with commas,

never with a thin space. Similar to this, U.S. patent numbers are always written

with commas. Another exception is page number in reference citation, and they are


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always printed solid without commas, without a thin space.

Certainly, there are many other rules in the usage and style of numbers and units.

The best thing is to read the publication and get the information you need.

16)Usage and Style for Symbols

Now lets go the section of the usage and style for symbols. Well just go quickly.

1) Define all symbols for mathematical constants, variables, and unknown

quantities the first time you use in the text. If you use them in the abstract,

define them there and then again at their first appearance in text. But, do not

define standard mathematical constants such as pai.

2) Form the plurals of mathematical symbols by adding an apostrophe and s if you

can not use a word such as values or levels.

3) Do not use an equal sign as an abbreviation for the word is or equals in

text.4) Do not use a plus sign as an abbreviation for the word and.

These are only some examples for the general rules. This next slide gives more

respects in the usage and styles for symbols which you need to pay attention to when

you write a paper. You need to pay attention to which type of word should be used:

italic type, roman type, or boldface type? Also, you need to learn correct use of Greek

letters, spacing, enclosing marks, subscripts and superscripts, abbreviation and

symbols, equation, and special notation.

17)

References

In the following part, I will present style conventions for citing reference. In ACS

publications, you may cite references in three ways.

1) By superscript numbers. The superscript numbers appear outside the

punctuation if the citation applies to a whole sentence or a clause;

2) By italic numbers on the line and in parentheses inside the punctuation;

3) By author name and year of publication in parentheses inside the punctuation.

In ACS books, all three of these systems are used, depending on the subject and

series. Also, in all three systems, the authors name may be made part of the sentence.

18)

Style for Reference Lists

Books:

When a book has authors and no editors, it means either that the entire book was

written by one author or that two or more authors collaborated on the entire book.

When a book has editors, it means that different authors wrote various parts of the


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book independently of each other. The word In before the book title indicates that

the authors mentioned wrote a part of the book, not the entire book.

19)

Conventions in ChemistryConventions in Chemistry are related to the use of typefaces (roman, italic, and

bold), Greek letters, superscript and subscripts, and special symbols that are

commonly used in chemistry.

20)

Editorial Procedures

For ACS books and journals, the specifics may differ from office to office, but the

general procedures for processing manuscripts from review through publication are

similar.

Papers submitted to ACS books and journals are considered for publication withthe understanding that they have not been published or accepted for publication

elsewhere.

Documents

Writing of Scientific Papers