In the name of Allah
Scientific & Technical Scientific & Technical PresentationPresentation
Leila SharifLeila Sharif
Sharif University of TechnologyE-Mail: [email protected]
http://ce.sharif.edu/courses/84-85/1/ce221/
Formatting Scientific Documents
In scientific writing, formats vary considerably to serve different situations
FormalReports
JournalArticles
PresentationSlides
The most effective combustion methodis an atmospheric fluidized bed
separator
airinlet
cleanedexhaust
grid
• 90% removal capability
• low capital cost—able touse in existing equipment
• high operating cost
• ability to use differentgrades of coal
Not all rules of format are constant
ReportsSandia Laboratories
Figure 1
Table 1
equation 1
TextbooksPrentice-Hall
Fig. 1
Table 1
equation (1)
JournalsASME
fig. 1
table 1
Eq. 1
Format is the arrangement of type on the page
typography
layout
Arialabcdefghijklmnopqrstuwxyz1234567890
Arial Narrowabcdefghijklmnopqrstuwxyz1234567890
Comic Sansabcdefghijklmnopqrstuwxyz1234567890
Times New Romanabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
Garamondabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
Courierabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
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 NASAJanuary 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• (170-330 MS) REDUCED PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL• (330-600 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 CONTACTWITH METAL PARTS GAP OPERATING TO MEOP
• BENCH TESTING SHOWED CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN O-RING CONTACT DURINGINITIAL PHASE (0 - 170 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
spaceformargins
space forillustrations
space forheadings
Follow the format that is expected or required for the situation
General PointsGeneral 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 PointsGeneral 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 PointsGeneral 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 PointsGeneral 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 PointsGeneral 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 PointsGeneral 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, authorMaking 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:ReviewingLine editingOnline editingProofreading
Reducing friction:Actions by authors Actions by editors
Before editing someone’s document,you should first consider your constraints
Other Editorsof Document
Audienceof Document
Format ofDocument
Formality of Document
Process toPublish Document
Politics andEthics
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 thecontent
complete?
Is thecontentcorrect?
Is the content
appropriate?
Editing for style involves deciding how to communicate the message
Focus onlanguage
Focus onillustration
Focus onstructure
Editing for form concerns whether the communication is properly presented
Focus ongrammar
Focus onpunctuation
Focus onusage
Focus onformat
Focus onspelling
Dispositionof
Writer
Consistencyof
Change
Importanceof
Change
Difficultyof
Change
What variables determine how muchchange you make?
A well-done edit has three characteristics:clarity, consistency, and hierarchy
hierarchy
mostimportant
next mostimportant
leastimportant
consistency
effecteffecteffectaffect 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 contaminatedthe 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
EditorsAuthors
Identifying constraints
Submitting outlines early
Allotting time for editors
Mulling over criticisms
When editing someone’s writing, consider tone
Edit one another asyou would wish to
be edited
Lead withthe positive
Editor
Author