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Write Like a Chemist is designed to be used as a textbook in upper division and graduatelevel university chemistry classes and as a resource book by chemistry students, postdocs, faculty, and other professionals who want to perfect their chemistryspecifi c writing skills. To this end, Write Like a Chemist focuses on four types of writing: ■ The journal article ■ The conference abstract ■ The scientifi c poster ■ The research proposal
Write Like a Chemist This page intentionally left blank Write Like a Chemist A Guide and Resource Marin S Robinson Fredricka L Stoller Molly S Costanza-Robinson James K Jones Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2008 by Oxford University Press, Inc Published by Oxford University Press, Inc 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Write like a chemist : a guide and resource / Marin S Robinson [et al.] p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-19-530507-4 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-19-536742-3 Chemistry—Authorship—Textbooks Communication in chemistry—Textbooks Technical writing—Textbooks I Robinson, Marin S QD9.15.W75 2008 808'.06654—dc22 2007038271 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Dedicated to Jeff and Bill, Chuck and Ronnie, and Kara This page intentionally left blank Preface Write Like a Chemist is designed to be used as a textbook in upper division and graduate-level university chemistry classes and as a resource book by chemistry students, postdocs, faculty, and other professionals who want to perfect their chemistry-specific writing skills To this end, Write Like a Chemist focuses on four types of writing: ■ The journal article ■ The conference abstract ■ The scientific poster ■ The research proposal Each type of writing, or genre, is directed toward a distinct audience and written for a different purpose For example, writing a journal article requires a style and organizational format that are quite different from that of a research proposal Thus, to write like a chemist requires learning to write for multiple audiences and purposes One of the best ways to learn to write like a chemist is to read like a chemist Indeed, many of today’s chemists taught themselves to write by reading others’ works and using those works as templates for their own writing Corrections (often in red pen) from peers, mentors, reviewers, and editors along the way also played an integral role in the learning-to-write process Although ultimately successful, this approach was often painful and inefficient for all involved The goal of Write Like a Chemist is to teach writing in a more systematic way Because reading is integral to writing, we use the chemical literature (and other examples of writing) to model conventional writing practices; indeed, more than 250 excerpts from ACS journal articles and NSF CAREER proposals are included in this book But we not stop there Write Like a Chemist endorses a read-analyzewrite approach that combines the reading of authentic passages with the analysis of those passages to gain insights into the writing conventions of the targeted genres Reading and analysis activities are followed by structured writing tasks, culminating in authentic writing assignments, using the excerpts as models.1 Before going to press, Write Like a Chemist was piloted at 16 U.S colleges and universities The book was used successfully in a variety of instructional settings (including writing-dedicated courses and lecture, lab, and seminar courses) with a broad cross section of students, including non-native English speakers and students from multicultural backgrounds Although intended primarily for chemists, the book will also benefit chemistry majors who ultimately decide to pursue other careers Indeed, learning to write in a well-organized and concise manner requires writing skills that are highly coveted across many fields Moreover, the read-analyze-write approach featured in Write Like a Chemist is readily transferable to other disciplines Because it will take more than a single encounter with Write Like a Chemist to become a skilled writer, the book can serve as a rich resource over the years when the goal is to communicate effectively in writing with chemists, other scientists, and funding agencies Contents Following the introductory chapter 1, section of Write Like a Chemist is divided into three modules: Module 1: The Journal Article (chapters 2–7) Module 2: The Scientific Poster (chapters 8–10) Module 3: The Research Proposal (chapters 11–15) Each module combines authentic readings with exercises to introduce and reinforce discipline-specific writing skills At the core of each module is a multistep writing assignment, guided by “Writing on Your Own” tasks, that assists writers in completing the type of writing emphasized in the module Section of Write Like a Chemist includes three chapters that focus on skills that run across different types of chemistry writing These chapters guide writers in formatting and finalizing their written work: Chapter 16: Formatting Figures, Tables, and Schemes Chapter 17: Formatting Citations and References Chapter 18: Finalizing Your Written Work Write Like a Chemist concludes with two appendices Appendix A provides helpful tips about language areas that often prove troublesome for writers (e.g., easily confused words, scientific plurals, punctuation, and grammar) Each language tip includes exercises and an answer key, facilitating self-study (For a full listing of tips, see the first page of appendix A.) For ease of consultation, appendix B viii Preface replicates flow charts (called “move structures” in the book) that illustrate the typical organization of sections of the genres that are emphasized in the book The Write Like a Chemist Web Site Accompanying the textbook is the Write Like a Chemist Web site (http://www oup.com/us/writelikeachemist) Notable features of the Web site include the following: ■ Web exercises: To prevent users from needlessly retyping full exercises that only need editing, we have duplicated these exercises on the Web site In this way, students can copy and paste the exercises into a text document and edit them accordingly ■ “Canned” research projects: We recognize that not all users of this textbook will have a sufficiently robust research project to write about To date, we have developed four “canned” research projects to address this need These projects, all based on authentic research, provide sufficient data and background information for a mock journal article or poster ■ Peer-Review Memo forms: Writing benefits from peer review To facilitate this process, we include Peer Review Memo forms, with a list of guided questions and prompts, for each major section of the journal article ■ Full-color posters: Module of the book (“The Scientific Poster”) includes examples of posters in only black-and-white, but full-color versions of these posters are available at the Web site ■ Faculty resources: An answer key and examples of analytical and holistic grading rubrics for major writing assignments (journal-quality paper, poster, and research proposal) are available at the Web site for faculty adopting the book Unique Features of Write Like a Chemist Write Like a Chemist is unique in many ways, not the least of which is the fact that it was conceived by a chemist (M.S.R.) and an applied linguist (F.L.S.) and developed with additional help from faculty and students in both disciplines As part of our interdisciplinary effort, we analyzed chemistry-specific writing practices using tools from corpus linguistics, a discipline that investigates language empirically through computer-based analyses of large collections of texts known as corpora (or corpus, singular).2 A 1.5-million-word corpus of chemistry texts was created, comprising 200 full-length refereed journal articles and 240 sections of Preface ix This page intentionally left blank References Alley, M The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps To Succeed and Critical Errors To Avoid; Springer: New York, 2003 Alley, M The Craft of Scientific Writing, 3rd ed.; Springer: New York, 1996 Anholt, R R H Dazzle’em with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation; W H Freeman: Oxford, U.K., 1994 Beal, H.; Trimbur, J A Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Pearson Education: New York, 2001 Bhatia, V Analyzing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings; Longman: London, 1993 Bhatia, V Worlds of Written Discourse: A Genre-Based View; Continuum: London, 2004 Biber, D.; Conrad, S.; Reppen, R Corpus-Based Approaches to Issues in Applied Linguistics Appl Linguist 1994, 15, 168–189 Biber, D.; Conrad, S.; Reppen, R Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Structure and Use; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K., 1998 Bowker, L.; Pearson, J Working with Specialized Language: A Practical Guide to using Corpora; Routledge: New York, 2002 Bowman, J P.; Branchaw, B P How To Write Proposals That Produce; Oryx Press: Phoenix, AZ, 1992 Coghill, A M.; Garson, L R., Eds The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2006 Connor, U.; Mauranen, A Linguistic Analysis of Grant Proposals: European Union Research Grants Engl Specif Purposes 1999, 18, 47–62 Crismore, A.; Farnsworth, R Metadiscourse in Popular and Professional Science Discourse In The Writing Scholar: Studies in Academic Discourse; Nash, W., Ed.; Sage: Newbury Park, CA, 1990; pp 118–136 Dodd, J S., Ed The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 2nd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997 Hill, S S.; Soppelsa, B F.; West, G K Teaching ESL Students To Read and Write Experimental-Research Papers TESOL Quarterly 1982, 16, 333–347 Houp, K W.; Pearsall, T E.; Tebeaux, E.; Dragga, S Reporting Technical Information, 11th ed.; Oxford University Press: New York, 2006 Huckin, T N Surprise Value in Scientific Discourse ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED284291, 1987 Hyland, K Hedging in Academic Writing and EAP Textbooks Engl Specif Purposes 1994, 13, 239–256 Hyland, K Talking to the Academy: Forms of Hedging in Science Research Articles Written Commun 1996, 13, 251–281 Hyland, K Hedging in Scientific Research Articles; John Benjamins: Amsterdam, 1998 Hyland, K Genre: Language, Context, and Literacy Annu Rev Appl Linguist 2002, 22, 113–135 Hyland, K Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing; University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 2004a Hyland, K Genre and Second Language Writing; University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 2004b Hyland, K English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book; Routledge: London, 2006 Johns, A M Genre in the Classroom: Multiple Perspectives; Lawrence Erlbaum: Mahwah, NJ, 2002 Paltridge, B Genre, Frames, and Writing in Research Settings; John Benjamins: Amsterdam, 1997 Paradis, J G.; Zimmerman, M L The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication; MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 1997 Swales, J M Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K., 1990 Swales, J M Research Genres: Exploration and Applications; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K., 2004 Truss, L Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation; Gotham Books: New York, 2003 Turk, C Do You Write Impressively? Bull Br Ecol Soc 1978, 9, 5–10 686 References Index In page references, f indicates figures, s indicates schemes, and t indicates tables In some instances, excerpts are included in page spans Abbreviations vs acronyms, 20, 73–74 to avoid, 74–75 capitalization of, 72, 76t–77t, 625 CASSI, 558, 558t of chemical structures, 77t in conference abstracts, 287 of funding agencies, 368 of instrumental techniques, 76t in journal article abstracts, 250–251, 256–257 for journal names, 558, 558t language tip, 601–604 list of common, 76t–77t not needing defi nition, 74, 602t parentheses, use with, 73–74 periods, use with, 74, 396, 602t plural forms of, 88, 603 in posters, 300, 305, 306, 319 in project summaries, 509 of statistical symbols, 77t as a subcomponent of Writing Conventions, 7t, 19–20 in titles, 250–251, 264, 517 of units of measure, 76t–77t See also Compound labels, Units of measure “Ab initio”, without italics, 96, 495 Abstract See Conference abstracts; Journal articles, abstract; Poster, abstract; Proposals, Project Summary Acknowledgments section examples of, 29 in journal articles, 45 in posters, 297, 331 Acronyms See Abbreviations Active voice See Voice “Affect” vs “effect”, 634–636 Affiliations See Author affiliations Alignment, in tables, 534t “Although” vs “while”, 650–652 “Among” vs “between”, 636–638 Analytical data, reporting in Methods sections of journal articles, 80 “And”, use with punctuation, 627–628, 629–630 Apparatus in journal articles, describing, 90–95, 251, 257 plural form of, 91, 156t in posters, describing, 302 Audience definition of, different types of, 7–11, 10f See also Audience and Purpose Audience and Purpose as a component of genre analysis, 7t for conference abstracts, 276–277 for journal articles, overview, 35, 45 overview, 7–11, 10f for posters, overview, 294, 296 for proposals, overview, 359, 375–376 See also Conciseness; Detail, level of; Formality, level of; Journal articles, individual sections; Posters, individual sections; Proposal, Project Summary; Word Choice Author affiliations in conference abstracts, 287 in posters, examples of, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f in posters, font size, 346t, 353t Author-date citations See Citations Author guidelines See Guidelines for authors, Information for Authors Author lists in conference abstracts, 287 in posters, examples of, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f in posters, font size, 346t, 353t in references, 559t, 560, 561, 562, 561t–562t, 564, 565t, 567 See also “et al.” Axes, in graphs, 527t, 528t Bar graphs See Graphs “Because” vs “since”, 650–652 “Between” vs “among”, 636–638 Boldface type in compound labels, 75, 137–138, 284–285, 540t in posters, 346 in reactions and schemes, 78, 540t in references, 560 Broader impacts, 372–373 See also Proposals, Outcomes and Impacts section; Proposals, Project Summary Bulleted lists See Lists “But”, use with punctuation, 627–628, 629–630 Capitalization of abbreviations, 72, 76t–77t, 625 in captions, 527t of chemical compounds, 72, 74t examples of, 74t, 76t–77t, 624–625 of “Figure”, “Table”, “Scheme”, 74t, 524, 527t, 533, 536t, 539, 540t of genus and species names, 70, 74t of molecular formulas, 72 rules, 71–73, 74t, 624–626 of seasons, 70 of table titles, 536t in tables, column headings, 535t of titles, 262 of units from surnames, 73, 74t See also Graphs, References, Tables Captions See Graphs CASSI, 558, 558t Celsius, 73, 76t, 609, 625 Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index See CASSI Chemicals in journal articles, describing, 63, 66–69 in posters, describing, 302 cis, italicization and capitalization, 72 Citations author–date format, 554–555 authors’ names, referring to, 549–551 “et al.”, 550–551 formats for, overview, 549 italic numbers in parentheses format, 552–554 purpose, 545 688 quantity of, 546, 549 superscript number format, 551–552 See also Citing the literature, References Citing the literature in conference abstracts, 288 direct quotes, avoiding, 216–217, 545 in posters, overview, 325, 327f, 329–330, 332 primary literature vs sources of general knowledge, 34, 405, 546–548, 549 in proposals, overview, 377, 392f, 405, 437f, 508 what and what not to cite, 216–217, 546–548, 549 See also Citations; Journal articles, abstract; Journal articles, Discussion section; Journal articles, Introduction section; Paraphrasing; Posters, Discussion section; Posters, Introduction section; References Colon for conciseness, 230–231 in headings, avoiding, 393 language tip, 626–629 for lists, introducing, 397 in titles, 263–264 Color in abstract graphics, 254 in graphics, overview, 527t, 528t, 534t in journal articles, 528t in posters, 319, 348–349, 528t in proposals, 405, 406, 444, 528t Columns See Tables, formatting Comma with “and” or “but”, 627–628, 629–630 with “et al.”, 550, 617–618 with introductory words and phrases, 233–234, 235t language tip, 629–632 in references, 560 with three or more items in a list, 395, 627–628, 630 Commonly confused words See individual words “Compose” vs “comprise”, 638–641 Compound labels as compound abbreviations, 75, 137–138, 423, 603 examples of, 140–141, 145–146, 284, 285, 304 in journal article abstracts, 255 numbering, 75 in posters, 304, 318 in proposals, 423 in schemes, 540, 540s, 540t “Comprise” vs “compose”, 638–641 Conciseness achieving, 36–43, 39t, 227–231 language tip, 584–586 Index parentheses, to achieve, 40, 585 “respectively”, to achieve, 151–152, 230 as a subcomponent of Audience and Purpose, 7t in titles, 262–263 See also Nominalizations, Revising and editing Concise writing See Conciseness Conclusions See Journal articles, Discussion section, concluding; Posters, Discussion section, concluding; Proposals, Outcomes and Impacts section, concluding Conference abstracts abbreviations in, 287 acceptance criteria, 276–277 audience and purpose, 276–277 author list and affiliations, 287 citations in, 278, 288 compound labels in, 284–285 definition of, 273, 274 graphics in, 283, 284, 285 highlighting different moves in, 278–279 highlighting gaps in, 282–283 highlighting methods in, 280–281, 282 highlighting results in, 279–280, 285 highlighting a synthesis in, 283, 284, 285 Instructions for Authors, example, 275–276 vs journal article abstracts, 275, 277, 278, 287–288 keywords, 288 numerical values in, 278, 279–280 organization, moves and submoves, 278–279, 278f title, 246t–247t, 286–287 verb tense, 288 voice, 288 “we”, 288 word limit, 274 Content, science, as a component of genre analysis, 7t, 22–23 Contractions, avoiding in scientific writing, 38 “Current work”, 204–205, 223, 223t Dangling graphics, 122, 319, 320 Dangling headings, 580 “Data” as singular or plural noun, 154–155, 155t, 616 Degree symbol with Celsius, 73, 76t, 88, 609 not with kelvin, 73, 76t, 609 “Deionized” instead of “DI”, 69, 75 Detail, level of in journal articles vs lab reports, 61, 66–67, 68, 79, 81–82, 82t, 84−85, 90 in posters, 298–299, 302 in proposals, 464–465 Index as a subcomponent of Audience and Purpose, 7t Detection limits, reporting, 132–133 Direct quotes, avoiding, 216–217, 545 See also Paraphrasing Discussion section See Journal articles, Discussion section; Posters, Discussion section Editing See Revising and editing “Effect” vs “affect”, 634–636 Error terms, reporting, 252, 257 “et al.”, 43, 77t, 550–551, 617–618 Ethical guidelines See Plagiarism “Experiment” vs “work”, 61, 398, 399t Experimental section See Journal articles, Methods section; Posters, Methods section Expert audience See Audience, different types of “Farther” vs “further”, 641–643 “Fewer” vs “less”, 643–644 “Figure” calling out in text, 74t, 524 in captions, 527t Figures, 524–526, 527t–528t See also Graphs Fill-the-gap statements in journal articles, 205–206, 223–226, 223t, 224t in proposals, 420, 421 First person See “We” Fluid writing, 233–234, 235t, 586–588 Font and font size in graphs, 528t in posters, 344t, 345f, 346t, 353t in proposals, captions, 450 in tables, 535t See also Posters, designing Formal vocabulary, 588–590 See also Words to avoid Formality, level of in journal articles, 61, 66–67 as a subcomponent of Audience and Purpose, 7t See also Detail, level of; Formal vocabulary Formatting as a subcomponent of Writing Conventions, 7t, 19 See also Citations, Graphs, Headings, References, Schemes, Tables FTIR abbreviation, 76t as an adjective, 93–94 data, reporting, 91–94 See also IR Funding agencies, 367–368 689 “Further” vs “farther”, 641–643 Future tense See Verb tense Gap statements examples of, 205t in journal articles, 205, 221–222, 249–250 in posters, 327 in proposals, 371, 420–421 GC/MS, describing in journal article methods sections, 94–95 Gender-neutral language, 492 General audience See Audience, different types of General reaction conditions, describing in journal article Methods sections, 71 Genre analysis of audience and purpose, 7–11 components of, 7t definition of, of grammar and mechanics, 20–21 of organization, 12–18, 14t, 15f, 16t, 17f of science content, 22–23 of writing conventions, 18–20 Genres addressed in this book, definition of, 6–7 examples of, 6, 8–9, 10f See also Genre analysis Genus and species names, 70, 74t Grammar and Mechanics, as a component of genre analysis, 7t, 20–22 See also Capitalization, Colon, Comma, Hyphenated two-word modifiers, individual troublesome words, Parallelism, Period, Plural words, Semicolon, Split infinitives, Subjectverb agreement Grant proposal See Proposal Graphics calling out in text, 122–123, 524 in conference abstracts, 283, 284 dangling, 122, 319, 320 in journal article abstracts, 254, 255 in posters, 302, 309, 314, 319 in proposals, 375, 444, 445−446, 447, 450 as a subcomponent of Science Content, 7t, 23 See also Color; Graphs; Posters, Results section; Schemes; Tables Graphs axes, 527t, 528t calling out in text, 122–123, 524 captions, 310, 319, 527t examples of, “before” and “after”, 529f, 530f formatting, 527, 527t–528t legends, 528t misleading, 526 numbering, 524 690 overcrowding, 526 purpose and use, 524–526 when to use, 314, 525 See also Posters, Results section Guidelines for authors example of, for posters, 336–337 examples of, for proposals, 385, 504–505 See also Information for Authors Headings IMRD format, 44−45 in journal articles, 44–45, 167, 243 in posters, 297, 325, 338, 339f, 341f, 346t, 353t in proposals, 376–378, 377t, 378t for References section, 557, 567 for table columns, 534t–535t See also Parallelism; Subheadings; Proposals, individual sections Hedging in journal articles, 118, 164, 190 language tip, 590–594 in posters, 325 in proposals, 484 Hourglass structure, 46–47, 46f Hyphenated two-word modifiers, 181, 263, 632–634 “I”, 288, 421, 425, 514–515 Illustrations See Graphics; Graphs; Proposals, Experimental Approach section; Proposals, Goals and Importance section IMRD format 44–45 See also Headings; Hourglass structure Infi nitives, split, 619–620 Information for Authors, 45–46, 524 Instructions for Authors See Information for Authors Instrumentation See Apparatus Intellectual merit, 371–372 “Interestingly”, 130 Internal standards, reporting in journal articles, 68–69 Internet sources, citing, 563 Introduction See Journal articles, Introduction section; Posters, Introduction section; Proposals, Goals and Importance section in vitro, 134 in vivo, 134 IR data, reporting, 80 not needing defi nition, 73, 74 See also FTIR “Irradiation” vs “radiation”, 456 Italic and non-italic type ab initio, 96 Index cis and trans, 72 in citations, 552–554 “et al.”, 77t, 550 m/z, 77t ortho, meta, para (o, m, p), 72 R vs (R), 72, 142 in references, 560, 562 in vitro, 134 in vivo, 134 “Its” vs “it’s”, 644–645 Journal article audience and purpose, 35 vs lab report, 61, 66–67, 79–83, 82t, 84–85, 90 move structures, 62f, 120f, 166f, 204f, 245f organization, 44–48, 46f peer-reviewed, 33–34 See also Journal articles, individual sections Journal articles, abstract abbreviations in, 250–251, 256–257 audience and purpose, 242, 244 citing the literature in, 249, 257 compound labels in, 255 concluding, 246, 252, 253 double-spacing, 257 error terms in, 252, 257 examples of, 243, 254–256, 259–260 gaps, identifying, 249 graphics in, 254, 255 heading, 243 instrumentation, describing, 251, 257 keywords, 244, 257 methods, describing, 250–251 in organic journals, 254–256 organization, 245–246, 245f present perfect, 258 principal fi ndings, describing, 252–256 purpose and accomplishments, describing, 248–249 research area, describing, 249–250 verb tense, 257–258 voice, 258 “we”, 258 word limit, 242 Journal articles, conclusions, 167–168, 172, 174 See also Journal articles, Discussion section, concluding Journal articles, Discussion section audience and purpose, 45, 164, 165–166 citing the literature in, 166f, 167, 175–176, 177 combined Results and Discussion sections, 112– 114, 166, 170–171, 172–173 concluding, 167–168, 174, 177, 178, 182, 185 hand-waving arguments, 171, 176, 178 hedging, 164, 190 Index mechanisms, proposing, 178, 181–182, 183, 184–185 organization, 166–168, 166f overinterpretation, 164, 171 results and discussion, aligning, 167 results, interpreting, 170–171, 175–177 Results section, transitioning from, 166, 175, 176–177 schemes, 182, 183, 183s, 184–185, 186, 186s separate Discussion sections, 166, 175–177, 179–181 subheadings, 167 synthesis (organic), discussing, 181–183, 184–185, 186 take-home message, 167, 168, 172, 177 verb tense, 187, 189t voice, 187, 189t “we”, 188–189 Journal articles, Introduction section audience and purpose, 45, 200, 202–203 background information, providing, 204f, 216–219 citing the literature in, 204–205, 204f, 209, 210–215, 216–219, 228–229 conciseness, 227–231 concluding, 226 “current work”, 204–205, 223, 223t direct quotes, avoiding, 216–217 first sentence, 207–208, 209 gap, filling, 205–206, 223–226, 223t, 224t gap, identifying, 205, 205t, 221–222 importance, establishing, 210–212 linking words and phrases, 223, 223t, 233–234, 235t in organic journals, 206, 224, 226 organization, moves and submoves, 204–206, 204f paraphrasing, 202 present perfect, 214–215, 214t research topic, identifying, 207–208 “researcher”, avoiding, 228–229 results, previewing, 204f, 206, 226 verb tense, 209, 213–215, 223, 224t, 225t, 226 voice, 214t, 225t “we”, 205–206, 223, 224t words to avoid, 209, 224, 228–229 See also Citations, References Journal articles, Methods section analytical data, reporting, 80–81 apparatus, describing, 90−95 audience and purpose, 45, 61 chemicals and reagents, describing, 63, 66–69 detail, level of, 61, 66–67, 68, 79, 81–82, 82t, 84, 90 “experiment” vs “work”, 61 691 Journal articles, Methods section (continued) formality, level of, 61, 66–67 general reaction conditions, describing, 71 vs lab reports, 61, 66–67, 68, 79, 81−82, 82t, 84–85, 90 materials, describing, 63, 66–71 numerical methods, describing, 64, 95–97 operational parameters, reporting, 91–95 organization, moves and submoves, 62–65, 62f other names for, 58 procedures, describing, 63–64, 79−80, 81−83, 82t, 84, 89−90 QA/QC, reporting, 63, 89–90 samples, describing, 69–71 standard solutions, reporting, 68–69 subheadings, 63, 64 synthesis (organic), describing, 79–80, 81−83, 82t vendors, reporting, 66–67, 68, 69 verb tense, 97–98, 100t voice, 99–100, 99f, 100t Journal articles, Results section audience and purpose, 45, 112, 118–119 broad-to-narrow approach, 131–132, 133 chemical (organic) synthesis, describing, 137– 138, 140–141, 145–146 combined vs separate Results and Discussion sections, 112–114 description vs interpretation, 118–119 detection limits, reporting, 132–133 graphics, calling out, 122–123 hedging, 118 logical vs chronological order, 127, 128 Methods section, transitioning from, 122–123 multiple sets of results, 120–121, 124 organization, moves and submoves, 120, 120f purpose, 112 quantitative vs qualitative language, 153 representative data, 125, 136 story of scientific discovery, telling, 124, 126−127, 136 subheadings, 122 verb tense, 147–148, 148t voice, 148, 148t “we”, 149–151, 149f See also Graphs, Tables Journal articles, title abbreviations in, 250–251, 264 capitalization in, 262 colons in, 263–264 conciseness, 262–263 examples of, 246t–247t, 263–264 hyphenated two-word modifiers in, 263 keywords in, 257, 264 purpose, 244 692 “the”, “a”, “an”, avoiding, 262–263 word limit, 241–242 X of Y by Z pattern, 246, 246t–247t, 262–263 Justification See Posters, designing Keywords in conference abstracts, 288 in journal article abstracts, 244, 257 in titles, 257, 264 use of, 44 Lab reports vs journal articles, 61, 66–67, 68, 79, 81–82, 82t, 84–85, 90 “Lead” vs “Led”, 411 Leading zero alignment, in tables, 534t with numeric decimals, 88, 305 “Led” vs “Lead”, 411 Legends, 528t “Less” vs “fewer”, 643–644 Linking words and phrases, 233–234, 235t Lists in journal articles, avoiding, 66–67 in posters, Discussion section, 322, 323, 325 in posters, Introduction section, 328, 329 in posters, Methods section, 302, 303, 304, 305 in posters, Results section, 317–318, 319 in proposals, Goals and Importance section, 394–396 in proposals, Outcomes and Impacts section, 488–490, 492 See also Colon, Parallelism, Series Literature Cited See References Literature values, 457 Logos, in posters, 319, 349 Margins, 580 Materials, describing in Methods sections, 63, 66–71, 302 Materials and Methods section See Journal articles, Methods section; Posters, Methods section; Proposals, Experimental Approach section Mechanics See Grammar and mechanics Methods section See Journal articles, Methods section; Posters, Methods section; Proposals, Experimental Approach section Move structures in conference abstracts, 278f in journal articles, 62f, 120f, 166f, 204f, 245f as organizational flow charts, 15–18, 15f, 17f in posters, 298f, 309f, 322f, 327f in proposals, 392f, 437f, 482f, 507f See also Moves and submoves Moves and submoves in conference abstracts, 278–279 Index definition of, 13 in journal articles, 62–65, 120, 166–168, 169, 204–206, 245–246 overview, 12–18, 14t, 16t in posters, 297, 298–299, 308–311, 322, 327 in proposals, 378, 378t, 391–392, 437, 482–483, 507–508 required vs optional, 17, 17f See also Move structures, Organization NMR abbreviating, 74 data, reporting, 80–81 Nominalizations for conciseness, 41–43, 231 examples of, 41t, 484 language tip, 594–597 Numbered lists See Lists Numbering of citations, 218 of compounds, 75, 78 of figures, 524 of references, 557, 559 of schemes, 539 a series of items, 231, 613 of tables, 533 in tables, the entry column, 535t Numbers at beginning of sentence, 86, 87, 305, 608 as citations, 551–554 as compound labels, 75, 603 language tip, 608–611 numerical vs word form, 86–88, 608–609 in a series, 86, 88, 609 and symbols, spacing, 88 in tables, 534t, 535t, 536t and units, spacing, 86–87, 88, 305, 608–609 See also Citations, Leading zero, References Numerical methods, describing in Methods sections, 64, 95–97, 302 Numerical references See References Operational parameters, reporting examples of, 92–95 in journal articles, 91–92 in posters, 302 in proposals, 465 Ordinal language in journal articles, avoiding, 84–85 in proposals, 397–398, 455 Organization as a component of genre analysis, 7t journal articles, 44–48, 46f overview, 12–18 Index posters, 297 proposals, 376–378, 378t See also Headings, Move structures, Moves and submoves ortho, meta, para (o, m, p), italicization and capitalization, 72 “Our”, 364, 401, 452, 497, 514–515 Paper See Journal article Parallelism in headings and subheadings, 306, 454 language tip, 612–616 in lists, 305, 306, 307, 490 in series, 231 as a subcomponent of Grammar and Mechanics, 7t Paraphrasing, 202 Parentheses abbreviations and acronyms, introducing, 73–75 in citations, 552–554 with compound labels, 603 conciseness, achieving, 40 figures and tables, calling out, 122–123 vendors, reporting, 66–69 Passive voice See Voice Past tense See Verb tense Peer review practice, 107–109, 161–162, 197–198, 238–239, 269 process, 33–34 Peer-reviewed journals, 33–34 Percent sign, spacing, 87, 88 Period with abbreviations or acronyms, 74 with “et al.”, 43, 550 in references, 560, 562, 565 with units of measure, 608 Personal pronouns See “I”, “Our”, “We” “Phenomena” vs “phenomenon”, 441 Plagiarism, 543 Plural words abbreviations, 603 “data”, 154–155, 155t, 616 tricky plurals, 154–156, 155t, 156t, 616–619 units of measure, 88 Poster abbreviations in, 300, 305, 306, 319 abstract, 297 acknowledgments, 331 audience and purpose, 294, 296 examples, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f headings, 338 move structures, 298f, 309f, 322f, 327f organization, 297 references, 332 693 Poster (continued) sections of , 297 title, 286, 287, 353t See also Conference abstracts; Posters, designing; Posters, individual sections Poster presentation See Poster Posters, designing artwork, 349 backgrounds, 348–349, 353t color, 319, 348–349, 353t dimensions, 337–338 examples, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f, 353t font size, 346, 346t, 353t fonts, 344, 344t, 345f, 353t fonts, special effects, 346–347 guidelines, example of, 336–337, 353t headings and subheadings, 338, 339t, 341t, 353t justification, text, 347, 347f, 353t layout, 337–342, 339f, 340f, 341f, 342f, 353t logos, 319, 349 text boxes, 348, 353t See also Graphs, Tables Posters, Discussion section audience and purpose, 321, 322 citing the literature in, 322, 325 combined vs separate Results and Discussion sections, 322 concluding, 322, 323–324 examples, in full posters, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f headings, 322, 325 hedging, 325 list vs paragraph, 322, 323, 324, 325 organization, 322, 322f results, highlighting, 322 take-home message, 322 verb tense, 325 voice, 326 “we”, 326 See also Citations, References Posters, Introduction section accomplishments, previewing, 327 audience (viewer), 327 background information, sharing, 327 citations in, 327, 327f, 329–330, 332 examples, in full posters, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f gap, identifying, 327 importance, establishing, 327 lists, avoiding, 328, 329 organization, 327, 327f present perfect, 330 references in, 332 research area, introducing, 327 subheadings, 328 verb tense, 330 voice, 330 694 “we”, 330 See also Citations, References Posters, Methods section abbreviations in, 300, 305, 306 examples, in full posters, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f instruments, describing, 302 vs journal article Methods section, 302, 303–304 lists in, 302, 303, 304, 305 materials, describing, 298, 302 numbers and units, 305 numerical methods, describing, 302 organization, 298–299, 298f procedures, describing, 302 subheadings, 302, 306 synthesis (organic), describing, 303–304 verb tense, 306 voice, 306 “we”, 306 See also Compound labels Posters, Results section abbreviations, in limited space, 319 audience and purpose, 308–309 examples, in full posters, 295f, 350f, 351f, 352f graphics, examples of, 312–313, 315–316, 317, 318 graphics, overview, 309, 310, 311, 314, 319, 320 lists in, 317–318, 319 organization, 308–311, 309f raw data, 309 results, sharing, 308–311 verb tense, 319 voice, 319 “we”, 319 See also Compound labels, Graphs, Lists, Tables “Precede” vs “proceed”, 645–648 Present perfect in journal articles, 214–215, 214t, 258 in posters, 330 in proposals, 418, 419t, 425, 425t, 442, 443t, 452, 452t See also Verb tense Present tense See Verb tense Primary literature, 34, 546–547 “Principal” vs “principle”, 648–650 “Principle” vs “principal”, 648–650 “Proceed” vs “precede”, 645–648 Project summary See Proposals, Project Summary “Promising”, 448 Proofreading See Revising and editing Proposal audience and purpose, 359, 375–376 broader impacts, 372–373 color, 405, 406, 444 content, overview, 363 Index funding agencies, 367–368 headings and subheadings, 376–378, 377t, 378t intellectual merit, establishing, 371–372 lists in, 394–396 move structures, 392f, 437f, 482f, 507f need, establishing, 370 organization, 376–378, 377t, 378t references, 378 rejections, reasons for, 373–374, 374t See also Proposals, individual sections; RFP Proposals, Experimental Approach section detail, level of, 464–465 headings, 377t, 378t, 433–434, 438, 438t, 444, 444t, 454, 454t illustrations, examples of, 445, 446, 447, 450, 486 as a main section of the Project Description, 378, 378t obstacles, anticipating, 469–471 organization, 437, 437f preliminary results, sharing, 440, 443–451 prior accomplishments, sharing, 438–440 procedures and instrumentation, describing, 457–460, 462–469 “promising”, 448 promising results, reminding readers of, 455–456 proposed methodology, describing, 454–456, 457–460, 462–471 “recently”, 448–449 verb tense, 442, 443t, 452, 452t, 474 voice, 442, 443t, 452, 452t, 474 “we”, 452 Proposals, Goals and Importance section background information, providing, 407–409, 411–413, 414–416 citing textbooks, 405 fundamental concepts, explaining, 404–406 gap statements, 205t, 420–424 gaps, identifying and fi lling, 205t, 420–424 goals and objectives, stating, 392–399, 401 goals vs objectives, 393 headings, 377t, 378t, 387, 393, 393t, 403, 403t, 420 illustrations, 405, 406 importance, establishing, 402–416 as a main section of the Project Description, 378, 378t organization, 391–392, 392f proposed work, introducing, 420–424 research area, identifying, 403–404 research story, developing, 404–416 SAM test, 394 verb tense, 401, 401t, 418, 419t, 425, 425t voice, 401, 401t, 418, 419t, 425, 425t Index “we” , 401, 418, 421, 425 words to avoid, 398–399, 399t See also Citations, References Proposals, Outcomes and Impacts section broader impacts, describing, 492–496 concluding, 479, 480, 492–496 expected outcomes, listing, 488–491 headings, 377t, 378t, 479, 483, 483t, 488–489, 489t, 492, 493t hedging, 484, 590–594 lists, 488–490, 492 as a main section of the Project Description, 378, 378t organization, 482–483, 482f timeline, presenting, 483–486 verb tense, 488, 488t, 492, 497, 497t voice, 488, 488t, 492, 497, 497t “we”, 497 Proposals, Project Description main sections of, 378, 378t as a major division of the proposal, 377 overview, 378 Proposals, Project Summary vs abstracts, 502, 503 audience and purpose, 501, 502–503, 508 author guidelines, examples, 504–505 broader impacts, summarizing, 506, 507f, 508 citations, absence of, 508 heading, 501 as a major division of the proposal, 378 methods, summarizing, 508–512 organization, 507–508, 507f significance, emphasizing, 508–512 topic and goals, introducing, 508–512 verb tense, 515, 515t–516t voice, 515, 515t–516t “we”, 514–515 Proposals, References Cited, as a major division of the proposal, 378 See also References Proposals, title, 517–518 See also Journal articles, title “Prove”, 118, 164, 399t See also Hedging Punctuation as subcomponent of Grammar and Mechanics, 7t, 20–21 See also Capitalization, Colon, Comma, Hyphenated Two-Word Modifiers, Period, Semicolon Purpose See Audience and Purpose QA/QC, reporting in journal articles, 63, 89–90 Quality Assurance/Quality Control See QA/QC Quotations See Direct quotes 695 (R) as prefi x in chemical names, 72, 142 R for radical or residue, 137–138, 140, 142 “Radiation” vs “irradiation”, 456 Reagents in journal articles, describing, 63, 66–69 in posters, describing, 302 “Recently” in conference abstracts, 283 in proposals, 448–449 Redundancy, eliminating, 573–575 See also Conciseness, Wordiness Refereed journals, 33–34 Reference standards, reporting in journal articles, 68–69 References alphabetical format, books, 564–565, 565t, 566–567 alphabetical format, journal articles, 564–565, 565t, 566–567 CASSI, 558, 558t Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index, 558, 558t for electronic sources, 563 formatting, overview, 557–558, 567 heading, 557, 567 numerical format, books, 559, 561–562, 561t–562t numerical format, journal articles, 559–560, 559t parallel to citations, 557 purpose, 557 section, in journal articles, 557, 567 section, in posters, 557, 567 section, in proposals, 557, 567 Request for application See RFP Request for proposal See RFP Research article See Journal article Research proposal See Proposal “Researcher”, avoiding, 228–229 “Respectively”, 151–152, 230, 597–599 Results and Discussion sections, combined vs separate, 112–114, 322 Results section See Journal articles, Results section; Posters, Results section; Proposals, Experimental Approach section Revising and editing adherence to external guidelines, 579 appearance, 580–581 awkward sentences, 586–588 common errors, 577–578 conciseness, 575–576 follow-through, 573 formatting, 580–581 organization, 571–572 redundancy, 573–575 696 science content, 578–579 tense and voice, 576 wordiness, 575–576 RFA (Request for application) See RFP RFP (Request for proposal) ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Fellowship, 361 definition, 369 generic, 379–380 National Cancer Institute (NCI) Quick Guide for Grant Applications, 385 NSF Collaborative Research in Chemistry (CRC), 383–384 NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award in Chemistry (CAREER), 380–381 (S) as prefi x in chemical names, 72 Samples, describing in Methods section, 69–71 Schemes calling out in text, 74t, 539 compound labels in, 540, 540s, 540t examples, 56s, 143s, 183s, 186s, 324s, 540s formatting, 539–540, 540t in journal articles, Discussion section, 182, 183s, 184–185, 186, 186s numbering, 539 purpose, 539 titles, 540t Science content, as a component of genre analysis, 7t, 22–23 Scientific audience See Audience, different types of Scientific paper See Journal article Scientific poster See Poster Scientific words, plural and singular, 154–156, 155t, 156t, 616–619 Seasons, capitalization of, 70 Semicolon, 626–629 Series numbering of items in, 231 with numbers 10 or greater, 86, 88, 609 parallelism, 88, 231, 612–616 punctuation, 627–628, 630 with “respectively”, 597–599 units of measure as final item, 609 See also Lists “Since” vs “because”, 650–652 Singular vs plural words, 154–156, 155t, 156t, 616–619 Spacing after initials, in references, 560 double vs single, 567, 580 of numbers and symbols, 87, 88 of numbers and units, 86–87, 88, 305, 608–609 with percent sign, 87, 88 Index of variables and symbols, 88 “Spectra” vs “spectrum”, 616–617 “Spectrum” vs “spectra”, 616–617 Spelling out abbreviations, 601–603 authors’ first names, 287, 560 journal names, in References, 332, 560, 558, 558t numbers, 608–609 units of measure, 86–88, 608–609 Split infi nitives, 619–620 Standard solutions, reporting in journal articles, 68–69 Statistical methods, reporting in journal articles, Methods section, 64, 95–97 Stock solutions, reporting in journal articles, 68–69 Student audience See Audience, different types of Subheadings in journal articles, 63, 64, 122, 167 in posters, 302, 306, 328, 338 in proposals, 376–378, 377t, 378t See also Headings Subject-verb agreement language tip, 620–624 as a subcomponent of Grammar and Mechanics, 7t with units of measure, 81, 87 Submoves See Moves and submoves Superscript numbers, in citations, 551–552 Tables alignment, 534t calling out in text, 74t, 533 columns, 534t–535t equations in, 139, 146 examples of, “before” and “after”, 537f font, 535t footnotes, 535t formatting, 534, 534t–536t gridlines, 535t numbering, 533 purpose, 533 repeated values, 536t titles, 536t when to use, 314, 533 See also Posters, Results section Take-home message, 167, 168, 172, 177, 322 Tense See Verb tense “Than” vs “then”, 653–654 “That” vs “which”, 654–657 “Then” vs than”, 653–654 Time, units of See Units of time Timeline See Proposals, Outcomes and Impacts section Index Titles for conference abstracts, 286–287 for posters, 286–287, 353t for proposals, 517–518 for schemes, 540t for tables, 536t See also Journal articles, title; X of Y by Z pattern trans, italicization and capitalization, 72 “Truth”, 118, 164 See also Hedging Two-word modifiers, hyphenation, 181, 263, 632–634 Unambiguous writing, 599–601 Units of measure abbreviating vs spelling out, 87, 88, 602 abbreviations, 76t–77t in axes labels, 527t definition of, 87 language tip, 608–611 plural forms, 88 rules, 86–88 spacing, between numbers and units, 86–87, 88, 305, 608–609 surnames as, 73 in tables, column headings, 534t verb agreement, 81, 87 Units of time abbreviating vs spelling out, 71, 76t–77t, 602, 608–609 in axes labels, 527t plural forms, 608–609 See also Units of measure UV–vis, 74t, 494 Vendors in journal articles, 66–69, 257 in posters, 302 Verb tense in conference abstracts, 288 in journal articles, 100t, 148t, 189t, 225t, 225t in posters, 306, 319, 325, 330 in proposals, 401t, 419t, 425t, 443t, 452t, 488t, 497t, 515t–516t as a subcomponent of Writing Conventions, 7t, 20 See also Journal articles, individual sections; Present perfect; Proposals, individual sections “Very”, 153–154 Vocabulary, formal, 588–590 Voice active vs passive, 99–100, 99f in conference abstracts, 288 in journal articles, 99f, 100t, 148t, 189t, 214t, 225t language tip, 604–608 697 Voice (continued) in posters, 306, 319, 326, 330 present perfect, 214–215, 214t in proposals, 401t, 419t, 425t, 443t, 452t, 488t, 497t, 515t–516t as a subcomponent of Writing Conventions, 7t, 20 See also Journal articles, individual sections; Proposals, individual sections “We” See Conference abstracts; “I”; Journal articles, individual sections; “Our”; Posters, individual sections; Proposals, individual sections “Which” vs “that”, 654–657 “While” vs “although”, 650–652 Word choice formal vocabulary, 399t, 588–590 linking words and phrases, 223, 223t, 233–234, 235t quantitative vs qualitative terms, 153 as a subcomponent of Audience and Purpose, 7t, 8–9 vs word usage, 21 See also Hedging, Nominalizations, Words to avoid 698 Word usage as a subcomponent of Grammar and Mechanics, 7t, 21 See also individual troublesome words, Plural words, Word choice Wordiness in titles, 262–263 ways to eliminate, 36–43, 39t, 41t, 227–231 See also Conciseness, Nominalizations, Revising and editing Words to avoid, 150, 209, 224, 262, 398–399, 399t See also “Experiment” vs work”, Formal vocabulary, Hedging, Ordinal language, “Prove”, “Researcher”, “Truth”, “Very” “Work” vs “experiment”, 61, 398, 399t Writing conventions, as a component of genre analysis, 7t, 18–20 See also Abbreviations, Verb tense, Voice X of Y by Z pattern, titles, 246, 246t–247t, 262–263 X-ray, 494 Zero before decimal points, 88, 305 concentration, reporting, 132–133 Index ... Thus, to write like a chemist requires learning to write for multiple audiences and purposes One of the best ways to learn to write like a chemist is to read like a chemist Indeed, many of today’s... read-analyze -write approach featured in Write Like a Chemist is readily transferable to other disciplines Because it will take more than a single encounter with Write Like a Chemist to become a skilled writer,... divided into two or more subcomponents Our goal is to teach you to analyze chemistryspecific writing according to these components and subcomponents To get you started, and to illustrate how genre