Manual of Style

Editor Dr. Fouad Khalaf

Professor, Faculty of Engineering Cairo University

October 2008

Contents
Preface A. Basic Vocabulary B. Glossary of Word Usage C. Redundancy and Excess Phrases that Should Be Avoided D. Usage of Verbs E. Punctuation E.1 Apostrophe ( ) E.2 Colon ( : ) E.3 Comma ( , ) E.4 Hyphen ( - ) E.5 Parentheses ( ) E.6 Brackets [ ] E.7 Semicolon ( ; ) E.8 Quotation Marks ( ) F. Italics G. Spelling H. Prefixes and Suffixes I. Abbreviations/Acronyms I.1 Abbreviation Rules of General Terms I.2 Abbreviation Rules of Engineering Units I.3 General Abbreviation J. Capitalization Rules J.1 General Rules J.2 Companies, Institutions, and Organizations J.3 Personal Titles and Names K. Numbers K.1 General K.2 Whole Numbers K.3. Fractions K.4. Documentation L. Writing Equations M. Writing References Acknowledgement References Dictionaries and Thesaurus Appendix: Rules for Graphs and Text Charts

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Preface
English language is the scientific language of most of the local petroleum conferences and symposia. Generally, authors of the papers submitted to these conferences, who are nonnative English writers, receive no formal assistance in writing or reviewing the technical content of the articles. In addition, many organization do not have clear publication policies regarding writing, editing, and proofreading to guarantee the language quality of publications. This Style Manual is prepared to help non-native English technical writers achieve decent level of writing. Good writing skills and technical competence are complementary requirements for successful professionals. The aim of this guideline is to make publications easier to read, and thus more effective in delivering the message writers need to convey. Without some principles to guide the writers as to how to use the thesis statement or the topic sentence techniques, where to capitalize, where to use proper punctuation, where to use a specific word, our writing will lack consistency and will be confusing to the reader. The contents of the Style Manual are selected to address the specific requirements of Egyptian professionals; the authors hope that the contents of this manual will help these professionals write quality texts which is a prerequisite for communicating their valuable output.

Chief Editor Dr. Fouad Khalaf Giza, January 2005

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A. Basic Vocabulary Abstract is a summary of a scientific paper that has an introduction, middle text and a conclusion. It briefly highlights the main theme of the paper. Usually the abstract is less than 10 percent of the length of the report. For economy of space, journals and publishers limit the abstracts to only 200 or 300 words. The abstract may be informative or descriptive. For the purpose of judging abstracts for content and inclusion in a conference, abstracts should be informative. When the paper is accepted and a full report is presented, the abstract becomes a part of the report and then it should be descriptive. Abstract (Descriptive) describes simply the topic covered without getting into details necessary to know what the topic is about. The descriptive abstract rarely exceeds few sentences regardless of the length of the report and is usually used at the beginning of technical reports or texts. An example of descriptive style: The text discusses the factors that affect the cost of merchandize. Abstract (Informative) summarizes the contents of the report; emphasizes what is new; stresses the objectives, the conclusion and recommendations; touches the details very briefly so that the essential message of the report becomes clear and independent. The informative abstract is self-sufficient: it should not be necessary to read the report to understand the meaning of the abstract. An example of informative style: The cost of merchandize has been dependent on the cost of ingredients, cost of labor, availability of raw material, promptness of delivery, and market demands. Adjectives are words modifying nouns; usually placed before, but sometimes after, the noun. They usually end with suffixes of -ble, -er, -ive, -y. Restrictive adjectives are necessary for defining the noun; therefore, they do not need parenthetical commas. The person using the tool is knowledgeable. Using the tool is an adjective qualifying the person. Nonrestrictive adjectives are not necessary for defining the noun; therefore they need two parenthetical commas. Soybean, rich in protein, is a good animal diet. Adverbs are words modifying adjectives, verbs, adverbs, or a whole sentence; they should stay as close to words as possible. Some adverbs move within the sentence, but sometimes conveying different meanings. Production almost lost few hundred barrels. Production lost almost few hundred barrels. Most adverbs end with -ly. Other adverb words are well, very, most, much, more, hardly, hard . Examples of conjunctive adverbs are however, consequently, therefore, otherwise, hence, etc. Clause is a group of words with at least one verb and its subject, but does not possess all the properties a sentence has. Clause may be main or subordinate: Main Clause can stand by itself in a sentence, but is not punctuated and capitalized as a sentence is. Although everything was normal (subordinate clause), something was wrong (main clause).

Conjunctions can be coordinating or subcoordinating. The coordinating conjunctions and, or, for, but, so, yet, nor coordinate between equal grammatical parts. Subordinating conjunctions such as if, since, for, as, when, unless, although, even though tie dependent clauses to the main parts of the sentence. Gerund is the present participle form of the verb when used as a noun. Studying petroleum engineering needs practical training in field work. However, a participial phrase is not a gerund. The person studying petroleum engineering should be a hard worker.

Paragraph is a group of sentences that develops one main idea: the topic. This topic is usually introduced in a sentence: the topic sentence. All other sentences of the paragraph are directly tied to this topic. Supporting sentences should follow a consistent pattern of development in the paragraph. This pattern allows the reader to process the paragraph as a unified whole. Some of the commonly used patterns of development are narration, description, classification, definition, analysis, comparison, illustration, etc. In form, the first sentence of the paragraph is indented. The paragraph varies between 5 and 15 sentences, or 50 to 250 words. Reasonably short paragraphs give a visual assurance that the writer has taken the time to break his thoughts up into small and easily understood pieces. Phrase is a group of words without a verb or subject, and has no independent meaning and, therefore, cannot stand by itself. Studying petroleum engineering needs strong basics in geology. To be or not to be that is the question. Prepositions such as at, on, for, with, to, etc. are functional words followed by a noun. To preceding a verb form is not a preposition, it is an infinitive to. Thesis Statement. A good text should have one or two main statements that show the main message of the text: the thesis statement. The presence of an explicit or implicit thesis statement ensures cohesion of the text. The thesis statement should be directly related to the title of the text. A good thesis statement clearly mentions the topic and controlling ideas about that topic. The structure of the thesis shows a topic plus a comment general enough to encompass the text. Topic Sentence. A good paragraph should have a main sentence that allows the readers to guess its content. A good topic sentence shows the topic and a rather specific comment about it. The topic sentence appears at the beginning (the most common), near the end (not very common), or in the middle (not recommended). In rare cases, the topic statement is hidden or left implicit. While sentence length should vary, it is preferable to be short: around 20 words. Short sentences are easier to read and understand.

B. Glossary of Word Usage

The following glossary reviews the status of words, word forms, and constructions that are frequently criticised as colloquial, illogical, excessively informal, or otherwise restricted in appropriateness and effectiveness. The glossary is limited to information that goes beyond the scope of the ordinary dictionary entry or that tends to be lost in the wealth of other information a dictionary provides. The following are words that are frequently misused. A, an. The a appears before words that begin with a constant voice even when words begin with actual vowel. a desk a house a year a university a European car The an appears before words that begin with a vowel voice even when words begin with actual constant. an eye an honest an A an M Ability, capacity. Ability is the power of animate beings to do; capacity is the power to receive or contain (animate or not). Accept, except. Accept means to receive or admit; except is to exclude or excuse. Adapt, adopt. Both refer to taking something; however adapt adds the idea of changing or adjusting to a different use; while adopt does not imply change or adjustment. Admittance, admission. Admittance is for physical entry to a specific place; admission is for figurative entry. Advice, advise. Advice (noun, pronounced with s sound) is the equivalent of counsel or guidance; advise (verb, pronounced with z sound) is to offer such guidance. Affect, effect. Affect (verb) denotes influence that will bring about a change; effect (noun) denotes a condition that is the consequence or result of a cause; effect (verb ) means to accomplish something or bring something about. His personality affects us all. His personality has an effect on all of us. He could not effect a study. All right, alright. All right is formal; alright (single L) is not formally accepted. Alternate, alternative. Alternate is one after the other; alternative is one or the other. Amount, number. Amount is used in reference to uncountable things; number is used in reference to things which are counted. A number of followed by a countable quantity or things takes the plural form of the verb. The number takes the single form of the verb. A number of jobs have been selected. The number of candidates is not enough. And/or. And/or is an awkward combination form, sometimes necessary in commercial or official documents.

Anyone, any one. Anyone (pronoun ) is equivalent to anybody and refers only to persons; any one (noun ) refers to any person or thing of a specified group and stresses one. I have not seen anyone of you. Test any one of these instruments. Assume, presume. Both verbs indicate an act of taking something for granted. Assume is more appropriate to setting a hypothesis; presume is stronger in implying a belief in the absence of a proof to the contrary. Assure, ensure, insure. Assure and ensure have nearly the same meanings of make safe, make certain, give confidence; insure (of insurance) is used to refer to underwriting a loss. Attribute, contribute. Attribute is to trace or ascribe something to a cause or source; contribute is to give ones share or to have a share in (doing) something. Balance, remainder. Balance refers to a difference in figures; remainder refers to a difference in people or things. Between, among. Between is to refer to two; among is to refer to more than two. Bi, semi. Bi refers to what happens every two periods of time; semi refers to what happens twice during one period of time. (every two weeks or two biweekly biyearly years) (twice a week or a year) semi-weekly semi-yearly Biannual, biennial. Biannual is the equivalent of semi-annual (happening twice each year); biennial has three meanings: (1) lasting for two years, (2) happening every second year, (3) having a normal life cycle of two years. Biography, bibliography. Biography is usually the written history of a person; Bibliography is the history of writings or the list of works written by an author or published by a publisher. Can, may. Can is used in the sense of be able to or be capable of; may indicates permission, or uncertainty, or possibility. Caliber, Calipers. Caliber is quality of mind or character (for persons); Calipers is an instrument for measuring the diameter of round object. A person of high caliber. The inside diameter of a tube is measured by a calipers. Compare to, compare with. Compare to implies resemblance between two essentially different things; compare with implies contrast between two essentially similar things. Complement, compliment, complimentary. Complement is (1) to fill up or make complete, or (2) the quantity required to complete something, or (3) one of two mutually completing parts; compliment means praise or respect; complimentary is without cost.

Comprehensible, comprehensive. Comprehensible is capable of being understood; comprehensive means covering the subject matter completely or broadly. Comprise, comprised of. Comprise means to be made up of; therefore using of after the verb is incorrect. Connote, denote. Connote is to imply something in addition to the fundamental meaning; denote is to be explicit. Counsel, council, consul. Counsel is advice or the person giving the advice; council is a legislative or advisory body; consul is a government official residing in a foreign country. Difference, deference. Difference is the state of being distinguished; deference is respect, honour, or esteem given to a superior or an elder person. Different from, different than. One thing differs from another; different than may introduce an elliptical clause. The adopted method differs from the previous one. The adopted procedure is different than the one defined in the manual. Disinterested, uninterested. Disinterested means lacking self-interest and bias; uninterested is having no concern in the subject and is indifferent to it. Due to. Correct only when used as a predicate or a modifier following a linking verb. If possible, use since, because of, caused by, resulting from, owing to. This was due to poor design. Economical, economic. Economical is restricted to the sense of not being wasteful; economic is applied generally to matters of economics (the science), and finance. Electric, electrical. Electric is something driven by or uses electricity to function; electrical is something or someone that deals with electricity. electric motor electrical engineering etc. Means and so forth and should be used at the end of a list to clarify exactly what kinds of other things are implied. Not correct when used at the end of a list introduced by such as or for example. Faculties, facilities. Faculties are the power or authorities; facilities are the means that make operations easy. Farther, further. Farther is in reference to space and distance; further is in reference to degree or quantity. Feasible, possible and conceivable. Feasible is capable of being successfully accomplished, brought about, or done; Possible describes what is capable of happening or existing; conceivable is capable of being imagined or understood. The project is possible but not feasible. Formally, formerly. Formally means in a formal manner; formerly means previously.

Human, humane. Human beings may not be humane in the sense of being kind, compassionate, sensitive or refined. If, whether. If implies conditions or uncertainty; whether implies an alternative. Imply, infer. Imply is to indicate or suggest a conclusion (as a speaker or writer); infer is to draw a conclusion (as a listener or as a reader). Intense, intensive. Intense describes what is extreme in degree or what is deeply felt; intensive is synonymous with concentrated and exhaustive. Intense pain, intense effort Intensive study, intensive care. Its, it's. Its is possessive; its is contraction of it is. The cat lost its fur. It's a beautiful day today. Later, latter. Later means at a future time; latter is the last one in a list. Less, fewer. Less refers to quantity; fewer refers to number. We used less cement and fewer truckloads. Local, locale. Local (adjective) is an adjective to designate limited nature or effect of a thing; locale (noun) is a noun meaning place, space, workplace, vicinity. Moral, morale. Moral (adjective) is something ethical and related to principles; morale (noun) is the mental and emotional condition of individual or group. Obsolete, obsolescent. Obsolete is no longer in use or in fashion; obsolescent is something in the process of passing out of use, thus becoming obsolete. Over, more than. Over is a preposition used to denote place where; therefore should not be used with numbers; more than which means in excess of should be used instead. More than 200 people attended the conference (not over) Practicable, practical. A practicable plan is capable of being put into effect; practical plan is, when put into practice, is a workable or effective plan. Principal, principle. Principal (noun or adjective) means first or foremost; principle (noun) means a basic truth or determined course of action. Respectfully, respectably, respectively. Respectfully means showing ones respect; respectably means worthy of others respect; respectively means reference to several things in the order they were mentioned. Sensible, sensitive. Sensible is something felt or perceived by senses, reason, or understanding; sensitive is being highly responsive to emotions, and to others attitudes and feelings.

Stationary, stationery. Stationary (adjective) refers to a fixed position; stationery (noun) denotes writing materials. Teach, learn. The teacher teaches the learner; while the learner learns (or is taught) by the teacher. Transient, transitory, transitional. Transient (noun) describes persons who remain in a given place only a short time; transitory (adjective) describes something of a brief or temporary duration; transitional (adjective) describes something passing from one state or stage to another. Very, much. Very is generally used with adjectives; much is used with verbal. very old much astonished Unique. Means without equal. There can be no degrees of uniqueness. Thus, almost unique, totally unique, partially unique are incorrect. Via. Means by way of in a geographical sense, not by means of. The route will be via Cairo. C. Redundancy and Excess Phrases that Should Be Avoided In writing, choose simple words over the complex ones. Write not to impress the reader but to express your ideas. Also, use the active rather than the passive speech. The following are some examples to show the difference between the wordy style and the more efficient and direct style. Wordy actual fact, true fact all of as to whether, whether or not at the present time commence, initiate despite the fact that due to the fact that during the course of features of the book for the purpose of for the reason that Efficient Usage fact all whether now, currently begin, start although because during book's features to since Wordy in the amount of $ ... in the event that in the neighbourhood of in the process of in regard to, in reference to, in view of the fact that of a confidential nature on a voluntary basis president of the company prior to subsequent to Efficient Usage for $ ... if about (omit) regarding since confidenti al voluntarily Company president before after

in accordance with in an efficient way Wordy in as much as in order that in order to in receipt of D. Usage of Verbs

according to efficiently Efficient Usage since so that to received

to a large extent utilize Wordy with a view toward with the result that without further delay

largely use Efficient Usage to resulting in now

Avoid, where possible, using masked or weak verbs, referred to as nominal style. Strong action verbs (verbal style) are preferred. The following are some examples of both. Masked (weak) Achieve improvements come to a conclusion Conduct a survey effect changes give assistance make an investigation make a purchase Unmasked (strong) improve conclude survey change help, assist investigate buy Masked (weak) make a careful analysis make a decision make a study make measurement take action make application to take into consideration Unmasked (strong) carefully analyse decide study measure act apply consider

E. Punctuation E.1 Apostrophe ( ) 1. Use the apostrophe to show possessive form for formal equations, principles, laws. Newtons Law Darcys Law 2. Use the apostrophe to show possessive form for informal measures involving time, space, and quantity. years experience 3. Use the apostrophe alone with a plural noun that modifies another noun and when forming the possessive form of words and with proper nouns ending with s. Employees houses Younes salary 4. Add s when forming the plural of figures, letters, years, etc. The 1920s nine 5s all As

5. For words showing joint possession, only the last in the succession takes the possessive. X and Ys paper: Papers jointly owned by X and Y. 6. Individual possession is indicated by forming the possessive of each word in the group. Xs, and Ys papers: Some papers are owned by X and some are owned by Y. 7. Use the apostrophe to replace omitted letters in contractions. shouldnt wouldnt

E.2 Colon ( : ) 1. Use a colon after a complete sentence to introduce a list, examples, equations, or an additional statement that expands the original one. 2. Do not insert a colon between a verb or preposition and its object(s). The data were time, volume, and depth. 3. Use a colon to express a ratio between numbers. a GOR of 12:1 4. Use a colon to introduce a long, formal quotation. 5. Use a colon after a salutation in formal correspondence. Dear Sir: or (,) 6. Use a colon to separate book titles and subtitles. Software Licences: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

E.3 Comma ( , ) 1. In dates, use the comma to set off the year and the day June 5, 1977, was the start-up date. However, if the day of the month is not given, do not use a comma to separate the month and the year Waterflooding began in April 1975. 2. In a series of three or more elements, use commas between each element and before the final conjunction. The effects of viscosity, flow rate, and porosity. 3. The place of commas sometimes change the meaning of the sentence. The company needs a secretary and accountant. (one person) The company needs a secretary, and accountant. (two persons) 4. Use a comma to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that modify the same noun; however, do not use the comma when the first adjective modifies the whole sentence. An efficient, simple, cheap way (the three adjectives describe
way)

5.

A dark, green car (both adjectives describe car) A dark green car (dark describes green not car) Generally, commas are used correctly if they logically can be replaced by and.

6.

7. 8.

Use commas to set off introductory, parenthetical, and nonrestrictive words or phrases. Of course, we decided to stay. (introductory) We should, nevertheless, leave soon. (parenthetical) The computer, bought last month, is not working. (nonrestrictive there is only one computer) The computer bought last month is not working. (restrictive there are more than one computer) Use commas to set off elements in company names, but not Inc., and Co., Ltd., A.G., etc. Use commas after expressions that introduce an example or illustration (as, namely, i.e., for example, ...).

E.4 Hyphen ( - ) 1. Hyphenate compound customary units of measurement. acre-ft md-ft 2. Hyphenate expressions such as n-pentane. However, do not hyphenate ordinary chemical combinations used as modifiers or chemical names with prefixes. a sodium chloride solution 3. Hyphenate the following terms: president-elect three-fourths (and other fractions) 4. Hyphenate all compound numbers between 21 & 99. forty-four 5. Do not use hyphens to express a range of figures. Use the complete idiom instead, except with dates, page numbers, and addresses. from 20 to 30% (not from 20-30%) pages 21-85 6. Use hyphen to avoid ambiguity of meaning. The lower-production interval (interval of lower production) the lower production interval (lower interval of production) 7. Use a hyphen with a compound adjective if it improves the clarity and flow of the sentence. round-the-clock three-day trip surveillance on-the-job training an up-to-date program BUT The training was on the job. The program is up-to-date. 8. Adjective phrases formed by an adverb and a verb usually are hyphenated, except when the adverb ends in -ly. a slow-moving front coarse-grained sand severely damaged accurately adjusted 9. Use the suspended hyphen for relating similar qualities The pressure- and temperature-dependence must be established. E.5 Parentheses ( ) 1. Use parentheses to set off non essential, supplementary, explanatory, or incidental matter not part of the main thought of the sentence.

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The time was right (despite some feelings to the contrary) to begin construction. 2. Use parentheses around the abbreviation of a state or name of a country added for identification between parts of a name. Marietta (Oh.) College 3. Parentheses follow font of words outside parentheses. The time was right (despite some feelings to the contrary). E.6 Brackets [ ] 1. To indicate a word or phrase that is extraneous, incidental, or explanatory, especially within quoted materials.
The emperor [Napoleon] ordered him to leave.

She wrote: I recieved [sic] your package. Note: Received was miss spelled in the original text. 2. To set off parenthetical material within other parenthetical material. The difference was small (compared with the earlier study [1976]). 3. To indicate addition by the author within a formal quotation. The difference was small [this was in 1970, but now it is not the case]. E.7 Semicolon ( ; )
1. Use semicolon to separate clauses which have a logical relationship that could be expressed by one of the conjunctions and, or, for, nor, but, so, yet.

2. Use semicolon to separate clauses too closely related or are not linked by a conjunction to separate long, coordinate clauses. Drilling to such depths is rare; much of the technology is experimental and rapidly changing. 3. Use semicolon to divide elements in a series when any of the elements contains commas. Section officers are Dr. XX, chairman; Mr. YY, programmer; and Mr. MM, secretary. 4. Use semicolon before conjunctive adverbs such as therefore, however, moreover, and consequently. The first test failed; consequently, we ran another. Note: Whereas should be preceded by a comma, not a semicolon, and followed by a comma.

E.8 Quotation Marks ( ) 1. In general, use quotation marks to cite exact phraseology from another source, to set off titles when italics are not used, to enclose a word or phrases being used in an unusual manner, and to disclaim responsibility for the words of another.

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2. Use quotation marks at the opening of each paragraph and to close the final paragraph of a long quotation. If the quotation is to be set in contrasting type or is to be indented from the rest of the copy, do not use the quotation marks. 3. Set commas and periods inside quotation marks. Put colon and semicolon outside the quotation marks. Other punctuation marks (?&!) go inside the quotation marks only if they belong to the sentence quoted. 4. Use quotation marks with titles of papers, lectures, talks, and book chapters. 5. When defining or introducing a new term, use the quotation marks only at the first reference. F. Italics 1. Italicise letter symbols (including subscripts and superscripts). Do not italicise numerals (including subscripts and superscripts), mathematical abbreviations (log, ln, sin, cos, etc.) or chemical symbols. 2. Italicise non-English words and their abbreviations, such as et al. However, do not italicise non-English words accepted as part of the English language (e.g. per se, in-situ, i.e., cf., vs., etc, pros and cons, pro- rata). 3. Italicise names of books, newspapers, periodicals, vessels, etc. 4. Use italics sparingly for emphasis of a word or a phrase but not for long sentences or paragraphs. G. Spelling When in doubt of spelling, check a good dictionary. The following are some spelling rules: 1. Seed words: the syllable sounding seed is usually written cede. concede, precede, secede and the like. BUT succeed, proceed, exceed and supersede. 2. When adding -ing, -er, -ence, -est or -ed to a word ending with a consonant, double the final consonant. kidding, fitter, fitted, occurrence, occurred, preferred. BUT opening, conference benefited, preference and reference. (notice the shift in stress in these words) 3. Omit the final silent e when adding -ing, -ed, and -ious, except if omitting the e will convey a different meaning. complete/completing, desire/desirous. BUT singe/singeing, dye/dyeing, notice/noticeable, agree/agreeable, courage/courageous. (note the pronunciation of these words) 4. The rule (I before e except after c) generally applies on most of the words. thief belief believe relief field receive perceive deceive conceive. But there are some exceptions such as their foreign neither eight.

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5. The letter y preceded by a consonant is usually turned to ies in plurals, verbs for third person singular, and superlative adjectives. ally Allies obey obeys
BU T

carry costly

carries costlier

buoy

buoys

H. Prefixes and Suffixes 1. Do not hyphenate after ordinary prefixes, even in long or unusual words. electrochemical hydroelectric repressured interconnection quasilegal multiphase prestimulation subsea nonlinear coeducation updip semilog 2. Hyphenate the prefix self. selfself-seating self-explanatory regulating 3. Use a hyphen to indicate a separate syllable if a vowel is doubled (exceptions are cooperate, coordinate, and isooctane) re-elect pre-eminent semi-insoluble 4. Use a hyphen if the prefix precedes a proper name. Non-Newtonian Post-Ordovician 5. Use a hyphen after any prefix if omitting the hyphen will convey a totally different meaning. co-operate cooperate re-create recreate re-claim reclaim re-form reform re-count recount re-lay relay re-cover recover re-place replace re-treat retreat 6. Fold is joined with a hyphen. two-fold several-fold I. Abbreviations/Acronyms

100-fold

4.6-fold

Abbreviation is a shortened form of the word. Acronym is a word made of the initials of other words. Use only acronyms that readers will readily understand. If in doubt, spell out the term at first use, place the acronyms in parentheses after it, then use the acronym in the remainder of the manuscript. Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly; too many of them will confuse the reader Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is a stateowned corporation. Dr. Spin is a doctor (not dr.) in dermatology.

I.1 Abbreviation Rules of General Terms

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1. Abbreviate names of societies and government agencies without period or spaces. SPE API EGPC NGO 2. Abbreviate such words as university, college, company, incorporated, limited, and division when used with the proper name. Cairo U. Petroleum Div. Chevron USA Inc. 3. Write time with lower-case letters and periods. But write the words noon and midnight in full. a.m. p.m. 4. Abbreviate academic and honorary degrees without periods or spaces. PhD MA 5. Abbreviate names of these months only when they precede the day or year. Jan. 15, 1995 Feb. Aug. Sept. BUT In January, we bought a new house. 6. Abbreviate such words as article, volume, and section in literary references within the text when the number is cited. Chap. 1 Vol. 9 Art. 5 p.5 or P.5 7. Abbreviate equation, figure, and reference when followed by a number. Do not abbreviate table or appendix. Abbreviate the word number when it is part of the proper name of a well but omit the number in other cases. Fig. 6 Eq. 5 Ref. 4 Well No. 9 Rig 5 8. Respect the original language when abbreviating proper names and forms of incorporation. Use the ampersand (&) for the conjunction and. A.B. Cia. Pty. Bhd. A.G. Cie. S.A. B.V. A/S GmbH Sdn. Garcia & Vega

I.2 Abbreviation Rules of Engineering Units 1. Use the same abbreviation for both singular and plural forms of measurements. Do not add s to show the plural form of the abbreviation of the unit. 2. Abbreviate units of measurement in the text only when used with numerical values (unless the abbreviation replaces a very long phrase, such as several scf/D for several standard cubic feet per day). 3. For units of time, use the customary abbreviations sec. (second), min. (minute), hr. (hour), and yr. (year); and use the metric abbreviations s (second), min (minute), h (hour), in combined units only. Otherwise, spell out the term. m/d but 24 days cm/s but 12 seconds 4. Use abbreviations instead of ciphers to represent customary units or measurement. lbm or lbf (not #) in. (not ) ft. (not ) 5. Use the degree sign (o) with angles, temperatures and compass coordinates. 20 o slope 65oF 2oW N25oE 6. Use the slash (/) in place of per between two abbreviated units of measurement. psi/ft 15 cm/s 40 lbm/ft

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7. Use the hyphen (-) in customary units and the product dot (.) in metric units to indicate multiplication in combined units. . . md-ft md m B/D-psi m3/d kPa I.3 General Abbreviation administration article assistant associate Bachelor of Art Bachelor of Science Brothers Chapter (of a book) College Column Company Corporation Department District doctor of philosophy admin. art. asst. (not ass.) assoc. BA BS, B.Sc. Bros. Chap. C. Col. Co. Corp. Dept. Dist. Ph.D. Equation (before a number) et alii (and others) et cetera (and the rest) exempli gratia (for example) incorporated institute institution international Journal limited manufacturing Master of Arts Master of Science Division Eq. et al. etc.
e.g. (always followed by comma)

inc. inst. instn. intl. J. ltd. mfg. MA Ms, M.Sc. Div.

J. Capitalization Rules J.1 General Rules Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adverbs, and all other words of four or more letters in titles and headings for books, articles, lectures, etc. Also capitalize no, nor, off, so, and up. 2. Capitalize key words indicating proper nouns used in titles, names of companies and degrees. When the key word is used as a common noun, it should not be abbreviated. The biggest division of the company is the Operations Division. 3. Capitalize words, in case of titles, of fewer than four letters if they are part of or closely connected to a verb. Held Up To Inject Can Be Produced 4. Capitalize official titles of rank or position only when preceding a name. Do not capitalize when the title follows the name. The fourth president in the last decade is President XYZ. XYZ, president is the fourth president in the last decade. 5. Capitalize points of compass when they indicate geographic locations. North and South have differences on the application of the GATT. Birds fly north. (north is adverb of direction). 1.

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6.

Capitalize all letters in company names only if they are true acronyms. Use periods between upper-case acronyms only if the full text is written in upper case. Gupco, SPE, NATO, Bapetco ECONOMIC WAR BETWEEN U.S. AND JAPAN Economic war between US and Japan J.2 Companies, Institutions, and Organizations Capitalize names of companies, institutes, foundations, colleges, universities, associations, etc., but do not capitalize the general term when used alone or in the plural. Soc. of Petroleum Engineers BUT the society goals Ain Shams U. BUT The university of Ain Shams J.3 Personal Titles and Names 1. Abbreviate titles, ranks, or positions when they come before names. Gov. XYZ Gen. XYZ XYZ, governor XYX, general Exceptions are ambassador, president, vice president, and chairman. Always spell them out. 2. Put long titles after the persons name. XYZ, vice president and board chairman

K. Numbers K.1 General 1. Large rounded numbers should be written with the words million and billion or expressed in powers of 10 notation. Write out the preceding numeral if it is nine or less, except with sums of money or units of measurement. Never use billion, trillion, etc. with SI metric units. 40 million six million consumers 8 x 10 6 ft 3/D $4 million 2. For numeral in dates, pages, and addresses, do not use commas when more than three digits. For numbers of more than three digits used with customary and nondimensional units, use the comma. 456,789 bbl 2,956 ft Oct. 1977 Page 1171 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 3. With SI units, the comma is not used in numbers. Use a space instead: fourdigit numbers require no space. 4 720 525 m3 1525 m3 4. Spell out ordinal numbers from first through ninth; use figures for 10th and higher. first second third 10 th 101 st 5. Use the suspended hyphen when expressing a numerical series of dimensions. The 3-, 5-, and 7-in. [7.62-, 12.7-, and 17.78-cm] wellbores... A 25- to 50 lbm/bbl [71.3- to 142.7-kg/m3] mud . . . (NOT A 65-75 lbm/bbl mud . . .)

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K.2 Whole Numbers In general, spell out zero or nil and whole numbers from one through nine; use figures for 10 or more. The following are exceptions. 1. Use figures if the number expresses a unit of measurement or ratio. 1% 6 km 3 in. 2:1 20 o C 2. Use figures for dates, street addresses, money, and times of day. Do not use unnecessary ciphers when expressing money and time. Jan. 3, 1978 55 Park Ave. $3 2 p.m. 3. Use figures for numbers used together that refer to similar things. Write 4 to 6 pages. Not Write four to six pages. 4. In general, avoid Roman numerals. Use Arabic numbers to designate tables, figures, and equations. 5. Use only numerals in statistical and tabular material. 6. Spell out the first term to distinguish between two numbers that come together. Twenty-one 2-acre pieces of land. Two 3-hour tests. 7. Spell out numbers that begin a sentence. Ten wells are producers; 13 are dry hole Four-inch [10-cm] pipe was set. If the numbers are so long that the sentence becomes awkward, rewrite the sentence. 8. If using the number 1 or the word one in a text may lead to confusion, the term unity should be used. 9. Use a capital X to indicate magnification: 500X. K.3. Fractions 1. Spell out common fractions when they are used alone in the text. Use figures when the fraction is combined with a whole number or when it is used with a unit or measurement. in. 5/8-in. tubing 3.25 kg one-half the normal time 2. When writing decimal fractions, place a zero before the decimal point. 0.5 not .5 3. Also, a numeral must follow a decimal point 3.0 not 3.

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K.4. Documentation 1. Use Arabic numbers to label tables and figures: number them consecutively through the text and within appendices. Within each appendix, use Arabic numbers and the same letter designation as that of the appendix(es). Eq. A-1, A-2 etc. Eq. B-1, B-2, etc. 2. Label two-part equations as Eq. 1a and Eq. 1b not Eq. 1 and Eq. 1a. Eq. A-3a and Eq. A-3b not Eq. 1-3 and Eq. A-3a. 3. Designate all illustrations and nontabular material by Fig. XX. Do not use the words chart, exhibit, graph or photo when naming a specific figure. One portion of a multipart figure should be designated with capital letter when the figures are separate: Fig. 2A, Fig. 2B, Fig. 2C, etc. 4. When referring to distinct parts of a single figure use lower-case letters: Fig. 2a, Fig. 2b, Fig. 2c. etc. L. Writing Equations Equations are subject to the same rules of grammar as sentences. Maintain correct grammatical structure in sentences that contain, recede, or follow equations. A complete sentence introducing an equation can end with a period. In many cases, the relationship of motion, A = Bx + (CD2), can be expressed more simply. 2. Take special care to avoid confusion. For example, When Ax = By, C varies. Is clearer when written as When Ax = By, then C varies. 3. Letter symbols should conform with standard nomenclature. Define them in a formal alphabetical nomenclature at the end of the paper. 4. When typing an equation on more than one line, break the equation at a complete term and start the next line with a sign. A1 = 2B2 = Cx (DF DG) + cos O + 2 (A.E Errf (x + y) +2B1 x F2.................................(2) 5. Use parenthetical pairs in the following order, proceeding from the inside of the equation outward. Parentheses ( ) brackets [ ] braces { } 2 { [ a (B - C/D) E ]2 } = 3F M. Writing References 1. References are cited consecutively in the text by use of superior Arabic numbers, set outside a comma or period and inside other punctuation. If several references are given together, they should be separated by commas. Three or more consecutive references are joined by a hyphen. Previous studies, 3-5,9,11 not discussed here, showed that --- --. 2. When preparing the reference list, be sure to include complete information. List names of all authors if fewer than four: use first authors name plus et al. if reference has four or more authors listed. The et al. form is permissible in the text only when referring to more than two authors of a single paper. 1.

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3. Omit the reference entirely if the bibliographical information is so vague that the reader could not locate the document referred to. Personal communication and unpublished reports are not acceptable references. If essential to the text, use footnotes to acknowledge such informal sources; include individuals name, company affiliation and city, and date of communication. 4. The general information to be included in the reference listing is authors last name, first and middle initials; title of the paper or book; edition (where applicable); name of publication or publisher: where published; date or year of publication or presentation; volume number; and page number(s). Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank Gupco Management who supported the idea of evaluating the English language proficiency of the abstracts in order to present a case study of the findings to the EGPC 14th Conference. The result of the findings was the subject of a paper in the Conference entitled Analysis of English Language of Technical Abstracts - A Case Study. We hope that this manual will help scientific writers in English language. Special thanks go to Hoda Abdel Wadoud, Mostafa Habib, Iman Saied, Basma Mansour, former staff of Gupco, for their valuable technical help in preparing this manual. We also thank all personnel who shared in typing, and proofreading. References
Handbook of English. Harry Shaw. McGraw-Hill Book Company. N.Y. The Grammar Handbook. Irwin Feigenbaum. Oxford University Press. A Practical English Grammar. A.J. Thomson, A. V. Martinet. Oxford University Press. Grammaire complte de la langue angalise. Charles Cestre, Marguerite-Marie Dubois. Librairie Larousse, Paris, France. Harbrace College Handbook, J. C. Hodges and M. E. Whitten, Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch Inc. NY. Punctuate It Right. Harry Shaw, Perennial Library, Harper & Row, Publishers, N.Y. The Sentence Book, Lee A. Jacobus, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. N.Y. English in Use. G M Spankie, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. Surrey, U.K. English for Science and Technology, A handbook for Nonnative Speakers, Thomas Huckins and Leslie Olsen, McGraw Hill, NY. English Made Simple, Arthur Waldhorn et al, Heinemann, London (any edition). The Macmillan College Handbook, Gerald Levin, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY. Basic Technical Writing. Hermann M. Weisman. Charles Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Effective Writing, H. J. Tichy, John Wiley, N.Y, 1966. Engineered Writing, A Manual for Scientific, Technical and Business Writers. Melba Jerry Murray, Hugh Hay Roe. PennWell Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Society of Petroleum Engineers Publications Style Guide (1987), SPE. Concise English Handbook, second edition, Hans P. Guth, San Jose State College, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., Belmont, California. Refining Compositional Skills, R. L. Smalley and M. K. Ruetten, Macmillan Publishing Co. NY. Report Technical Information. Kenneth W. Houp, Thomas E. Pearsall, Macmillan Publishing Co. N.Y. Technical Writing, Principles and Forms. Deborah C. Andrews, Margret D. Blickle. Macmillan Publishing Co. N.Y.

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Writing and Revising: Modern College Workbook. James W. Kirkland, Collet B. Dilworth Jr., Patrick Bizzaro. D.C. Health and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts. Writing and Revising: Modern College Workbook. James W. Kirkland, Collet B. Dilworth Jr., Patrick Bizzaro. D.C. Health and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts. Society of Petroleum Engineers Publications Style Guide (1987), SPE. Concise English Handbook, second edition, Hans P. Guth, San Jose State College, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., Belmont, California. A guide to Writing Style and Usage (1983) - Amoco Publication. Khalaf, F. et al: Analysis of the English Language of Technical Abstracts A Case th Study, Proceedings of the 14 EGPC Petroleum Conference, Cairo Egypt. October, 10-13 October 1998.

Dictionaries and Thesaurus Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, A. S. Hornby, Oxford University Press. Rogets College Thesaurus in Dictionary Form. Prepared by Philip D. Morehead. New American Library, Chicago, USA.

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Appendix Rules for Graphs and Text Charts When preparing graphs and charts for presentations, observe the following rules: Avoid putting too many words in one line; the practical limit depends on the size of characters: the maximum may be between 5 and 10 words per line. Make the elements of one list parallel: they should be all phrases or clauses; they should start with the same part of speech (such as verb, noun or adjective); and they should all follow the same capitalization and punctuation rules. Use enhancements (color, font, size, case) sparingly and consistently; however, using too many enhancements actually detracts audience from presentation. If you use a text chart in a presentation, make the type large enough so that everyone in the room - even those at the back - can read it. When determining the size of your text, consider the output medium you will use; consider the size of the room and the audience, and consider the number of characters on each line of the chart. The following formula determines the height of letters (Size in millimeters) on your hard copies on an A4-paper before preparation of slides or transparencies: S in millimeters = D in meters where D is the maximum distance between the audience of the last row and the screen. If names on text charts are long, capitalize only the first letter. Do not use all uppercase except for short names and when uppercase is easier to read from distance. Each graph or text chart should have a title beside any other important description. Avoid red and green stacked together or next one another. Simple charts with few words are the most effective. Limit information to only what your audience can absorb rapidly. Use short words, short phrases, and short sentences. For titles and lists, complete sentences are not necessary; use just words or phrases.

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