Writing,page1

WritingaPaperorLabReportinScientificFormat

Thinkaboutyourreadersneeds
Scientificpapersaredividedintosections:Title,Abstract,Introduction,Materialsand
Methods,Results(orObservations),Discussion,LiteratureCited(orReferences)
Commonstylisticproblems

Therearemanybooksdevotedtowritingandtoscientificwritinginparticular.Thisistogiveyou
ideasaboutwhatscientificwritingis,andasimpleplanforhowtodoit.Earlyon,youmaybe
writingalabreportoratermpaperforacourse.Later,youmaywanttosubmitamanuscripttoa
journalforpublication,orapplyforascholarshiporajob.Remember,therearemanybookson
styleandcompositionherewearediscussingtheformandfunctionofascientificreport.

Themostimportantruleforanywritingthinkaboutyourreadersneeds.
Whatdoesthismean?Imagineforamoment,now,andthenasyouwriteandreviseyourreport,
thatyouarereadingitforthefirsttime.Isyourinformationinalogicalorder?Areyoursentences
understandableandyourparagraphswellorganized?Haveyoudescribedyourideasandresultsand
analysesfullyenough,oristhereneedlessdetail?Yourgoalistoteachyourreadersomething,
perhapseventosurpriseordelight,butneverattheendtopuzzle,mystifyorfrustrate.

Whoisyourreader?Fornow,yourreaderisprobablyyourprofessororyourlabdemonstrator.
Thesereaderswillknowalotaboutwhatyouaretryingtosay,buttheyneedtoseeifyoudo.The
easieryourpaperistoreadandthemorecompleteitis,thebetteryourgrade.Later,yourreader
maybeacolleague,oranotherstudent,ormaybeaneditororapotentialemployer.Thesereaders
mightnotknowmuchaboutwhatyouaretryingtosay,butyoucanassumethattheyarebright
enoughtokeepupwithyou,ifyougivethemunderstandableinformationinasensiblesequence.
Here,easeofreadingcantranslateintoahighergrade,betteracceptanceofyourideas,publication
ofyourpaper,orgettingascholarshiporajob.

Regardlessofyouraudience,abeautifullytypedpaperwhosecontentlacksclarityorintellectual
meritwillnothelpyou.Ausefulstrategy,unlessyourpaperisforacademiccreditwhereyouare
supposedtobeworkingalone,istohaveafriend(preferablymorethanone!)readadraftandmake
writtencommentsonit.Iftheyarepuzzledorunsureofyourmeaning,thenassumeyouhavenot
beencompletelyclear.Rewritethatsection(s),evenifyouthinkyourdraftreaderwasjustbeing
obtuse.Yourobjectistomakeyourthoughtsgenerallyunderstandable,anditismorelikelythat
youcouldnotseeyourwritingobjectively.Afriend,whotakesthetimetoreadyourdraft,and
criticizeitrigorously,isdoingyouagreatservice.So,bethankfulwhentheypointoutyourerrors
andinconsistencies.Anotherstrategy,ifworkingalone,istoleaveyourselftimebetweendrafts
(ideally12days)sothatyourerrorswillbeeasierforyoutodetectbyyourself.Thisisnotalways
possible,butitismorelikelyifyoudonotleavethingstothelastminute.
 Writing,page2

Ontheotherhandeventhemostbrilliantideasandprosewillseldombegiventheirdueifpoorly
presented.Wheneverpossible,typeyourreportsandhavethemprintedonagoodqualityprinter.
Evenneathandwritingismoredifficulttoreadthantype.Itmakesforaphysicallylongerreport
and,sincepeoplesscriptdevelopsquirks(evenifstylistorartistic)thisrequiresanextradecoding
step.Sinceyourgoalistomakelifeeasyforyourreader,typedcopyisessential.Atypedreport
willnotgiveyouhighermarksbyitself,butanythingthatputsyourreaderintoabettermood
cannothurt.Rememberthatyourreaderislikelytohavedozensofpaperstograde,andother
commitments.Furthermore,Irecommendtypingityourself,forseveralreasons.Mostpeoplecan
typefasterthantheywriteneatly,andthosethatcannotyetdosowillimprovewithpractice.
Secretarialhelpisexpensive,andisbecominguncommoneveninmanybusinesses.Word
processorssimplifyediting,andmosthavespellcheck;thebestalsohavegrammarcheck.

Whentryinganythingforthefirsttime,thereisnosubstituteforagoodexample.
Forreportwriting,youshouldconsultscientificjournals,tocompareadviceheretowhatscientific
writersactuallydo.NotablefortheirclarityofformatarebiologicaljournalsliketheCanadian
JournalofBotanyandCanadianJournalofMicrobiology.

SectionsofaReport

Scientificpapersaredividedintosections,forefficientcommunicationofyourworkand
thoughtstoyourreader.Mostcommonlytheseare(inorder):
Title,
Abstract(orSummary),
Introduction,
MaterialsandMethods,
Results(orObservations),
Discussion,and
LiteratureCited(orReferences).

Essaysandreviewpapersdonothavestandardizedsections.Nevertheless,generallythereisan
abstract,introduction,middlesection,conclusions,andreferences.Headingsareusefulfor
organizingyourthoughts,andforallowingyourreadertoskiptorelevantparts.

Headingscanbehierarchical,forexampleI,II,III;A,B,C;1,2,3;a,b,c;i,ii,iii.Ihaveuseda
lessformalsysteminthisarticle.Blanklineshelp,too.

A.Title
Thetitlemightindicatethetopicyouwillbediscussing,forexample:Lab4Dependenceof
photosyntheticactivityonwavelengthofincidentlight.Or,itmightsummarizethetakehome
messageofyourpaper,forexample:hyplocicontrolcellpatternformationinthevegetative
myceliumofAspergillusnidulans.Eitherway,thetitlegivesyourreadertheirfirstclueofyour
 Writing,page3

paperscontents,andsetsupanimplicitcontractthatyourreportmustthenfulfill.Currently,titles
areoftenaonesentencesummaryofthemainmessage.

B.Abstract(Summary)
Althoughitisthefirstsection,theAbstractshouldnotbewrittenuntiltherestofthepaperisdone
becauseitisabriefsummaryofeverythingelse.Itshouldbeunderstandablebyitself,andbriefly
tellyourreaderthemainmessagesinpaper.

Forexample:Aspergillusnidulansgrowsbyapicalextensionofmultinucleatecellscalled
hyphae,whicharesubdividedbytheinsertionofcrosswallscalledsepta...Thisrequires
coordinationbetweenlocalizedgrowth,nucleardivision,andseptation.Isearchedatemperature
sensitivemutantcollectionforstrainswithconditionaldefectsingrowthpatterningandidentified
sixmutants...whichwecalledhypforhypercellular.Phenotypicanalyses...ofhypmutants...suggest
amechanismforcoordinatingapicalgrowth,subapicalcellarrest,andmitosis.

HereIdescribedmyquestion,methodsandmajorconclusions,butwithoutdetails.Theellipses
()showthatIhavenotreproducedtheentireabstract,generally200250words.

C.Introduction
Theprincipalfunctionsoftheintroductionaretoputyourworkintoageneralcontextandtodefine
theparticularquestion(s)youwilladdress.First,youmustprovideatheoretical,practical,and/or
historicalbackgroundsothatyourreaderwillbeabletounderstandwhatyoudidandwhyitwas
worthdoing.Second,youmustidentifyyourparticulartopic.

Thefirstpartoftheintroductionisaminireviewwhereyourstatementsmustbesupportedby
references.Forexampleinthehyppaper,youwoulddiscusswhatisknowncurrentlyaboutfungal
morphologyandaboutnucleardivisionandgrowthcontrols,eachtimereferringtopublishedwork.
Thiscanhelpyoutoclarifyyourideas.Youshouldbefindingandreadingappropriatereferences
fromearlyon,andjottingdownideasasyougo.However,leavewritingthissectionuntilafteryou
haveagooddraftofthediscussion.Yourideasaboutyourworkanditssignificancemightchange
considerably.

Astatementofpurposecomesafterthereviewpartoftheintroduction.Forexample,Here
wedescribethecharacterizationof...fivegenesthatappeartoplayrolesinmycelialcellpattern
formation...Thehypmutantshaveabnormallyshortsubapicalcells...butcompletetheasexuallife
cycleatrestrictivetemperaturesuggestingthattheymislocalizegrowthcuesthatarerequiredto
establishwildtypemycelialgrowthpatterns.
 Writing,page4

Thereareseveralmethodsforcitingyoursources,oneofthemostcommoniscalledthe
"namedate"method.Forexample,Septaareformedwithauniformspacingalongvegetative
hyphae(FiddyandTrinci,1976),andseptumformationisdependentonmitosis,nuclearpositioning
andattainmentofacriticalcellsize(Wolkowetal.1996).Foreachreference,thecompletecitation
mustbegivenintheLiteratureCited(Reference)section,discussedlater.Paperswiththreeor
moreauthorsaregivenanabbreviatedformatinthetext:etal.meaningandtherest.

Youmustavoidextensiveuseofdirectquotationsfromyourreferences,whichareoutofplace
inscientificwriting.Acitationisnotanexcusetoletanotherauthorspeakforyou.Instead,you
shouldstateinyourownwordswhatyouhavelearnedfromyourreading,whilecreditingtheideas
andfactsbyuseofcitations.Youcanlearnhowtodothisbyreadingtheliterature.

D.MaterialsandMethods
Hereyoudescribehowyoudidyourexperimentsandanalyzedyourresults.Thisistheeasiest
sectiontowrite,andisgenerallydonefirst.Youneednotdescribeeverydetailifyouusedamethod
thatwaspublishedelsewhere;youciteyoursource.Forinstance,Nucleiinfixedhyphaewere
stainedwiththeDNAspecificstain,mithramycin,followingthemethodofHeath(1980).
RemembertohavefulldetailsofwheretofindHeath(1980)inyourreferencelist.

Trytogetagoodbalancebetweendetailandcitation.Evenifeverythingyoudohasbeendone
exactlylikethecitedmethod,ithelpstogiveashortdescription.Thismakesyourpapereasierto
read,whichyouwillrememberisthemostimportantruleofwriting.Soforexample,althoughif
youfollowedHeaths(1980)methodexactlyyoumightsay,Briefly,fixedhyphaewerestainedfor
5minin100g/mlmithramycin(agiftofPfizer,PointeClaireDorval,PQ)inPIPESbuffer,rinsed
inplainbufferandmountedinCitifluor(Marivac,HalifaxNS).Ifyourreaderwantsmore
information,itisinHeathspaper.Youwouldneedtodescribeanychangesfromyourpublished
standard,andexplainsubstantialones.Thefirsttimeyoumentionachemicalorpieceof
equipmentyoumustgiveitssource,whichhelpsthoserepeatingyourwork.Inmyexample,
mithramycinandCitifluorwerementionedforthefirsttime,unlikePIPES.

Ifyouhavenoreferencetocitefordetailsofyourmethods,youmuststateeveryessentialstepso
thatyourreadercouldrepeatyourexperiment.Giverecipesforsolutions,howandwhentheywere
applied,forhowlong.Followingapublishedexamplewillhelpwithstyle.Avoidshoppinglistsfor
standardglasswareandequipment.Besuretoindicateaspectsofyourprocedurethat,ifdone
otherwise,mightwellhavecausedtheresultstobedifferent.Thesefactswillbeimportantin
comparingyourresultstowhatothersmayhaveseenwhenusingsimilarprocedures.

Generally,youwillhavetoexplainhowyourdatawerecollected.Howwereyourspecimens
grownand/orwhatgrowthphaseweretheyin.?Ifcellnumbersweremonitored,howwasthisdone
andatwhatintervals?Ifmorphologywasexamined,whataspectswereconsideredandhowwere
theydescribedorquantified?Forexperimentalreports,quantificationisamorerigorousformof
reportingthandescription,butoftentheyarecombined.Avoidmany,some,orafewinfavour
of>80%,half,or10%.
 Writing,page5

Finally,writethissectioninthethirdperson,pasttense,andpassivevoice.Donotsay,I
boiledthreeflasks.Dosay,Threeflaskswereboiled.Aboveall,donotwritethislikea
cookbook.Donotsay,After24hrs,examinethetubesforgrowth.Dosay,After24hrs,tubes
wereexaminedforgrowth.

E.Results(orObservationsinadescriptivepaper)

Hereyoustateandshowwhatyousawormeasured.Donotmakemajorconclusionsordiscussthe
data.Thatcomesinthenextsection.Dataarenotpresented"raw";theyareanalyzedsothatthey
aremeaningful.

Forexample,ifyoumonitoredgrowthratesbytakingfourcellsampleseveryhour,thenaverage
thecounts,dontuseeachofthefourindividualcounts.Mostimportantherearethefinalvalues,
expressedastheaveragenumberofcellsperml,plusorminusameasureofvariationlikestandard
deviation.Youmustalsostatewhatmeasureofvariabilityyouused,andtheoverallstatistical
significance.

Whataboutphotographs,aspecialkindofrawdata?Theymustbetypicalorrepresentative
(oroccasionallyexceptional)dependingonthepointyouaretryingtomakeandindicatedas
such.

Generally,scientificdatashouldbegivenastablesandfigures(graphsandphotos),eachwith
anumberandatitle.ThetextintheResultssectionshouldactasatourguide,leadingyourreader
fromitemtoitem(everyfigureorgraphmustbereferredto,andinorder),anddrawingattentionto
thehighlights,especiallytothosethatwillbeimportantinmakingconclusions.What,ifanything,
allthismeansisgiveninthediscussion.

Resultsarewritteninpresentorpasttense,preferablyactivevoice.Presenttenseismore
appropriatewhendescribingresultsthatyouthinkrepresentabsolutevalues.(Thesizeofhuman
redbloodcellsisabout7m,andyouwouldexpectanyotherresearchertofindthesamenumber.)
Pasttenseismoreappropriatewhendescribinguniqueaspectsofyourresults,suchasapercentage
increaseinreactionrateatanelevatedtemperature.Itispossibleafterall,thatifsomeonerepeats
yourworktheymaynotfindquitethatexactpercentageincrease,althoughyouexpectthemtofind
enoughofanincreasetoagreewithyouthattemperaturehasastimulatoryeffect.

F.Discussion
Thissectionhastwopurposes:
1. todrawconclusionsfromyourresults,and
 Writing,page6

2. tocompareyourresultsto:
i) whatothershaveseen,or
ii) whatmighthavebeenexpectedinlightoftheoryorhypothesis.

Itisimpossibletofullyinterpretyourowndatawithoutreferringtorelatedwork.Ifyouare
writingapaperdescribingthedifferencesbetweencertaincellsintwotissuesinyourownresearch,
youmustrefertowhatothershaveseenbeforeinthatorotherspecies.Ifnobodyhaslookedat
theseparticularcellsbefore,stillthereisworkonwhatsomeothercellslooklike,andsoyou
shouldbecomparingyourcellstothose.Whereyourresultsaredifferentfromwhatisexpected,
youshouldbeproposingpossibleexplanations.This,ofcourse,mightwellinvolveyouevenmore
deeplyintheliterature,asyouresearchthedifferentfunctionsofvariousorgansorinthe
metabolismofseparatespecies.

Ofallthesections,thediscussionoffersyouthegreatestopportunityforcreativity.Useit,but
dosowiselyremember,scientistsmustbeconstrainedwithinthefactsandlawsofnature.

G.LiteratureCited(References)
Often,shortcomingsinapapercanbetracedtoinadequateamountorqualityofreading.Itis
distressingtoreada15pagereportandseethatonlytwosourcesarereferredtooverandover
again.Yourideasmustbesupportedbyavarietyofauthoritativesources.Fordetailsonhowto
findthesesources,seethearticleoneffectivelibrarysearchesLibraryLore.Fordetailson
howtomanagereferences,seeEndnoteatthelibrary.

Whereverpossible,useoriginalresearchliterature,articlesorbooksinwhichideasanddataare
presentedfortheirfirsttime.Ifyouarereportingonexperimentsontheeffectoflightintensityon
photosynthesis,andarestressinginyourdiscussionthesimilarity(ordifference)ofyourresultsto
thoseexpected,youshouldcitetheoriginalarticlesfromwhichthosedatacome.Sucharticlesare
foundinjournalswithnameslike"PlantPhysiology"or"ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyof
Sciences",butnotin"TheWorldBookEncyclopedia"orinyourfirstorsecondyeartextbook.
Originalresearchpapersaregoodmodelstostudyfortheformatyouarenowreadingabout.

Anotherkindofreferenceisareviewarticle,eitherincertainbooks(suchas"AnnualReviews
of..."or"CurrentProgressin...",etc.),orsometimesinjournalswhichalsohaveoriginalresearch
results.Reviewarticlesanalyzecurrentknowledgeonacertaintopic.Thesepapersareinvaluable
forthenewideasauthorsoftenpropose,aswellasfortheirextensivereferencelists.Monographs
arebooksdevotedtoasinglesubjectandarelikelongreviewarticles,andtheyshouldbeusedin
thesameway.Ofadistinctlylowerorderofvaluearetextbooks,exceptfortextsinadvanced
courses,whichmayactuallybemonographs.

Finally,therearewebsites.Theseareincreasinglypopularwithstudents,sincetheyareeasytofind
andaccess,butlesssowithacademics,sincetheyaredifficulttovalidate.Iexpectmystudentsto
readrefereedarticles,andbecomeskepticaloftheirdiligencewhenIseereferencestowebsites.
Whataboutjournalsthatareexclusivelypublishedelectronically,andelectronicpreprintsof
 Writing,page7

forthcomingjournalarticles?Thesearelegitimate,butwillsaypublishedonlineonandwill
haveastandardjournalformat.

Inwritingthissection,includeonlythosesourcestowhichyouhavealreadyreferredtoinyour
report.Aboveall,donotusethisasaplacetomentionpapersthatyouhavenotcitedbutonlyread
alongtheway.Listeachreferencealphabeticallybyfirstauthor,andusethehangingindentation
formofindentation(shownbelow)tomakeiteasyforyourreader.Beconsistent!

Samplestandardformatforajournalarticle:

Hunsley,D.andJ.H.Burnett.1970.Theultrastructuralarchitectureofthewallsofsomehyphal
fungi.JournalofGeneralMicrobiology,62:203218.

forabook:
Alexopoulos,C.J.1962.IntroductoryMycology.2nd.Ed.JohnWileyandSons,Inc.NewYork.

forachapterinaneditedbook:
Grove,S.N.1978.Thecytologyofhyphaltipgrowth.In,TheFilamentousFungi.Vol.3.Edited
byJ.E.SmithandD.R.Berry.JohnWileyandSons.NewYork.pp.2850.

Commonstylisticproblemsinscientificreports

Poorormissingtopicsentences:
Topicsentences:
1)areparagraphtitles,andshouldbeunderstandableontheirown,
2)shouldbeenticing.

Excitingtopicsentences:
Theflowofinformationdoesnotstopatthehippocampus.Instead
Memorypermitsanimalstoacquire,retain,andretrievemanykindsofinformation.Without
memory

Topicsentencesthatcouldbeimproved:
Simplyput,nooneissurewhatmemoryis.

Thisstatementreducestheforceofallthatfollows.Ifnooneissure,whybotherwriting
aboutit?Furthermore,wecandefinememoryinbroadandfunctionalterms;itisthe
neuronalandbiochemicalbasisofmemorythatisnotunderstoodfully.
 Writing,page8

Thisispassivedecaywhichdictates

Thisdependsonsomethingfromthelastparagraph.

Activevspassivevoice:
Activevoiceismorevigorous,moreengaging,andsoitismoreinterestingtoread.Generallyit
requiresfewerwords,whichisakindnesstoyourreader.Thismaybecriticalforreportsorgrants
witharigidwordlimit.Nevertheless,passivevoiceistraditionalforMaterialsandMethods.

Passivevoice:
Germinationofsporesresultsintheformationofhyphae.

Activevoice:
Sporesgerminatetoformhyphae.

Memorysystemshavebeenseentohavetoabilitytoevolveovertimeinresponsetocertain
environmentalpressures.ORMemoryappearstobeanadaptiveresponse

Inthispaper,currentmodelsonthecellularmechanismsofmemorywillbepresented.
ORHere,Iwillexaminecurrentmodelsofthecellularmechanismsonmemory.

Sentenceorderandstructure

Inversions
Wordorderdoesnotnecessarilyaffectsentencemeaning.However,aphraseplacedbeforethe
mainclauseistemporarilyinlimbo.Invertedsentencesrequireextraefforttodecode.Theygive
emphasistotheinitialphrase,butareproblematicifthatphraseisoverlong.Intheseexamples,the
mainclausesareunderlined.

Example:Tomonitorpolarizationkinetics,sporeswereinoculated....
Example:TodeterminetheeffectsofvariousinhibitorssuchascytochalasinA,nocodazole,
orcalciumchannelblockersonthekineticsofgerminationtubeemergence,amarkerof
polarizationefficiency,sporeswereinoculated

Beforeinformationcanbestoredasmemory,sensorydatamustfirstbeprocessed.OR
Sensorydatamustbeprocessedbeforeitcanbestoredasmemory.

Thestationsareconnectedsuchthatasequentialpathway,oneforeachsensorysystem,is
formed.ORThestationsareconnectedassequentialpathways,oneforeachsensorysystem.
 Writing,page9

Parallelconstruction
Presentinformationingrammaticallysimilarform.Ensurethatideaslinkedbyand,or,butare
equivalentinformortype.Badexamples:

Declarativememoryistheabilitytoconsciouslyrecallfacts,events,orspecificstimuli.Implicit
memoryoperatesautomaticallyandcontrolsbehaviours.ORDeclarativememoriesarethose
whichcanbeconsciouslyrecalled,whereasimplicitmemoriesareskillsandhabits.

First,thedevelopmentofSecond,ithasbeenarguedthat"

Comparinghumansandotherinvertebratesimpliesthathumansareatypeof
invertebrate.

Writesimply,andeschewobfuscation!
"Bad"example:
Itiseasy,forexamplewhenwritingdowncomplexthoughts(reportsandessays),tomake
yoursentencesascomplexasyourthinkingaboutyourtopic(particularlyusingmultiple
relatedmodifiers[sometimescalledboxcars]and/orsubordinateclauses[worseyet:
parentheticalasides!])inyourquestforprecisionacleverreadermaystillgraspyour
meaning,butperhapsgetonlypartofit.

Longsentencesaredifficulttodecode,evenifgrammaticallycorrect(thisisfroma
publication!):

"Althoughthestudyofmemoryinlivingorganismsisexceedinglydifficult,theprecise
understandingofcellularmechanismsofmemorywouldbeinvaluableindescribingthe
differencesbetweentypesofmemory(YoungandConchar1992),intracingtheevolutionof
memory(Campbell1993),inunderstandingthedevelopmentofmemoryintheindividual(Tice
andothers1996),andinthedevelopmentoftreatmentsforneuraldiseasessuchasAlzheimer's
(Brintonandothers1997;GrafandKater1998)."

Thisis75words,497charactersfartoolongtobereadwithouteffort.

Wordiness
Thiscancomefrompassivevsactivevoice,orarisespontaneously.Howmanywordsyoucan
dispensewith,whileretainingthemeaning?Strivetobeconcise.

Wordy:Invertedsentencesareusefulforfocusingthereadersattentionbyemphasizingthe
importanceoftheinitialphrase.

Concise:Invertedsentencesgiveemphasistotheinitialphrase.

AquestionworthaskingiswhetherORDoes
 Writing,page10

Numerousstudieshavecollectivelybroughtabouttheconclusionthatthehippocampalsystem
isORThehippocampalsystemis

Ithasbeenfoundthatcangenerallybedeletedwithoutloss.
ItcanbeseenfromthisevidencethatORThus
ThehypothesesthathavebeenpostulatedinanattempttoexplaintheexpressionofLTPareas
followsORCurrentmodelsinclude

Modifiers
Beprecise,notrelative.Avoidoverstatement.

Example:ManyarestillapprehensivetoimplicateLTRasanexplanationformemory
formation.
Howmany?Morethanhalf?SmithandJones(1989)andBrownetal(1997)?
Howmanywho?Researchersareimplied,buttrivialnonsensehasnotbeenruledout.
Apprehensiveuneasyinmind,fearful.Tryunwilling
Implicatededucefromincompletedata

Abbreviations
Someabbreviationsaregenerallyaccepted,suchaskmforkilometres.Othersaretypicalfora
discipline:FITCforfluoresceinisothiocyanate.Allbutgenerallyacceptedabbreviationsshould
bedefinedonfirstuse,and/orbelistedinafootnote.Itisconvenientforyourreadertohaveboth.
Journalshaveinstructionsontheirrequiredstyle.

Forbrevityssake,anauthormaychoosetodefineanabbreviationforafrequentlyusedtermor
phrase,suchasFSEMforfreezesubstitutionelectronmicroscopy.Remember,abbreviations
requireanextradecodingstepfromyourreader.Usethemsparingly.

e.g.andi.e.
e.g.,meansforexamplefromtheLatin,exempligratia
i.e.,meansthatisfromtheLatinidest.
Thesearegenerallyacceptedabbreviations,buttheystillrequiredecodingandtheydonot
savemanywords.Theyarenotsynonymous.Considerusingsuchas,asin,sothat,
andsoon,toavoiddecoding.

Punctuation
Colons(:)directthereadertoconsideralist;semicolons(;)separaterelatedbutindependent
clauses.
 Writing,page11

Bepreparedtoedit.
Withplanningandpracticeyourfirstdraftswillrequirelessandlessediting.However,seldomwill
theybeflawless.Spellandgrammarcheckroutineswillidentifysimpleerrors,butyoumustread
yourpaperforscientificcontentandsense,continuity,andproperorderofthoughts.Itiseasyto
editonscreen,butsurprisinglydifficulttoidentifyerrorsotherthanthetrivial.Sinceyourpaper
willlikelybegradedafteritisprintedout,edititonaprintout.Doublespacedcopyhelpswith
editingandisaccepted(orevenrequired)formanytypesofreport.Checkwhatformatispreferred.

Finally,usespellandgrammarcheck!
Sloppyspellingisongoingfrustrationformanyfacultyevenifitdoesntmattertoyou,itdoesto
us,toeditors,andtoscholarshipandgrantselectionpanels.Sloppyspellingandpoorgrammarare
distracting,anddetractfromthequalityofthoughtandeffortthatyouputintoyourwriting.Thisis
theeasiestpartofyourwritingtoperfect(therearelotsofbooksavailableonbasicgrammar,as
wellasresourcesavailableatmanyinstitutions)soitiscriticaltotheoverallimpressionyoucreate.

Spellandgrammarcheckaretwoofthemostusefulwordprocessingtoolsthathavebeen
developed,andtheyarebecomingincreasinglysophisticated.Theycanbetrainedtorecognize
wordsthatarentincludedinthedefaultdictionary,andtheycancorrectcommontyposasyou
work.But,rememberthattheyaretools,andnotinfallible.Checkeveryinstancewheretheprogram
flagsyourtext.Equallyimportant,checkwheretheprogramdoesntflag,sinceacorrectlyspeltbut
inappropriatewordwillnotbequeried.