About Writing Technical Papers:

Organization, English, and Some Tips

 The 3 C’s
2

y Correct, Clear, and Concise

y The readers:
{ The readers do not just read; they interpret.
 Write the Way You Talk:
Write (and Read) with Your Ears
3

If you read your paper aloud to life audience,

would it sound like a natural oral
presentation ?

See, for example, D.A. B. Miller, “Quantum well

optoelectronic switching devices”, International
Journal of High Speed Electronics, Vol. 1, No. 1, 19
- 46 (1990).
 Active vs. Passive Voices
4

y Bees disperse pollen

y Pollen is dispersed by bees.

y Three phases of analysis are included in their approach.

y Their approach includes three phases of analysis

y I was robbed (by somebody).

y Somebody robbed me.

y The building was completely destroyed in the second

world war.
 The Action Verb vs. the Abstract Noun + the
Weak Verb
5

y To investigate
y To carry out an investigation of
y An investigation of … has been carried out

y To decide
y To make a decision of

y To explain
y To provide an explanation of

y To understand
y To facilitate the understanding of
 The Action Verb
6

y The departure of the airplane is thought to

be dependent on the weather.

y Bad weather may ground the airplane.

 The Action Verb
7

y It is clear that Sofia is in need of practice

before the concert. The last time she played

her guitar was three weeks ago.

y Clearly, Sofia needs to practice before the

concert. She has not touched her guitar in

three weeks.
 The Action Verb
8

y To think that an answer that would be

satisfactory had taken so long to arrive was

something that put him into a state of deep

resentment.

y He deeply resented the long wait for a

satisfactory answer.
 Parallelism
9

y Sonia likes games, movies, and going to picnics.

y Sonia likes games, movies, and picnics.

y He is intelligent but a boring boy.

y He is intelligent but boring.

y The trip had been both difficult and a great expense.

y The trip had been both difficult and expensive.

y A time not for words but action.

y A time not for words but for action.
Parallelism: Either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also,
first/second/third
10

y Either I am always in doubt or I am always in

trouble.
y I am always either in doubt or in trouble.
y I am always in either doubt or trouble.

y They hoped to go not only to London but also to

Paris.
y They hoped to go to not only London but also Paris.

y For love, for honor, for fame, or for money.

y For love, honor, fame, or money.
 President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural
Address – an example for parallelism
11
y We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom,
symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as
changes ….

y So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a

sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never
negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

y Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms,

though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are;
but a call to bear the burden of a twilight struggle, year in and year out,
“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,” a struggle against the
common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

y And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country.
 Make Every Word Count
12

y There is a slight difference in terms of speed between the

two methods.
¾ The two methods differ slightly in speed.

y It is important to develop a more effective approach to

solve the complicated problem.
¾ A more effective approach must be developed to
solve the complicated problem.
 Make Every Word Count
13

y There is a comparison made in this article of

the major differences between commercially
successful keyboards.
y This article compares the major differences
between commercially successful keyboards.

y It is interesting to note that ….

y There is increasing evidence that ….
y It has long been known that ….
 Emphasize the correct word
14

red color, or red in color Red

round in shape Round
falling down Falling
join together Join
actual fact Fact
very unique, or quite unique Unique
in a position to Can
despite the fact that Although
a length of 5 mm 5 mm long
It is interesting to note that Interestingly
It is our opinion that We believe that
It is obvious that Obviously
 Present, Past, and Present Perfect
15

y Use present tense for well established fact

{ Smith (1975) showed that process A is faster than process B by more
than a factor of 5.

y Use past tense for un-established results or results that

cannot be generalized
{ In our study, the delay is less than 5msec.
{ Smith reported that 15% of the energy was wasted in idle listening.

y Use present tense to refer readers to your figures or tables.

{ Table 5.2 shows that ...........
{ Figure 5 indicates that ...

y Use present perfect tense for events that have been repeated
or continued from the past to the present
{ Scheduling and broadcasting algorithms has been studied since ages.
 Give the clear picture
16

As a mother of five, my kitchen is As a mother of five, I am always

always busy. busy in my kitchen.
Young and inexperienced, the task Young and inexperienced, I thought the
seemed easy to me. task was easy.

Following experimentation, bacteria Following experimentation, we found

multiplied. the bacteria multiplied.
Being in poor condition, we were unable We were unable to save the animals
to save the animals. because they were in poor
condition.

In drawing the picture, his wife was In drawing the picture, he used
used as the model. his wife as the model.
 Avoid ambiguity
17

y He noticed a large stain in the glass that was

right in the center.
y He noticed a large stain right in the center of
the glass.

y You can call your mother in London and tell

her all about George’s taking you out to
dinner for just sixty cents.
y For just sixty cents, you can call your mother
in London and tell her all about George’s
taking you out to dinner.
 Ambiguity
18

y New York’s first commercial human-sperm bank

opened Friday with semen samples from 18 men

frozen in a stainless steel tank.

y New York’s first commercial human-sperm bank

opened Friday when semen samples were taken

from 18 men. The samples were then frozen and
stored in a stainless steel tank.
 Ambiguity
19

y All the members were not present.

y Not all the members were present.

y He only found two mistakes.

y He found only two mistakes.

Moral of the story

keep related words together
 The Generic vs. the Specific
20

y The temperature changed.

y The temperature increased from 15C to 23C.

y We determined the conditions necessary for

performance improvement.
 What Scientists Said vs. What They Mean
21

y It has long been known that ….

y I have not bothered to look up the original reference, but …

y Of great theoretical and practical importance …

y Interesting to me or important for me to publish …

y Typical results are shown ….

y The best results are shown ….

y It is clear that much additional work will be required before a

complete understanding of …
y I do not understand it.

y It is suggested that …. Or It is believed that … y

I think
 References

1. George D. Gopen & Judith A. Swan, “The Science of

Scientific Writing”, American Scientist, Vol. 78, 550

(1990).

2. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph M.

Williams, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc, New York (1997). 3 .

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, Joseph M. Williams, The

University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1995).

 References
23

1. How to Write, Speak, and Think More Effectively: Your complete course
in the art of communication, Rudolf Flesch, Penguin Books USA Inc.,
New York (1946).

2. Technical Writing and Professional Communication for Nonnative

Speakers of English, Thomas N. Huckin, and Leslie A. Olsen, McGraw-
Hill, Inc., New York (1991).

3. Style and Readability in Technical Writing: A Sentence-Combining

Approach, James DeGeorge Gary A. Olson, and Richard Ray, Random House, New
York (1986).

4. Better Scientific and Technical Writing, Morris I. Bolsky, Prentice-

Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs (1991).

5. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, Robert A. Day, ISI Press,
Philadelphia (1998).
 References
24
1. How to Write & Publish Engineering Papers and Reports, Herbert B.
Michaelson, Oryx Press (1990).

2. Successful Scientific Writing: A step-by-step guide for the biological

and medical sciences, Janice R. Matthews, John M. Bowen, and Robert W.
Matthews, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996).

3. Communicating in Science: Writing and Speaking, Vernon Booth, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge (1985).

4. Writing a Thesis: Substance and Style, R. Keith Van Wagenen, Prentice-

Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs (1991).

5. Academic Writing: Working with sources across the curriculum, Mary L.

Kennedy, Hadley M. Smith, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs (1986).

6. English Scientific Reports and Presentations, C. J. Fraser, Taiwan (1996).

7. A Guide for Writing Better Technical Papers, Craig Harkins and Daniel L.
Plung, Ed., IEEE Press, New York (1982).