Dr.

Satyajit Gupta
Department of Chemistry
IIT Bhilai, Chhattisgarh 1
 Communication

https://online.findlay.edu/the-orrville-connection-alums-shine-with-environmental-safety-and-health-degrees-from-the-
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university-of-findlay/
 Technical writing-Contents

CALA Course Science Engineers

Learning Objective

Definition

Technical Communication

Writing Tips

Paper/report writing
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Cont..
Types of Technical Writing Documentation
•End User Documentation
•Medical Documentation
•Traditional Documentation
•Business Proposal
•Scientific Proposals
•Brochures
•Online Articles
•Press Releases
Cont..
 Essence Technical Communication

• Picture of Mahathma Ghandhi Ji is explained by three strokes.

Essence of Technical communication

• Isolate the essence (Clearly state the sentence)

• Decorate/Elaborate later

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 Decide your aim!

1. Jay R, ‘How to Write proposals & reports that get results’, Pearson Education Ltd, London, 2000
• Write down the aim. You should state the aim at the beginning of the
report. If you cannot write down the aim in one sentence, you are not
yet ready to start writing.
• Always have in mind a specific reader. Normally you should assume
that the reader is intelligent but uninformed, but it is best to be more
specific and to state your intended audience.
• Decide what information you need to include. You should use the
aim as your reference, and list the areas you need to cover. Once you
have collected the information, make a note of each main point and
then sort them into logical groups. Ultimately, you have to make sure
that every sentence contributes to the aim.
• Have access to a good dictionary.
• Identify someone who can provide feedback.

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

 Use Plain English!
Avoid long and complex sentences

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9
 Bullet points and enumerated lists

“Getting to university on time for a 9.00 AM lecture involves

following a number of steps. First of all you have to set your alarm
– you will need to do this before you go to bed the previous night.
When the alarm goes off you will need to get out of bed. You
should next take a shower and then get yourself dressed. After
getting dressed you should have some breakfast. After breakfast
you have to walk to the tube station, and then buy a ticket when
you get there. Once you have your ticket you can catch the next
train to Stepney Green. When the train arrives at Stepney Green
you should get off and then finally walk to the University.”

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

Simple way:
To get to university on time for a 9.00am lecture:
1. Set alarm before going to bed the previous night
2. Get out of bed when the alarm goes off
3. Take a shower
4. Get dressed
5. Have some breakfast
6. Walk to the tube station
7. Buy ticket
8. Catch next train to Stepney Green
9. Get out at Stepney Green
10. Walk to the University
Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9
Avoid jargon
• Expressions like RAM, CHN, NKP, are examples of jargon.
• In general, jargon refers to descriptions of specific things within a
specialised field. The descriptions are often shorthand or
abbreviations.

Avoid unnecessary words

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

Avoid passive voice and use
active voice

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

 Avoid legal words
Lawyers seem to have a language of their own. This is primarily to
ensure that their documents are so difficult to understand that only
other lawyers can read them. This ensures more work and money for
lawyers because it forces ordinary people to pay them for work they
could do themselves. Yet, for some strange reason ordinary people
often think they are being very clever by using legal words and
expressions in their own writing.

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

Avoiding unnecessary words and repetition

Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9

Use verbs instead of nouns
Fenton: Improving your technical writing, v9
 Plagiarism and scientific misconduct

Latin word “plagiarius” meaning "kidnapper"

• Plagiarism involves copying of someone else’s work or ideas without proper

permission and present it as an own piece of work. It is considered as academic
misconduct.
• Always give a proper reference to the original source from which you
borrow insights and knowledge

DO’s DON’T’s

Write in your own words and refer Do not copy entire phrases/paragraphs
adequately to the literature from existing texts 20
 Don’t forget-Ethics?!
COPE Guidelines
• Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of living”,
ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human
conduct, more specifically the behavior of individuals in society.

• The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a forum for editors of

peer-reviewed journals to discuss issues related to the integrity of
the scientific record.
• COPE provides advice to editors and publishers on all aspects of
publication ethics and, in particular, how to handle cases of research
and publication misconduct.
 Summary and Abstract Writing

“The word abstract comes from the Latin word abstractum which means
a condensed form a longer piece of writing”

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 Summary Writing

• Summary is a restatement of the main ideas in a longer document.

• Summaries are used to convey the general meaning of the ideas in the original
source without all the details or examples that may appear in the original.
• When you write a summary, provide only the essential information clearly and
concisely in your own words, leaving out anything that isn’t central to an
understanding of the original.

Three things in Summary:

1. Describe, in short form, what the original document is all about.

2. Help readers decide whether to read the entire document, parts of it, or none of it.
3. Give readers a framework for understanding the full document that will follow if
they doplan to read it.
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 Exercise: Write Summary in three line.

Summary:

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Taken from: Gurak, Laura J._Lannon, John M - Technical communication-Boston Pearson (2017)
 Abstract

An abstract is a concise summary of a research project. It provides an overview

of the purpose, scope, and findings.

Purpose - identifies the issue, need, or reason for the investigation

Scope - reviews the main points, extent and limits of the investigation

Findings - includes condensed conclusions and recommendations

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Writing a Manuscript/Report

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 Are you on the way to finish your great research work!
So, it is the time to sit over shaping a manuscript
before getting into a journal !
a coherent and concise paper will tell
the story of your research!

What do • Research Papers Successful publication

researchers • Reviews +
write? • Book Chapters Attraction of large readership
• Monographs

The scope of author’s investigation - ✓ Selection of a

The Impact Factor (IF) of a journal - ✕ proper journal
 How to prepare a consistent manuscript for publication?

Though a good data

in a paper writes
itself,
authors should deliver
quick and easy articles
for the busy readers

 1. Begin with logical thinking and unique style of writing.

 2. Read the Instruction of the target journal and author guideline.
 3. Follow the structural format of a standard manuscript.
Presentation is important!
How can you avoid rejection of your paper?
 Stay original.
 The editor/reviewer prefer to evaluate the paper
on the basis of the abstract, tables, figures and
the figure legends combined.
 Visit library and also look online to expand your
reflection over writing.
How can a paper will appear differently for readers?
 Some people just will refer to the title
 Others may read only the title and abstract
 Some will read the paper for a deeper
understanding
Look into back of your mind-
what’s new in your study?
Create an outline and identify
major investigation
Highlight story in the abstract
Compose figure and table
Discuss results for the aim
Prepare a scientifically effective
paper as per the journal scope.
 Components of a manuscript at a glance
Section Justification
1. Title Clear and concise idea about contents
2. Author(s) Recognition of the author and/or co-author
3. Abstract Brief informatory paragraph about the work
4. Keywords Appropriate identification in abstracting and indexing
5. Introduction Discussion for background, problem and scope of study
6. Materials and methods Explanation about the procedure or protocol in details
7. Results Description of the discovered/ invented milestone
8. Discussion Discussion about the implications of the findings
9. Summary and conclusion Concise findings and future research scope in case
10. Acknowledgements Thanking other contributors/ funds source for the work
11. References Citation of related and relevant published work earlier
12. Appendices (if) Supplemental data for the readers in case
Writing sequence of sections for a manuscript
1. Write a significant ‘Title’
Purpose and overview
 It is the headline of your story for a quick idea to readers about your work.
 Results of your work helps to make a footprint on the title.
 Shorter titles often make a greater impact.
 It is important to be scientifically accurate besides introducing creativeness in
the title.
 Use less of multiple prepositions ‘to’, ‘for’, ‘of’.
 Avoid using “Highly Efficient”, “Novel”, “Green”, “One-Pot Synthesis”, or “Facile”
unless you really justify them.
 You can have the option to edit title finally to avoid ‘keywords’ repeated in the
title.
Writing sequence of sections for a manuscript
2. Write details of ‘Materials and Methods’
Purpose and overview
 It could be a smooth start with the easiest section by having the information in
your lab book.
 Give the entire protocol or detail procedure of the experiment like
 Information of field site in case
 Origin of samples
 Collection and analysis of data
 Description of equipment with model number and its respective use
 Any software or programme used for data generation or statistics
 Mention the references for the methodology used.
 It can be heading towards writing results next in correct track.
Writing sequence of sections for a manuscript
3. ‘Results’

Purpose and overview

 It is to present the findings of your study in organized way to reach the readers.
 Correlate the results with the methods.
 Produce accurate tables, graphs or figures for data representation/ interpretation.
 Don’t repeat data in visuals and tables.
 Don’t have too much abbreviation and information in table.
 To get the graphs flawless
A figure should stand alone in a comprehensive way
Interpretation
 Trend
 Shape
 Comparison

Visibility
 Scale
 Resolution
 Size
 Clarity

J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2013, 4, 1578−1581.

Writing sequence of sections for a manuscript
4. Write a meticulous ‘discussion’ supporting the results
Purpose and overview
 Illustrate the findings from the study.
 Interpret the perception of what your data suggests.
 Justify key studies of your work.
 Answer the research induced questions.
 Compare your result with recent other studies.
 Present ambiguous results or discrepancies with others’ studies.
 Explain unexpected findings in case.
 Describe limitations briefly if.
 Write strong conclusion along with summary.
Writing sequence of sections for a manuscript
5. Built ‘Introduction’ like a pyramid
Purpose and overview
 Outline the relevant previous/ recent work. Introduction
 Describe a brief background of the topic.
 Mention the Scope and opportunity of the your study.
 Highlight the research gap.
 Identify the fundamental importance of the study.
 State the objectives of the research.

6. Compose the abstract as the core informatory part of the paper

Place all sections orderly once done
Title
Author(s) name and affiliation Journal guideline
Abstract
Format Style
Keywords
Content
Introduction
Materials and methods
Results and discussion
Structure of the paper
Summary and conclusion
References
Conflict of interest
Acknowledgement
 Revise:
• Make significant changes to the writing. Work toward precise and concise
sentences, focused and coherent paragraphs, logical transitions.
• Apply feedback from your reviews and go over the writing until all sections are
complete and the document is clear and consistent throughout.

Proof Read:
• Finally, proofread/copy edit and format the document—check for correct
spelling, tense usage, and punctuation; and consistent fonts, spacing, page
numbering, etc.

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Source: Fundamentals of Engineering Programme Technical Communications by Leah Wahlin
Be sure with zero error Practice makes perfect
around your paper before
submission into journal

Courtesy:
Taylor & Francis
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• References
• Guillermo Umpierrez, 2008, How do you write a scientific manuscript?
(https://www.slideshare.net/tejasdesai/how-to-write-a-manuscript-2008-
presentation)
• “How to Make Your Next Paper Scientifically Effective”
(http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jz4006916)
• J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 896−899.
• J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 2118−2120.
• What’s in a Name? J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 2879−2879.
Academic Misconduct
‘Plagiarism’

Source: Wikipedia
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 Content
• Definition
• History
• Reason of Plagiarism
• Six types of Plagiarism
• How to Avoid
• Case Studies
• Journal Policy
• Various software!
• References
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 Wiki Definition

 Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as

your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating
it into your work ‘without’ full acknowledgement.

(All published and unpublished material, whether in

manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this
definition)

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• The word plagiarism comes from a Latin word which means kidnapping.
• Plagiarism is an act of copying or stealing some one’s work or idea and taking all
the credits of his/her creativity. It’s is also referred as academic dishonesty.
• In the Blogging world Plagiarism is being so common now a days that every next
blogger is making his/her blog a content farm just by copying and pasting.

Music/song/Blog?

https://oddblogger.com/a-discussion-on-plagiarism
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https://www.transcriptioncentre.co.uk/blog/what-is-full-verbatim

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 Common Practice!

Source: Google 49
Objective: To Stop Plagiarism

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History of Plagiarism

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Roman poet ‘Martial’

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 6 types of Plagiarism

• Direct plagiarism
• Paraphrasing without Crediting
• Mosaic plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Misattribution
• Accidental Plagiarism

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Case Studies

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https://poweredbyorange.com/10-most-famous-plagiarism-cases-in-history/

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https://poweredbyorange.com/10-most-famous-plagiarism-cases-in-history/
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Plagiarism Detection Tools

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Plagiarism Detection Tools:
**Data Security!
• Turnitin (i-Thenticate/Feed Back Studio)
• Ourginal
• Drillbit Reference Manager:
• CiteThemRight • Mendeley Reference Manager
• End-Note
• Zotero
Grammar Checking Tool:
• Grammarly

Creating Awareness!
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 Upgradation

Originality Check Similarity check/Feedback Studio i-Thenticate

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• Images?
• What is similarity?

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Limitations of the software
Language?
Images?
Songs?

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Thank You