A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry (Short Guides)

Cover
CONTENTS
PREFACE
PART I: General Advice about Writing and Reading about Chemistry
	1—WRITING: A THRESHOLD SKILL
		What Do Chemists Write about and Why?
		The Keys to Success
		Ten Strategies for Preparing Your First Draft
		Ten Strategies for Revising and Editing: Getting to Your Final Draft
		Rules and Conventions: The Easy Stuff
		The Essential Last Pass: Proofreading
		Do Not Depend on Your Computer to Do Your Work for You
		Checklist for Writing about Chemistry
	2—GENERAL ADVICE ON READING AND TAKING NOTES
		Why Read and What to Read
		Effective Reading
		Effective Note-Taking and Note-Organizing
		Reading Data: Plumbing the Depths of Figures and Tables
		Reading Text: Summarize as You Go
		Checklist for Reading and Taking Notes
	3—CITING SOURCES AND LISTING REFERENCES
		Citing Sources
		Some Guidelines for Citing Sources in Chemistry
		Preparing the References Section
		A Sample References Section
		Checklist for Citing Sources
		Checklist for Preparing the References Section
	4—REVISING
		Why Revise?
		Revising for Content
		Revising for Clarity
		Revising for Completeness
		Checklist for Revising
	5—EDITING FOR CONCISION AND ACS STYLE
		Editing
		Editing for Gender-Neutral Language
		Editing for Concision
		Editing for American Chemical Society Style: Some Guidelines
		Conclusion
		Checklist for Editing
PART II: Guidelines for Specific Tasks
	6—KEEPING LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS
		The Role of Laboratory Instruction
		The Teaching Laboratory Notebook
		What to Record
		The Research Laboratory Notebook
		Checklist for the Laboratory Notebook
	7—WRITING LABORATORY REPORTS
		The Role of Laboratory Instruction
		Writing Reports of Teaching-Laboratory Experiments
		Composition of the Report
		Title and Authors
		Experimental Section
		Results Section
		Discussion and Conclusions Section
		Introduction
		Abstract
		Acknowledgments and References
		Checklist for a Laboratory Report
	8—WRITING SUMMARIES AND CRITIQUES
		Preparing to Write the Summary
		Writing the First Draft
		Writing the Summary
		Writing the Critique
		Concluding Thoughts
		Checklists for Summaries and Critiques
	9—WRITING ESSAYS AND REVIEW PAPERS
		Writing to Learn
		Why Bother?
		Getting Started
		Researching Your Topic
		Developing a Thesis Statement
		Writing the Paper
		Plagiarism
		Citing Sources
		Creating a Title
		Revising
		Checklist for Writing Essays and Review Papers
		The Plagiarism Challenge
		The Citing Sources Challenge
	10—WRITING RESEARCH REPORTS
		The Nature of Scientific Research
		Components of a Research Report
		Longer Reports
		Publication of Research Results
		Preparing a Manuscript as though for Publication
		Checklist for a Research Report
	11—WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS
		The Research Proposal: An Exercise in Persuasion
		What Are Reviewers Looking For?
		Researching Your Topic: How to Choose and Read Papers
		What Makes a Good Research Topic?
		Writing the Proposal
		Tightening the Logic
		A Real Research Proposal
		Checklist for a Research Proposal
	12—ANSWERING TIMED ESSAY QUESTIONS
		Basic Principles
		Applying the Principles
		The Analytical Writing Section of the Graduate Record Exam
		Checklist for Answering Timed Essay Questions
	13—GIVING ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
		Talking and Writing
		Oral Presentations
		Checklist for Judging Oral Presentations
		Poster Presentations
		Checklist for Making Posters
	14—WRITING APPLICATIONS
		Writing and the Workplace
		The Application Process
		Before You Start
		Preparing the Cover Letter
		Preparing the Graduate School Personal Statement
		Checklist for Applications
APPENDIX A: USING PUNCTUATION
APPENDIX B: SUGGESTED RUBRIC FOR EVALUATING SCIENCE WRITING
ADDITIONAL ELECTRONIC AND PRINT RESOURCES
ANSWER KEY
INDEX
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