- A preposition is a terrible part of speech to end a sentence with.
- And starting with a conjunction isn’t much better.
- Another thing. Little short phrases. Not quite sentences. Not good. Unless you are Jonathan Franzen.
- Appearance matters. Use a word processor, and lay things out neatly.
- Use section headings.
- Informal expressions in technical writing are usually uncool.
- Use parallel constructions in lists.
- Never have one item in a sublist
- Active voice and first person will be accepted by this instructor, but not by everyone in engineering. “Mistakes were made.”
- You shouldn’t use the second person.
- Give figures and tables numbers and titles, and refer to them by number in the text.
- Use a spell checker to ovoid stuped misteaks.
- If you are not fluent in English, ask a native speaker to review your work. Even a person not familiar with the subject can help you with your grammar.
- Use the web to...
-- Learn about a new field
-- Find out who is working in the field
-- Get pointers to the archival literature
- Do not use web pages as citations
-- They are transient
-- They are not refereed
- Catalog information for pricing, etc. is an exception if you include date information, etc.
- NOTE: Some journals make the full articles available online, and there are electronic journals such as Optics Express. These are acceptable, because they are refereed, archival journals. The fact that you read them online rather than in print does not detract from their quality, or their suitability as references.
-- If you use these, cite the journal in the usual way, rather than the web site from which you obtained it.
-- The University pays for some subscriptions, and the material is available from any IP in the University, but not from outside. If you find one of these while on campus, remember that you may not be able to access it from home. Print a copy while you are on campus.
- If you borrow a figure, cite the source.
- Reference anyone who contributes to your idea.
- Paraphrasing is not the same thing as expressing your own thoughts. Reading someone's work and repeating it with bad grammar is still plagiarism.