Academic Writing For Engineering Publications: A Guide For Non-native English Speakers

Description

This textbook is designed for non-native English speakers who need to write scientific and engineering research articles, technical reports, engineering thesis, academic books, and other technical documents in English. The author focuses on formal academic writing in a professional language and frame. The book is written in standard English and provides useful guidelines on development of thoughts, organization of ideas, construction of paragraphs and sentences, and choices of precise words. It also pays attention to details such as visual creation, punctuation, and format. Informal writing is excluded from the scope of this practical guideline. • Designed for non-native English writers who are studying and working in English-speaking countries; • Uses hundreds of examples and emphasizes essential cultural difference for non-native English writers; • Includes essentials of copyright and plagiarism, to help writers avoid challenges from readers or copyright holders. Acknowledgments Contents Part I: Introduction 1: Introduction 1.1 About This Book 1.2 Scope and Readers 1.3 Organization of This Book 1.4 American and British Spellings 2: Academic Integrity 2.1 Plagiarism 2.2 Quotations and Paraphrasing 2.3 Copyright 2.4 Privacy and Confidentiality 2.5 Authorship 2.6 Logical Writing 2.7 Unbiased Writing 2.8 Neutral Language 2.9 Clear and Concise Writing 2.10 Practice Problems Part II: Organization of Ideas 3: Preparing for Writing 3.1 Purpose of Writing 3.2 Identifying Readers 3.3 Scope of Writing 3.4 Structure of Writing 3.4.1 Front Matter 3.4.2 Body 3.4.3 Back Matter 3.4.4 Headers and Footers 4: Outlining 4.1 Outlining Steps 4.2 Outline-Based Drafting 4.3 Practice Problems 5: Drafting Introduction 5.1 Sources of Information 5.2 Funnel Approach to Literature Review 5.3 Drafting Objectives 5.4 Errors in Introduction and Objectives 5.5 Practice Problems 6: Drafting Methodology 6.1 Research Methods 6.2 Describing Numerical Approach 6.3 Replicability 6.4 Precise Description of Method 6.5 Practice Problems 7: Drafting Results and Discussion 7.1 Data Validation 7.2 Aiming at Objectives 7.3 RECA Approach to Results and Discussion 7.3.1 Reiteration of Results 7.3.2 Explanation and Comparison of Results 7.3.3 In-Depth Analysis 7.3.4 Presenting Limitations 7.4 Quantitative Results 7.5 Precise Results and Discussion 7.6 Engaging Writing 7.7 Erratic Writing 7.8 Practice Problems 8: Drafting Conclusions 8.1 Conclusion Meeting Objective 8.2 Practice Problems 9: Drafting Other Sections 9.1 Drafting Title 9.2 Drafting Authorship 9.2.1 Corresponding Author 9.2.2 Authorship Order 9.2.3 Affiliations 9.3 Drafting Abstract 9.4 Drafting Executive Summary 9.5 Drafting Keywords 9.6 Table of Contents 9.7 List of Figures and List of Tables 9.8 Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Symbols 9.9 Drafting Foreword and Preface 9.10 Drafting Acknowledgments 9.11 Drafting References and Bibliography 9.12 Appendices and Supplemental Materials 9.13 Glossary 9.14 Index 9.15 Practice Problems Part III: Engineering Language Skills 10: Engineering Language 10.1 Writing with Simple Language 10.2 Writing with Right Pace 10.3 Current, Future, and Past Tenses 10.4 Point of View 10.5 Positive and Negative Tones 10.6 Active and Passive Voices 10.7 Defining Terms Before Use 10.7.1 Defining Technical Terms 10.7.2 Consistent Naming of Same “Things” 10.8 Analogy and Simile 10.9 Clarity 10.10 Transition and Connection 10.10.1 Transition Between Paragraphs and Sections 10.10.2 Connecting Sentences in Paragraph 10.11 Conciseness 10.12 Practice Problems 11: Paragraphs 11.1 Statement-Evidence-Conclusion Structure 11.1.1 Topic Sentence 11.1.2 Paragraph Length 11.2 Lists in Paragraph 11.3 Equations in Paragraph 11.4 Practice Problems 12: Sentences 12.1 Sentence Construction 12.2 Conjunction 12.3 Parallel Structure 12.4 Sentence Variety 12.4.1 Varying Sentence Length 12.4.2 Varying Word Order 12.5 Grammatical Agreement 12.5.1 Subject-Verb Agreement 12.5.2 Compound Subject-Verb Agreement 12.6 Fragmented Sentences 12.7 Clauses 12.7.1 Adjective Clauses 12.7.2 Dependent and Independent Clauses 12.8 Emphasis 12.8.1 Emphasis by Position 12.8.2 Emphasis by Sentence Length 12.8.3 Emphasis by Repetition 12.8.4 Redundancy Due to Emphasis 12.8.5 Garbled Sentences 12.9 Modifiers 12.9.1 Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers 12.9.2 Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Modifiers 12.9.3 Placement of Modifiers 12.9.4 Dangling Modifiers 12.10 Intensifiers and Subjective Writing 12.11 Rambling Sentences 12.12 Practice Problems 13: Phrases and Words 13.1 Phrases 13.1.1 Noun Phrases 13.1.2 Gerund Phrases 13.1.3 Verb Phrases 13.1.4 Prepositional Phrases 13.1.5 Participial Phrases 13.1.6 Infinitive Phrases 13.2 Verb-Based Writing 13.2.1 Phrasal Verb Error 13.2.2 Nominalization Error 13.3 Wordiness 13.3.1 Duplicated Nouns 13.3.2 Redundancy 13.3.3 Avoiding Wordy Phrases 13.4 Shift of Function 13.5 Jargon, Slang, and Idiom 13.6 Contractions 13.7 Vague and Subjective Words 13.7.1 Using the Word Significant 13.7.2 Using the Word Fact 13.8 Pairs of Challenging Words 13.9 Practice Problems 14: Visuals 14.1 Using Simple Visuals 14.2 Key Elements in Visuals 14.2.1 Captions of Visuals 14.2.2 Labels in Visuals 14.2.3 Text in Visuals 14.3 Images 14.4 Graphs 14.4.1 Line Graph 14.4.2 Dot Graph 14.4.3 Line-Dot Graph 14.4.4 Error Bars 14.4.5 Schematic Diagram 14.4.6 Exploded View 14.4.7 Maps 14.5 Tables 14.6 Color 14.6.1 Black-and-White Visuals 14.6.2 Color in Visuals 14.7 Integrating Visuals into Text 14.8 Placement of Visuals 14.9 Practice Problems 15: Punctuation 15.1 Punctuation Marks 15.2 Apostrophe 15.3 Colon 15.4 Comma 15.4.1 Linking Independent Clauses 15.4.2 Introducing Elements 15.4.3 Separating Parallel Elements 15.4.4 Enclosing Elements 15.4.5 Using Commas with Numbers 15.4.6 Replacing Verbs 15.4.7 Comma Intrusion 15.5 Dash 15.6 Ellipsis 15.7 Hyphen 15.7.1 Hyphenated Words 15.7.2 Multi-word Modifiers 15.7.3 Series 15.7.4 Prefixes 15.7.5 Hyphens for Clarity 15.8 Parentheses 15.9 Period 15.10 Question Mark 15.11 Quotation Marks 15.11.1 Enclosing Elements 15.11.2 Titles and Quotation Marks 15.11.3 Punctuation in Quotation Marks 15.12 Semicolon 15.13 Practice Problems 16: Finalization 16.1 Repeated Revisions 16.2 Formatting 16.2.1 Formatting Title 16.2.2 Formatting Table of Contents 16.2.3 Justification of Margins 16.2.4 Line Spacing 16.2.5 Formatting Headings 16.2.6 Formatting Headers and Footers 16.2.7 Typeface and Font Size 16.2.8 Capitalization 16.2.9 Capitonyms 16.2.10 Italicizing Words with Non-English Roots 16.2.11 Italics to Specify Items 16.2.12 Formatting Date 16.2.13 Formatting Time 16.2.14 Formatting Numbers 16.2.15 Formatting Units and Symbols 16.2.16 Formatting Lists 16.2.17 Formatting Visuals Double-Check Placement of Visuals Refining Visuals 16.2.18 Formatting Equations Italicized Symbols 16.2.19 References and In-Text Citations References In-Text Citations Recommended Styles for References and Citations 16.3 Formatting Cross-References 16.3.1 Formatting Appendices 16.3.2 Formatting Index 16.4 Proofreading 16.5 Copyright Clearance 16.6 Internal Clearance 16.7 Practice Problems Part IV: Correspondence 17: Correspondence 17.1 Peer Review Process 17.2 Cover Letter 17.2.1 Structure of Cover Letter 17.2.2 Date in Letter 17.2.3 Salutation 17.2.4 Introduction, Body, and Conclusion 17.2.5 Complementary Close 17.3 Response to Reviewers’ Comments 17.3.1 Class 1 – Complimentary Comments 17.3.2 Class 2 – Editorial Comments 17.3.3 Class 3 – Challenging Comments 17.3.4 Class 4 – Critical Comments Appendices A1. Transitional Words and Phrases A2. American and British English Spellings A3. Sample Outline Introduction Model Development Model Domain and Assumptions Governing Equations Electrochemical Kinetics Mass Conversion Charge Conversion Energy Conversion Numerical Solution of Model Equations Results and Discussion Model Validation Effects of Separator Thickness and Porosity on Energy Density Electrolyte Concentration Distribution Effect of Separator on Thermal Behavior A4. Sample Response to Reviewers’ Comments References Index