Avoiding Jargon in your publications

1. DEFINITION OF JARGON According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), definitions ofjargon include the following: (1) “confused unintelligible language”; (2) “the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group”; (3) “obscure and often pretentious language marked by circumlocutions and long words.” The first and third types of jargon should be

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How and When to Use Abbreviations in your publications

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Many experienced editors loathe abbreviations. Some editors would prefer that they not be used at all, except for standard units of measurement and their Systeme International (SI) prefixes, for which all scientific journals allow abbreviations. Many journals also allow, without definition, such standard abbre­viations as etc., et al., i.e., and e.g.

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Writing Clearly across Cultures and Media in publications

1. READABLE WRITING Earlier chapters have presented principles of writing readably: structuring sentences simply, using proper syntax, deleting needless words, condens­ing wordy phrases, using words accurately, using mainly active voice, avoiding strings of nouns, using verbs rather than nouns made from them, punctuat­ing properly, using short and familiar words, minimizing use of abbreviations, and

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How to Write Science in English as a Foreign Language in publications

1. ENGLISH AS THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE English is currently the international language of science. By no means does this demand that every scientific paper be written in English. Papers on findings mainly of local, national, or regional interest (for instance, in agricultural sci­ence, social science, or medicine) generally are best published in

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How to Write a Thesis

1. PURPOSE OF THE THESIS A Ph.D. thesis in the sciences is supposed to present the candidate’s original research. Its purpose is to prove that the candidate can do and communicate such research. Therefore, a thesis should exhibit the same type of disciplined writing that is required in a journal publication. Unlike a scientific

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How to Prepare a Curriculum Vitae, Cover Letter, and Personal Statement

1. WHAT’S A CV? WHAT’S IT GOOD FOR? Whereas those in business write resumes, we in the sciences generally prepare curricula vitae (CVs). Both a resume and a CV present key facts about one’s professional background. However, the two differ somewhat in content and structure. Literally, “curriculum vitae” means the course of one’s life.

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How to Prepare Grant Proposals and Progress Reports

1. PREPARING A GRANT PROPOSAL Scientific research costs money. Typically, the needed money comes as grants from government agencies, private foundations, or other sources. Thus, to sur­vive professionally, most scientists must apply successfully for grants. The purpose of a grant proposal, sometimes called a grant application, is to persuade a funding source to fund

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How to Write a Recommendation Letter—and How to Ask for One

Even as graduate assistants, those in the sciences often are asked to write recommendation letters for undergraduate students. Later, scientists also receive requests for recommendation letters for graduate students, postdoc­toral fellows, and peers. Writing recommendation letters can consume much time. However, with a well-organized approach, you can efficiently write good recommendation letters, thus serving

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How to Work with the Media in your publications

1. BEFORE THE INTERVIEW Your scientific paper will be published soon, and a news release about it has attracted reporters. Or an earthquake, epidemic, or policy issue has drawn attention to your topic. Or maybe you are receiving an award. For whatever reason, a reporter calls. How can you work with the reporter to

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How to Provide Peer Review of scientific publications

1. RESPONDING TO A REQUEST FOR PEER REVIEW Once you have become an author, you may receive invitations to be a peer reviewer—in other words, to evaluate work by others in your field. Journal edi­tors may ask you to review papers being considered for publication. Funding agencies may ask you to review grant proposals.

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How to Edit Your Own Work

1. PREPARING TO EDIT YOUR WORK If you have reached this point in the book, or if you turned immediately to it, you probably know that good writing is much-revised writing. But how should you approach editing your own work? What should you look for? Is there anyone who can help? This chapter addresses

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How to Seek a Scientific-Communication Career

1. CAREER OPTIONS IN SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION Some of us in science find the communication aspect so well suited to our interests and abilities that we focus on it in our careers. And increasingly, careers in science communication are being recognized as alternatives to those in research. Opportunities include writing and editing materials for fellow

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Installing IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows & Mac

This article covers how to install IBM SPSS Statistics on a PC (Windows) or Mac computer. You can download the trial version or buy the official version at IBM SPSS Statistics. Installing SPSS Statistics (Mac) Installing SPSS Statistics (Windows) A. Installing SPSS Statistics on Mac 1. Double click to extract SPSS_Statistics_xx_mac.dmg. Once your SPSS

Introduction to IBM AMOS SPSS

AMOS is statistical software and it stands for analysis of a moment structures. AMOS is an added SPSS module, and is specially used for Structural Equation Modeling, path analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis.  It is also known as analysis of covariance or causal modeling software. AMOS is a visual program for structural equation modeling (SEM). In AMOS, we can draw models graphically

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SPSS Data Editor Window – Quick Overview of User Interface

In SPSS, we usually work from 3 windows. These are: the data editor window, the output viewer window and the syntax editor window. The first main window is the data editor. This is the only window that’s always open when we run SPSS. Right, let’s now download and open bank.sav. We’ll use it for walking you through the

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SPSS Output Viewer Window – Quick Overview of User Interface

In SPSS, we usually work from 3 windows. These are: the data editor window, the output viewer window and the syntax editor window. The second main window is the output viewer window. Right, let’s now download and open bank.sav. We’ll use it for walking you through the main parts of the output viewer. Right. So with our data

SPSS Syntax Editor Window – Quick Overview of User Interface

In SPSS, we usually work from 3 windows. These are: the data editor window, the output viewer window and the syntax editor window. The third main window is the output viewer window. Right, let’s now download and open bank.sav. We’ll use it for walking you through the main parts of the syntax editor. How to paste

SPSS Keyboard Shortcuts

SPSS keyboard shortcuts allow you to work with amazing speed. Some of the best SPSS shortkeys are not obvious at all so we’ll list our 20 favorite SPSS shortkeys in the table below. WHERE SHORTKEY USEFUL FOR Data Editor CTRL + t Switch between data view and variable view. Data Editor CTRL + up / down Go

Preparation before using SPSS: Research Problems and Variables

1. Research Problems The research process begins with an issue or problem of interest to the researcher. This research problem is a statement that asks about the relationships between two or more variables.1 Almost all research studies have more than two variables. Appendix B provides templates to help you phrase your research problem, and

Preparation before using SPSS: Research Hypotheses and Questions

Research hypotheses are predictive statements about the relationship between variables. Research questions are similar to hypotheses, except that they do not entail specific predictions and are phrased in question format. For example, one might have the following research question: “Is there a difference in students’ scores on a standardized test if they took two