How to write like chemists

Write Like a Chemist


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Write Like a Chemist
A Guide and Resource
Marin S. Robinson
Fredricka L. Stoller
Molly S. Costanza-Robinson
James K. Jones


3
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Copyright © 2008 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Write like a chemist : a guide and resource / Marin S. Robinson . . . [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-530507-4 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-19-536742-3
1. Chemistry—Authorship—Textbooks. 2. Communication in chemistry—Textbooks.
3. Technical writing—Textbooks. I. Robinson, Marin S.
QD9.15.W75 2008
808'.06654—dc22
2007038271

987654321
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper


Dedicated to
Jeff and Bill,
Chuck and Ronnie,
and Kara

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Preface

Write Like a Chemist is designed to be used as a textbook in upper division and
graduate-level university chemistry classes and as a resource book by chemistry
students, postdocs, faculty, and other professionals who want to perfect their
chemistry-specific writing skills. To this end, Write Like a Chemist focuses on four
types of writing:
■

The journal article

■

The conference abstract

■

The scientific poster

■

The research proposal

Each type of writing, or genre, is directed toward a distinct audience and written
for a different purpose. For example, writing a journal article requires a style and
organizational format that are quite different from that of a research proposal.
Thus, to write like a chemist requires learning to write for multiple audiences

and purposes.
One of the best ways to learn to write like a chemist is to read like a chemist.
Indeed, many of today’s chemists taught themselves to write by reading others’
works and using those works as templates for their own writing. Corrections
(often in red pen) from peers, mentors, reviewers, and editors along the way also
played an integral role in the learning-to-write process. Although ultimately successful, this approach was often painful and inefficient for all involved. The goal
of Write Like a Chemist is to teach writing in a more systematic way. Because
reading is integral to writing, we use the chemical literature (and other examples of writing) to model conventional writing practices; indeed, more than 250
excerpts from ACS journal articles and NSF CAREER proposals are included in
this book. But we do not stop there. Write Like a Chemist endorses a read-analyzewrite approach that combines the reading of authentic passages with the analysis
of those passages to gain insights into the writing conventions of the targeted
genres. Reading and analysis activities are followed by structured writing tasks,
culminating in authentic writing assignments, using the excerpts as models.1


Before going to press, Write Like a Chemist was piloted at 16 U.S. colleges and
universities. The book was used successfully in a variety of instructional settings
(including writing-dedicated courses and lecture, lab, and seminar courses) with
a broad cross section of students, including non-native English speakers and students from multicultural backgrounds. Although intended primarily for chemists, the book will also benefit chemistry majors who ultimately decide to pursue
other careers. Indeed, learning to write in a well-organized and concise manner
requires writing skills that are highly coveted across many fields. Moreover, the
read-analyze-write approach featured in Write Like a Chemist is readily transferable to other disciplines.
Because it will take more than a single encounter with Write Like a Chemist to
become a skilled writer, the book can serve as a rich resource over the years when
the goal is to communicate effectively in writing with chemists, other scientists,
and funding agencies.

Contents
Following the introductory chapter 1, section 1 of Write Like a Chemist is divided
into three modules:

Module 1: The Journal Article (chapters 2–7)
Module 2: The Scientific Poster (chapters 8–10)
Module 3: The Research Proposal (chapters 11–15)
Each module combines authentic readings with exercises to introduce and reinforce discipline-specific writing skills. At the core of each module is a multistep
writing assignment, guided by “Writing on Your Own” tasks, that assists writers
in completing the type of writing emphasized in the module.
Section 2 of Write Like a Chemist includes three chapters that focus on skills
that run across different types of chemistry writing. These chapters guide writers
in formatting and finalizing their written work:
Chapter 16: Formatting Figures, Tables, and Schemes
Chapter 17: Formatting Citations and References
Chapter 18: Finalizing Your Written Work
Write Like a Chemist concludes with two appendices. Appendix A provides helpful tips about language areas that often prove troublesome for writers (e.g., easily
confused words, scientific plurals, punctuation, and grammar). Each language
tip includes exercises and an answer key, facilitating self-study. (For a full listing
of tips, see the first page of appendix A.) For ease of consultation, appendix B

viii

Preface


replicates flow charts (called “move structures” in the book) that illustrate the
typical organization of sections of the genres that are emphasized in the book.

The Write Like a Chemist Web Site
Accompanying the textbook is the Write Like a Chemist Web site (http://www.
oup.com/us/writelikeachemist). Notable features of the Web site include the
following:
■

Web exercises: To prevent users from needlessly retyping full exercises that
only need editing, we have duplicated these exercises on the Web site. In this
way, students can copy and paste the exercises into a text document and edit
them accordingly.

■

“Canned” research projects: We recognize that not all users of this textbook
will have a sufficiently robust research project to write about. To date, we
have developed four “canned” research projects to address this need. These
projects, all based on authentic research, provide sufficient data and background information for a mock journal article or poster.

■

Peer-Review Memo forms: Writing benefits from peer review. To facilitate this
process, we include Peer Review Memo forms, with a list of guided questions
and prompts, for each major section of the journal article.

■

Full-color posters: Module 2 of the book (“The Scientific Poster”) includes
examples of posters in only black-and-white, but full-color versions of these
posters are available at the Web site.

■

Faculty resources: An answer key and examples of analytical and holistic
grading rubrics for major writing assignments (journal-quality paper, poster,
and research proposal) are available at the Web site for faculty adopting the

book.

Unique Features of Write Like a Chemist
Write Like a Chemist is unique in many ways, not the least of which is the fact
that it was conceived by a chemist (M.S.R.) and an applied linguist (F.L.S.) and
developed with additional help from faculty and students in both disciplines. As
part of our interdisciplinary effort, we analyzed chemistry-specific writing practices using tools from corpus linguistics, a discipline that investigates language
empirically through computer-based analyses of large collections of texts known
as corpora (or corpus, singular).2 A 1.5-million-word corpus of chemistry texts was
created, comprising 200 full-length refereed journal articles and 240 sections of

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refereed journal articles (i.e., 60 abstracts, Introduction, Methods, Results and
Discussion sections) from Anal. Chem., Biochemistry, J. Am. Chem. Soc., J. Org.
Chem., J. Phys. Chem. A & B. This database was used to identify common, generalizable patterns3 in the language of chemistry, a task that would have been virtually impossible without the help of the computer. Later on in the project, the ACS
Journals Search () was used extensively to accomplish many of
the same aims. Findings from both corpora are included here.

Icons Used in Write Like a Chemist
Icons, each one with a special meaning, are used throughout the book:
Exercises
Exercises that are also posted on the Write Like a Chemist Web site
Definition of a key term or concept

Reminders and/or elaboration of important points

Writing on Your Own tasks (chapters 2–18) and proofreading tips
(appendix A)
Reference to a later part of the book for additional information and/or
practice
Reference to an earlier part of the book for additional information

Explanation of a scientific term or concept

Findings from computer-based analyses of the language of chemistry

A useful principle (i.e., rule of thumb) with broad applications

“Road map” to research proposal (module 3) with enumeration of typical
headings

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Preface


Writing Conventions Used in Write Like a Chemist
The original text, tables, and figures in this book generally follow Oxford
University Press writing conventions, for example,
■

Initial paragraphs of sections are not indented but subsequent paragraphs
are indented.

■

The “F” in figure and “T” in table are in lowercase when calling out a table
or figure in the text (e.g., see table 1).

■

In tables, column headings are written in title case (e.g., Verb Tense); labels
are bolded with no period (e.g., Table 1 Rates.).

The works cited in this book (i.e., excerpts from ACS journal articles, conference abstracts, and research proposals) are reproduced as written with only slight
modifications as needed to adhere to journal-specific (according to the journal’s
Information for Authors) or ACS guidelines (according to The ACS Style Guide 3rd
ed.), for example,
■

Initial paragraphs are indented or not, as they were in the original source.

■

The “F” in figure and “T” in table are capitalized when calling out a table or
figure in the text (e.g., see Table 1).

■

Tables and figures are reproduced as written; hence, different formatting
conventions are observed (e.g., some table column headings are in lowercase,
others are in title case).

■

Table titles and figure captions are reproduced as written; hence, different

formatting conventions are observed (e.g., some table titles are centered,
bolded, and in title case; others are left-justified, unbolded, and in sentence
case).

Because writing conventions vary and are likely to change with time, we urge
readers to consult the journal of their choice as they prepare manuscripts for
publication.
We wish you good luck. With this book and hard work, you too will be able
to write like a chemist!

Notes
1. Although ours is the first chemistry-specific writing textbook and resource that we
know of that approaches the reading and analysis of chemistry writing in this way, we
have been inspired by a wide body of research into the genres of various fields (e.g.,
Bhatia, 1993, 2004; Connor and Mauranen, 1999; Hill, Soppelsa, and West, 1982;

Preface

xi


Huckin, 1987; Hyland, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004a, 2004b, 2006; Johns, 2002;
Paltridge, 1997; Swales, 1990, 2004).
2. Of considerable influence were the following publications: Biber, Conrad, and Reppen
(1994, 1998) and Bowker and Pearson (2002).
3. Note that we do not always use conventional linguistic terminology when discussing
and presenting language-related issues in this book. Rather, we use terminology that
best reaches our intended audience (i.e., chemists).

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Preface


Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation for financial support of the Write Like Chemist project (DUE 0087570 and DUE 0230913). We are
also indebted to Jeremy Lewis, Acquisitions Editor at Oxford University Press,
and Eric Slater, Copyright Manager of the American Chemical Society, for their
ongoing support of this project. We also thank Paul Hobson, Production Editor,
and Edward (Ned) Sears, Editorial Assistant, at Oxford University Press, as well
as Patricia Watson, copyeditor.
We are grateful to many individuals at Northern Arizona University who contributed to this project. In particular, we thank William Grabe and Bradley Horn
for developing and coordinating project assessment efforts, Sharon Baker for
making thoughtful contributions to the answer key, John Rothfork for developing the project Web site, and Liz Grobsmith for providing institutional support.
We are also indebted to CHM 300W and CHM 610 students who endured early
drafts of the book, in particular, Jennifer Broyles, Lana Chavez, Kevin Pond, and
Catherina Salanga.
This project would not have succeeded without additional support and inspiration from many other individuals at Northern Arizona University and elsewhere, including Geoffrey Chase, Beverly Cleland, Ann Eagan, Julie Gillette,
Kris Harris, Victor O. Leshyk, Alan Paul, Martha Portree, Kurt Ristinen, Paul
Torrence, and Kierstin Van Camp-Horn, as well as the Departments of Chemistry
& Biochemistry and English and the Colleges of Engineering & Natural Sciences
and Arts & Letters at Northern Arizona University.
We are particularly indebted to chemistry faculty (and their students) who
piloted drafts of Write Like a Chemist at their home institutions during 2004–2006
(if faculty affiliations have changed, we note the pilot institution in parentheses):
Frances Blanco-Yu

Seton Hill University

David Collins

Colorado State University–Pueblo

Ellen R. Fisher

Colorado State University

Brian Gilbert

Linfield College

Alex Grushow

Rider University


Angela Hoffman

University of Portland

Timm Knoerzer

Nazareth College

Daphne Norton

Emory University

Donald Paulson

California State University–Los Angeles

Dan Philen

Emory University

Jennifer N. Shepherd

Gonzaga University

Betty H. Stewart

Midwestern State University (Austin College)

Joe Vitt

University of South Dakota

Carl Wamser

Portland State University

Barry L. Westcott

Central Connecticut State University

We also thank faculty who served as external evaluators for the Write Like
a Chemist project:
Jeanne Arquette

Maricopa Community College

Troy Cahou

Coconino Community College

Larry Eddy

Yavapai Community College

Don Gilbert

Northern Arizona University

Sibylle Gruber

Northern Arizona University

Hans Gunderson

Northern Arizona University

Cynthia Hartzell

Northern Arizona University

Pierre Herckes

Arizona State University

Jani Ingram

Northern Arizona University

David F. Nachman

Maricopa Community College

John Pollard

University of Arizona

Scott Savage

Northern Arizona University

Michael Scott

Maricopa Community College

Paul Smolenyak

Yavapai Community College

Diane Stearns

Northern Arizona University

Timothy Vail

Northern Arizona University

We also acknowledge other colleagues who reviewed the book and offered feedback or contributed quotes to the book:

xiv

Joseph H. Aldstadt

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Kevin Cantrell

University of Portland

Bert D. Chandler

Trinity University

Joan Curry

University of Arizona

Acknowledgments


Robert Damrauer

University of Colorado–Denver

Charles H. DePuy

University of Colorado–Boulder

Mari Eggers

Little Big Horn College

Dave Goodney

Willamette University

Nora S. Green

Randolph-Macon College

Suzanne Harris

University of Wyoming

Ann M. Johns

San Diego State University

David B. Knaff

Texas Tech University

Carol Libby

Moravian College

Richard Malkin

University of California–Berkeley

Charlotte Otto

University of Michigan

Pete Palmer

San Francisco State University

Bradley F. Schwartz

Southern Illinois University School
of Medicine

Grigoriy Sereda

University of South Dakota

Steve Singleton

Coe College

Gerald Van Hecke

Harvey Mudd College

Gabriela Weaver

Purdue University

James B. Weissman

Pfi zer Pharmaceutical Marketing

Thomas J. Wenzel

Bates College

Barry L. Westcott

Central Connecticut State University

We gratefully acknowledge the American Chemical Society Publications Division
for granting us permission to use numerous excerpts from journal articles published by the American Chemical Society (including words, phrases, sentences,
one or more paragraphs, titles, figures, tables, and, in one instance, a full article). All selections were reprinted with permission from the American Chemical
Society, granted by Eric S. Slater, Esq., copyright manager. A citation accompanies each selection (e.g., “from Boesten et al., 2001” or “adapted from Boesten
et al., 2001”), and the corresponding bibliographic information is included in the
reference list of cited works at the end of the book.
We also thank the following individuals for granting us permission to use excerpts
from their research proposals or ACS conference abstracts:

Primary Investigator of an ACS Division of Analytical
Chemistry Graduate Fellowship
Amanda J. Haes

Acknowledgments

University of Iowa

xv


Primary Investigators of NSF CAREER Awards
Diana Aga

State University of New York–Buffalo

Daniel J. Dyer

Southern Illinois University–Carbondale

Howard Fairbrother

Johns Hopkins University

Nathaniel Finney

University of California–San Diego

Anna D. Gudmundsdottir

University of Cincinnati

Karen S. Harpp

Colgate University

Paul Hergenrother

University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign

Robert P. Houser

University of Oklahoma

Jeffrey S. Johnson

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

Gary R. Kinsel

University of Texas–Arlington

Amnon Kohen

University of Iowa

Jeehiun Katherine Lee

Rutgers University

Gary A. Lorigan

Miami University

L. Andrew Lyon

Georgia Tech Research Corporation

David L. Patrick

Western Washington University

Christoph G. Rose-Petruck

Brown University

Andrei Sanov

University of Arizona

Eileen M. Spain

Occidental College

Mark E. Tuckerman

New York University

James R. Vyvyan

Western Washington University

Robert A. Walker

University of Maryland–College Park

Timothy H. Warren

Georgetown University

Corresponding Authors of American Chemical Society
Conference Abstracts

xvi

Joseph T. Bushey

Syracuse University

Gerald B. Hammond

University of Louisville

Arthur Lee

Wyeth Research

Athanasios Nenes

Georgia Institute of Technology

Catherine C. Neto

University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth

Peter S. Nico

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Denis J. Phares

University of Southern California

Cynthia Rohrer

University of Wisconsin-Stout

Acknowledgments


Lynn Russell

Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
University of California–San Diego

Kevin M. Smith

Louisiana State University

Yuegang Zuo

University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth

Finally, we thank Dr. Roald Hoffmann for permission to reproduce his poem

“Next Slide Please” from The Metamict State (1987; Orlando: University of Central
Florida Press, pp 51–52).
The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this
book are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, or authors whose
works are included in Write Like a Chemist.

Acknowledgments

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Contents

Section 1

Writing Modules
Chapter 1 Learning to Write Like a Chemist 5

Module 1

The Journal Article 31

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Module 2

33

Overview of the Journal Article
Writing the Methods Section

57

Writing the Results Section 111
Writing the Discussion Section
Writing the Introduction Section

163
199

Writing the Abstract and Title 241

The Scientific Poster 271

Chapter 8 Writing the Conference Abstract and Title 273
Chapter 9 Writing the Poster Text 293
Chapter 10 Designing the Poster 335
Module 3

The Research Proposal

Chapter 11

Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15

357

Overview of the Research Proposal

359

Writing the Goals and Importance Section 387
433

Writing the Experimental Approach Section
Writing the Outcomes and Impacts Section

479

Writing the Project Summary and Title 501


Section 2

Graphics, References, and Final Stages of Writing

Chapter 16 Formatting Figures, Tables, and Schemes 523
Chapter 17 Formatting Citations and References 543
Chapter 18 Finalizing Your Written Work 569
Appendix A

Language Tips 583
584

Audience and Purpose
Writing Conventions

601

Grammar and Mechanics 612
Word Usage 634

Appendix B

Move Structures 659

Sources of Excerpts 667
References 685
Index 687

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Contents


Write Like a Chemist


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Section 1
Writing Modules


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