Editing Guide to technical writing (section)

==Grammar==
===Tense===
In Derek's group we try to stick to the convention of keeping everything in the present tense, except when talking about previous work. For previous work you must use the past tense.  This helps to keep the tone exciting and dynamic; long passages of past tense can sound boring. It also makes it easier for the reader to differentiate between the present work and any previous work.

An exception is when we are collaborating and publishing in a medical or biological journal. Here, these journals strictly want you to use the past tense for your experiment, but the present tense for your discussion and analysis. Physical and engineering journals accept present tense for your experiment, discussion, and analysis.

===Split infinitives===
A ''split infinitive'' is when you insert a word between "to" and its verb. For example:
:'''Normal phrase''':  The spectrum analyser was used to study the device closely.
:'''Split infinitive''': The spectrum analyser was used to closely study the device.

Here, "study" is the verb and it has been split from the "to" in the second example. Split infinitives used to be thought of as bad grammar, but now in modern times many people accept them.  However, some PhD examiners may be annoyed by them. Therefore the general advice is to minimize their use in formal and technical writing, where possible. However, feel free to use them occasionally when it makes the sentence clearer or flow better.