Guide to technical writing - Revision history

A1065010: /* Grammar */

2026-09-11T14:34:30Z

Grammar

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:04, 12 September 2026
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	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.		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.

	The reason for the the cultural difference in use of tense between, say, journals in the physical sciences/engineering and medical/ biology is that physical experiments are time-invariant. I doesn't matter when exactly they were done, they can be described as if they are done now. However, medical/biology experiments tend to be time-dependent: it matters if the experiment (say~~) performed~~ a growth or a therapy X days in the past. So in these journals we cannot use the present tense voice for experiments.		The reason for the the cultural difference in use of tense between, say, journals in the physical sciences/engineering and medical/ biology is that physical experiments are time-invariant. I doesn't matter when exactly they were done, they can be described as if they are done now. However, medical/biology experiments tend to be time-dependent: it matters if the experiment performed, say, a growth or a therapy X days in the past. So in these journals we cannot use the present tense voice for experiments.

	===Split infinitives===		===Split infinitives===

A1065010: /* Tense */

2026-09-11T14:32:45Z

Tense

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:02, 12 September 2026
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	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.		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.

			The reason for the the cultural difference in use of tense between, say, journals in the physical sciences/engineering and medical/ biology is that physical experiments are time-invariant. I doesn't matter when exactly they were done, they can be described as if they are done now. However, medical/biology experiments tend to be time-dependent: it matters if the experiment (say) performed a growth or a therapy X days in the past. So in these journals we cannot use the present tense voice for experiments.

	===Split infinitives===		===Split infinitives===

A1065010: /* Formal versus informal word usage */

2026-09-09T05:28:07Z

Formal versus informal word usage

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:58, 9 September 2026
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	* Like → such as		* Like → such as
	* Marvelous → significant		* Marvelous → significant
			* Massive → very large, significant
	* Seems → appears		* Seems → appears
	* Some → a number of		* Some → a number of
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	* Wonderful → significant		* Wonderful → significant

	Note: Whilst we should avoid the above informal words there are some rare exceptions. From example the word "big" is informal, but it has now become a special scientific phrase when we talk about ''big data''. In a specific case such as this "big data" has become an acceptable phrase in the literature.		Note: Whilst we should avoid the above informal words there are some rare exceptions. From example the word "big" is informal, but it has now become a special scientific phrase when we talk about ''big data''. In a specific case such as this "big data" has become an acceptable phrase in the literature.

	===Dispassionate tone===		===Dispassionate tone===

A1065010: /* Spacing */

2026-09-09T05:12:43Z

Spacing

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:42, 9 September 2026
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	* Full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons, question marks, exclamation marks, all have no space on the left, but always have one space on the right.		* Full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons, question marks, exclamation marks, all have no space on the left, but always have one space on the right.
	* There is always a space between a number and the units. Normally you must create the space with a tilde, in LaTeX, to suppress a linebreak.		* There is always a space between a number and the units, except for those mentioned below. Normally you must create the space with a tilde, in LaTeX, to suppress a linebreak.
	* Note the special case that a number has no space after it, if followed by a percentage sign or degree, minute and second symbols.		* Note the special case that a number has no space after it, if followed by a percentage sign or degree, minute and second symbols.

A1065010: /* Units */

2026-09-09T05:09:59Z

Units

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:39, 9 September 2026
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	* Always insert physical units after a number.		* Always insert physical units after a number.
	* Always insert a space between a number and the units. Do this with a tilde (~) in LaTeX.		* Always insert a space between a number and the units. Do this with a tilde (~) in LaTeX.
	* Exceptions are that there is no space between a number and the % sign and the degree. This is true of degrees where referring to temperature or angle. When dividing angles in minutes and seconds, such as 43°2′27″ N, 77°14′30.60″ W, notice there are also no spaces. There are some rare journals whose style is to have a space here and you should then obey that. But for your thesis and most journals there is no space.		* Exceptions are that there is no space between a number and the % sign and the degree symbol. This is true of degrees where referring to temperature or angle. When dividing angles in minutes and seconds, such as 43°2′27″ N, 77°14′30.60″ W, notice there are also no spaces. There are some rare journals whose style is to have a space here and you should then obey that. But for your thesis and most journals there is no space.
	* Units are always in upright font, so write them outside the math environment.		* Units are always in upright font, so write them outside the math environment.

A1065010: /* Antennas or antennae? */

2026-07-30T04:25:07Z

Antennas or antennae?

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:55, 30 July 2026
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	In electrical engineering, the plural of 'antenna' is 'antennas,' and not 'antennae.' Antennae are the little things on the heads of insects.		In electrical engineering, the plural of 'antenna' is 'antennas,' and not 'antennae.' Antennae are the little things on the heads of insects.

	A quick way to remember this, if you forget, is to think of the famous journal ''IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.'' Now, if in your mind you switch this to ''IEEE Transactions on Antennae and Propagation,'' it sounds awful.		A quick way to remember this, if you forget, is to think of the famous journal ''IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.'' Now, if in your mind if you switch this to ''IEEE Transactions on Antennae and Propagation,'' it sounds awful.

	===Neural or neuronal?===		===Neural or neuronal?===

A1065010: /* Spacing */

2026-04-15T03:44:12Z

Spacing

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:14, 15 April 2026
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	* Full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons, question marks, exclamation marks, all have no space on the left, but always have one space on the right.		* Full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons, question marks, exclamation marks, all have no space on the left, but always have one space on the right.
	* There is always a space between a number and the units. Normally you must create the space with a tilde, in LaTeX, to suppress a linebreak.		* There is always a space between a number and the units. Normally you must create the space with a tilde, in LaTeX, to suppress a linebreak.
	* Note the special case that a number has no space after it, if followed by a percentage sign or a degree minute or second ~~for plane angle symbol~~.		* Note the special case that a number has no space after it, if followed by a percentage sign or degree, minute and second symbols.

	==Figure captions==		==Figure captions==

A1065010: /* Units */

2026-04-15T03:42:43Z

Units

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:12, 15 April 2026
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	* Always insert physical units after a number.		* Always insert physical units after a number.
	* Always insert a space between a number and the units. Do this with a tilde (~) in LaTeX.		* Always insert a space between a number and the units. Do this with a tilde (~) in LaTeX.
	* Exceptions are that there is no space between a number and the % sign and the degree, ~~minute and second for plane angle~~, °, ~~' and " respectively~~. There are some rare journals whose style is to have a space here and you should then obey that. But for your thesis and most journals there is no space~~. There is a space between the number and °C~~.		* Exceptions are that there is no space between a number and the % sign and the degree. This is true of degrees where referring to temperature or angle. When dividing angles in minutes and seconds, such as 43°2′27″ N, 77°14′30.60″ W, notice there are also no spaces. There are some rare journals whose style is to have a space here and you should then obey that. But for your thesis and most journals there is no space.
	* Units are always in upright font, so write them outside the math environment.		* Units are always in upright font, so write them outside the math environment.

A1065010: /* Dispassionate tone */

2026-04-15T03:35:22Z

Dispassionate tone

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:05, 15 April 2026
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	===Dispassionate tone===		===Dispassionate tone===

	~~hoga marse~~

	Of course you must be completely passionate to be successful at your PhD. You need to be passionate about your research and passionate to share your exciting results by publishing. When we do technical writing the ''tone'' must be dispassionate, but you as a person can still be passionate! So what do we really mean by a dispassionate tone? We simply mean that you must remove emotional words from a scientific description. The science is about logic not emotion. So the emotional words have no place in your thesis or papers. You can use a little emotion in an acknowledgement section, because that is not the scientific part of the paper. When replying to reviews of your paper always remove any emotive words, even if you feel like strangling the reviewer. And when you become a reviewer, your report should also be dispassionate.		Of course you must be completely passionate to be successful at your PhD. You need to be passionate about your research and passionate to share your exciting results by publishing. When we do technical writing the ''tone'' must be dispassionate, but you as a person can still be passionate! So what do we really mean by a dispassionate tone? We simply mean that you must remove emotional words from a scientific description. The science is about logic not emotion. So the emotional words have no place in your thesis or papers. You can use a little emotion in an acknowledgement section, because that is not the scientific part of the paper. When replying to reviews of your paper always remove any emotive words, even if you feel like strangling the reviewer. And when you become a reviewer, your report should also be dispassionate.

A1065010: /* Words that are commonly misused */

2026-03-23T11:28:37Z

Words that are commonly misused

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:58, 23 March 2026
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	===Passed or past?===		===Passed or past?===
	In English these two words are confusing because they are pronounced exactly the same, but the meaning is different and they can be used in similar contexts. "Passed" is the ~~pass~~ tense of the verb "pass," whereas "past" indicates going by. So how do we check if we've made the right choice of word in our technical writing? Take these two examples:		In English these two words are confusing because they are pronounced exactly the same, but the meaning is different and they can be used in similar contexts. "Passed" is the past tense of the verb "pass," whereas "past" indicates going by. So how do we check if we've made the right choice of word in our technical writing? Take these two examples:

	* The voltage went past the maximum limit and the transistor overheated.		* The voltage went past the maximum limit and the transistor overheated.