Preface	6
	About the Author	8
	Acknowledgments	10
	Contents	12
	1: Introduction	16
	2: Good Versus Poor Scientific Writing: An Orientation	18
	2.1 What Is “Good” Scientific Writing?	18
	2.2 The Plain Language Movement	19
	2.3 The Baso Pyramid of Scientific Writing	20
	2.3.1 Baseline	21
	2.3.2 Style	21
	2.3.3 Opinion	21
	2.4 Common Myths and Misconceptions	22
	2.4.1 What Are Myths and Misconceptions?	22
	2.4.2 Long and Complicated Sentences	23
	2.4.3 Misusing or Wasting Specific and Generic Terms	23
	2.4.4 Reluctance to Use First-Person Pronouns Leading to Overuse of Passive Voice	24
	2.4.5 Tendency to Turn Sharp and Powerful Verbs into Weighty Nouns	24
	3: Words and Units: Orthography and Punctuation	25
	3.1 Correct Spelling	25
	3.1.1 Getting Words Right	25
	3.1.2 Using Spell Checkers	26
	3.2 Consistent Spelling: American English Versus British English	26
	3.3 Punctuation	27
	3.3.1 Proper Use of Punctuation Marks	27
	3.3.2 Hyphens and Word Division	27
	3.3.3 Punctuation Marks Indicating Emotion	29
	3.3.4 Parentheses and Brackets	29
	3.3.5 Periods in Titles and Academic Degrees	30
	3.3.6 Apostrophes in Contractions	31
	3.3.7 Nonbreaking Spaces and Hyphens	31
	3.4 Shortened Word Forms in Scientific Writing	32
	3.4.1 Types of Abbreviations	32
	3.4.2 True Abbreviations	33
	3.4.2.1 Latin Abbreviations	33
	3.4.3 Units of Measurement	33
	3.4.4 Acronyms and Initialisms	35
	3.4.5 Contractions	35
	3.4.6 Suspensions	36
	3.5 Numbers	36
	3.5.1 Expressing Numbers in Scientific Texts	36
	3.5.2 Formats of Numbers	37
	3.5.3 Ranges of Numbers	38
	3.5.4 Percentages	38
	3.6 Capitalization	39
	3.6.1 Use of Capitals in Scientific English	39
	3.6.2 Capitals in Proper Nouns (Names)	39
	3.6.3 Capitals in Titles	40
	3.6.3.1 Capitalizing Hyphenated Compound Words in Titles	40
	3.6.4 Capitals in Designations	41
	3.6.5 Capitals in New-Age Words	41
	4: Forming Sentences: Grammar	42
	4.1 Why Battle with Grammar?	42
	4.2 The Tenses in Scientific Reporting	43
	4.3 Joining Statements	45
	4.3.1 How Can the Joining of Words or Statements Cause Confusion?	45
	4.3.2 Nonparallel Verbs	46
	4.3.3 Nonparallel Modifiers	47
	4.3.4 Nonparallel Prepositional Phrases	48
	4.4 Subject–Verb Agreement	48
	4.4.1 Using the Correct Verb Forms	48
	4.4.2 Special Nouns	50
	4.4.3 Collective Nouns	50
	4.4.4 The Rule of Meaning	51
	4.4.5 Verb Matching with “None” and the “Neither–Nor” Linkage	52
	4.5 Syntax (Order of Words)	53
	4.5.1 Modifying Phrases	53
	4.5.2 Position of Adverbs in Sentences	54
	4.5.3 Position of Prepositions in Sentences	55
	4.6 Dangling Participles (and Other Danglers)	56
	4.6.1 What Are Danglers?	56
	4.6.2 Dangling Participles	56
	4.6.3 Dangling Gerunds	58
	4.7 The Relative Pronouns “Which” and “That”	58
	4.8 Use of “Respectively”	59
	4.9 Plurals of Abstractions and Attributes	60
	5: Putting It Nicely: Style	61
	5.1 What Is “Style” in the Context of Scientific Writing?	61
	5.2 Active Versus Passive Voice	62
	5.2.1 Why Argue About Active/Passive Voice?	62
	5.2.2 Shifting Emphasis by Choosing the Voice	62
	5.2.3 The Verb “To Be” in Copula Formulations	63
	5.3 Overuse of Prepositions	63
	5.4 Limiting Modifiers and Other Decorative Words	65
	5.4.1 Excessive Adjectives, Adverbs, and Nouns	65
	5.4.2 Modifier Strings	66
	5.5 The “House Style” of Journals	67
	5.6 Company-Internal Conventions of Style and Format	68
	6: Redundancy and Jargon: Focusing on the Essentials	70
	6.1 Redundancies in Scientific Reporting	70
	6.2 Double Negatives	71
	6.3 Tautology (Repeated and Redundant Words)	71
	6.4 Doubling Prepositions	72
	6.5 Jargonized Writing	73
	6.6 Oxymorons	74
	7: Quoting Published Material: Reference Formats	75
	7.1 What Can Go Wrong When Quoting Published Material?	75
	7.2 Reference Formats and the Uniform Requirements	76
	7.2.1 What Style Should I Use?	76
	7.2.2 Using Vancouver Style	76
	7.2.3 Reference Manager Tools	79
	8: Ethics of Scientific Writing: Avoiding Discrimination	80
	8.1 Prejudice and Semantic Labeling	80
	8.2 Sexist Writing and Gender-Biased Expressions	80
	8.2.1 Sex Versus Gender	80
	8.2.2 Gender-Inclusive Language	81
	8.3 Racist Writing	82
	8.4 Ageism	83
	9: Sticking to Your Word: Avoiding Plagiarism	84
	9.1 What Is Plagiarism?	84
	9.2 Forms of Plagiarism	85
	9.2.1 Plagiarism of Text	85
	9.2.2 Plagiarism of Ideas	86
	9.2.3 Self-Plagiarism	87
	9.3 How to Avoid Plagiarism	88
	10: Structuring Scientific Texts: Getting the “Story” out	90
	10.1 Determining the Audience	90
	10.2 Adapting the “Story” to the Readers’ Needs	91
	10.3 Drafting an Abstract	92
	10.3.1 The Importance of Abstracts	92
	10.3.2 Descriptive Abstracts	93
	10.3.3 Informative Abstracts	93
	10.3.4 Structured Abstracts	93
	11: Appendix	94
	11.1 Scientific Writing Rules at a Glance	94
	11.2 American English Versus British English: Groups of Words Affected by the Different Spelling	97
	11.3 The Main Punctuation Marks in Scientific Writing	98
	11.4 Awkward Phrases to Avoid	100
	11.5 List of Academic Degrees and Honors	103
	12: Exercises	106
	12.1 Exercise 1 | Consistent Spelling	106
	12.2 Exercise 2 | Proper Punctuation	106
	12.3 Exercise 3 | Using Numbers and Percentages Correctly	107
	12.4 Exercise 4 | Using Proper Capitalization	108
	12.5 Exercise 5 | Using Tenses in Scientific Reporting	108
	12.6 Exercise 6 | Restoring Parallelism	109
	12.7 Exercise 7 | Avoiding Verbal Phrase Danglers	110
	12.8 Exercise 8 | Using “Respectively” Properly	110
	12.9 Exercise 9 | Avoiding Excessive Passive Voice	111
	12.10 Exercise 10 | Limiting the Number of Prepositions	111
	12.11 Exercise 11 | Using Modifiers in Moderation	112
	12.12 Exercise 12 | Avoiding Tautological and Other Redundant Expressions	112
	13: Solutions to Exercises	113
	13.1 Solutions to Exercise 1	113
	13.2 Solutions to Exercise 2	114
	13.3 Solutions to Exercise 3	115
	13.4 Solutions to Exercise 4	115
	13.5 Solutions to Exercise 5	116
	13.6 Solutions to Exercise 6	117
	13.7 Solutions to Exercise 7	118
	13.8 Solutions to Exercise 8	118
	13.9 Solutions to Exercise 9	119
	13.10 Solutions to Exercise 10	120
	13.11 Solutions to Exercise 11	120
	13.12 Solutions to Exercise 12	120
	References	122
	Dictionaries	122
	Selected Books	122
	Published Literature	123