Mod:Hunt Research Group/report writing

Report Instructions

written work is NOT a conversation

• many students are far too too colloquial
• use a more developed and higher level of language, replace simple generic terms with specific terms
• avoid using the following terms: done, even though, although, a lot, meaning, owing, that is, ...
• for example, replace done with "carried out", "executed", "investigated", "implemented", "performed"
• carry out a search on your document for the above words, and ensure you eliminate these from your document unless absolutely essential

avoid personal pronouns

• personal pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them
• in papers avoid personal pronouns
• in a thesis they can be used apringly to emphasise work you did
• NOT "we analysed X"
• YES "X was analysed"

science is SPECIFIC

• avoid using the following terms: this, their, these, them, it
• all students are expected to have used the "find" feature for the above and to have eliminated these words (there are a few cases where use is appropriate)
• never use general extensions such as "and so on", "etc", "so on and so forth"
• it is OK to repeat a term if it allows you to be specific

is it LARGER or HIGHER?

• use larger for preference over higher or bigger (and smaller over lower)
• options

you can use higher when its a quantity, its positive, and the quantity is normally pictured like a "ladder" or vertical ruler

you can use greater when it refers to a group of things "a greater number of X"

larger is good for sizes, volumes, areas, distances etc

• when referring to negative numbers NEVER use larger or bigger or higher

the problem is does larger mean less negative or a larger absolute quantity even though its negative

use "X is more negative" and "X is less negative"

avoid the use of RUBBISH words

• rubbish words add no knew knowledge or content

"the fact that"

"an interesting point"

"it is worth noting"

"due to the fact"

"it is important to consider"

• words that are colloquial and typical of oral but not written statements

"on the other hand"

"some would say"

"in other words"

"in reality"

"this is indeed"

"when looking at"

• avoid words that mention earlier statements, the reader is intelligent, they know what you have written previously

"as discussed above"

"as noted earlier"

"as mentioned earlier"

• avoid explicitly mentioning data shown in figures and graphs

we are intelligent we can see your graph, do NOT describe graphs or figures in the text

rather make a statement and then just add "..., Figure X" at the end of the sentence

do not use "as shown in Figure X", "it can be seen in Figure X"

use proper sentence construction

• SVO=subject-verb-object
• example "The graph shows that X is larger than Y." subject=the graph, verb=shows, object=x and y
• the subject can be a noun, pronoun, adjectives or descriptive phrases that go with these
• a pronoun refers to people, I, you, he, she, we, they
• an adjective qualifies, defines, modifies a noun, for example: big, unique, old
• adverbs (consequently, clearly) apply to a whole sentence or clause and can be used to start a sentence
• conjunctions or connectors link two elements (clauses) in a sentence, there are two types
• ones that cannot come at the start of a sentence (for, and, nor, but, or , yet, that)
• ones that can come at the start of a sentence, but please avoid doing so (if, unless, also, provided, as, because, since, therefor, although, though, after, before, while)
• the above preface a subordinating clause, ie a clause that clarifies, expands or explains the meaning of the main clause
• do NOT start sentences with: as, although, while, because
• you can start sentences with: nevertheless, therefor, however
• of course, this is English, the rules can-be and are broken at times, but not by you!

avoid "old" English

do not use old, non modern English, avoid the following ... and related

hereby, herein, heretofore, herewith

therein, thereby

wherein, whereby, whereupon, whereon

hitherto, whence

"have been" or "were"?

Consider the following example

"X have been computed" is choosing to treat this as an event extending to the present.

"X were computed" is choosing to treat this as an event in the past.

the numbers we generate in computational chemistry don’t change from the past to the present (if they do there is a problem!) we use “have been”

experimentalists, on the other hand, who measure something at a given time in the past, but cannot guarantee it is the same now (in the present) must use “were"

plurals!

a surprising number of students have problems with plurals

if there is more than one, make it plural

if you have grouped entities, and then refer to the group, using a singular reference

Consider the following example

"the ESP of all molecules has been evaluated"

there are multiple molecules

but the whole group (of all molecules) is a single entity and we use "has" and not "have" the plural

all statements must be TRUE

• read your sentences carefully, in isolation, is it true?
• for example a common mistake is "ILs exhibit unique properties" this is NOT true there is no single property that is unique to ILs, but "ILs exhibit a unique combination of properties" is true.

do not anthropomorphise

• that is do make human an inhuman entity, avoid "their" "themselves"

your LOGIC must be good

• make sure that when you say "A therefore B" in a sentence that A and B are EXPLICITLY connected
• sentence construction NOT "due to B, A" but YES to "A due to B"

SET-UP the problem

• students have a tendency to start in the middle of an explanation and not set up the problem
• start from the beginning explain the problem or concept from scratch
• it might be helpful to imagine you are explaining the concept to an UG, who knows nothing about the problem

ONE sentence ONE idea

• students can have a tendency to produce long rambling sentences
• scientific writing is short and to the point
• don't be overly wordy, don't try to "sound good" state it as it is.

use PARAGRAPHS appropriately

• organise your sentences that are about the same point together

referring to Figures

• do not write "comment ... as shown in Figure X", rather format this as "comment, Figure X"

notation and ACRONYMS

• clearly define all notation at the first use e.g. define what N1124 means
• avoid the use acronyms if at all possible, only use very COMMON acronyms