REU Writing Workshop II

John Anderson

Northwestern University

July 10-11, 2007

Overview

• Large group discussion 30 min• From reading to writing • Thinking about audiences• Preparing to write the first draft• Understanding the Nanoscape guidelines• Using and citing sources

• Individual writing 20 min• Framing the problem• Reviewing the literature• Planning the draft

• Small group discussion 40 min

From reading to writing

• Early writing on a project tends to be “writer-based”: a kind of private language

• To be successful, a journal article needs to be “reader-based”: it must anticipate and meet the needs of its audience

• The transition from writer-based to reader-based writing is complex

• Sharing your early work with others is a way of speeding up this process and making it more effective

Questions about early stages

• With whom have you been talking about the project?

• What have those conversations been like?• What kinds of writing has your mentor asked

you to do?• What else have you been writing?• What have you been reading?• What did you write for the literature review?

Thinking about audiences• The final manuscript has several different audiences who will

play different roles in its life cycle• Co-authors

• Mentor• Faculty

• Evaluators• Peer reviewers• Editors

• Readers• Readers of the NSEC report (abstracts)• Readers of Nanoscape • Other students in the program

• You are a member of three of the above audiences• Writing group member• Peer reviewer• Target reader of Nanoscape

Preparing to write the first draft

• Thinking about timing• Aug. 1 Images (final) and manuscript (for review)• Aug. 15 Symposium• Aug. 17 Final manuscript submitted

• Understanding the conventions• Nanoscape specifications are spelled out in the handouts• Other journals may have other specifications

• Breaking the problems down into tasks• Write what you know now• Create opportunities for getting your early writing reviewed• Create boxes for what you don’t know• Plan for when you will know it

Understanding Nanoscape specs

• Scope• Substance: what is in the document• Appearance: how the manuscript looks• Process: how the manuscript is to be submitted

• Purpose• Streamline journal preparation• Prevent questions about sources, esp. of images

• References• Numbered system• References listed in the order cited• Derived from ACS style guide

Nanoscape document sections

• Introduction• “Include a clear statement of the problem and why it is important or

interesting. Include the central problem/question/hypothesis to be addressed in the report.”

• Background• “Provide a review of literature. What research set the precedent for

your investigation?”

• Approach• “Describe your approach to the problem … Where did you begin

researching and why? What are the advantages and powers of the techniques you used or the design you proposed? What are the disadvantages or controversies involved, if any?”

Using and citing sources

• All ideas that do not come from your own research must be linked to a source

• Source material takes the form of a quotation, paraphrase, or summary• Quotation: the exact words of the original

• Paraphrase: the original idea restated in your own words

• Must change the original’s structure, not just its vocabulary

• Summary: only the main point of the original, in your own words

• Again, cannot use the wording or structure of the original

• In the sciences, terse summaries of multiple sources are common

Example: explaining how a piece of apparatus works

• From Nanoscape article• “AFM [Atomic Force Microscopy] provides topological information about a sample with

nanometer-order resolution. This is accomplished by scanning a tip across a sample and using a laser to detect deflections in the tip position due to topological features.3” (Nocedal 2006)

• Source cited is from the Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure

• “This microscope, an offspring of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) (9), provides detailed topographic maps of sample surfaces. AFM maps surfaces by raster scanning a fine tip gently over the surface, resulting in a three-dimensional profile of the surface that can reach atomic resolution on hard fiat surfaces (6, 80, 107).” (Hansma and Hoh 1994)

• “The heart of the microscope is the tip, which raster-scans across the sample and is positioned at the end of a cantilever. As the tip encounters elevation changes on the surface, the cantilever deflects, An optical lever is typically used to detect and amplify this deflection (2, 77), i.e. a laser reflects off the cantilever onto a segmented photo diode that detects the changes in cantilever deflection as changes in the ratio of laser light in the photo diode segments.” (Hansma and Hoh 1994)

• Note that the cited source itself cites 6 sources to explain how the microscope works

Example: summarizing historical developments

• From Nanoscape article• “A significant improvement on organic electroluminescent devices

was made in the 1970s by the use of thin organic films prepared by vacuum vapor deposition or the Langmuir-Blodgett technique instead of single crystals.11–13” (Wei 2006)

• Single sentence abstracted from three different sources• Vityuk, N. V.; Mikho, V. V. Sov. Phys. Semicond. 1973, 6, 1479.• Vincent, P. S.; Barlow, W. A.; Hann, R. A.; Roberts, G. G. Thin

Solid Films 1982, 94, 476.• Roberts, G. G.; McGinnity, M.; Vincent, P. S.; Barlow, W. A. Solid

State Commun. 1979, 32, 683.

• Note how editors have further condensed references

Example: putting current results in perspective

• From Nanoscape article• “Although the application of a bridge circuit has been

reported elsewhere to serve similar purposes,29 this was the first time the technique was used on operational OLEDs.” (Wei 2006)

• Note that supervising faculty member is listed author of cited source• Pingree, L. S. C.; Martin, E. F.; Shull, K. R.; Hersam, M. C.

IEEE Trans. Nano. 2005, 4, 255.

Where to go for more information

• ACS Style Guide• SCIENCE ENGINEERING Reference area, non-circulating

Call number: 808.06654 A187 2006

• ACS website, Reference style guidelines• http://pubs.acs.org/books/references.shtml

• UC Berkeley library, Quick guide• http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/CHEM/acsstyle.html

• CORE website, ACS guidelines• http://iws.ohiolink.edu/chemistry/info/acs.html

• Purdue OWL: Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/563/

Framing the problem

Write out the following three steps:

“I am studying ____________________

because I want to understand what/why/how

________________________________

in order to help my reader understand

________________________________”

From Booth, Colomb, and Williams, The Craft of Research

Reviewing the literature

• Quickly rank the importance to your project of the sources covered in your review• Example: tag each as “very important,” “somewhat important,” or

“not very important”

• Select the sources you have identified as most important• For this exercise, select no more than six

• For each important source, write a short description of its function in your project• “Introduce previous work done by this lab”• “Provide supporting evidence for our hypothesis”• “Illustrate alternative approach we rejected”

Questions to help plan the draft

• What is the current status of the project?• Gathering useful data—we’re on track• Hit some snags—goal still reachable• “Boy, when things go wrong…”

• What outcome do you anticipate?• Hypothesis validated• Hypothesis changed

• How will the results be visualized?• Data graphics• Models• Other

• Where will the figures come from?• Software• Hardware• Imaging opportunities

• What do you need to do next to move the project forward?• List three things

Small group discussion

• Framing the problem• Have each person read their three-step breakdown out loud• Ask the speaker questions about their third step

• What are they trying to make you understand?• What would help you better understand it?

• Reviewing the literature• Have each person give two examples of important sources and

their function• Ask them to describe what is in each of their examples that they will

need to explain to a reader of their paper

• Planning the draft• Have each person list the next three tasks they need to accomplish• Compare notes: where are your best visualizations going to come

from?

Looking ahead to workshop 3

• Revising and editing: July 31• Images and first full draft due Aug. 1

• Topics covered• Using images effectively• Revising the draft in response to feedback• Completing the peer review process• Writing an effective abstract