Technical Writing A Practical Guide for Engineers, Scientists, and Nontechnical Professionals Second Edition What Every Engineer Should Know Series Editor Phillip A. Laplante Pennsylvania State University What Every Engineer Should Know about What Every Engineer Should Know about Product Liability Concurrent Engineering James F. Thorpe and William H. Middendorf Thomas A. Salomone What Every Engineer Should Know What Every Engineer Should Know about Inventing about Ethics William H. Middendorf Kenneth K. Humphreys What Every Engineer Should Know about Micro What Every Engineer Should Know about computer Systems Design and Debugging Software Engineering Bill Wray and Bill Crawford Phillip A. Laplante What Every Engineer Should Know What Every Engineer Should Know about about Robots Developing Real-Time Embedded Products Maurice I. Zeldman Kim R. 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Laplante CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2019 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed on acid-free paper International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-62810-6 (Paperback) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-60696-8 (Hardback) Tis book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable eforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. Te authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. 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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Names: Laplante, Phillip A., author. Title: Technical writing : a practical guide for engineers, scientists, and nontechnical professionals / Phillip A. Laplante. Description: Second edition. | Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, 2018. | Series: What every engineer should know | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifers: LCCN 2018008664| ISBN 9781138628106 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138606968 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780429467394 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Technical writing. Classifcation: LCC T11 .L264 2018 | DDC 808.06/65--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008664 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com This book is dedicated to Dr. Divyendu Sinha (1961–2010), a world- class scientist, writer, collaborator, and, most importantly, friend. http://taylorandfrancis.com Contents What Every Engineer Should Know: Series Statement ...................................xv Preface .................................................................................................................. xvii Acknowledgments .............................................................................................. xix 1. The Nature of Technical Writing ................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................1 1.2 Who Writes Technical Documentation? ............................................2 1.3 Taxonomy of Technical Writing ..........................................................3 1.4 Technical Reporting ..............................................................................4 1.5 Business Communications...................................................................5 1.6 Scientifc Writing ...................................................................................6 1.6.1 Books..........................................................................................7 1.6.2 Journals .....................................................................................7 1.6.3 Magazines .................................................................................8 1.6.4 Conference Proceedings .........................................................8 1.6.5 Newsletters ...............................................................................9 1.6.6 Websites and Blogs ..................................................................9 1.6.7 Vignette: Nontechnical Writing .............................................9 1.6.8 Vignette: Technical Writing Sample ......................................9 1.7 Exercises ............................................................................................... 10 Endnotes .......................................................................................................... 11 References ....................................................................................................... 11 2. Technical Writing Basics ............................................................................. 13 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 13 2.2 Structuring Your Writing ................................................................... 13 2.3 Positioning Your Writing ................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Know Your Audience ............................................................ 16 2.3.2 Are You Talking to Me? ........................................................ 16 2.4 Choosing the Right Words ................................................................ 17 2.4.1 Conciseness ............................................................................. 17 2.4.2 Precision and Hedging.......................................................... 20 2.4.3 Universal and Existential Quantifcation ...........................23 2.4.4 Negatives ................................................................................. 24 2.4.5 Vignette: Brake Retarder Prohibitions ................................25 2.5 Avoiding Traps ....................................................................................25 2.5.1 Clichés ..................................................................................... 26 2.5.2 Anthropomorphic Writing ................................................... 26 2.5.3 Malapropisms ......................................................................... 27 2.5.4 Erroneous Heterographs ....................................................... 27 vii viii Contents 2.5.5 Opinion versus Fact ............................................................... 29 2.5.6 Acronyms, Domain-Specifc Terms, and Jargon ............... 29 2.5.7 The Laziness of “Very” .............................................................. 31 2.5.8 Other Pitfalls ........................................................................... 32 2.6 Making Your Technical Writing More Interesting .........................33 2.6.1 Humor .....................................................................................33 2.6.2 Vignette: The Joy of Spam ....................................................34 2.6.3 Allegory ...................................................................................35 2.7 The 5 Cs of Technical Writing ...........................................................36 2.7.1 Qualities of Good Writing ....................................................36 2.7.2 Correctness ............................................................................. 37 2.7.3 Clarity ......................................................................................38 2.7.4 Completeness ..........................................................................38 2.7.5 Consistency ............................................................................. 39 2.7.6 Changeability ......................................................................... 39 2.7.7 An Example ............................................................................ 39 2.8 Referencing .......................................................................................... 41 2.8.1 Choose the Right References ................................................ 41 2.8.2 Web References ......................................................................42 2.8.3 Reference Styles ......................................................................42 2.9 Exercises ...............................................................................................43 Endnotes ..........................................................................................................44 References .......................................................................................................45 3. The Writing Process ..................................................................................... 47 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 47 3.2 The Traditional Writing Process .......................................................48 3.2.1 Brainstorming......................................................................... 49 3.2.2 Drafting ...................................................................................50 3.2.3 Revising ...................................................................................50 3.2.4 Editing ..................................................................................... 51 3.2.5 Publishing ...............................................................................54 3.2.6 Vignette: A Paper on Software Control on Oil Rigs .........54 3.3 Environment ........................................................................................58 3.4 Dealing with Writer’s Block ...............................................................58 3.5 Meeting Deadlines .............................................................................. 59 3.6 Writing Tools ....................................................................................... 59 3.7 Permissions and Plagiarism ..............................................................60 3.7.1 Permissions .............................................................................60 3.7.2 Plagiarism ............................................................................... 62 3.7.3 Self-Plagiarism .......................................................................63 3.7.4 Detection Tools .......................................................................64 3.7.5 Paper Generators ....................................................................64 3.7.6 Vignette: Determining Authorship—The Federalist Papers ....................................................................... 67 Contents ix 3.8 Making Your Writing Understandable to All .................................68 3.8.1 Hofstede’s Metrics ..................................................................68 3.8.2 British versus American English ......................................... 70 3.9 Exercises ............................................................................................... 71 Endnotes ..........................................................................................................72 References .......................................................................................................72 4. Scientifc Writing ..........................................................................................75 4.1 Introduction .........................................................................................75 4.2 Technical Reports ................................................................................ 76 4.3 Tutorials ................................................................................................77 4.4 Opinion ................................................................................................. 79 4.5 Research Papers ................................................................................... 81 4.5.1 Survey of the Field ................................................................. 81 4.5.2 Based on Survey Data ...........................................................84 4.5.3 Based on Experimentation ................................................... 87 4.6 Reviews of Books, Papers, and Reports ........................................... 91 4.6.1 Reviews ................................................................................... 91 4.6.2 Journal and Conference Paper Reviews ............................. 91 4.6.3 Book Reviews ......................................................................... 93 4.6.4 Blind Reviews ......................................................................... 95 4.6.5 Vignette: Scientifc Proposal................................................. 97 4.7 Exercises ............................................................................................... 97 Endnotes .......................................................................................................... 98 References .......................................................................................................99 5. Business Communications ....................................................................... 101 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 101 5.2 Résumés .............................................................................................. 101 5.2.1 Name ...................................................................................... 102 5.2.2 Contact Information ............................................................ 103 5.2.3 Summary ............................................................................... 103 5.2.4 Statement of Objective ......................................................... 104 5.2.5 Experience ............................................................................. 104 5.2.6 Education and Training ...................................................... 104 5.2.7 Licenses and Certifcations ................................................. 105 5.2.8 Consulting. ............................................................................ 105 5.2.9 Hardware and Software ..................................................... 105 5.2.10 Foreign Languages .............................................................. 106 5.2.11 Security Clearance ............................................................... 107 5.2.12 Military and Other Service ................................................. 107 5.2.13 Awards and Honors ............................................................ 107 5.2.14 Publications ........................................................................... 108 5.2.15 Affliations ............................................................................ 108 5.2.16 Interests ................................................................................. 108