Guidlines for writing a scientific text 160410.docx

1、Guidlines for writing a scientific text 160410Guideline for writing a scientific text (CS, April, 2010)Use scientific papers as an example and structure your textRead papers and you get an idea what are common standards in writing a scientific text. A scientific text is generally structured as follo

2、ws: 1. Abstract, 2. Introduction, 3. Materials and Methods, 4. Results, 5. Discussion, 6.References (Cited literature). Be consistentYou have to follow certain rules. For example, the spelling of a given word should be everywhere the same. If you decide to use an abbreviation, use it throughout the

3、whole text and provide the full name when you mention it first! If you decide to write the titles in a different size or style, use this style throughout the text. If you correct or change a word, be consistent for your whole thesis. Use the “Find and replace” function of the Word program!Use Englis

4、h spell and grammar checkSelect a “Western Style” (e.g.”Times New Roman”) in the Word program. Set spell check in order wrong-spelled words are underlined “red” after typing (and grammar errors “green”). Therefore, it is easy to find out that “numble” should be replaced by “number”, that “resistent”

5、 should be replaced by “resistant”, and “was shacken” must be written as “was shaken”. Note that there are spelling mistakes that cannot be recognized such as “form” instead of “form” (both are English words). Most English words can be also checked by other correction programs (names and scientific

6、expressions not, however). For scientific expressions, you may use “Google Scholar” and compare the number of “hits” of a given scientific expression. Check spaces. Example: “Wuhan, China.” (not “Wuhan , China .”), 8 M urea (not 8M urea), Fig. 1 (not Fig.1) etc. Number the pages of your textGo to “V

7、iew” and select “Header and Footer”. Insert “Page number”.Write full sentences and avoid “lab slang”Dont copy guidelines of kits, laboratory protocols (often written in imperative mode) etc.Instead make sentences with a verb. Except titles (subtitles, footnotes in tables and specific explanations an

8、d abbreviations in figure legends (e.g. lanes, strains, tissue in SDS-PAGE gels ), all phrases of a scientific text must have a verb. Each sentence has a point in the end, followed by a space. Example:5.6. Media and strainsYPD medium (see Table 1) was used in all experiments with yeast strains. Wher

9、e indicated, cells wereNote: 5.6 ”Media and strains” without verb as is the title and “was used “ is the verb of the sentence in the text. If you describe the composition of a medium, please use a table (see below) that is clearly separated from the text. The composition of a very simple medium can

10、also be indicated in brackets. Example:YPD medium (20 g L-1 Difco peptone, 10 g L-1 yeast extract, 20 g L-1 glucose) was used in all experiments with yeast strains. Dont write “lab slang” like this: Prepare YPD medium (1 L): 20 g Difco peptone, 10 g YE, 20 g glucose, then add dd water to 1 L (pH sho

11、uld be ok). Then autoclave, add yeast colony (sterile!) to the YPD.Style and special charactersDont use any Chinese style if you write an English text. Select styles such as Times New Roman or Arial (size: 12 points) and use this style throughout the text (Legend to figures can be in another style).

12、 For selection of special characters (e.g. Greek letters), dont change the text style. Instead, go to “Insert” and select “Symbol”. Select the corresponding character and copy it to your text. If you capitalize the titles, do it correctly. See for example: http:/www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tip

13、mar98.htmScientific namesWhen first mentioned in the abstract in the text and in Materials and Methods in the chapter where you describe the source of the “biological material”, please provide full species names, that consist of the name of the genus (capital) and the species name, both in italics:

14、For example:Sinorhizobium meliloti strain Rm41Escherichia coli strain DH5Albizia lebbeck (L.)Rhizobium sp. strain NGR234 (note: “sp.” is not written in “italics”)Later in the text, you should continue with abbreviations such as: “S. meliloti strain Rm41” or “strain Rm41”, or just “Rm41”. Short versi

15、ons of species names (abbreviation of the genus: first letter in capital, point, space!) are as follows: “A. lebbeck” or E. coli (not E.coli). Please be exact and consistent! Sources of chemicalsCompany (city, country), e.g. Boster (Wuhan, China).Later in the text: Only the companys name without fur

16、ther indications. For example: “was obtained from Boster”.Names of genes and proteinsTo distinguish genes from proteins, all gene names must be in italics. The first letter of a protein must be capitalized. For example:the nodD1 genethe NodD1 protein.Please be consistent!NumbersAvoid numbers in the

17、beginning of a sentence or write numbers as letters. Example: Two days later, (not: 2 days later)Use a hyphen if numbers are part of an adjective or noun. Example:40-days old plants (not: 40 days old plants); 1-ml syringe (not: 1 ml syringe).But: 50 ml of TY medium (not: 50-ml of TY medium).Plasmid

18、and strain namesAll plasmid names start with “p”. Gene names in plasmids are usually in “italics”. For deletions, use “” and for omega interposons, use “. Plasmid and strain names should be as short as possible. Example: pBSnopP, pBSnopP2-50, pJQnopP, Rhizobium sp. NGRnopT, Rhizobium sp. NGRnopTPlea

19、se be consistent!Buffers and solutionsExamples: 10 g NaCl, (not NaCl, 10g)25 mM NaCl (not 25mM NaCl)1.5% (w/v) agar (not 1.5% agar)Always indicate pH (not “PH”) and how they were prepared. For example:100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.1).6 mM K2HPO4 adjusted with KOH to pH 7.Centrifugations“If possible, convert

20、 rpm to g (italics!). Otherwise, you have to indicate the rotor and the company (city, country). Indicate time and temperature (if not room temperature). For example: “The sample was centrifuged (13 000g at 4oC for 20 min) and the supernatant Dont use the “lab slang” word “spin down”! SolutionsIndic

21、ate concentrations in M, mM, M, nM. Use the Greek “”, not “u” For example:150 M NaCl (not 150M NaCl )Alternatively express as “weight per volume”. For example: 50 g L-12 mg mL-1(Dont write things like this: 2mgL-1, 2 mg/L)If you use %, always provide complete information. For example:50 % (v/v) glyc

22、erol 1.5 % (w/v) water agarChemicals and abbreviationsProvide full names. If you use abbreviations, write the full name once (where the word appears in the text for the first time except for units such as M, mm, kDa, bp etc). Provide a list of abbreviations as appendix (ordered alphabetically). For

23、example: “1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC)” “Nod factors (NFs). Flavonoids from the host plant, in conjugation with the rhizobial activator protein NodD, induce rhizobial nodulation genes (nod, nol, and noe) that are required for NF synthesis.”Abbreviations: ACC, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-car

24、boxylic acid; NFs, Nod factors. Mention all abbreviations in an APPENDIX, except those that are only used in a specific Figure or Table. In this case, write abbreviations in the end of the Figure legend or as footnote of a Table. For example:Data indicate means SE. Abbreviations: L1, transgenic line

25、 1; L2, transgenic line 2; Wt, M. truncatula (cv. Jester) wild-type plants.Words derived from Latin or Greek There are many words that derive from Latin or Greek: For example:in vitroin vivoin silicoin situsensu strictospecies (sp.)mitochondriumFor further examples, see http:/www.ee.unsw.edu.au/timm

26、/GreekLatin.htmlIf you use Latin words, you should check carefully their plural forms: For example:One pilus, several piliOne nucleus, two nucleiOne antiserum, several antiseraOne medium, two mediaOne bacterium, two bacteriaOne flagellum, two flagellaOne mitochondrium, two mitochondriaOne mass spect

27、rum, two mass spectraOne N-terminus, the N-termini of all proteinsOne appendix, several appendicesOne bacterium, several bacteriaUse “i.e.” to mean “that is” or “in other words”. The abbreviation “i.e.” stands for “id est”, which means “it is” or “that is”. Use “e.g.” when you want to mean ”for exam

28、ple” or “such as”. The abbreviation “e.g.” stands for ”exemplum gratia” (or example given). Use “et al.” when you want to mean “and others”. This is an abbreviation for “et alii/alia”, which literally means “and others”. This abbreviation is used most often when you cite literature. The abbreviation

29、 “etc.” is not often used in formal writing. “etc.” stands for ”et cetera”, literally “and the rest”; figuratively “and so on”. Lazy writers often make the mistake of using “etc.” when they cant think of a third item to put in a series. Always use a comma after “i.e.” and “e.g.” when used in a sente

30、nce. You can italicize “i.e.”, “e.g.”, and “et al.”, but not “etc”. This rule may vary based on the chosen style. Be consistent!Origin of materialChemicals: Provide company (city, country) for all special chemicals (for very common salts and buffers not required). Biological material: Indicate sourc

31、e (literature reference), company (city, country), or person (name, institution, city, country). UnitsUse (if possible) SI units except generally accepted units, such as min (minute), h (hour), d (day), L (liter), etc. Use abbreviations consistently. Dont import units in another style. Write “degree

32、 Celsius” as follows o+C = oC!Be consistent (for example: L or l or liter)Note space between numbers and unit: Example 5 M NaCl (not 5M) 2 h later (not 2h) Citations in the textInclude the authors names(s) and the year of publication in parentheses (in general in the end of the sentence):If more than 2 authors: (Wu et al., 2007).If two authors: (Li and Zhang, 2007).If one author: (Wang, 2007). Alternatively, you mi