Guides: CH 1010: Chemical Properties, Bonding, and Forces: Technical Writing

General Tips for Technical Writing

Always keep your audience and purpose in mind.
Be concise and clear.
Avoid personal pronouns ("I," "we," etc.) and avoid a conversational tone.
Use the American Chemical Society style guide linked below to get a better sense of the type of writing that is acceptable for scholarly journal articles in the field of chemistry.
Browse some of the popular chemistry journals and read through some of the articles within. Pay attention to writing style and organization.
Make an appointment with the WPI Writing Center for additional help.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide

The ACS Style Guide (2006 edition):

The ACS Style Guide by Lorrin R. Garson (Editor); Anne M. Coghill (Editor)
ISBN: 9780841239999
Publication Date: 2006-07-20
Chapters 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 focus particularly on technical writing tips in Chemistry.

Other Technical Writing Guides

Writing is an important skill to clearly communicate your work in any field and chemistry is no exception. Here are a few links to resources to help you with writing about your research in the best possible way.

A Short Guide to Technical Writing (University of Utah)
This guide goes into a lot of depth on grammar and spelling and provides numerous examples related to chemistry and engineering.
Sentence Structure of Technical Writing (MIT)
This PowerPoint presentation shows how to write clear and concise sentences. It shows examples of sentences related to STEM fields and better ways to write and communicate the same content clearly and formally.
Preparing a Research Report (ACS)
This document from the American Chemical Society gives a general outline of sections in typical scientific reports. It also goes into detail about the standard mechanics of each individual section.
Scientific Writing Booklet (University of Arizona)
This guide goes into a lot of depth on different sections for a report with questions to consider addressing and how to address them. It also gives advice about presenting numbers, statistics, and figures.

Write Like a Chemist

Write Like a Chemist by James K. Jones; Marin Robinson; Fredricka Stoller; Molly Costanza-Robinson
Call Number: General Collection QD 9.15 W75 2008
ISBN: 9780195305074
Publication Date: 2008-08-18
This book can supplement the ACS Style Guide. It is a resource for help with writing in the chemistry field at the professional level, like journal articles, conference abstracts, research proposals, and scientific posters.

A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry

A Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry by Herbert Beall; John Trimbur
Call Number: Faculty Publications QD 9.15 B43 2001
ISBN: 0321078446
Publication Date: 2000-07-21
This book is a short guide to help students make the most of their chemistry courses and prepare them for future work in the chemistry field. It talks about how to write different kinds of documents related to chemistry and how to prepare presentations. One of the authors, the late Herbert Beall, was part of the WPI faculty.