Scientific and Technical Communication: Theory, Practice and Policy

Introduction

Efforts to standardize the English language inevitably fail: as countless linguists, poets and technical writers have observed, the English language is like something alive -- responding to changes in the culture around it, evolving, slipping away at the moment we think we have put it under glass. What was in the 1950s ungrammatical in 1970 becomes colloquial in 1990 becomes standard usage. This does not mean that a good writer -- or a good technical communicator -- writes and speaks colloquially or sloppily; neither does it mean that she may regard grammar as irrelevant. On the contrary, if anything the situation means more work for the technical communicator. She should understand all complexities of usage, and be able to manipulate them according to subject, occasion, and audience. She should know what is colloquial but improper, know what for one audience is direct is to another abrupt, and so on.

The technical communicator needs to distinguish not merely between colloquial and proper usage -- but among kinds of proper usage. Most grammarians, for instance, hold that the period appears inside quotation marks -- even if only the last word in the sentence is quoted: Gagarin said the valve would not become "unstuck." But the American Chemical Society -- which has a respected and literate membership -- recommends that a mark of punctuation should lie within the quotation marks only if is part of the quotation; otherwise, it should appear outside them: Gagarin said the valve would not become "unstuck". You need to pay attention to such variations in style, and adapt your work to accommodate them.

It is still possible to offer general guidelines. This handbook is designed as a quick reference -- it is divided into punctuation, common grammatical and stylistic problems, and non-sexist language.

Punctuation

Apostrophe

1) An apostrophe in contractions indicates the omission of one or more letters. Formal writing avoids contractions, and technical writing is often -- although by no means always -- formal.

Don't fill the tank above the "FULL" line.

2) An apostrophe followed by an s indicates possession.

Sony's share of the telecommunications market attracted the attention of competitors.

3) An apostrophe used alone shows possession involving a subject represented by a plural noun ending is s.

Davis' plan seemed workable.

Colon

1) The colon appears after an assertion that is followed by an explanation, example and/or quotation. In other words, a colon tells the reader "What follows will clarify this point."

A microchip is extremely small: in fact, one can fit easily through the eye of a needle.

Many non-western cultures prefer communal communication over private space: in Japan, for instance, even company presidents often share working space with others.

My supervisor wanted to hurry the work: "Get it done yesterday" he said.

2) The colon separates hours from minutes: "11:30."

3) The colon appears after the salutation in a business letter. (In a personal letter, a comma appears after the salutation.)

Dear Mr. Thomason:

Comma

1) A comma is used to separate parts of a series -- words, phrases or clauses.

Most fire extinguishers are designed to cool, smother and "starve" flames.

2) A comma is used to set off conjunctive adverbs like however, therefore, and accordingly.

However, a fire extinguisher can be effective by performing only one of these actions.

3) A comma separates two or more adjectives which modify the same noun.

The newer design has a long-lasting, high-pressure spray.

4) A comma sets off elements of a sentence (a word, a phrase or a clause) not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

The student answered all the questions which dealt with aerospace technologies.

The student answered all the questions, which dealt with aerospace technologies.

The phrase "which dealt with aerospace technologies" in the first sentence describes only the questions the student answered; the sentence implies that the student may or may not have answered questions in other areas. The meaning of the same phrase in the second sentence is greatly changed by the comma which precedes it. It suggests that all the questions the student was asked dealt with aerospace technologies. The phrase is not essential to the meaning of the sentence: the sentence would be as true without it.

Dash

1) A dash emphasizes a word or phrase which may be an example or a digression. It is useful to consider the dash as one of three types of punctuation capable of setting off a word or phrase: the parentheses de-emphasizes the word or phrase and commas present it as no more or less important than the words around it.

A strict definition of life--as any biologist will tell you--has eluded scientists and philosophers both.

2) A dash sets off a list of examples.

The project involved a number of fields--biochemistry, neuroscience and physics, for instance.

Ellipsis

Ellipsis indicate an that part of a quotation has been omitted. Be certain that the omission does not change the sense of the excerpt. If the part of the passage following the ellipsis begins mid-sentence, capitalize the first word and place it in brackets.

Bronowski asserts: "I have seen in my lifetime an abyss open in the human mind: a gulf between the endeavour to be man, and the relish in being brute . . . (W)e have ordered them to love their neighbor and to turn the other cheek, in a society which has constantly compelled them to shoulder their neighbor aside and to turn their backs."

Four ellipses alone on a line Indicate that an omitted portion of the text is a paragraph or more.

Hyphen

1) A hyphen indicates a break in a word placed at the end of a line of text, and shows that the word continues to the next line. Words should be broken only between syllables.

2) A hyphen is used in fractions and ratios that work as adjectives.

Three-fourths of the project is completed.

3) A hyphen is used in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.

4) A hyphen is used in compound adjectives.

three-dimensional graph
kerosene-powered engine
20-foot ladder

Italics, underlining and boldface

Italics, underlining and boldface are various means to highlight a part of a text. Underlining rarely appears in print -- it is used (was used) mostly by typists because other than capitalization, it was the only means available to highlight a text. Traditionally, underlined text in a manuscript became italics in print. Word processors have allowed writers to leapfrog that step and italicize the word in the manuscript. Italics usually indicates a greater degree of emphasis, or a word or phrase that might be unfamiliar to a reader.

The point at which a planet or satellite passes nearest the sun in its orbit around the sun is called perihelion.

Boldface usually is reserved for section headings.

Period

1) The period signals the end of an independent clause -- that is, a phrase which expresses a complete thought, and which has a predicate (action) and a subject (giver or receiver of the action). It is misused when it helps compose a sentence fragment: "Three capacitors were built. Not two."

2) The period may be used after abbreviations. Abbreviations for many words are conventional, even standardized, and you may find them in most dictionaries; if you are introducing an abbreviation for the first time, introduce it as you would introduce an acronym: in parenthesis after the first use of the word, and freestanding thereafter.

Question mark

A question mark is used at the end of a question.

Quotation marks

1) Quotation marks indicate the title of an essay, short story or poem:

In 1914 H.G. Wells described an atomic weapon in a story called "The World Set Free."

2) Quotation marks indicate and enclose direct quotations.

The manufacturer said "The thermocouples are field-tested."

3) Single quotation marks (sometimes called "inverted commas") indicate a quotation within a quotation.

He also said "They are, as the saying goes, 'in the mail.'"

4) Quotation marks enclose the title of an article, or a book chapter -- any shorter part of a longer work.

To appreciate the use of rhetoric in a scientific article, examine Watson and Crick's "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid."

Closing quotation marks appear after commas and periods, before colons, semi-colons and question marks.

The workers called the production schedule "ambitious"; they also called it "fair."

Why was the Gemini 3 spacecraft was nicknamed "Molly Brown"?

Some writers use quotation marks to suggest that the meaning of the enclosed word is ambiguous. Some writers use quotation marks to highlight a word which represents approximate meaning -- saying in effect "You know and I know the word I'm trying to find -- but I can't think of it at the moment, so you'll accept this as a substitute." Such writing cheats the reader; worse, it may backfire: in fact the reader may well not know the word the writer intends.

Semi-colon

1) A semi-colon separates two independent clauses. A period between clauses implies that the content of each is independent of the content of the other. A semi-colon implies a relation between the content of each clause, and in many cases implies (like a colon) that the second clause clarifies or expands upon the content of the first.

Francis Bacon died as an indirect result of an experiment in food preservation; he perished from a severe cold caught while filling a chicken carcass with snow.

2) A semi-colon separates phrases in a list when those phrases contain commas.

In the "miracle year" of 1665 Isaac Newton presented the scientific community and the world with three discoveries -- calculus, the basis of most contemporary mathematics; the fundamentals of optics; and laws of universal gravitation and mechanics.

Parentheses and brackets

1) Parentheses indicate that the words within them are less important that the surrounding text; the reader could overlook those words, and still receive the information the author considers essential.

The senior biophysicist (who happens to be a best-selling novelist) will be coordinating this series of experiments.

2) Brackets enclose author's comments within a quotation. Usually the intent is to clarify or expand upon the quote.

The article continued: "Evidence that global warming is caused by human activity is derived from several sources [among them, samples of earlier atmosphere preserved in polar ice]."

Numbers

Standards regarding use of numbers vary greatly; although the following guidelines are common, you should check them against your professional journal and/or the needs of your instructor or supervisor.

Use words for numbers one through nine.

The first stage of the Saturn Five has five F1 engines; the Lunar Module has 16 maneuvering thrusters.

Use words for a number which begins a sentence.

Sixty-six years elapsed between the Wright brothers' first powered flight and the first Moon landing.

Use words and numerals for back-to-back numbers.

Four 5-meter supports.

Capitalization

Capitalize proper nouns, titles, places, languages, religions, organizations and archeological and cultural periods.

Freeman Dyson
Director of Planning
Kamchatka Peninsula
Gaelic
Buddhism
Society of Women Engineers
Neolithic; Renaissance

Common grammatical and stylistic problems

Comma splice

A comma splice is simply a comma used between two independent clauses, as in "The machine shop has acquired five lathes, each has a life expectancy of eight years." Only two forms of punctuation are correct between two independent clauses: a period and a semi-colon. Accordingly, one discovers a comma splice by the same means one tests the viability of a semi-colon: can I use a period? If I can, then I can also use a semi-colon, but I cannot use a period.

The machine shop has acquired five lathes; each has a life expectancy of eight years.

Dangling participle

"Looking at last year's sales figures, it seems we need to reconsider our options." The problem is more evident, perhaps, when the sentence is read aloud. No one is obviously taking responsibility for the action -- or, in the case of this sentence, the observation. When a listener finishes the participle -- "Looking at last year's sales figures" -- she expects, and indeed deserves, to be told who was looking. In other words, she expects that the next word will be a personal pronoun or the name of an individual or group. A dangling participle can be corrected by supplying the noun or pronoun that was implied.

Looking at last year's sales figures, I ...

Looking at last year's sales figures, the accounting division ...

Faulty Parallelism

Parallelism is the use of similar phrasing to reflect similar processes, ideas or situations. It aids comprehension by giving the reader a predictable pattern.

She surveyed eight miles of beach to identify sea turtle nests and false crawls, inspected up to 270 nests a day for evidence of disturbance by animals and/or emergence of hatchlings, relocated nests from unsafe areas, and inventoried eggs prior to and after hatching.

Parallelism is "faulty" when it breaks parallel form.

Misplaced modifier

Teachers of grammar are fond of the sentence "She told me that she loved me" because the word "only" (or, for that matter, a great many adverbs) may be placed eight different places within the sentence -- yielding at least seven different meanings, and thus demonstrating the astonishing precision of which the English language is capable. "She only told me that she loved me" means that she did not show me. "She told me that she only loved me" means she may not have liked me.

Passive voice

Active voice makes the performer of the verb the subject of the sentence: "Einstein postulated a relation between mass and energy." Einstein is the subject and the performer of the verb "postulated." A sentence using passive voice makes the receiver of the verb's action the subject of the sentence: "A relation was postulated." Passive voice presents a danger in that it allows the writer a certain vagueness and, not incidentally, a shirking of responsibility, as in "I cannot tell a lie; a cherry tree was chopped down." Consequently, many writing teachers advise against the use of passive voice whenever possible. In scientific and technical communication, though, the situation is slightly different. In many cases you may want to use passive voice precisely because the receiver of the action is the subject: a laboratory report, for instance, might contain a sentence like "Two liters of the aqueous solution were produced." No one here is shirking responsibility: the reader can learn who performed the experiment by looking to the head of the report. Further, the use of passive voice here implies that the identity of the experimenter does not matter: the experiment may be performed by anyone, and produce the same results.

Vague referent

A definite noun must refer clearly to a noun which precedes it. In the statement "Unscrew the cap from the distributor and examine it," the word "it" has no clear referent: "it" may refer to "distributor" or to "cap." The writer's meaning is clearer in

Unscrew the cap from the distributor. Examine the cap.

Confusion in much writing may be traced to vague referents for the words "which" and "that." Consider the sentence "He decided to examine the cell wall, which took three hours." Grammatically, the word "which" refers to "wall" -- a connection the author did not intend (The wall did not "take three hours.") The sentence might be rewritten:

He decided to examine the cell wall; the process took three hours.

Vagueness

Vagueness is particularly problematic in technical communication -- which requires, if anything, greater precision than other communication. Sometimes a vague phrase will become so common that users forget that it is vague: "positive effect" is one.

The researchers' background studies had a positive effect on the development of the polymer.

What the writer meant to say -- and should have said -- was:

The researchers' background studies speeded the development of the polymer.

Although vagueness is a problem separate from inflated language, one often causes the other. You may prevent either problem by proofreading, and asking of a suspicious-sounding phrase -- "Would I say that in conversation?" If you would not say it (and no one is likely to say "I have a negative opinion of the procedure"), you probably do not want to write it.

Wrong word

Finding the right word for a given use can be one of the most difficult parts of the technical writer's job -- and one of the most important. It is a good idea to keep a dictionary at hand if only to remind oneself of the word one knows but cannot recall at the moment. Most thesauruses are useful in that they offer a range of synonyms; the problem is that usually only one is appropriate, and the thesaurus does not differentiate between words.

Non-Sexist Language

English has no common sex third person pronoun: we must use "he" or "she" even in situations which make gender irrelevant. Traditionally, writers used "he." But the practice presents many problems -- from sheer inaccuracy (the group might contain female members) to rudeness (reflecting or seeming to reflect an assumption that females do not belong in the group). There are several ways to make your language more equitable.

1) Make the pronoun plural, and change the rest of the sentence accordingly.

example: Each technician was free when his particular task was completed.

alternative: The technicians were free when their tasks were completed.

2) Replace the masculine pronoun with "one," "you" or "he or she" or "she or he."

example: If any member of the audience has further questions, he may meet with me in the lobby.

alternative: If any member of the audience has further questions, he or she may meet with me in the lobby.

3) When possible, omit the possessive pronoun.

example: The author of a given document should be concerned with his tone.

alternative: The author of a given document should be concerned with tone.

The word man in its original sense meant human and male, but many readers inferred it to represent male exclusively: indeed it is difficult not to. You can appreciate the problem by imaginatively reversing the situation: "In all the history of woman ..." English provides several non-sexist choices.

example: mankind

alternative: humankind, humans, people

example: man-made

alternative: artificial, synthetic, manufactured

Avoid the use of man as a suffix in occupational terms.

example: chairman

alternative: chair, head, presiding officer

example: fireman

alternative: firefighter

Grammar Handbook

David M. Toomey with James H. Collier

Book Contents

Grammar Handbook