Undergraduate Student Research Program

How to Write Technical and Scientific Reports by Heike Hering   How to Write Technical and Scientific Reports This textbook introduces all important and necessary knowledge to create written reports or oral presentations about STEM and engineering topics in a professional and efficient manner. By showing example structures and right/wrong comparisons you will get many practical hints on how to design your own report. The examples are mostly derived from works written by the authors and therefore they often deal with mechanical engineering topics. There are different sections about frequent mistakes in Technical and Scientific Reports, the use of word processors and tools for creating presentations, the design of figures and tables as well as the oral presentation of the Technical or Scientific Report, also as a short statement. In this 3rd edition all texts were revised and updated, the sections with references were updated,  the glossary and index were expanded and Springer Nature (SN) Flashcards were added to help you to remember the introduced knowledge and to create Technical and Scientific Reports  even more efficiently.  Test your knowledge with questions and answers about the book with Springer Nature Flashcards.      

ChatGPT in Scientific Research and Writing by Jie Han; Wei Qiu; Eric Lichtfouse Most scientists are constantly under pressure for reading essential literature, designing new experiments, writing successful proposals and papers, and meeting deadlines. However, imagine that your brain is connected to the entire human knowledge and can extract instantly essential information for discovery. Imagine that research tasks that took days to months can now be done within few seconds. This is not science fiction anymore since the onset of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. This book explains concisely and simply how to use ChatGPT for identifying new results, crafting titles, editing language, interpreting figures, creating visuals, and refining methods. ChatGPT even allows for brainstorming, designing experiments, writing proposals, responding to reviewers, and evaluating research papers. Written for researchers with no background in coding or prompt engineering, this book provides the skills necessary to navigate the changing landscape of scientific research. In particular, you will learn how to leverage ChatGPT's unique capabilities to generate ideas, streamline literature reviews, and craft compelling narratives. In short, this book empowers you to unlock the potential of ChatGPT, boosting productivity, and take your scientific research and writing to new heights.

The Communicating Scientist by Olle Bergman; Sarang Park; Joanna Maria Bagniewska Are you a researcher, science professional, or student looking to communicate more clearly and effectively in academia and beyond? The Communicating Scientist has got you covered! This essential guide consists of three easy-to-navigate sections: 1. Theoretical Framework: Plant your feet into a robust foundation that draws on areas from ancient rhetoric to modern psychology, while incorporating insights from marketing, social media, and journalism. This section equips you with the "why" behind effective communication. 2. Core Skills and Techniques: Build a central toolkit for communication activities of science and tech professionals, along with practical tips and suggestions. 3.  A Practical Recipe Book: Get step-by-step instructions and hands-on tips from experts for 24 specific communication scenarios, as diverse as writing a grant proposal, developing an elevator pitch, doing a media interview, or curating an online presence. This handbook isn't just another academic communication guide. The Communicating Scientist draws on the knowledge, experience, and tricks of the trade from professional communicators, while remaining strongly rooted in a scientific context. It will help you with scientific peer-to-peer communication, disseminating research to the general public, and collaborating with external partners. Written in a conversational and approachable style, The Communicating Scientist is accessible and appropriate for Communicating Scientists at all stages of their professional journey.  

Communicating with Data by Deborah Nolan; Sara Stoudt Communication is a critical yet often overlooked part of data science. Communicating with Data aims to help students and researchers write about their insights in a way that is both compelling and faithful to the data. General advice on science writing is also provided, including how to distill findings into a story and organize and revise the story, and how to write clearly, concisely, and precisely. This is an excellent resource for students who want to learn how to write about scientific findings, and for instructors who are teaching a science course in communication or a course with a writing component. Communicating with Data consists of five parts. Part I helps the novice learn to write by reading the work of others. Part II delves into the specifics of how to describe data at a level appropriate for publication, create informative and effective visualizations, and communicate an analysis pipeline through well-written, reproducible code. Part III demonstrates how to reduce a data analysis to a compelling story and organize and write the first draft of a technical paper. Part IV addresses revision; this includes advice on writing about statistical findings in a clear and accurate way, general writing advice, and strategies for proof reading and revising. Part V offers advice about communication strategies beyond the page, which include giving talks, building a professional network, and participating in online communities. This book also provides 22 portfolio prompts that extend the guidance and examples in the earlier parts of the book and help writers build their portfolio of data communication.

How to Successfully Publish a Manuscript by Islam Mohammad Shehata (Editor); Omar Viswanath (Editor) The goal of this book is to provide practical guidance for novice researchers; it offers a systematic guide to achieving publication success from experts in the field. Seasoned authors will find several tips and tricks to better organize the writing and publication process.   Chapters are designed to standalone in covering each critical step. The book will help you achieve: Validate your ideas, Create a compelling Title, Compose an interesting Introduction, Craft a competent Discussion, Master the Artwork, Simplify Referencing, Write a well-structured Abstract, Find an appropriate Journal, Submit like a professional author, Respond to reviewers comprehensively, Manage Funding challenges, Use AI tools like a pro, Build a great team, Report publishable cases, Conduct systematic review and meta-analysis, and Avoid ethical violations.   This indispensable resource offers universal advice for simplifying complex tasks, improve efficiency, and better communicating ones research.

Scientific Papers Made Easy by Stuart West; Lindsay Turnbull Writing scientific publications is a fundamental step in the research process. Furthermore, as science becomes more interdisciplinary and the number of journals continues to expand, individual papers increasingly need to stand out to be read and have any form of impact. It is widely assumed that students and early career scientists will simply acquire the necessary expertise. However, this could not be further from the truth - many early career scientists find writing both intimidating and overwhelming; writing is a skill that needs to be learnt and actively developed.This novel book's fundamental principle is simple - the reader must come first. The purpose of a scientific paper is to pass on knowledge, and so impactful writing must focus on attracting, holding, and illuminating readers. The authors demonstrate how just a few simple pointers can significantly improve both writing quality and impact. They tackle each component of a paper in turn, providing a simple framework that makes clear what needs to be included (and what doesn't!), and in what order. They also provide advice for writing up different types of science, from laboratory experiments to theoretical modelling. The focus throughout is on the need to use simple, jargon-free English, and to assume that the reader has little or no prior knowledge. In summary, the book is about writing better scientific papers that are more likely to be read and have impact.Scientific Papers Made Easy is targeted at a broad audience of students and professionals, across the biological, life, and human sciences. It uses simple biological and human examples that assume no prior knowledge and will resonate with any scientist.

Life Sciences Research and Scientific Writing by Benno ter Kuile Scientific writing is a trade that can and must be learned and not a form of art that is limited to the talented. The real constraint for writing a good scientific article is most of the time not the usage of the English language, but the conversion of outcomes of a set of experiments into a coherent and convincing scientific story. This book is designed to guide junior scientists in the Life Sciences writing their thesis and first manuscripts, along this uphill struggle. All aspects of building up and publishing a forceful scientific narrative are covered, from designing experiments to dealing with the reviewers' comments. This book takes you step by step through the process of writing a paper. It starts by discussing how to collect and organize data and make an outline. The actual writing starts with the Results section, as this is the heart of any research paper. The Discussion interprets your data in the framework of the existing literature and explains the novel insights you obtained. The Introduction is written to pose the questions that are answered in the Discussion and give the necessary background information. It is written after the Results and Discussion to make sure it is a perfect match. The M&M is the easiest to write. A good abstract is essential for attracting readers. How to write that is described in detail. The title is the last piece of the puzzle. The book contains many practical examples that explain the general principles of good writing. These examples are all from the Life Sciences and so are the anecdotes that illustrate the concepts, making the information directly applicable. All kinds of tips and suggestions are provided for improving readability and accessibility of your manuscript, thus making it easier acceptable. In addition, background information on the basics of science is supplied that helps to avoid common mistakes that cause rejection of manuscripts that report on otherwise good science.

Think, Do, and Communicate Environmental Science by Tara Ivanochko Many students find it daunting to move from studying environmental science, to designing and implementing their own research proposals. This book provides a practical introduction to help develop scientific thinking, aimed at undergraduate and new graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences. Students are guided through the steps of scientific thinking using published scientific literature and real environmental data. The book starts with advice on how to effectively read scientific papers, before outlining how to articulate testable questions and answer them using basic data analysis. The Mauna Loa CO2 dataset is used to demonstrate how to read metadata, prepare data, generate effective graphs and identify dominant cycles on various timescales. Practical, question-driven examples are explored to explain running averages, anomalies, correlations and simple linear models. The final chapter provides a framework for writing persuasive research proposals, making this an essential guide for students embarking on their first research project.

Writing in the Environmental Sciences by L. Michelle Baker As an environmental scientist, you are used to writing scientific articles, but how confident do you feel writing policy or regulatory documents? Do you feel you have the necessary writing skills to influence policy and inform the public? This refreshingly clear guide provides environmental scientists and conservation professionals with an effective writing process that can be applied in a range of financial, political, or organizational contexts. Baker outlines a replicable seven-step writing formula based on practical experience that acknowledges the complexities inherent in the worlds of endangered species, habitat conservation, and recovery planning. Using the formula, scientists will be able to communicate confidently and successfully with a multitude of audiences. Baker's guide is written for scientists, not professional writers. In it, best practices abound. Practical examples, strategies, and diagrams guide the reader at every step, and selected resources are provided for further reference.

Write Like a Chemist by Marin S. Robinson; Fredricka L. Stoller Write Like a Chemist: A Guide and Resource focuses on four types of writing that are common in chemistry: the journal article, conference abstract, scientific poster, and research proposal. Users of the book will learn to write through a host of exercises, ranging in difficulty from correcting single words and sentences to writing professional-quality papers, abstracts, posters, and proposals. This second edition of Write Like a Chemist has been updated to include new excerpts from the primary literature and other chemistry genres, updated tables and figures that can be consulted for chemistry-specific writing patterns and practices, infographics developed by inChemistry that convey essentials for writing conference abstracts and preparing scientific posters, a scientific poster template and corresponding model poster that can be used for poster creation, and updated exercises and task types. Additional resources for students and instructors have been placed on the Write Like a Chemist companion website, which includes exercises, answer keys, and a separate and secure section with materials for faculty adopting the book for a university course.

The ACS Style Guide by Anne Coghill; Lorrin R. Garson; American Chemical Society Staff (Contribution by) PART 1. SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION. -- 1. Ethics in scientific communication. Appendix 1-1: Ethical guidelines to publication of chemical research -- 2. Scientific papers -- 3. The editorial process. Appendix 3-1: proofreaders' marks -- 4. Writing style and word usage -- 5. Electronic submission of manuscripts using web-based systems. Appendix 5-1: Online submission at selected scientific publishers and research grant agencies. Appendix 5-2: Key features of selected online submission systems -- 6. Peer review -- 7. Copyright basics -- 8. Markup languages and the datument. Appendix 8-1: The IUPAC International Chemical Identifier, InChI -- PART 2. STYLE GUIDELINES. -- 9. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Appendix 9-1: Recommended spelling list -- 10. Editorial style. Appendix 10-1: Computer and internet terms. Appendix 10-2: Abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols -- 11. Numbers, mathematics, and units of measure. Appendix 11-1: The International System of Units (SI) -- 12. Names and numbers for chemical compounds. Appendix 12-1: End-of-line hyphenation of chemical names. Appendix 12-2: Representation of combinatorial chemistry. Appendix 12-3: CAS Registry Numbers -- 13. Conventions in chemistry. Appendix 13-1: Symbols for commonly used physical quantities. Appendix 13-2: The Crystallographic Information File -- 14. References. Appendix 14-1: CASSI abbreviations for the 1000+ most commonly cited journals. Appendix 14-2: A sample CASSI entry -- 15. Figures -- 16. Tables -- 17. Chemical structures -- 18. Selected bibliography

Engineering Writing by Design by Edward J. Rothwell; Michael J. Cloud Engineering Writing by Design: Creating Formal Document of Lasting Value, Second Edition shows how effective writing can be achieved by thinking like an engineer. Based on the authors' combined experience as engineering educators, the book presents a novel approach to technical writing, positioning formal writing tasks as engineering design problems with requirements, constraints, protocols, standards, and customers (readers) to satisfy. Specially crafted for busy engineers and engineering students, this quick-reading conversational text: Describes how to apply engineering design concepts to the writing process Explains how engineers fall into thinking traps, and gives techniques for avoiding them Covers the essentials of grammar, style, and mathematical exposition Highlights topics in writing ethics, including copyright, plagiarism, data presentation, and persuasion Engineering Writing by Design: Creating Formal Documents of Lasting Value, Second Edition addresses the specific combination of thinking and writing skills needed to succeed in modern engineering. Its mantra is: to write like an engineer, you must think like an engineer. Featuring illustrative examples, chapter summaries and exercises, quick-reference tables, and recommendations for further reading, this book is packed with valuable tips and information practicing and aspiring engineers need to become effective writers.

So, You Have to Write a Literature Review by Catherine Berdanier; Joshua Lenart; Ryan K. Boettger (Series edited by) Is a literature review looming in your future? Are you procrastinating on writing a literature review at this very moment? If so, this is the book for you. Writing often causes trepidation and procrastination for engineering students--issues that compound while writing a literature review, a type of academic writing most engineers are never formally taught. Consider this workbook as a "couch-to-5k" program for engineering writers rather than runners: if you complete the activities in this book from beginning to end, you will have a literature review draft ready for revision and content editing by your research advisor. So, You Have to Write a Literature Review presents a dynamic and practical method in which engineering students--typically late-career undergraduates or graduate students--can learn to write literature reviews, and translate genre-based writing instruction into easy-to-follow, bite-sized activities and content. Written in a refreshingly conversational style while acknowledging that writing is quite difficult, Catherine Berdanier and Joshua Lenart leverage their unique disciplinary backgrounds with decades of experience teaching academic engineering writing in this user-friendly workbook.

Technical Writing for Software Developers by Chris Chinchilla Elevate your software development process with expert technical writing skills, fostering clarity, collaboration, and successful product outcomes Key Features Optimize documentation workflows with collaborative version-controlled "docs-as-code" tooling options Engage with interactive learning modules embedded throughout the book Improve software quality as a lead developer through effective communication in documentation Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book Description Effective documentation is key to the success of products in remote software development teams, facilitating clear instructions that benefit the entire development team. Technical Writing for Software Developers lays a solid foundation of essential grammar, providing language tips and explaining how precise writing enhances documentation, and walks you through the fundamental types and styles of documentation.Starting with an exploration of the current state of the tech writing industry and its significance in both the software and hardware realms, you'll master the building blocks of technical writing, exploring tooling choices and style guides, and create dynamic multimedia-laden documentation. This book equips you with valuable insights into the writing and feedback process to ensure continuous improvement. Additionally, you'll take a peek at the emerging trends and technologies, including AI tools, shaping the future of technical writing.By the end of this technical writing book, you'll have developed the expertise you need to tackle documentation requests effectively, armed with the knowledge of the best approach for documenting any topic, encompassing text, media elements, structure, and appropriate tools. The skills acquired will enable you to achieve seamless teamwork, enhanced project efficiency, and successful software development. What you will learn Create engaging multimedia-rich documentation Understand the types and styles of documentation Discover grammar and language tips for clear communication Streamline your documentation process with the right tooling choice Master the writing and feedback process for continuous improvement Explore automation techniques for efficient documentation workflows Embrace AI-powered tools for enhanced technical writing Who this book is for This book is for software developers who want to improve their technical writing prowess. Whether you are a junior developer looking to refine your documentation skills or a professional striving for smoother collaboration, this resource equips you with all the essential knowledge and practical insights you need. Covering everything from creating clear documentation to enhancing career prospects, this book caters to a diverse range of software developers, including programmers, software architects, and software engineers looking to streamline the product development process and save time. ]]>

Undergraduate Writing in Psychology by R. Eric Landrum This third edition features new writing samples, including a full-length literature review and full-length scientific research paper, and new guidance to reflect the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This accessible, practical guide to undergraduate writing takes the reader step by step through the process of developing research questions or theses, conducting literature searches, analyzing and synthesizing the literature, writing the paper, and more. Students will learn how to analyze and organize ideas for literature reviews, as well as how to prepare each section of a scientific research paper (introduction, method, results, discussion).  This updated edition is full of: advice and resources, including a checklist and self-quiz; a sample grading rubric that an instructor might use; example reference formats; and several before-and-after writing samples showing marked-up changes. Bonus guidance is given for communicating effectively with instructors and preparing conference posters.