Writing Tips

School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials

Writing Tips
Updated: 20 August, 2009

This page contains links to material that should help you write up laboratory reports, dissertations and theses. They have been culled from various sources and are meant to be general guidelines rather than strict rules. You should always consult your project supervisor or module leader to clarify details.

Home Grown Advice

Links to Writing Resources

Dictionaries
- A Web of On-line Dictionaries - claims links to more than 800 dictionaries in 160 languages
- Webster Dictionary Search Page
Thesauri (?)
- Roget's Thesaurus
- Webster Thesaurus Search Page
Dr. Jay's "Write" Home Page contains loads of pointers and links to writing resources
Writing Related Internet Sites is a collection of links to resources that will help you write better theses and reports
Brush up your English grammar - visit the Online English Grammar site

Guidelines and Advice on Report, Dissertation and Thesis Writing

Abstracts
- What goes in an Abstract - some tips from Education-line
- Writing an Abstract
Technical Reports and Papers
- Structure of a Technical Report - guidelines on technical report writing by Dr. William Easson of Edinburgh University
- Technical Writing - an online book
Thesis and Dissertations
- Dissertation Advice from Syracuse University
- Final year projects - practical advice from Prof. Mike Hart on how to write up your final year project, dissertation or thesis
- Report and Thesis Layout gives pointers on how to enhance the presentation of reports and theses
- The Thesis (advice from Uni. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
- Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation (by S. Joseph Levine)
- Writing your Thesis: A Survival Guide by Dr. Suzanne Barker-Collo
References and Bibliographies
- Citation and Style Guide
- Citing Electronic Resources
- Citing Internet Sources
- Citation using the Harvard System - the fuss free way (IMHO)
- Guide to referencing - covers a number of styles
- Plagiarism - preventing, detecting and tracking
SI Units
- You should always express scientific/technical content using SI units. Wikepedia provides a very good guide on SI writing style.

General Tips and Advice

Collaborative writing guidelines, for when you have to produce a group report
- Collaborative writing strategies and resources (from Uni. Texas)
- Group work and collaborative writing (from UC Davis)
- Guidelines on collaborative Writing (from Uni. North Carolina at Pembroke)
Guide for Written Communication is written by Edward G. Wertheim, Associate Prof. in Human Resources Management, Northeastern University, Boston.
Guide to Grammar and Style (Jack Lynch)
Guide to Grammar and Writing (Charles Darling)
How to Write Right is an article aimed at engineers written by G. Blair. This page also contains links to matters related to Basic Management Skills
Writing tips - covering a wide range of issues, from abbreviations, to punctuation, to writing style.

Visit the companion page on presentation skills

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This page is maintained by Ming Tham