An introduction to experimental work in chemistry Dennis W. Barnum

Includes bibliographical references and index.

pt. 1. General advice about writing and reading about chemistry. 1. Writing: a threshold skill. What do chemists write about and why? -- The keys to success -- Ten strategies for preparing your first draft --Ten strategies for revising and editing: getting to your final draft -- Rules and conventions: the easy stuff -- The essential last pass: proofreading -- Do not depend on your computer to do your work for you -- Checklist for writing about chemistry -- 2. General advice on reading and taking notes. Why read and what to read -- Effective reading -- Effective note-taking and note organizing -- Reading data: plumbing the depths of figures and tables -- Reading text: summarize as you go -- Checklist for reading and taking notes -- 3. Citing sources and listing references. Citing sources -- Some guidelines for citing sources in chemistry -- Preparing the references section -- A sample references section -- Checklist for citing sources -- Checklist for preparing the references section -- 4. Revising. Why revise? -- Revising for content -- Revising for clarity -- Revising for completeness -- Checklist for revising -- 5. Editing for concision and ACS style. Editing -- Editing for gender-neutral language -- Editing for concision -- Editing for American Chemical Society Style: some guidelines -- Conclusion -- Checklist for editng.

pt. 2. Guidelines for specific tasks.-- 6. Keeping laboratory notebooks. The role of laboratory instruction --The teaching laboratory notebook -- What to record -- The research laboratory notebook -- Checklist for the laboratory notebook -- 7. Writing laboratory reports. The role of laboratory instruction -- Writing reports of teaching-laboratory experiments -- Composition of the report -- Titles and authors -- Experimental section -- Results section -- Discussion and conclusions section -- Introduction-- Abstract -- Acknowledgements and the references -- Checklist for a laboratory report -- 8. Writing summaries and critiques. Preparing to write the summary -- Writing the first draft -- Writing the summary -- Writing the critique -- Concluding thoughts -- Checklists for summaries and critiques -- 9. Writing essays and review papers. Writing to learn -- Why bother? -- Getting started -- Researching your topic -- Developing a thesis statement -- Writing the paper -- Plagarism -- Citing sources -- Creating a title -- Revising -- Checklist for writing essays and review papers -- The plagerism challenge -- The citing sources challenge -- 10. Writing research reports. The nature of scientific research -- Components of a research report -- Longer reports -- Publication of research results -- Preparing a manuscript as though for publication -- Checklist for a research report -- 11. Writing research proposals. The research proposal: an exercise in persuasion -- What are reviewers looking for? -- Researching your topic: how to choose and read papers -- What makes a good research topic? -- Writing the proposal -- Tightening the logic -- A real research proposal -- Checklist for a research proposal -- 12. Answering timed essay questions. Basic principles -- Applying the principles -- The analytical writing section of the Graduate Record Exam -- 13. Giving oral and poster presentations. Talking and writing -- Oral presentations -- Checklist for juding oral presentations -- Poster presentation -- Checklist for making posters -- 14. Writing applications -- Writing and the workplace -- The application process -- Before you start -- Preparing your cover letter -- Preparing the graduate school personal statement -- Checklist for applications -- Appendix A: Using punctuation -- Appendix B: Suggested rubric for evaluating science writing -- Additional electronic and print resources.