Exam Copy for A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry

For chemistry or writing in chemistry courses.   This writing guide, by the author of Pearson’s best-selling Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry along with two well-known chemists, teaches students to think as chemists and to express ideas clearly and concisely through their writing.                Providing students with the tools they'll need to be successful writers in college and their profession, A Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry emphasizes writing as a way of examining, evaluating, and sharing ideas. The text teaches students how to read critically, study, evaluate and report data, and how to communicate information clearly and logically.   Students are also given detailed advice on locating, evaluating, and citing useful sources within the discipline; maintaining effective laboratory notebooks and writing laboratory reports; writing effective research proposals and reports; and communicating information to both professional and general audiences.

Table of Contents:
Preface Part I:   General Advice About Writing And Reading 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: Proofread 2.  General Advice on Reading and Note-Taking         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                                          Plagiarism and Note-Taking  Checklist for Reading and Note-Taking     3.  Citing Sources and Listing References     Citing Sources Some Guidelines for Citing Sources In Chemistry Preparing the References Section A Sample References Page 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 for Gender Neutral Language Editing for Concision Editing for ACS Style: Some Guidelines Abbreviations and Acronyms Capitalization for Chemists Hyphens Spelling Chemistry Specific Conventions Conclusion Checklist Part II:  Guidelines for Specific Tasks 6.  Keeping Laboratory Notebooks The Role of Laboratory Instruction   The Teaching Laboratory Notebook The Research Laboratory Notebook Checklist for Final Draft 7.  The Role of Lab Instruction Writing Reports of Teaching Laboratory Experiments Composition of the Report Checklist for a Final Draft 8.  Writing Summaries and Critiques Writing the First Draft Writing the Summary Writing the Critique Concluding Thoughts Checklists tor 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 Plagiarism   Citing Sources Creating a Title Revising and Editing Checklist for Writing Essays and Review Papers The Plagiarism 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 Final Draft 11.  Writing Research Proposals  The Research Proposal as Persuasive Writing What Are Reviewers Looking For? Researching Your Topic What Makes a Good Research Topic? Writing the Proposal                                           Tightening the Logic A Real Research Proposal  Checklist for a Final Draft 12.  Answering Timed Essay Questions   Basic Principles Applying the Principles   The Writing Component of the Graduate Record Exam   Checklist for Answering Timed Essay Questions