Writing tips
1
Very general, but important tips:
Punctuations
Capital letters
Formal (e.g., do not instead of don’t)
2
Misuse of words:
1) Do not use nouns as verbs:
Temperature could affect the process. (verb)
Temperature effects on the process (noun)
These results justify extending the project to new
populations. (verb)
To a great extent, psychological explanations prove
satisfactory. (noun)
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Misuse of words:
2) Be careful with plural nouns:
The criteria were significantly restrictive. (plural of
criterion)
The mechanisms of these physiological
phenomena are not well understood. (plural of
phenomenon)
These data were recorded during the experiment.
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Misuse of words:
3) Use of “which” and “that”
Use “which” when providing nonessential information:
The procedure, which was introduced earlier, could be
used to test the results.
-The sentence is complete without the clause.
- “Which” is always preceded by a comma.
The sentence could be shortened as follows:
The procedure, introduced earlier, could be used to test
the results.
5
Misuse of words:
Use “ that” when providing essential information:
Any catheter that was previously used was thrown
away.
-The clause in this sentence is necessary. Without this
clause, the sentence is not complete.
- “That” is never preceded by a comma.
6
Misuse of words:
4) In order to itemize, do not use “secondly”, “thirdly”,
etc.
Use “first, second, third, …”
or “(1), (2), (3), …”
7
Use of correct adjective
• High, more, long, large, big
• Low, less, short, small, few
8
A or an?
Choose based on how the first letter is pronounced:
Normally after vowels (a, e, i, o, u): An algorithm
Normally after consonants: A hospital
Be careful:
A university <==> An umbrella
An MS patient < ==> A museum
9
Avoid using a particular gender:
Example:
Every operator was trained to avoid exposing his eyes to
the light.
The operators were trained to avoid exposing their eyes
to the light.
Every operator was trained to avoid exposing his/her
eyes to the light
10
Hyphen:
Use hyphen for compound adjectives:
- High-frequency oscillations
- Real-time signal processing
Be careful: Hyphen is not needed when we do not have a
compound adjective:
- The performance of the circuit is tested at a high frequency.
- The signals were processed in real time.
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Hyphen:
When the last letter of prefix is the same as the first letter
of the word:
Anti-inflammatory
Compound words made by two or more words:
State-of-the-art technology
Analog-to-digital converter
One-to-one correspondence
On-off switch
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Use of numbers:
Whenever possible give numerical values:
The voltage across the diode was small.
The voltage across the diode was 0.5 v.
The efficiency of System A is slightly less than the efficiency
of System B.
The efficiency of System A is 20 % less than the
efficiency of System B.
13
Use of numbers:
Avoid dangling comparatives and superlatives:
The voltage across Diode A was smaller.
The voltage across the Diode A was smaller than that of
Diode B.
System A has the highest efficiency.
Among the systems of Class I, System A has the highest
efficiency.
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Use of numbers:
Do not put commas between digits of large
numbers, use space if necessary:
100,000  100 000
For numbers between -1 and 1 insert 0 to the left of
the decimal point:
.45  0.45
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Use of numbers:
Avoid using zero and infinity to report lab
measurements:
The measured voltage was zero.
 The measured voltage was less than 5 mV.
Measurements should have the same precision on a graph
or when compared:
V1=0.45 v and V2=0.4 v
 V1=0.45 v and V2=0.40 v
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Use of numbers:
2 or two?
Spell when it is 1 through 9:
In this study, two samples were used.
In this trial, 3 out of 20 procedures led to complications.
Use figures when a unit follows:
The Young’s modulus was 3 kPa.
Use figures to imply math operations:
A factor of 2, 3x3 matrix
Spell when a number starts the sentence:
Two animal experiments were performed.
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Use of numbers:
Use of units:
Lower case when not abbreviated (even for person
names):
2 ohm, 3 volt, etc.
When abbreviated name of a person, use upper case first
letter:
2 Hz.
Uppercase for only equal to or above 106: M= 106 ,G= 109
MPa
kHz= 1000 Hz, mL= 0.001 L
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Use of numbers:
Use of units:
Abbreviation of second is “s” not “sec”:
2 sec  2 s
Space between the number and the unit:
2N 2 N
Do not use micron; it is slang:
Micron  micrometer or µm
19
Common abbreviations:
i.e.
e.g.
et al.
etc.
20
Citations and bibliography:
The work, writing, drawing, etc of all other
authors, researchers, groups, etc should be
acknowledged in your articles.
Otherwise, it is known as PLAGIARISM, which is
considered a serious academic offense.
21
Citations and bibliography:
1) All quoted materials should be enclosed
within quotation mark or set in a block of
indented text.
2) All borrowed materials, e.g., figures,
drawings, graphs, should be cited.
22
Citations and bibliography:
The reasons for citing:
1) Give credit
2) To lead the reader to the source with more
detailed information
3) To provide a historical overview of how the
field has developed
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Citations and bibliography:
Citations styles:
Simulation of the tissue deformation has been
presented (Jackson, 1999).
Simulation of the tissue deformation has been
presented [1].
Jackson (1999) published results on simulation
of the tissue deformation.
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Citations and bibliography:
Statements that need citations:
Examples:
Previous work has focused on .... [1]
It is conventionally known that ... [1]
Many researchers have investigated ... [1]
25
Citations and bibliography:
What should be cited?
Books
Scholarly journals
Conference proceedings
Patents
Internet websites, web pages, etc.?
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Citations and bibliography:
Books:
[1] Smith, J., R., Title of Book, place of
publication, publisher, year of publication.
[1] Smith, J., R., Applications of Intravascular
Ultrasound, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 2008.
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Citations and bibliography:
Journal:
[1] Smith, J., "Title of Paper, " Journal Title,
volume no., issue no., first page-last page,
month, year.
[1] Smith, J., " In vivo characterization of coronary
atherosclerotic plaque, " IEEE Trans. Biomed.
Eng., vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 180-190, Mar. 2006.
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References:
1) Lars G. Gilbertson, Todd C. Doehring, and James D. Kang. "New
methods to study lumbar spine biomechanics: Delineation of in vitro
load-displacement characteristics by using a robotic/UFS testing
system with hybrid control." Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics
10.4 (2000): 246-253.
2) Sofia, Susan, et al. "Functionalized silk‐based biomaterials for bone
formation." Journal of biomedical materials research 54.1 (2001):
139-148.
3) Ohata, M., Sundaram, U., Fredericks, W. R., London, E. D. &
Rapoport, S. I. Regional cerebral blood flow during development and
ageing of the rat brain. Brain 104 (2), 319–332 (1981).
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