Tagged Questions
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Multiple tasks and a step by step tutorial
To my knowledge step-by-step tutorials should have the form of a ladder, where you describe how to get to a place step by step– accomplishing a single task at the end. Is it possible to accomplish ...
0
votes
2answers
53 views
What are the advantages of different date formats in resumes and CVs?
I've seen a somewhat related question, but it doesn't answer my question quite right. Say you're writing an event that happened on a single day, and you need to put it in your resume or CV. So how ...
4
votes
1answer
74 views
singular or plural for index entries
I am in the final stages of writing a book and currently I am preparing the index. Are there any rules whether index entries should be listed in singular or plural?
Currently I have
Markov chains, ...
2
votes
1answer
315 views
How to write time duration correctly
Within a user manual, I need to convey the maximum time period allowed as "365 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds" - are commas expected between each component? Is the word "and" expected before the ...
2
votes
2answers
386 views
Are contractions antithetical to academic writing?
This question is very specific to academic writing:
I used the contraction "don't" instead of "do not" in some of the papers. Some of the reviewers mentioned that "don't" is not a formal style of ...
0
votes
2answers
87 views
Am I correctly referencing chapters which belong to the same book?
Looking for some help on how to reference chapters in a book inside of a booking I'm helping with.
Should I be capitalizing Chapters 3 and 4 and would referring to chapters simply by capitalized ...
3
votes
3answers
115 views
How to leverage social proof?
How can one use social proof as an argument without sounding like "just because everybody is doing it so should you"?. My problem is trying to demonstrate with social proof that trendy ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
Giving something an alias
Within a technical document I want to refer to a system or process by a shorter name. I have no idea what this process is called so searching the internet is not getting me anywhere.
Is this correct?
...
0
votes
1answer
322 views
What are the names of the different levels of English?
In a recent discussion regarding software manuals, we came across the issue of different styles of writing / speaking in English. I am having a hard time finding a list of the different styles, such ...
3
votes
6answers
280 views
Is it overkill to follow style-guides for technical writing?
I currently work for an engineering company as an electrical engineer. A good chunk of my time is spent writing testing reports or instruction documents. Currently my company doesn't have any sort of ...
4
votes
1answer
228 views
Is there a style / terminology guide for Android OS application documentation?
This relates to my earlier question: My first professional writing job: any advice?
I will be involved with writing documentation for an Android OS business application. Is there an Android style ...
4
votes
1answer
189 views
What tense to use in an academic paper when speaking about correspondence?
What is the correct tense to use in an academic paper when speaking about correspondence? Say one of my source materials is a letter written by someone named William, in which he says he went to the ...
5
votes
2answers
450 views
Should I prefer long or short sentences in scientific writing?
Currently, I am writing papers with rather short sentences: About half of them contain around 20 words, about 10% to 20% even less. I am doing this for three reasons:
I find short sentences easier ...
1
vote
3answers
555 views
Where should index and glossary appear in a report?
I am writing my thesis and now wonder whether I should typeset index and glossary as an appendix or after them.
There's no department-level accepted writing style, so my adviser's opinion might be ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Numeral Citation Scripts
I am writing a report in Farsi and using ieeetr bibliography style for my references. This style uses numeral references like [1] [2] etc but regarding context (Farsi) I am using Arabic number scripts ...
1
vote
1answer
154 views
Using Glossary Instead of Footnotes (for translation/transliteration)
I am writing a technical report with keywords which are mainly English. I am using a Glossary at the end, which describes translated keywords. Is it a replacement for footnotes or I should just keep ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
How to use His/My/Your permutations in adressing persons [closed]
I'd like to understand the rationale of when, why and how His/My/Your are used in titles of addressing people.
For example, the standard commonly accepted uses are:
"His Honour"("His Grace", or ...
3
votes
1answer
232 views
What is the style used in ISO/IEC publications?
I'm in the process of preparing a document to be sent to ISO/IEC WG14. What is the official style used in ISO/IEC publications (if there is one)? If there is no official style guide, is there a ...
1
vote
2answers
140 views
What free tools are there to help me improve my English?
I am in the process of writing a research paper in Computer Science. Are there any free tools/browser plugins/web sites/latex plugins that would help me improve my English? I am looking for some nice ...
5
votes
2answers
191 views
How can you build an interactive tone into articles?
I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one way.
How does actually tone contribute to the quality of an ...
4
votes
5answers
223 views
Using uncommon abbreviations
Something which I see all the time in (popular) science writing is the use of abbreviations to indicate concepts. For (a made up) example:
So when we're dealing with Anachronistic Meta Mechanics ...
1
vote
7answers
634 views
Verb tense for technical document titles
I'm writing a technical manual about creating database systems, and wondered what is the best verb tense for title names.
My ideas are:
Continuous (-ing) form: (e.g. "Creating a Cluster", "Creating ...
