Albert Einstein

Physics 598 PEN

Communicating Physics Research
Spring 2018

The whole of science is nothing more
than a refinement of everyday thinking.
Albert Einstein, Physics and Reality, 1936

link to course home page link to computing information link to course syllabus link to class assignments link to course syllabus link to tools and online resources


Technical Writing and English Usage

The Craft of Scientific Writing (writing guidelines for science and engineering students)

American Institute of Physics (AIP) Style Manual (THE authority for physics papers)

Physical Review Style and Notation Guide (THE authority for the Phys. Rev. journals)

Chart of Proofreader's Marks (from AIP)

AIP Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS)

AIP Electronic Physics Auxiliary Publication Service (EPAPS)

Oxford English Dictionary ("the definitive record of the English language" according to them, but note that US English spelling and usage may differ; we colonials have our own rules)

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus (arbiter of US English spelling, even though they give "advisor" as an alternative spelling for "adviser," which Ms. Particular deplores)

Language Tools

Acronym Look-Up

William Safire's Rules for Writers

Celia Elliott's TechWrite 101

Not available online, but highly recommended for your library if you're serious about writing well:

The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, 4th ed. (New York, Longman, 2000).

Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003).

The Careful Writer, Theodore Bernstein (New York, Atheneum, 1965). Old but timeless.


TeX and LaTeX Resources

TeX FAQ

LaTeX wiki

"Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e" (109 pp)

Common (La)TeX Errors

MiKTex

TeX Users Group

LaTeX Project (includes a searchable "bugs" database)

Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (provides the most complete and up-to-date TeX-related software)


Visual Display of Quantitative Data

Graphing Resources (from North Carolina State University and the National Science Foundation)


Refereeing

"Introduction to Refereeing" (from the Institute of Physics)


Citation Managers

University Library resources page   Note that the University Library no longer supports RefWorks

Comparison of reference management software systems


Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism.org comprehensive resource that defines what constitutes plagiarism and helps you avoid inadvertent plagiarism

A Student's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use

The Plagiarism Checker free site to detect plagiarized text