tutorials:writing
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| - | ====== Writing ====== | ||
| - | |||
| - | Guidelines for scientific writing that Chih-Horng Kuo (chk@gate.sinica.edu.tw) developed for our group members. Suggestions are welcome. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ===== General ===== | ||
| - | * Writing is possibly the most important, yet also the most challenging part, of our work | ||
| - | * Critical for documenting achievements | ||
| - | * Transferable skill | ||
| - | * Start early | ||
| - | * Find the time of day that works best for you, establish a writing routing, then stick to it. | ||
| - | * Oftentimes you may feel like hitting a wall that you cannot break through when you stare at the blank page. However, it is critical that you spend the time and struggle, rather than distract yourself with other tasks as a way out. The struggle that you endure is a natural (and likely unavoidable) part of the process. You just have to devote effort to make writing happen. | ||
| - | * Good news: Yes, you can do it, just not so easy. See all the successful cases in the lab. | ||
| - | * Talking to people helps (a lot) | ||
| - | |||
| - | ===== Files ===== | ||
| - | * Backup | ||
| - | * Establish an automatic backup plan; manual backup plans are not practical | ||
| - | * Mac: Time Machine | ||
| - | * Linux: rsync scripts | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Naming and version control | ||
| - | * File names | ||
| - | * Do: short and informative. Include information such as project id, keyword (e.g. manuscript, report, keyword of figure/ | ||
| - | * Avoid: long names that are difficult to read (e.g., full title of the manuscript) | ||
| - | * Avoid: short names that are not informative (e.g., manuscript.docx, | ||
| - | * Avoid: space or special characters | ||
| - | * Avoid: " | ||
| - | * Versioning | ||
| - | * Version number should be the last part of the file name; two digits should be sufficient | ||
| - | * Optional: Add initials if multiple people are involved in the project | ||
| - | * When in doubt, save as a new version | ||
| - | * Recommended: | ||
| - | * Benefits | ||
| - | * Write as much as possible without worrying if those parts will be kept in later versions | ||
| - | * Throw away as much as needed to make a good story; you can always go back to previous versions to retrieve the deleted materials | ||
| - | * Project progress report | ||
| - | * In the beginning of the document, include: | ||
| - | * Name (__who__ prepared this report?) | ||
| - | * Date (__when__ was it prepared?) | ||
| - | * Project id (__what__ is it about?) | ||
| - | * Directory of relevant files (on lab servers for people to get raw data files if needed) | ||
| - | * For long reports, prepare a short summary section | ||
| - | * Branching and merging | ||
| - | * When multiple people are involved, branches may be created for each person to work on a different part | ||
| - | * It is important that everyone agree with the leader on when and how to merge the branches | ||
| - | * Example | ||
| - | * For project " | ||
| - | * ABC then saved the file as " | ||
| - | * DEF creates " | ||
| - | * GHI creates " | ||
| - | * ABC being the project leader, should be responsible to set the deadline, collect the files, then merge and create " | ||
| - | * Figure/ | ||
| - | * Before finalizing the order, use names without fig/table number and with a keyword (e.g., " | ||
| - | * After finalizing the order, put all early versions into a separate folder (e.g., " | ||
| - | * If the order changed, put the previous versions into another separate folder (e.g., " | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Tracking changes | ||
| - | * For Word files: better to use the build-in function "Track Changes"; | ||
| - | * For Google Docs: all changes are automatically tracked. Manually name and download the major versions. | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Working with collaborators | ||
| - | * Discuss and setup a workflow | ||
| - | * Avoid emailing files as attachments; | ||
| - | * Pros and cons of setting up a file server vs. using a commercial service. | ||
| - | |||
| - | * File directory structure | ||
| - | * Make it easy to identify the parts that need to be included in backup | ||
| - | * Example for personal desktops/ | ||
| - | * Example for shared servers | ||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | ===== Abstract/ | ||
| - | * [[https:// | ||
| - | |||
| - | ===== References ===== | ||
| - | * Zotero ([[https:// | ||
| - | * Zotero tips: [[https:// | ||
| - | * Several other options available (EndNote, Mendeley, etc), find one that works for you | ||
| - | * Academia Sinica has a site license for EndNote, the Life Sciences Library often have training courses on using it | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Download and account setup | ||
| - | * Syncing | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Importing references | ||
| - | * Zotero Connector: integration with browsers | ||
| - | * Add by DOI or other identifiers | ||
| - | * Manual entry | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Library management | ||
| - | * Folders and subfolders | ||
| - | * Recommended; | ||
| - | * Tags | ||
| - | * Automatically imported, may be edited. May take too much effort to curate. | ||
| - | * **<color blue> | ||
| - | * After the initial import, the style likely would not be consistent across different entries | ||
| - | * For the references that will be used in the same document, curate all entries to maintain the consistency | ||
| - | * Title capitalization | ||
| - | * Journal full name (the " | ||
| - | * Is the publication year correct? (first published online vs. formal reference info) | ||
| - | * Is the page number missing? (particularly for online-only journals) | ||
| - | * Add your own notes? | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Style Manager | ||
| - | * Remove the default ones that you do not need | ||
| - | * Add additional ones as needed | ||
| - | |||
| - | * Integration with Word or Google Docs | ||
| - | * Communicate well with the collaborators; | ||
| - | * Backup to protect against file corruption | ||
| - | * **<color blue> | ||
| - | |||
| - | * More | ||
| - | * So many papers! How do I remember them? | ||
| - | * A good filing system helps. More importantly, | ||
| - | * Take notes (in Zotero) | ||
| - | * Cite and discuss in your own manuscripts/ | ||
| - | * Write a highlight (one sentence to multiple paragraphs), | ||
| - | * Facebook group [[https:// | ||
tutorials/writing.1669952638.txt.gz · Last modified: 2022/12/02 11:43 by chkuo