Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science

Introduction

These writing guidelines are designed to help engineers and scientists write about their work. To that end, these guidelines contain advice and models for writing documents in engineering and science. These guidelines also contain teaching and learning resources for engineering and science students. You are more than welcome to link to these pages, films, and files. In addition, you are welcome to print and distribute these materials, as long as you credit the website and its principal reference: The Craft of Scientific Writing, 4th ed., which will be released in March 2018.

The Craft of Scientific Writing, 4th ed.

Coming soon: Writing poll question of the month.

Correspondence: Emails and Letters

Correspondence consists of emails, letters, and memos. In engineering and science, correspondence is an effective way to make requests, submit small changes to a job, and deliver specific information.

Overview

Emails

Letters

Formal Reports

Engineers and scientists write formal reports for a variety of purposes: to update the progress of a project, to present results of a test, to introduce a design, and to document a completed project. This section discusses common types of reports and presents a sample report format from Sandia National Laboratories.

Instructor Resources

These resources are intended to help instructors teach writing to students in engineering and science. Included are resources for both a standalone course on scientific writing and a large STEM course with a writing component.

Writing Exercises

These writing exercises are designed to help engineers and scientists avoid common errors in grammar, punctuation, and usage that can undercut one's credibility.

Exercises

Introduction

Correspondence: Emails and Letters

Formal Reports

Instructor Resources

Writing Exercises

Content Editor:

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Introduction

Correspondence: Emails and Letters

﻿﻿﻿Formal Reports

Instructor Resources

Writing Exercises

Content Editor:

Webmaster:

Formal Reports