Some resources for scientific writing

This list is available as a PDF at 

https://homepage.univie.ac.at/brian.metscher/Resources_for_Scientific_Writing.pdf 

Some Resources for Scientific Literature and Writing in English

Where to find relevant literature:

1) The reference lists in recent papers on your topic, especially review articles

2) Colleagues with experience in your field

3) PubMed ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed )

4) Web of Science  ( http://apps.webofknowledge.com )

4) Scopus ( http://www.scopus.com/home.url ), available if you are connecting through UniVie

5) Google Scholar ( https://scholar.google.at/ ) is very broad and general, and sometimes links to full-text articles

5) The UniVie Library online system ( http://bibliothek.univie.ac.at/eressourcen.html ) includes access to

BIOSIS Previews ( = Biological Abstracts); Zoological Record; 

Science Citation Index (also ISI, which includes social sciences and humanities)

ProQuest for doctoral dissertations; Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB);

and about 1000 more

6) Get a reference manager program you like and start using it

e.g. Zotero (free), Mendeley (free), EndNote (avail. through ZID)

English language references:

A good paperback dictionary with usage notes, e.g. Webster's,  American Heritage, or one of the Oxford dictionaries,

The Mac OS X Dictionary app, plus free plugins 

Oxford English Dictionary online: http://www.oed.com

Oxford Reference Online, including OED http://www.oxfordreference.com

Webster's online: http://www.m-w.com/

The essential guide to writing in English is The Elements of Style by W. Strunk & E.B. White.

You can download the full (bootleg) text at

http://www.jlakes.org/ch/web/The-elements-of-style.pdf 

The original guide by Strunk, without White's additions, is free at http://www.bartleby.com/141/

All other English style manuals are just extended footnotes to Strunk & White.

How to learn scientific writing:

1) Read good science writing, and pay attention to how it is presented.

2) Co-author papers with someone who writes well.

3) Peer-review articles for journals.

4) A Short Guide To Writing About Biology, by J. Pechenik gives helpful advice and examples.

5) Writing Science, by Josh Schimel (ca. €25) and his blog at http://schimelwritingscience.wordpress.com/ are also very good.

6) A helpful guide: https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Elements_of_Style.pdf

 

Citing sources and avoiding plagiarism:

Always ask the advice of someone with more experience in scientific writing.

One helpful page is at  http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/plagiar.html

For writing grant proposals:

The Art of Grantsmanship, by Jacob Kraicer   http://www.hfsp.org/funding/art-grantsmanship

German-English (and other languages) translation:

A German-English (or English) dictionary with usage examples: I prefer the dictionaries from Langenscheidt and Harper-Collins. 

LEO http://dict.leo.org/

For the main European languages, DeepL is new and seems good: https://www.deepl.com/translator  

Google translate ( https://translate.google.com/ ) is more useful than older translators, but it's not C3PO.