Andreas Kämper SS Tables. Div. for Simulation of Biological Systems

Transcription

1 Scientific Writing Andreas Kämper SS Tables Div. for Simulation of Biological Systems WSI/ZBIT, Eberhard Karls Universität i Tübingen

2 Recapitulation

3 Galley Proof (I) The set of proofs from the copyeditor/compositor is sent to you for final checking What to do? Check for all sorts of errors This is your last chance! This printed version of the manuscript is available to the entire world! If serious errors are in it, this will definitely i have direct negative effect on your reputation!

4 Galley Proof (II) Proofreading the proof Check all numbers, especially in tables. Are all decimal points correct? Are all signs correct? Are all figures complete (uncut) and correctly oriented (not upside-down)? Do the figures match the captions? Read the text. Then read it backwards! Check all numbers again! Read the text again! Keep the deadline dli (usually 24 hours)!

5 Marking Corrections Mark every error twice in the body of the textt at the margin next to the text (otherwise they may be overlooked!) Do not forget mark every error twice. In the bdy of the text and at the marginnext to it!

6 Outline Tables Grammar Dashes and hyphen

7 Tables Dashes and Hyphen

8 Tables and Figures (I) Tables and figures are often vitally important for the scientific message of an article Enhance understanding Summarize or emphasize key points Reduce narrative length Add appeal to the manuscript Tables + Figures = Illustrations

9 Tables and Figures (II) Readers often only look at illustrations: is the rest of the paper worth reading? Each illustration must be an indispensable part to the manuscript Each illustration must be capable of standing on its own (without the main text) Solve this paradox!

10 How many Illustrations? Rule of thumb: No more than one table or figure per 1000 words of text J. R. Matthews, J. M. Bowen, R. W. Matthews, Successful scientific writing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2nd ed., 2000, pp. 78.

11 Types of Tables (I) Word tables Table 1. Building blocks selected by virtual screening. ID IUPAC Name CAS-No. Method 1 1-methyltetrazole-5-thiol AutoDock 2 2-aminoethanethiol FlexX 3 2-mercaptoacetic acid FlexX 4 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate AutoDock

12 Types of Tables (II) Numerical tables Table 2. Planetary attributes. Name Diameter* Mass* Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune *Measured relative to the earth.

13 When to use Tables (I) Use tables when data cannot be presented clearly as text Use tables when many yprecise numbers must be presented Use tables when more meaningful interrelationships can be conveyed by the tabular format J. S. Dodd (Ed.), The ACS Style Guide, 2nd ed., Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 1997, p. 300.

14 When to use Tables (II) Rule of thumb (Bjelland, 1990): Use a table when putting data in the text would take at least three times as much page space as presenting it in tabular format. H. Bjelland, Writing Better Technical Articles. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books.

15 Construction of Tables Title Column heading Stub column Row heading Table 2. Planetary attributes. Name Diameter* Mass* Box heading Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune *Measured relative to the earth. Field Table footnote J. R. Matthews, J. M. Bowen, R. W. Matthews, Successful scientific writing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2nd ed., 2000, pp. 79.

16 Requirements for Tables At least three interrelated columns and three rows Only two columns? Narrative text No interrelation? Not a table! Try a list or use narrative text

17 Arranging Tabular Material (I) Table 2. Planetary attributes. Name Diameter* Mass* Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune *Measured relative to the earth.

18 Arranging Tabular Material (II) Table 3. Planetary attributes (wide table). Attribute Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Diameter* Mass* *Measured relative to the earth.

19 Arranging Tabular Material (III) Which of the two tables is easier to read? Table 2! Reader can grasp information more easily. Typically, also printing costs are lower if similar data is presented in columns.

20 Arranging Tabular Material (IV) Estimate how wide the table will get Count the number n of characters in longest line Add three for each pair of columns If n > 50: Does not fit into one column of two-column format If n > 100: Does not fit the page width For numerical tables Up to six columns fits to journal column Up to 13 columns fits to double-column

21 Graphics within Tables Only if the journal permits this! Example table from: A. Steffen et al., New J. Chem. 2007, 31, 1941.

22 Table Titles Every table must have a brief, informative title describing its contents in non-sentence format A table title should be complete enough to make sense without need to read the main text Brief descriptions of methods are allowed by most journals (as footnote) Printed with small font size hard to read Keep them as brief as possible!

23 Table and Figure Captions Table titles are placed above each table Typically, figure captions are placed below each figure Table 1: Smileys Icon Smiley Meaning :-) Classic smile :-( Classic frown Figure 1: Smiley

24 Column Headings Every column must have a heading to describe the material below it Keep headings to one or two lines if possible Use abbreviations and symbols if possible Name variables being measured and indicate unit of measurement

25 Oversized Tables (I) Avoid broadside tables printed at right angle to the text y? The ese es ar re onven nient ead Why tabl inco to re Avoid tables spanning several pages Difficult to align for the copyeditor Inconvenient to read

26 Oversized Tables (II) Try everything to condense the oversized table or to cut it into smaller parts Ask yourself: Is all the information really necessary? Must the data be presented in its current form? Is a summary statistics (e.g., mean, standard d deviation) i more appropriate?

27 Oversized Tables (III) If a large table is really essential Continue table on subsequent sheet Repeat all column headings Keep sections of multipart tables at similar widths Do not even try to cheat with smaller font type. This may result in rejection of the paper!

28 Column Entries (I) Alignment Use only one type of alignment per column Words are aligned to the left Numbers are aligned to the decimals (unless the rare event when the unit differs left aligned) Use numbers on both sides of a decimal point ( ; 07; ) Repeat identical entries, do not use ditto marks (, ) Red fox Vulpes vulpes Red fox Vulpes vulpes Corsac corsac Corsac fox Vulpes corsac By the way, what s wrong with these tables?

29 Column Entries (II) Fill all cells in the field Ellipses ( ) or dashes ( ) Use common acronyms ND = not done, not determined NA = not applicable, not available Define what, ND, or NA means in a footnote Use symbols (*, # ) or lowercase letters ( a, b, ) to indicate table footnotes. Do not use numbers they might be mistaken for data in numerical tables

30 Unnecessary Tables One of your future homeworks!

31 When to Prepare Illustrations? Tables and figures present data in condensed form Time-saving writing tool Generate tables and figures early in the writing gprocess to minimize drafting and editing of text

32 Tables Dashes and Hyphen

33 Dashes, hyphen, and minus sign

34 Figure Dash Same width as a digit in typefaces with equal digit it width Use in cases such as telephone p numbers:

35 En Dash (1) Roughly the width of the letter n Uses: 1) Ranges of values, meaning to or through with a span of three or more units 2) Spans of times or dates

36 En Dash (2) Exceptions 1) With negative numbers or symbols modifying numbers use to or through 2) Do not use the en dash with from or between 3) Do not use an en dash if there is the risk to misinterpret a range of values as subtraction A. M. Coghill, L. R. Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rd Ed., p.125; A. Thompson, B. N. Taylor, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI), 2008 Edition, p. 18.

37 En Dash (3) Uses: 3) Meaning and, to, or versus in multiword concepts where the words are of equal weight Exception: Use a hyphen h for color combinations A. M. Coghill, L. R. Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rd Ed., pp. 124.

38 En Dash (4) Uses: 4) To link names of two or more persons of equal importance used as a modifier Beware: Use a hyphen for double surnames and double given names A. M. Coghill, L. R. Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rd Ed., p. 125.

39 En Dash (5) Uses: 5) For chemical bonds in text 6) Between components of a mixture A. M. Coghill, L. R. Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rd Ed., p. 121, p. 267.

40 Em Dash Roughly the width of the letter M Use: 1) To set off words that would be misunderstood without them: 2) For parenthetical thoughts A. M. Coghill, L. R. Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rd Ed., p. 126.

41 Hyphen Hyphens are shorter than en dashes Uses: Separating words into parts (at line ends) Syllabification Some prefixes and suffixes Joining words Hyphenation rules are complex and will not be detailed in the course