Experienced scientists and medical researchers know how important it is to engage with research literature in an active, critical and analytical way. However in most universities little time is devoted to teaching the relevant skills. Readers who accept scientific papers uncritically may misunderstand results, misinterpret the experimental significance of techniques, over or underestimate the importance of findings and waste time and resources on flawed or unnecessary experiments.
"Critical Reading "is aimed at everyone who needs to read original research papers in life sciences and medicine: final-year undergraduates, graduate students, research scientists, clinicians and medical researchers. Through a series of clearly focused chapters, the reader is introduced to critical reading skills such as:
- Detection and analysis of spin
- Development of active reading habits
- Evaluation of methods, including qualitative methods
- Scientific analysis and interpretation
This book promotes a balanced, rigorous approach to the literature. It is unique in providing examples and end-of-chapter exercises from a wide range of scientific and clinical disciplines including biochemistry, ecology, immunology and physiology. Principles are extensively illustrated by reference to real papers, which are discussed constructively in the context of the pressures and technical difficulties that face researchers.
The skills "Critical Reading "imparts will deepen readers' understanding of the research process, increase enjoyment and enhance professional confidence and effectiveness in academic, clinical and commercial settings.

Experienced scientists and medical researchers know how important it is to engage with research literature in an active, critical and analytical way. However in most universities little time is devoted to teaching the relevant skills. Readers who accept scientific papers uncritically may misunderstand results, misinterpret the experimental significance of techniques, over or underestimate the importance of findings and waste time and resources on flawed or unnecessary experiments.
"Critical Reading "is aimed at everyone who needs to read original research papers in life sciences and medicine: final-year undergraduates, graduate students, research scientists, clinicians and medical researchers. Through a series of clearly focused chapters, the reader is introduced to critical reading skills such as:
- Detection and analysis of spin
- Development of active reading habits
- Evaluation of methods, including qualitative methods
- Scientific analysis and interpretation
This book promotes a balanced, rigorous approach to the literature. It is unique in providing examples and end-of-chapter exercises from a wide range of scientific and clinical disciplines including biochemistry, ecology, immunology and physiology. Principles are extensively illustrated by reference to real papers, which are discussed constructively in the context of the pressures and technical difficulties that face researchers.
The skills "Critical Reading "imparts will deepen readers' understanding of the research process, increase enjoyment and enhance professional confidence and effectiveness in academic, clinical and commercial settings.

Economists need to bring clear thinking and a host of analytical techniques to a wide range of topics. "The Student Guide to Writing Economics "will equip students with the tools and skills required to write accomplished essays.
Robert Neugeboren provides a concise, accessible guide to the writing process taking the student through the stages of planning, revising and editing pieces of work. This book presents the core principles of the 'economics approach' and covers essential topics such as
- The key to successful writing in economics
- Basic methods economists use to analyze data and communicate ideas
- Suggestions for finding and focusing your chosen topic
- Vital techniques for researching topics
- How to approach the citing of sources and creating a bibliography
"The Students Guide to" "Writing Economics" also includes up-to date appendices covering fields in economics such as standard statistical sources, on-line search engines and electronic indices to periodical literature.
This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for students seeking to understand how to write successfully in economics.

Writing for Broadcast News makes the storytelling elements that comprise a broadcast news story, whether for radio or TV, immediately accessible and understandable to beginning broadcast writers and journalism students. Its step-by-step approach defines the parts necessary to structuring a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end by establishing a definite framework into which the anchor lead, the reporter narrative, and the actualities or sound bites fit to form a seamless, compelling whole. Starting with the idea that people are most interested in people, no matter what the issue, this instructive book emphasizes the human element and shows how to put a face on the story at the earliest possible moment. It uses student report case histories to allow beginners to more easily learn the journalistic process-and how to maintain its integrity-and also features quizzes, exercises based on actual news stories, and critical evaluation checklists. Writing for Broadcast News gives practical advice to guide aspiring broadcast reporters and writers toward becoming effective storytellers.

This clear, reader-friendly book is carefully designed to help readers gain confidence and acquire competence in their academic writing abilities. It focuses on real people as they write and actively involves readers in the writing process. The authors' innovative approach encourages reflection on how professional writing initiatives connect to the personal self. For pre-service and in-service teachers, graduate students, school administrators, educational specialists, and all others involved in the educational enterprise, effective writing is important to professional success. Organized to help the reader move progressively and confidently forward as a writer of academic prose, Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional features: *activities to engage readers in connecting their writing endeavors to their personal selves, and in discovering their own writing attitudes, behaviors, strengths, and problem areas; *practical applications to inform and support the reader's writing initiatives--including opportunities to engage in invention strategies, to begin a draft, to revise and edit a piece of writing that is personally and professionally important, and to record reflections about writing; *the voices of the authors and of graduate students who are pursuing a variety of academic writing tasks--to serve as models for the reader's writing endeavors; and *writing samples and personal stories about writing shared by experts in various contexts--offering hints about conditions, self-reflections, and habits that help them write effectively. All students and professionals in the field of education will welcome the distinctive focus in this book on connecting the personal and the professional, and the wealth of practical applications and opportunities for reflection it provides.

A well-understood tenet exists among the FDA and other regulatory bodies: if you didn't write it down, it didn't happen. And if it didn't happen, your company stands to lose time, money, and perhaps its competitive edge. Write it Down: Guidance for Preparing Effective and Compliant Documentation provides you with the tools you need to put effective documentation in place. The book has a three-pronged focus: to help writers understand the why of what they must write and the current industry standards for good documentation practices, to provide effective examples of a broad spectrum of documents, and to supply an in-depth explanation of grammar and punctuation conventions. Substantially expanded, the second edition focuses on the regulations, the need to document, and the range of documentation that must be in place to support therapeutic products from discovery through market. Readers will find useful examples of good writing, many provided by people in the industry. Letters and memos; short reports of varied topics, including equipment evaluation, vendor audit, and trip review; standard operating procedures, laboratory methods, and training materials; documentation for an IQ/OQ/PQ project; a journal article; and excerpts from a development report and a dossier are among the many examples. The book also gives a thorough explanation of grammar, punctuation, and usage, with a strong emphasis on the components of the language that pose difficulties for non-native writers of English. This book is a must for people working in or preparing to work in environments that produce drugs, medical devices, or biologics for sale in countries that have stringent regulatory requirements and where the business language is English. Firmly placing the writing task in context of the existing laws and guidances, the book offers valuable insights into managing systems and producing documentation that meets the requirements of the binding regulations.

Over the past decade, the World Wide Web has dramatically changed the face of technical communication, but the teaching of writing has thus far altered very little to accommodate this rapidly changing context. Technical Communication and the World Wide Web offers substantial and broadly applicable strategies for teaching global communication issues affecting writing for the World Wide Web. Editors Carol Lipson and Michael Day have brought together an exceptional group of experienced and well-known teacher-scholars to develop this unique volume addressing technical communication education. The chapters here focus specifically on curriculum issues and the teaching of technical writing for the World Wide Web, contributing a blend of theory and practice in proposing changes in curriculum and pedagogy. Contributors offer classroom examples that teachers at all levels of experience can adapt for their own classes. The volume provides comprehensive coverage of the technical communication curriculum, from the two-year level to the graduate level; from service courses to degree programs. This volume is an important and indispensable resource for technical writing educators, and it will serve as an essential reference for curriculum and pedagogy development in technical communication programs.

Over the past decade, the World Wide Web has dramatically changed the face of technical communication, but the teaching of writing has thus far altered very little to accommodate this rapidly changing context. Technical Communication and the World Wide Web offers substantial and broadly applicable strategies for teaching global communication issues affecting writing for the World Wide Web. Editors Carol Lipson and Michael Day have brought together an exceptional group of experienced and well-known teacher-scholars to develop this unique volume addressing technical communication education. The chapters here focus specifically on curriculum issues and the teaching of technical writing for the World Wide Web, contributing a blend of theory and practice in proposing changes in curriculum and pedagogy. Contributors offer classroom examples that teachers at all levels of experience can adapt for their own classes. The volume provides comprehensive coverage of the technical communication curriculum, from the two-year level to the graduate level; from service courses to degree programs. This volume is an important and indispensable resource for technical writing educators, and it will serve as an essential reference for curriculum and pedagogy development in technical communication programs.

From Sex to Schizophrenia: Everything You Need to Develop Your Characters

What makes a person commit a white-collar crime? Who is a likely candidate to join a cult? Why do children have imaginary friends? How does birth order affect whether or not a person gets married? When does mind over matter become a crippling problem?

"Writer's Guide to Character Traits, 2nd edition" answers all of these questions and many others. With more than 400 easy-to-reference lists of traits blended from a variety of behaviors and influences, you'll gain the knowledge you need to create distinctive characters whose personalities correspond to their thoughts and actions - no matter how normal or psychotic they might be. In this updated and expanded edition, you'll also find:

• Comprehensive instruction on how to use this book
• New statistical information to help you create true-to-life characters
• Corresponding exercises that show you how to put the material to work in your stories
• A quick-reference index to make cross-referencing a snap
• Idea sparkers to get your thoughts out of your head and onto the page

In "Writer's Guide to Character Traits, 2nd edition," note psychologist and author Dr. Linda Edelstein takes you beyond generic personality types and into the depths of the human psyche where you're sure to find the resources you need to make your characters stand out from the crowd.

"Better Broadcast Writing, Better Broadcast News" teaches students how to write with the conversational simplicity required for radio and TV.

This text draws on the Emmy Award-winning author's decades of professional experience in broadcast journalism. In addition to writing, the text also discusses the other elements that make up a good story-producing, reporting, shooting, editing, and ethics. The author's real-world perspective conveys the excitement of a career in journalism.

Features

• Covers topics beyond writing, such as creating a well-paced broadcast, shooting and editing in the field, ethics, and job searching, giving students a sense of how writing fits into the bigger picture of news coverage.
• Features examples drawn from the author's own experience, including scripts and stories from ABC News, allowing students real-world insights into the broadcasting field.
• Addresses the differences between television and radio and describes the skills that apply to both media, preparing students to work in either field.
• Includes exercises in every chapter, giving students practical writing experience and encouraging them to think about the lessons conveyed in the book.

Hypertheatre: Contemporary Radical Adaptation of Greek Tragedy investigates the adaptation of classical drama for the contemporary stage and explores its role as an active, polemical form of theatre which addresses present-day issues. The book's premise is that by breaking drama into constituent parts, revising, reinterpreting and rewriting to create a new, culturally and politically relevant construct, the process of adaptation creates a 'hyperplay', newly repurposed for the contemporary world. This process is explored through a diverse collection of postmodern adaptations of Antigone, Medea, and The Trojan Women, analysing their adaptive strategies and the evidence of how these remakings reflect the cultures of which they are a part. Central to this study is the idea that each of these adaptations becomes an entirely new play, redefining its central female figures and invoking reconfigurations of femininity which emphasise individual women's strengths and female solidarity. Written for scholars of Theatre, Adaptation, Performance Studies, and Literature, Hypertheatre places the Greek classics firmly within a contemporary feminist discourse.

Every aspiring writer should read this book before he starts. Every doctor whose work has been rejected or changed should read it to find out what went wrong. Journalism is one of the msot challenging and rewarding of the writing skills, but success depends on sound preparation and careful thought. Tim Albert is widely recognized as the leading trainer in medical journalism and those who follow his step-by-step advice could quickly see their name in print. 'Tim Albert is ideally qualified to write this book. Not only is he a accomplished writer but he's one of the few journalists I know who is also a talented teacher. My only grouse about the book is that it didn't exist when I first hung up my stehoscope and tried to turn myself into a writer. It would have spared me months of struggle in an alien world where experience eventually taught me some of the lessons I could have learned less traumatically from these pages.' From the foreword by Michael O'Donnell

Confusing, inadequate instructions for setting up and using consumer products are not only unhelpful, but potentially dangerous. They may contain wrong information, poor warnings, and no pictures or illustrations. Standards are either non-existent or little known, even though the U.S. government has developed and tested standards for the past thirty years. This book presents a set of guidelines written by The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society that have been tested by human factor specialists. This expert advice is applicable to writing assembly procedures, operational procedures, and user, shop, and repair manuals.

This guide offers detailed advice on the journal article publication process, describing each step of the process and providing insights for improving the presentation of work intended for publication in communication journals. It includes advice from journal editors across the discipline and offers resource materials to help both new and seasoned writers publish their work.
The guide begins with an overview of the publication process, followed by a discussion of each step of the manuscript submission, review, and revision processes. In addition to reality-based answers to questions often posed to editors, resource materials are provided in the appendices, introducing readers to the various forms and correspondence they will encounter when they submit their work for consideration. The guide focuses on the issues and procedures associated with the publication process, examining rules and expectations encountered during the publishing process that are often assumed to be known but are rarely articulated. The guidance provided here will aid in establishing consistency in publication practices and will contribute toward improving the quality of journal submissions, as well as enhancing interaction with editors and reviewers.
As a guide to demystifying procedures associated with the publication process, this resource will serve all academic authors desiring to publish their work in scholarly communication journals.

One of the ways librarians maintain the integrity of their profession is through the creation of a robust body of professional literature. In The Librarian's Guide to Writing for Publication, Rachel Singer Gordon speaks to the hidden genius in each of us. Topics covered include, but are not limited to: queries and proposals; increasing your odds of publication; networking and collaboration; marketing and promotion; and the particular demands of authorship in an electronic environment. An appendix contains interviews with several library publishers and editors, covering the gamut of publication outlets. This is a one-stop guide for librarians at any stage of their publishing career.

In this volume, Mark Waldo argues that writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs should be housed in writing centers and explains an innovative approach to enhancing their effectiveness: focus WAC on the writing agendas of the disciplines. He asserts that WAC operation should reflect an academy characterized by multiple language communities--each with contextualized values, purposes, and forms for writing, and no single community's values superior to another's. Starting off with an examination of the core issue, that WAC should be promoting learning to write in the disciplines instead of writing to learn, Waldo proposes: *housing WAC in comprehensive writing centers independent of any other department; *using dialogue and inquiry rather than prescriptive techniques in the WAC program's interaction with faculty in other disciplines; and *phasing out writing assessment that depends on one test measuring the writing abilities of students from all disciplines. In the process of making his case, Waldo discusses tutor training, faculty consultancy, and multilayered assessment programs. In addition to presenting the theoretical and practical advantages of discipline-based WAC programs, he also offers clear and compelling evidence from his own institution that supports the success of this approach to writing instruction. Demythologizing Language Difference in the Academy: Establishing Discipline-Based Writing Programs will be of interest to writing program and WAC administrators; writing center administrators; graduate students studying composition; and educators and graduate students involved in WAC initiatives, research, and study.

In this volume, Mark Waldo argues that writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs should be housed in writing centers and explains an innovative approach to enhancing their effectiveness: focus WAC on the writing agendas of the disciplines. He asserts that WAC operation should reflect an academy characterized by multiple language communities--each with contextualized values, purposes, and forms for writing, and no single community's values superior to another's. Starting off with an examination of the core issue, that WAC should be promoting learning to write in the disciplines instead of writing to learn, Waldo proposes: *housing WAC in comprehensive writing centers independent of any other department; *using dialogue and inquiry rather than prescriptive techniques in the WAC program's interaction with faculty in other disciplines; and *phasing out writing assessment that depends on one test measuring the writing abilities of students from all disciplines. In the process of making his case, Waldo discusses tutor training, faculty consultancy, and multilayered assessment programs. In addition to presenting the theoretical and practical advantages of discipline-based WAC programs, he also offers clear and compelling evidence from his own institution that supports the success of this approach to writing instruction. Demythologizing Language Difference in the Academy: Establishing Discipline-Based Writing Programs will be of interest to writing program and WAC administrators; writing center administrators; graduate students studying composition; and educators and graduate students involved in WAC initiatives, research, and study.

In 1888, Mark Twain reflected on the writer's special feel for words to his correspondent, George Bainton, noting that "the difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter." We recognize differences between a politician who is "willful" and one who is "willing" even though the difference does not cross word-stems or parts of speech. We recognize that being "held up" evokes different experiences depending upon whether its direct object is a meeting, a bank, or an example. Although we can notice hundreds of examples in the language where small differences in wording produce large reader effects, the authors of "The Power of Words" argue that these examples are random glimpses of a hidden systematic knowledge that governs how we, as writers or speakers, learn to shape experience for other human beings.
Over the past several years, David Kaufer and his colleagues have developed a software program for analyzing writing called DocuScope. This book illustrates the concepts and rhetorical theory behind the software analysis, examining patterns in writing and showing writers how their writing works in different categories to accomplish varying objectives. Reflecting the range and variety of audience experience that contiguous words of surface English can prime, the authors present a theory of language as an instrument of rhetorically priming audiences and a catalog of English strings to implement the theory. The project creates a comprehensive map of the speaker and writer's implicit knowledge about predisposing audience experience at the point of utterance.
The book begins with an explanation of why studying language from the standpoint of priming--not just meaning--is vital to non-question begging theories of close reading and to language education in general. The remaining chapters in Part I detail the steps taken to prepare a catalog study of English strings for their properties as priming instruments. Part II describes in detail the catalog of priming categories, including enough examples to help readers see how individual words and strings of English fit into the catalog. The final part describes how the authors have applied the catalog of English strings as priming tools to conduct textual research.

The Storm Komrade Sokrates centers on aging radicals who were leaders in German student revolution of 1848. The main characters are Dr. Hartmeyer, a Dentist and Dr. Marcuse, the local Rabbi. After their arrests, they were sent to the Eastern border of Germany to live a life in quasi exile. These leaders, and the other former revolutionaries, are now attempting to pass their ideals liberty, equality and justice] on to their sons, but fail miserably. Their sons are not interested the aspirations of the previous generation and, instead, one of the Dentist's sons declares his desire to gain wealth and social status, and the other, in the spirit of Bismarck's nationalism, joins the student military corps. The Rabbi's son takes the opposite point of view. He fails to see any future in a society where anti-Semitism is on the rise and is looking for a way out. When the play was produced in 1903, the author was threatened with imprisonment because the script was viewed as an attack on the monarchy and the noble class. This is the first English edition of the play.

Literary Studies provides students with an accessible overview of everything they need to know to succeed in their English courses-literary terms, historical periods, theoretical approaches and more. This guide helps students gain the analytical skills that will benefit them in college and as educated citizens after graduation.

The crash of an Amtrak train near Baltimore, the collapse of the Hyatt hotel in Kansas City, the incident at Three Mile Island, and other large-scale technological disasters have provided powerful examples of the ways that communication practices influence the events and decisions that precipitate a disaster. These examples have raised ethical questions about the responsibility of writers within agencies, epistemological questions about the nature of representation in science, and rhetorical questions about the nature of expertise and experience as grounds for judgments about risk.
In "The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical Documentation in Hazardous Environments, " author Beverly Sauer examines how the dynamic uncertainty of the material environment affects communication in large regulatory industries. Sauer's analysis focuses specifically on mine safety, which provides a rich technical and historical context where problems of rhetorical agency, narrative, and the negotiation of meaning have visible and tragic outcomes. But the questions Sauer asks have larger implication for risk and safety: How does writing function in large regulatory industries? What can we learn from experience? Why is this experience so difficult to capture in writing? What information is lost when agencies rely on written documentation alone? Given the uncertainties, how can we work to improve communication in hazardous and uncertain environments?
By exploring how individuals make sense of the material, technical, and institutional indeterminancies of their work in speech and gesture, "The Rhetoric of Risk" helps communicators rethink their frequently unquestioned assumptions about workplace discourse and the role of writers in hazardous worksites. It is intended for scholars and students in technical writing and communication, rhetoric, risk analysis and risk communication, as well as a wide range of engineering and technical fields concerned with risk, safety, and uncertainty.

Drawing on the advice of experts in the field, The Web Writer's Guide serves as the ideal sourcebook for tips and ideas for freelance and staff writers of online content. This book provides writers of all levels with the information they need in an accessible, easy-to-use fashion. To the many deadline- and project-conscious writers out there who need to further adapt to the dynamics of digital media, this easy-to-use, comprehensive guide serves as a remarkable guidepost.
Featuring interviews with Web writers and developers, this guide will offer writers the benefit of many years' combined field experience as well as a sense of how the content factors into various online publications.
The Web Writer's Guide toolkit includes twenty-four checklists, worksheets, and forms that aid online writers to submit complete, concise, and clean copy. The checklists are also useful career path tools. For those new to online writing, the Quick Start section of the book is organized to help you produce quality copy quickly and professionally, for the first time and thereafter.
* Expert tips for novice writers and writers experienced primarily in print
* Covers topics such as writing content for corporate and e-commerce sites, e-mail newsletters, press releases, and e-zines
* Includes a Web writer's glossary to defining online content and Internet terms

There are writing centers at almost every college and university in the United States, and there is an emerging body of professional discourse, research, and writing about them. The goal of this book is to open, formalize, and further the dialogue about research in and about writing centers. The original essays in this volume, all written by writing center researchers, directly address current concerns in several ways: they encourage studies, data collection, and publication by offering detailed, reflective accounts of research; they encourage a diversity of approaches by demonstrating a range of methodologies (e.g., ethnography, longitudinal case study; rhetorical analysis, teacher research) available to both veteran and novice writing center professionals; they advance an ongoing conversation about writing center research by explicitly addressing epistemological and ethical issues. The book aims to encourage and guide other researchers, while at the same time offering new knowledge that has resulted from the studies it analyzes.