Page 250
Glossary of Technical Terms  
A
Abstract. Brief synopsis of a paper, usually providing a summary of each major section of the paper. Different from a Summary, which is usually a summary of conclusions.
Acknowledgments. The section of a paper (following the Discussion but preceding References) designed to give thanks to individuals and organizations for the help, advice, or financial assistance they provided during the research and during the writing of the paper.
Address. Identifies the author and supplies the author's mailing address.
Ad hoc reviewer. See Referee.
Alphabet-number system. A system of literature citation in which references are arranged alphabetically in References or Literature Cited, numbered, and then cited by number in the text. A variation of the name and year system.
Archival journal. This term is equivalent to "primary journal" and refers to a journal that publishes original research results.
Author. A person who actively contributed to the design and execution of the experiments and who takes intellectual responsibility for the research results being reported.
B
Biological Abstracts. The largest and best-known repository (in the form of abstracts) of knowledge in biology. Published by Biosciences Information Service.
C
Camera-ready copy. Anything that is suitable for photographic reproduction in a book orjournal without the need for typesetting. Authors often supply complicated formulas, chemical structures, flowcharts, etc. as camera-ready copy to avoid the necessity of proofreading and the danger of error in typesetting.
Caption. See Legend.
CBE. See Council of Biology Editors.

 

Page 251
CD-ROM. CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk Read Only Memory and refers to molded aluminum disks used for storing large quantities of digital information. Read by special CD-ROM computer drives or CD players (primarily for music), a disk can hold all textual and graphical elements of a scientific paper or monograph, including audio and video.
Chemical Abstracts. The largest and best-known repository (in the form of abstracts) of knowledge in chemistry. Published by the American Chemical Society.
Citation-order system. A system of referencing in which references are cited in numerical order as they appear in the text. Thus, References is in citation order, not in alphabetical order.
Compositor. One who sets type. Equivalent terms are "typesetter" and "keyboarder."
Conference report. A paper written for presentation at a conference. Most conference reports do not meet the definition of valid publication. A well-written conference report can and should be short; experimental detail and literature citation should be kept to a minimum.
Copyeditor. The title given to a person (usually an employee of the publisher) whose responsibility it is to prepare manuscripts for publication by providing markup for the printer as well as any needed improvements in spelling, grammar, and style.
Copyright. The exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, and sell written intellectual property.
Council of Biology Editors. An organization whose members are involved with the writing, editing, and publishing of books and journals in biology and related fields. Address: 60 Revere Dr., Suite 500, Northbrook, IL 60062.
Cropping. The marking of a photograph so as to indicate parts that need not appear in the published photograph. As a result, the essential material is "enlarged" and highlighted.
Current Contents. A weekly publication providing reproductions of the contents pages of many journals. Scientists can thus keep up with what is being published in their field. Six different editions are published in different fields (including Arts and Humanities) by the Institute for Scientific Information.

 

Page 252
D
Discussion. The final section of an IMRAD paper. Its purpose is to fit the results from the current study into the preexisting fabric of knowledge. The important points will be expressed as conclusions.
Dual publication. Publication of the same data two (or more) times in primary journals. A clear violation of scientific ethics.
E
Editor. The title usually given to the person who decides what will (and will not) be published in a journal or in a multiauthor book.
Editorial consultant. See Referee.
Electronic journal. Electronic journals are online versions of print publications that can be accessed via computer over the Internet. An ever-increasing number of electronic journals (or e-journals) on scientific topics are becoming available each year. Electronic journals allow a quicker, cheaper, and wider dissemination of scientific research than can usually be achieved with print publications.
E-mail. E-mail (or electronic mail) refers to the transmission of messages across the Internet from one computer to another, or to many other computers. E-mail allows scientists in different parts of the country or the world to collaborate more easily and fully on research and writing projects.
F
Festschrift. A volume of writings by different authors presented as a tribute or memorial to a particular individual.
G
Graph. Lines, bars, or other pictorial representations of data. Graphs are useful for showing the trends and directions of data. If exact values must be listed, a table is usually superior.
H
Hackneyed expression. An overused, stale, or trite expression.
Halftone. A photoengraving made from an image photographed through a screen and then etched so that the details of the image are reproduced in dots.
Hardcopy. When an old-fashioned manuscript on paper is provided via a word processor or computer, it is called "hardcopy."
Harvard system. See Name and year system.
Impact factor. A basis for judging the quality of journals. A journal with a high impact factor (the average number of citations per article published, as determined by the Science Citation Index) is apparently used more than a journal with a low impact factor.

 

Page 253
I
IMRAD. An acronym derived from Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, the organizational scheme of most modern scientific papers.
Incunabula. Books printed between 1455 and 1500 A.D.
Internet. The Internet is a rapidly expanding communication system linking millions of computers across the world. Begun in the 1960s as a U.S. government computer network, the Internet today links a broad range of government agencies, educational institutions, private businesses and organizations, and individuals. The Internet is not a centrally managed or controlled entity but a vast decentralized collection of computers talking to one another.
Introduction. The first section of an IMRAD paper. Its purpose is to state clearly the problem investigated and to provide the reader with relevant background information.
J
Jargon. Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary defines jargon as "a confused unintelligible language."
K
Keyboarder. See Compositor.
L
Legend. The title or name given to an illustration, along with explanatory information about the illustration. Usually, this material should not be lettered on a graph or photograph. It will be typeset neatly by the compositor and positioned below the illustration. Also called a "caption."
Literature Cited. The heading used by many journals to list references cited in an article. The headings "References" and (rarely) "Bibliography" are also used.
M
Managing Editor. A title often given to the person who manages the business affairs of a journal. Typically, the managing editor is not involved with editing (acceptance of manuscripts) but is responsible for copyediting (part of the production process).
Markup for the Typesetter. Marks and symbols used by copyeditors (and sometimes authors, as in underlining for italics) to transmit type specifications to the typesetter.
Masthead statement. A statement by the publisher, usually given on the title page of the journal, giving ownership of the journal and a succinct statement describing the purpose and scope of the journal.
Materials and Methods. See Methods.
Methods. The second section of an IMRAD paper. Its purpose is to describe the experiment in such detail that a competent colleague

 

Page 254
could repeat the experiment and obtain the same or equivalent results.
Monograph. A specialized, detailed book written by specialists for other specialists.
N
Name and year system. A system of referencing in which a reference is cited in the text by the last name of the author and the year of publication, e.g., Smith (1990). Also known as the Harvard system.
O
Offprints. See Reprints.
Oral report. Similar in organization to a published paper, except that it lacks experimental detail and extensive literature citation. And, of course, it is spoken, not printed.
P
Peer review. Review of a manuscript by peers of the author (scientists working in the same area of specialization).
Primary journal. A journal that publishes original research results.
Primary publication. The first publication of original research results, in a form whereby peers of the author can repeat the experiments and test the conclusions, and in a journal or other source document readily available within the scientific community.
Printer. Historically, a device that prints or a person who prints. Often, however, "printer" is used to mean the printing company and is used as shorthand for all of the many occupations involved in the printing process, e.g., compositors, press operators, plate-makers, and binders. A distinctly different meaning of "printer" is "computer printer," a device attached to a computer for the purpose of "printing hardcopy" (supplying the computer output on paper).
Proof. A copy of typeset material sent to authors, editors, or managing editors for correction of typographical errors.
Proofreaders' marks. A set of marks and symbols used to instruct the compositor regarding errors on proofs.
Publisher. A person or organization handling the business activities concerned with publishing a book or journal.
R
Referee. A person, usually a peer of the author, asked to examine a manuscript and advise the editor regarding publication. The term "reviewer" is used more frequently but perhaps with less exactness.
Reprints. Separately printed journal articles supplied to authors (usually for a fee). These reprints (sometimes called offprints) are widely circulated among scientists.

 

Page 255
Results. The third section of an IMRAD paper. Its purpose is to present the new information gained in the study being reported.
Review paper. A paper written to review a number of previously published primary papers. Such reviews can be simply annotated references in a particular field, or they can be critical, interpretive studies of the literature in a particular field.
Reviewer. See Referee.
Running head. A headline repeated on consecutive pages of a book or journal. The titles of articles in journals are often shortened and used as running heads. Also called running headlines.
Science writing. A type of writing whose purpose is to communicate scientific knowledge to a wide audience including (usually) both scientists and nonscientists.
S
Scientific paper. A written and published report describing original research results.
Scientific writing. A type of writing whose purpose is to communicate new scientific findings to other scientists.
Series titles. Titles of articles published as a series over the course of time. These titles have a main title common to all papers in the series and a subtitle (usually introduced with a roman numeral) specific for each paper.
Society for Scholarly Publishing. An organization of scholars, editors, publishers, librarians, printers, booksellers, and others engaged in scholarly publishing. Address: 10200 W. 44th Ave., Suite 304, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033.
Summary. Usually a summary of conclusions, placed at the end of a paper. Different from an Abstract, which usually summarizes all major parts of a paper and which appears at the beginning of the paper (heading abstract).
Syntax. The order of words within phrases, clauses, and sentences.
T
Table. Presentation of (usually) numbers in columnar form. Tables are used when many determinations need be presented and the exact numbers have importance. If only "the shape of the data" is important, a graph is usually preferable.
Thesis. A manuscript demanded of an advanced-degree candidate; its purpose is to prove that the candidate is capable of doing original research. The term "dissertation" is essentially equivalent but should be reserved for a manuscript submitted for a doctorate.

 

Page 256
Title. The fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of a paper, book, poster, etc.
Trade books. Books sold primarily through the book trade (book wholesalers and retailers) to the general public. Most scientific books, on the other hand, are sold primarily by direct mail.
Type composition. The typing (keyboarding) of the manuscript by the publisher in accord with the markup for the compositor provided by the copyeditor.
Typesetter. See Compositor.
W
World Wide Web (WWW). The World Wide Web is a system for linking documents across the Internet. The Web uses the HTML coding system to embed the address of one Internet document within another in a specially highlighted hyperlink. By clicking on the hyperlink, the user can move quickly from one document to the next. For an online scientific paper, WWW hyperlinks could connect the text with supporting graphics, photographs, and video and audio clips, as well as with related papers and documents.