ANALVTICAL CHEMISTRY
EDITORIAL
March 1959, Vol. 31, No. 3 APPLIED JOURNALS, ACS 1 155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington 6, D. C. Director of Publicotions, C. B. Larmbee Editoriol Director, Walter J. Murphy Executive Editor, James M. Crowe Production Monager, Joseph H. Kuney ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY Editor, Lawrence T. Hallett Monaging Editor, Robert G. Gibbs EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON 6, D. C. 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Teletype W A 23 Phone Republic 7-3337 Associafe Editors: G. Gladys Gordon, Stella Anderson, Katherine 1. Biggs Assistanf Editors: Robert J. Riley, Robert J. Kelley, Ruth M. Howorth, Eugenia Keller, Sue M. Solliday, S. David Pursglove, Malvina B. Preiss, Ruth Reynard Editoriol Assistants: Katherine H. Ginnane, James H. Carpenter, Virginia E. Stewart layout on3 Production: Melvin D. Buckner (Art); Paul Barehowsky, Betty V. Kieffer, Roy F. Nash, Clarence 1. Rakow BRANCH EDITORIAL OFFICES CHICAGO 3, ILL. Room 926 36 South Wobash Ave. Teletype CG 725 Phone State 2-5148 Associofe Editors: Howard J. Sanders, Chester Plaeek, Laurence J. White HOUSTON 2, TEX. 718 Melrose Bldg. Teletype HO 72 Phone Fairfax 3-7107 Associate Editor: Bruce F. Greek Assisfont Editor: Earl V. Anderson NEW YORK 16, N. Y. 2 Park Ave. Phone Oregon 9.1646 Teletype NY 1-4726 Associate Editors: William Q. Hull, Harry Stenerson, David M. Kiefer, D. Gray Weaver, Walter S. Fedor, Morton Salkind Assistant Editor: louis A. Agnello SAN FRANCISCO 4, CALIF. 703 Mechanics’ Institute Bldg. 57 Post st. Teletype SF 549 Phone Exbrook 2-2895 Associate Edifors: Richard G. Newhall, David E. Gushee EASTON, PA. 20th and Northampton Sts. Phone Blackburn 8-91 11 Teletype ESTN Pa 48 Associofe Editor: Charlotte C. Sayre Editorial Assistants: Joyce A. Richards, Elizabeth R. Rufe, June A. Barron EUROPEAN OFFICE Bush House, Aldwych, London Cable JIECHEM Phone Temple Bar 3605 Associate Editor: Albert S. Herter Contributing Editor: R. H. Muller Advisory Board: R. M. Archibald, W. H. Beamer, F. E. Bearnish, H. 0. Cassidy, W. D. Cooke. J. 1. Hoffman, M. 1. Kelley, C. 1. Luke, W. M. MacNevin, W. J. Mader, John Mitchell, Jr., N. H. Nachtrieb, E. J. Rosenbaum, R. G. Russell, F. H. Stross Advertising Management: REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORP. (For Branch Offices see page 1 19 A)
Technical Writing
- Need It Be Dull?
Have Authors and Editors Become Slaves to Conformity in Technical Writing? OES
it have t o be dull t o be technical?” was the topic selected by Howard
D G. Sawyer for his recent address t o the Society of Business Magazine Editors. Sawyer is vice president of James Thomas Chirurg Co., advertising agency. Although directed to business magazine editors, many of his remarks spply to editors of scientific and technical journals. It is somewhat of a fallacy, Sawyer said, for editors to feel that a reader will automatically be interested in reading journals which are written t o meet his specific needs. Often the reader skims such journals or ignores them entirely. His excuse is that he is t o o busy to read this material. Yet, he will find time to read newspapers and nontechnical magazines which, while informative or entertaining, do not have a direct bearing on his work. Why is this? The answer seems fairly obvious; the latter material is easier t o read than the scientific and technical journals. Although scientific articles cannot be written as simply as nontechnical material, there is much room for improvement, Sawyer stated. The editor is challenged t o present the material in an interesting and readable form. What can the editor do? One thing is to create a personality for his journal. Many readers can identify certain publications without ever reading the name, because of style of writing, cover design, format, etc. This is not always true of business magazines. There are many things an editor can do to create a personality for his journal. He can use interesting covers, informative contents pages, and attractive makeup with adequate illustrative material and headings. He should consider each article as a separate entity and make it attractive and interesting enough to stand on its own. Another, which concerns both editors and authors, is t o improve writing style by use of simple words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Others include occasional use of esoteric words, avoiding the habit of talking down t o readers, and writing enthusiastically. Sawyer also suggested the desirability of discussing controversial topics and taking a positive stand. Another important factor is to use good illustrative material. In journals like ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, the editor is largely dependent on the author for such material. Sawyer’s remarks remind us that our scientific journals of years gone by did just this. Many contributions of the “giants” of the early days of chemistry, for example, were announced in the form of public exchange of letters. hlany of these letters or scientific communications had a distinct flavor and pungent humor. The authors apparently were as concerned with the well turned phrase as with the technical content. Today, with a team approach to research, reports of such research tend t o be impersonal. Editors, in efforts to make material fit into limited page budgets, tend to edit material down. We feel, however, that it is possible to be concise and still be interesting and to have a characteristic style without being unduly wordy. The fundamentals of good writing do not change. Basically they consist of presenting thoughts clearly and logically in the simplest possible language. -411 of us can work toward this goal with resulting benefits for all.
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