Proofreading Your Proposal

1. Proofreading Your Proposal

2. For Best Results… • Wait several days after you finish writing a chapter before beginning your proofreading – approach the material with a fresh mind. • Proofread only one chapter at a time – too much material can be overwhelming. • Proofread a hard copy – do not try to proofread an electronic copy. • Keep your pen in your hand – it is easy to think it is too much trouble to make a change if you must reach for your pen. • Double space the version of the document you are going to proofread. • Write your changes on a hard copy – do not return to your computer until you are ready to enter all of your changes for a chapter. • Proofread your chapter three times – one time read the material aloud (with your pen in your hand).

3. Proofreading Procedure • First proofreading – visual: • Print a hard copy of the chapter. • Read the chapter silently with a pen in your hand. • Mark your changes directly on the hard copy. • Make your changes on a revised electronic copy. • Print a hard copy of the revised chapter. • Second proofreading – oral: • Read the revised hard copy of the chapter out loud. • Mark your changes directly on the hard copy with a pen. • Make your changes on a second revised electronic copy. • Print a hard copy of the revised chapter. • Third proofreading – visual: • Follow all of the steps listed under the first visual proofreading .

4. First Proofreading • You should look for several things in your first visual proofreading: • Subject/verb agreement • Articles • Figures and tables • Consistency in spelling • Punctuation

5. Subject/Verb Agreement • Identify the simple subject and the verb. Make certain that the verb agrees with the simple subject (and not with the object of the preposition that may be closer to the verb). This exercise can be a tedious task. • A setof training exercises is used to develop certain muscles. • The necessity for these specifications is unclear.

6. Articles • Use an article (a, an, or the) before a singular countable noun. • Use the if the word “specific” makes sense between the article and the noun. • Use an article before a plural noun if the word “specific” makes sense before the noun. • Use a before a noun that begins with a consonant. • Use an before a noun that begins with a vowel.

7. Figures and Tables • Check figures and tables (f&t). Check the f&t as you come to them – this endeavor will provide a welcome break from the subject/verb exercise. • Have you consistently used either Figure or Fig. in both the text and the f&t titles? • Are all f&t previously introduced in the text (this is particularly problematic if you are using LaTex)? • Do all f&t come at the end of a sentence (again, LaTex is bad about inserting f&t in the middle of a sentence)? • Do all f&t title numbers agree with the numbers stated in the text? • Are all f&t numbers consecutive? • Are all figure titles entered below the figures? • Are all table titles entered above the tables? • Are all f&t titles written as though they were a sentence? • Are the first word, proper nouns, and acronyms the only capitalized words? • Does a period follows the last word in the title?

8. Consistency in Spelling • Make a list of problematic words and refer to this list when you write later chapters. Although this exercise will take a bit of time in the early chapters, it will ultimately save you time, and it will definitely make your writing more consistent. • Words that are capitalized in your technical interest area, but are not normally capitalized • Words that are hyphenated when they are used as adjectives, e.g., solid-state, trade-off, and multi-user • Words that could be hyphenated, but that are spelled as one word, e.g., microneedle, ongoing, and straightforward

9. Punctuation • Commas • Semicolons

10. Commas • Commas are used with the following grammatical elements: • Introductory elements • Coordinating conjunctions joining independent clauses • Serial elements • Coordinate modifiers • Nonrestrictive modifiers • Parenthetical elements • Elliptical constructions • Numerical constructions

11. Commas (2) • A comma is placed after a transitional word or phrase that begins a sentence: • Moreover, in integrated optics, surface-relief gratings are used with slab wave guides to provide filtering of the optical wave. • Thus, focusing light is another important issue of gratings. • A comma is placed after an introductory dependent clause: • Although Wittenben proposed one of the early transmit-diversity techniques, Tarokh later introduced space-time coding.

12. Commas (3) • A comma is normally used after an introductory prepositional or verbal phrase: • If the receiver has multiple antennae, receiver diversity is also achieved. • Achieving the goal, the engineer felt rewarded for all the effort the research had demanded.

13. Commas (4) • A comma is placed before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses: • The Wiener filter was primarily confined to scalar signals in noise with stationary statistics, and the Kalman filter was a dramatic improvement over its minimum squared-error predecessor. • A comma must not be placed after an introductory participial or gerund phrase if the phrase forms part of the subject or verb of the sentence: • Describing how these multi-scale operations affect a binary image is a difficult task.

14. Commas (9) • Use a comma to set off the year in dates expressed in the month-day-year sequence: • The proposal is due April 7, 2009. • Omit commas when only the month and the year are stated or in the day-month-year sequence: • The proposal is due April 2009. • The proposal is due 7 April 2009.

15. Commas (5) • A comma is used to separate the items in a series: • Lingering eye contact, expressive facial expressions, comfortable body movements, and appropriate hand gestures enhance an oral presentation. • A comma is used between coordinate modifiers (If and can be inserted between two modifiers that describe the same word, the modifiers are coordinate.): • The Kalman filter incorporates an accurate, thorough, and dependable description of the system noises.

16. Commas (6) • A nonrestrictive modifier is usually introduced by which and contains information that is not essential to establishing the meaning of what it modifies. Commas are used to set off nonrestrictive modifiers: • The Kalman filter, which produces an estimate of the desired variables, was introduced in 1960. • Commas are used to set off the parenthetic elements: • Technical writing, an essential skill for successful electrical engineers, is taught in many colleges and universities.

17. Commas (7) • Commas are used in elliptical constructions to indicate the omission of a word or words that are readily understood from the context: • In the United States, ninety-two scanners exist; in Europe, eighty-five; and in all of Africa, six. Note: The commas indicate the omission of the words “scanners exist.” • Commas are used to separate certain elements or sub-elements of a bibliographic group in a reference list: • E. Lee and D. Messerschmitt,Digital Communications, Second Edition, Norwell, MA: Kluwer, 1994.

18. Commas (8) • Anglo-American usage dictates that there be internal commas before groups of three digits from the right: • Is 714,529 the correct number of students? • A comma is used to separate numbers in a sentence: • In 2001, 75 students entered the contest. • A comma is used to separate items in an address: • The Van Leer building is located at777 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0250. • A comma or a period that is used with quotation marks is placed inside the quotation marks; a semi-colon or semi-colon that is used with quotation marks is placed outside the quotation marks.

19. Semicolons • Semicolons are used to join two independent clauses. • The students have three written assignments during the semester; the proposal is the longest of these assignments. • Semicolons are used to separate sentence elements that contain commas. • Punctuation, including periods, commas, semicolons, and colons; mechanics; the parts of speech; and technical writing style are covered in ECE 8020. • Semicolons and colons that are used with quotation marks are placed outside the quotation marks; commas and periods that are used with quotation marks are placed inside the quotation marks.

20. Second Proofreading • Make this your oral proofreading session – read the chapter aloud. You will hear mistakes (especially omitted articles). Your goal here is to clarify your meaning and make your writing more concise. • It • This • In order to • That/which

21. It • Listen for the pronoun it, and make certain that the antecedent for this pronoun is clear. To avoid confusion on the part of your readers, you probably need to substitute a shortened form of the noun to which it refers. • Unclear antecedent: • Now that CEN and its services have been described, an explanation of its bandwidth limitations will follow. • Clear antecedent: • Now that CEN and its services have been described, an explanation of CEN’s bandwidth limitations will follow.

22. This • Listen for the demonstrative pronoun this, and remember that inserting a noun after a demonstrative pronoun is an easy way to increase clarity. • Unclear antecedent: • This can produce good results. • This helps the transport protocol make efficient decisions. • Clear antecedent: • This method can produce good results. • This capability helps the transport protocol make efficient decisions.

23. In Order To • Listen for in order to and change it to to. Conciseness is admirable. • Verbose: • In order to conduct the experiment, it is necessary to turn off the lights. • The students must stay late in order to complete the experiment. • Concise: • To conduct the experiment, it is necessary to turn off the lights. • The students must stay late to complete the experiment.

24. That/Which • Listen for that and which. • That introduces an essential clause – no punctuation separates this clause from the rest of the sentence. • The EVC is a service container or tunnel that connects two or more customer sites. • Which introduces a nonessential clause – a comma before which and at the end of the clause (unless the clause comes at the end of the sentence) separates this clause from the rest of the sentence. • Multiple parallel channels can be aligned optically and simultaneously in exposure, which is amenable for mass production.

25. Third Proofreading • Check the overall appearance of your chapter and confirm that you have used the same format throughout the chapter. • Compare the Table of Contents listings with the section headings – they should be identical. • In wording • In enumeration • In spelling • In capitalization • In punctuation • Compare the List of Figures and the List of Tables with the actual figure and table titles – they should be identical in all the ways listed under the Table of Contents item. • Cross check your citations with your references.

26. Technical Writing Resources • http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~gpalmer/index.shtml - A large number of documents on technical writing are available through the links listed under Related Topics in the left column of this web site. • http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~gpalmer/spring2009/ece8020/index.shtml - The schedule for ECE 8020a has a large number of links to technical writing handouts.

27. Additional Technical Writing Resources • http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/Aug1996/030/cd/write/begin.htm • L. C. Perelman, J. Paradis, and E. Barrett. The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1998. • D. Beer and D. McMurrey. A Guide to Writing as an Engineer. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997. • W. Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

28. Contact Information • Gail Palmer • Office: 2308 Klaus • Telephone: 404 894-0630 • Fax: 404 894-4641 • E-mail: gail@ece.gatech.edu • ECE 8020 web site: http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~gpalmer/index.shtml