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that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

(OP)
See my rant in thread1010-104704.  Lather, froth, foam at mouth, rinse, repeat.

Bejaysus there's a lot of awful writing out there submitted for formal publication.  And they don't even care enough to pay attention to the errors that the word processor catches!

Then there are the papers submitted for a technical conference that more properly belong in the sidebar of an in-flight magazine--an artefact of the process of approving papers for submittal based on a one-paragraph abstract.  Or the papers that spend about two sentences discussing what's presented in the title or abstract, while 85% of the paper is fluff and filler.  If you don't have a paper's worth of stuff to say on your topic, you shouldn't think you have a paper.

Hg the whingeing conference paper reviewer

Eng-Tips guidelines:  FAQ731-376

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

I get to review a few too.  The papers that annoy me the most are the "A day in the life of an engineer" papers: I had X problem, I used Y tool to solve it, it seemed to work.

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

Hg:

The link below is for an editorial on the Machine Design website about the poor quality of writing from those who write for a living.  I received my degree from a major state university in the early 1980's, and the text book for Comp I & II that all students were required to take was actually written for fifth graders.  With professional writers and English professors setting their standards so low, it is not surprising so many of the rest of us have poor writing skills.

http://forums.machinedesign.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/7890016462/m/1250098263

Phil

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

SG- aren't those papers a common means of advertising for companies that offer software and/or engineering services for hire?

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

ivymike: I can see your point, but don't necessarily agree with it.  Some of said companies advertise themselves with abandon in this way.  But not all.

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

I do a lot of tech writing at the day job - mainly because I'm one of the few northerners in this 'good ol' boy' southern company - hence I don't add phrases such as "Then ya'll put the weldin rods back" - plus I kin spel gud.

Rule of thumb for maintenance manuals is to write around 8th grade level. This isn't meant as an insult but rather to ensure clarity in the field. Not all the folks twisting wrenches have their GED much less a Masters. As Engineering professionals, we tend to forget that the rest of the world isn't as smart as we are ;)

Now if it's an engineering paper or published "tech article" I agree that it needs to be full of important points, not merely "fluff" to get one's name in print, or a thinly veiled company advertisement. Remember, magazines are just there to sell advertising and few care what they print.

Part of the problem may lie in the PE (Professional Eng) system where there has to be X number of papers or seminars per time period to keep the license current. This equates to knocking something out late one night and having a golfing buddy get it published.

Some textbooks seem to fall into the Fluff category in many classes. How about the facts, the equations and the tools needed to achieve the answers? I don't care about your dad's old Ford with the leaking radiator or what happened in 1850 that the author thinks is worth printing to make the page count.

OK, I've got to step down from the soapbox and finish a paper explaining to the Shipping Dept how to put parts into a box for shipment. I've even got pictures!

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein

RE: that time of year again...(unhelpful rant)

Word will check for reading ease by grade level. (It’s an option for spelling grammar to display it after a spell check of the document.)

8th grade is usually sufficient for most applications. If you cannot explain it simply enough to use an 8th grade level then you don’t understand it well enough yourself.


This post is 7.1

.

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

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