Do you find it annoying when references aren't cited correctly? My passion for getting book references absolutely accurate really started in my PhD days, when, as you can imagine, trying to find that all-important research paper to help me write my thesis, and finding that a reference was incorrect, would drive me mad. Hence it started, a lifelong passion for compiling book references (ones you can't look up on PubMed or are difficult to find on the Internet in general). Soon followed similar lists of helpful information you need when copy-editing and proofreading (or writing and indexing) scientific and medical texts.
Following my PhD, moving straight into publishing, I started editing O and A level examination papers. The need to get things right, without ambiguity, really struck home, having just emerged from the high-stress exam-taking environment. (Oh, the trauma of sitting in exams, wondering what an examiner was really getting at, and pouring over every word to try to extract the correct meaning! And what about exam questions you couldn't answer because not all the information was there, aargh!)
Style was the next thing that was to be important to me as I started work, all eager and enthusiastic, at the Biochemical Journal. There, I spent more time reading the foot-thick style manual than copy-editing and proofreading, and again later when I went freelance. Once bitten twice shy? Not me!
After a break from Biochemistry, I did a 4-year stint at Marine Engineering and a conference company (mostly producing IT and Telecoms books based on conferences), and many years of freelancing from home. Medicine was my next major port of call. Here I learned about drug names (not always intuitive) and the many diseases and conditions affecting our fellow human beings. Sticking with medicine, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) filled a gap in my medico-political knowledge quite nicely. I often edited their news pages for the lighter, shorter articles, and the exercise, as I tended to run across the office at 5 o'clock to get it to bed (being a weekly). Exciting stuff in the world of proofreading!
Then my passion was further strengthened at the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), where every reference was checked by hand! I was in seventh heaven! Then my work at the BMJ - although they wouldn't have it - showed me just how many references were published incorrectly. They had decided to stop checking individual references years ago, leaving it up to the author to get it right. When you actually take the time to look them up, so often they have errors, and not just peoples' names spelled wrongly. Sometimes there were fatal errors that meant you could not look them up! (Infuriating... much grinding of teeth.)
Finally, I started working full-time for a medical website (at Elsevier), also venturing into writing evidence for drugs and other treatments. An interesting sideline, as style, correcting references and my love of plain English writing, all came together for me.
The guide is mostly based around my time at BMJ and the Biochemical Journal/Clinical Science, but having edited freelance and in-house for over 20 years, I've covered many different and diverse science subjects. And I can safely say that biochemistry is as hard as it gets in terms of style. Biochemistry and medicine, I would say, is a good basic science combo for this guide, with house style, symbols, abbreviations, book references and lots more.
Now for my next trick: guides on other topics: Dentistry? Microbiology? You say the topic, and I'll investigate and consider producing the guide.
Contents
Biochemistry and Medicine:
House style
Abbreviations
Terminology used
Biochemical and equipment companies and software providers and their locations
Common binomia
Book references
Journal Abbreviations
Publishers and their locations, and more...
X - X - X - X - X
God Bless heavy science!
Happy hunting and editing!
Email: debragoring@yahoo.co.uk
Qualifications: Degree in Biological Chemistry, PhD in Chemistry
Society Membership: Society of Freelance Editors & Proofreaders
Work history: In-house: West African Examinations Council, The Biochemical Journal, Institute of Marine Engineers, International Business Communications, Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Clinical Evidence, British Medical Journal, Elsevier Science: FIRSTConsult.
Freelance: Royal Society of Chemistry: Analytical Abstracts and MALDI Journal of Mass Spectrometry; Elsevier, Oxford: Journal of Molecular Structure and Theochem; John Wiley: chemistry books and NMR Encyclopedia; Blackwells, Oxford: European Journal of Biochemistry; Gordon & Breach: Russian translations of a geological journal, and books on biology and physics; British Small Animal Veterinary Association: Journal of Small Animal Practice; Nelson Thornes: chemistry, biology and mathematics books; Wiley-VCH Germany; Academic Press; The Stationery Office; Hodder&Stoughton; Kogan Page
Source: www.ezinearticles.com
