Procrastilearner's Style Guide For Science and Technology Posts

This is a style guide that I am writing for STEM bloggers. I have written this guide to build a bit on the main Steemstem style guide.

I think that writing science, health and technology is a fun activity. I use blogging to help me learn new topics, crystallize my understanding of a topic that I already know or just for the joy of sharing some knowledge with other people on the net.

A science post is not a scientific article so the rules are more relaxed but there are still rules (and laws) that govern this activity.

Don't Plagiarize

Use you own words when writing a topic and don't simply copy or spam someone else's work. This is the internet. You will get caught either by a human or a computer. Having said that, I find that @cheetah is still not perfect so don't be shy to flag it's comments on your posts when it has wrongly targeted you.

Remember that it is okay to quote someone verbatim if you found that someone else has wordsmithed a perfect sentence to describe something difficult or subtle concept. Just make sure that you use the ">" sign and reference the author. For example:

Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon which occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the other(s), even when the particles are separated by a large distance—instead, a quantum state must be described for the system as a whole. - Sourced from Wikipedia

Or you can use this inline style:

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." a quote from Winston Churchill found via the Brainyquote.com website.

Spelling, Grammar and Typos

Typos are a fact of writing life. You will make them and they are forgivable but at the very least proof read your article before hitting that post button.

I like to proof read the markdown text first and then proofread the preview text. After I post the article I proof read the published article one more time and fix any overlooked style, grammar or spelling errors.

Paragraphs and White Space

Try not to write a wall of text. Glowing screens are hard to read and most people's eyes need more white space than they would for something printed on paper.

You will notice in this post that I break my paragraphs up more often than I would if I were writing a paper printed report. This makes it easier on your readers.

Formatting and Style

Markdown has many tricks. Use them to improve your formatting and style.

My favourite is the one where you can flow text around an image. You do this with these html tags:

Personality

Do be too dry. Don't be afraid to be you. Use some humour or personal quirkiness. Make use of your life experience to help explain a topic.

Science is not dead or dull so don't make it that way.

Article Length

Okay let's be realistic, this is the internet. Our attention spans have been destroyed so I like to keep my STEM posts to between 3 and 5 screen pages in length (excepting this guide). Very few people will want to read a topic for longer than that.

You can break your article into two or three posts and publish them over a course of a few days. This has the benefit of letting you focus more intensely on one aspect of your topic.

Always make sure that you link back to your older related posts so the reader can go to them if interested.

Making a few related posts over the course of a few days is NOT bounty chasing if done with the above described intent in mind.

Properly Cite Your Image and Its License

Copyright issues are now a huge thing on the internet and each country has it laws on the matter. Always make sure to use a full description of the image license.

I like to embed my citations right into the image along the bottom border. It is easy to do and does not need sophisticated image software. In fact, I usually use Microsoft Paint for the task.

A Fair Use Disclaimers Can Be Helpful

Pasting a fair use disclaimer at the bottom of your post can be helpful to let your readers clearly know the intention of your image and video use.

Being from Canada the statutes from my country apply the most to me and I sometimes use the disclaimer below if I can't find a source to credit or a free-for-reuse image. Basically it is perfectly allowable to make limited use of copyrighted images or even video clips for educational posts.

You may want to adapt this copyright disclaimer to your jurisdiction:

Copyright footnote: Sections 29, 29.1 or 29.2 of the Copyright Act of Canada is a statutory exception that permits the limited use of figures for the purposes of research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism or review and news reporting. That is the intention of the use of the un-credited figure in this post. Other major jurisdictions (USA Section 107, European Copyright Directive etc.) grant similar exceptions.

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A disclaimer like the above signals your intention to your readers that you are not a thief or a plagiarizer only that you are adapting an image for the noble pursuit of education.

Aside #1: I don't think that receiving donations from your fellow Steemians is a commercial activity. For example, educational institutions make money and use copyrighted material a lot but they always also cite their sources.

Aside #2: I believe, but do not know, that Steemit servers are all over the world so the jurisdiction of your country may apply to your posts. On the other hand Steemit is a corporation registered in the USA so maybe American copyright law applies to the Steemit platform?

If You Are ESL Don't Sweat It

If English is not your first language don't over-worry about your STEM writing too much.

The majority of STEM readers are enlightened and understanding folk. We native speakers can pick off a non-native speakers quickly and we know to give them slack.

In fact, we actually take it as a compliment that you even bothered to learn our weird and difficult language. So thank you for that.

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I, Procrastilearner, release all of the text in this post to the Public Domain. Feel free to use it as you will.

Have a nice day.