How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

A few words on email style
Writing clearly across cultures and media
Scientific style

If you are in the sciences, much of your writing may be in email. Although email is rarely published, a little attention to crafting it can help it serve you better.

Begin with a meaningful subject line. And if you want the recipient to take some action, make that fact clear early on. Do not bury such a requirement at the end of a lengthy email message.

Then, for readability, keep the paragraphs fairly short and skip space between them. Indeed, if you want your message to be read, make it relatively brief. Lengthy discourses often are better provided as attachments.

If you are sending email to a large group, spare readers the list of addresses by using the Bcc feature. And speaking of groups: In responding to messages sent to email discussion groups, beware of inadvertently replying to the whole group when you mean to address only the sender. The other members of the group probably do not care about your family vacation.

Beware of trying to convey humor by email: What may appear funny in person with vocal inflections or gestures may come across as hostile or otherwise offensive. You have better things to do than explain that you were really trying to be amusing.

If something in an email message annoys you, take time to cool down. Do not fire off an angry reply in haste. And angry or otherwise, do not say anything that you would not want forwarded. Remember that, other than in secure contexts, email is not private. As one colleague put it: If you would not write it on a postcard, do not put it in email. Clearly, email is not the medium for complaining about your graduate advisor or department head.

Although email tends to be casual, suit the level of formality to the context. When sending email to potential employers, for example, word it carefully, check it for grammatical errors, and proofread it thoroughly. If you have been using a humorous email address, consider having a more formal one for professional communications.

And finally, include a concise, informative signature block in your professional email. In the signature block, provide at least your name, title, and affiliation. If customary in your field or at your institution, perhaps also include a courtesy title (such as “Dr.”) or list advanced degrees. Other items to consider providing in a signature block include your phone number, social media links, and URL. Consider having different signature blocks to use in different circumstances or modifying your signature block to suit the situation. In any case, keep your signature block relatively short. Remember that this is your signature block, not your curriculum vitae.