| My love of gathering similar things began in early | | | | Compiled over a career spanning 20 years, these |
| childhood, when I collected my parents' empty No. 6 | | | | guides are for copyeditors, proofreaders, editors, |
| cigarette packets. Piles of them grew under my bed | | | | writers and journalists: and include lists of housestyle, |
| - luckily my parents weren't heavy smokers - until I | | | | abbreviations, and terminology used, equipment |
| got fed up with it and moved onto milk cartons and | | | | manufacturers, university addresses and book and |
| bus tickets. I had some strange behaviours as a child! | | | | commonly used journal references. |
| Luckily, I seemed to grow out of that, and went on | | | | Extracts: |
| to University to study biochemistry and chemistry to | | | | From the Biochemical Journal |
| PhD level, and eventually moved into a career in | | | | Abbreviations: |
| scientific & technical editing. Here, I was able to | | | | (note subscripts do not show up in this article) |
| indulge my passion once more, especially when I | | | | AdK, adenosine kinase |
| became a freelance, having been made redundant | | | | Ado, adenosine |
| one dark day in May, back in 1988, when jobs were | | | | AIP, autocamtide-2-related inhibitory peptide |
| previously plentiful and had suddenly become scarce. | | | | ANT, adenine nucleotide translocator |
| Rewinding a bit to my PhD days, a similar love grew, | | | | AP, alkaline phosphatase |
| out of sheer frustration, of getting references | | | | AP-1, activator protein-1 |
| absolutely right, dotting every i and crossing every t, | | | | ARE, antioxidant response element |
| in authors' names and addresses, and ensuring that | | | | ATP, adenosine 5'-triphosphate |
| every volume and page number was spot-on. This | | | | BCIP, 5-bromo-4-chloroindol-3-yl phosphate |
| was borne of necessity, when, as a student, | | | | BSA, bovine serum albuminbZIP, basic region leucine |
| feverishly studying and trying to write my thesis, a | | | | zipper |
| dot or a slash out of place in reference terms could | | | | C16:1, palmitoleic acid |
| spell disaster! This was all because I found it so | | | | C18:1, oleic acid |
| infuriating when some vital piece of information I | | | | C18:2, linoleic acid |
| needed to further my research work or thesis writing | | | | C20:4, arachidonic acid |
| was missing, or inaccessible, due to a reference being | | | | [Ca2+]i, internal Ca2+ concentration |
| incomplete or incorrectly typed. | | | | CaMKII, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase |
| After that, my obsessive compulsive disorder was | | | | II |
| heavily reinforced by joining the West African | | | | Housestyle: |
| Examinations Council, copyediting and proofreading | | | | En rules (note en rules do not show up in this article - |
| and even typesetting O and A level examination | | | | you have to use your imagination!)amino acids |
| papers. I felt it very important work, ensuring that | | | | 1-124backbone-side-chain ... |
| every exam question read unambiguously and that all | | | | Bi-Bi reaction mechanism |
| information was present and correct. | | | | Cibacron Blue-agarose |
| After that, it was the Biochemical Journal that took | | | | 20-22 °Cenzyme-substrate |
| me under their wing, where I rote learned the | | | | complexexcitation-contraction coupling |
| housestyle manual, which was no mean feat, as it | | | | Figures 3A-3C |
| was a foot thick! More lists were enthusiastically | | | | 5-6-fold |
| drawn up and checking of references doggedly | | | | Hewlett-Packard |
| undertaken, for fear of punishment by flogging or | | | | KpnI-EcoRI |
| worse. (They were hard on new intakes in those | | | | LdAdK-Ado adduct |
| days.) | | | | Luria-Bertani medium |
| Then came a slight interlude at the Institute of | | | | 0.5-2 mg/ml |
| Marine Engineers where, although the work also | | | | Michaelis-Menten equation |
| carried the requirement for exquisite accuracy and | | | | 1-20 min |
| attention to detail, it wasn't quite so heavy on the | | | | 150-170 nMnuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling |
| style issues and so allowed some lighter undertakings, | | | | Italics: |
| like desktop publishing and design. Mind you, having | | | | (note roman subscripts usually) |
| become firmly obsessive compulsive by then, I | | | | A550cis cytochrome cde novo DH (enthalpy change) |
| wasn't easily put off, and tried to stamp my own | | | | DpnIgloA G-6-P Ins(1,4,5)P3in uteroin vivoin vitro |
| style onto things, I can tell you! I wasn't about to | | | | Ka |
| give it up that easily. Fortunately, I stayed there for | | | | ... |
| quite a while and it almost cured me of my ailment, | | | | Journalists might find the lists useful too, with book |
| which carried over into my next job, which was | | | | references galore, all individually checked and |
| more business and accountancy oriented, although | | | | corrected. |
| under the guise of scientific editing. Not much time or | | | | Extract: |
| call for such list making activities there. Then, one | | | | From the British Medical Journal |
| day, out of the blue, bam! I was made redundant! | | | | Book references |
| What a shocker that was... I thought I would never | | | | De Mets DL. Data and safety monitoring boards. In: |
| raise my head again and see the light of day, until, | | | | Redmond CK, Colton T, eds. Biostatistics in clinical |
| little by little, I discovered the delights of freelance | | | | trials. New York: Wiley, 2001. |
| editing from home. | | | | Putnam RD. Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of |
| There, I could give full reign to my fervent desire to | | | | the American community. New York: Simon & |
| compile lists of anything that moved, or stood still | | | | Schuster, 2000. |
| long enough on the page, and spend hours checking | | | | Mental Health Foundation. Bright futures: promoting |
| and rechecking those darned incorrect references to | | | | children and young people's mental health. London: |
| my heart's content. | | | | Mental Health Foundation, 1999. |
| After a shaky start, as I tried out things like | | | | Taylor MF. British household panel survey user manual |
| abstracting and indexing, I settled quite happily into | | | | volume A: introduction, technical report and |
| copyediting and proofreading of various scientific | | | | appendices. Colchester: University of Essex, 1999. |
| books and journals, and didn't really look back. Once I | | | | US Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control. |
| was fully ensconced in the freelance editing world, I | | | | CDC WONDER. (accessed 30 January 2006). |
| found I had lists coming out of my ears, and the | | | | House of Commons Health Committee. Child and |
| ones I had made were extremely useful. Hence I | | | | adolescent mental health services. 4th Report. |
| began to wonder whether anyone else would find | | | | London: Stationery Office, 1997. |
| them useful too. | | | | Scott S. Parenting programmes. In: Rutter M, Taylor |
| These lists include: | | | | E, eds. Child and adolescent psychiatry. 4th ed. |
| Biochemical Book References | | | | Oxford: Blackwell Science, 2002. |
| Journal abbreviations | | | | Rutter M, Taylor E, eds. Child and adolescent |
| Publishers' locations | | | | psychiatry. 4th ed. London: Blackwell, 2002. |
| Biochemical and Equipment Companies | | | | O'Hara M. Children and domestic violence. Highlight no |
| Biochemical Journal Housestyle | | | | 139. London: National Children's Bureau, 1995. |
| Common Binomia | | | | Hogg C, Richman N, Rutter M. Emotional and behavior |
| Abbreviations | | | | problems in childhood booklet.In: Sclare I, ed. Child |
| Terminology | | | | psychology portfolio. Windsor: NFER Nelson, 1997. |
| And then I spread my wings a little more and | | | | Audit Commission. Children in mind: child and |
| branched out into medicine, copyediting and proofing | | | | adolescent mental health services. London: Audit |
| a couple of titles, and compiling the following lists: | | | | Commission, 1999. |
| From the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and the | | | | Department of Health. Choosing health: making |
| British Medical Journal: | | | | healthy choices easier. CM 6374. London: Stationery |
| Book references | | | | Office, 2004. |
| Abbreviations | | | | Patterson GR. Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: |
| Terminology | | | | Castalia, 1982. |
| Housestyle | | | | Hodges JR. Cognitive assessment for clinicians. |
| Being a freelance editor myself, I found it made life | | | | Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. |
| so much easier that the lists were compiled from the | | | | God bless neuroses and heavy science! |
| actual Journal itself, rather than from the whole field | | | | You might find them useful whatever field of science |
| of science or medicine. It really narrowed things | | | | you are in. |
| down and saved a lot of time, making things easier | | | | If you don't see what you're looking for, let me |
| and clearer. | | | | know which Journals/subject area you'd like to see |
| It took the time and pain out of looking things up on | | | | as a guide. |
| the Web or in large dusty tomes. | | | | Happy editing and writing! |