24 Roger L. Kaesler—Scientist and Editor: His Contributions to Paleontology through Research and the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology

Thursday, 12 April 2007
1:20 PM - 5:00 PM

THE REVIEWING AND EDITING STYLE OF ROGER KAESLER: HELPING OTHERS TO EXPRESS BETTER THEIR SCIENCE

Paper number: 24-5
Program: SYMPOSIA SESSIONS
Time: 2:40 PM – 3:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

Editor Roger Kaesler provided a great service to the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology as well as to colleagues and students worldwide. One of Roger's great enthusiasms was for editing manuscripts, proposals, and theses as a service to his fellow professionals and those persons working toward a professional career in geology. Writing, one of the four forms of expression, was something Roger learned to do well through practice and patience with his own writing, owing much to learning the art of self-editing. Roger took pleasure in teaching people how to be: 1) organized better in their writing, 2) editors of their own writing, and 3) constructive reviewers and editors of the writing and research of other people. Roger emphasized in his editing how to improve on the seven components of writing: organization, punctuation, grammar, syntax, style, precision, and contents. Anyone who worked with Roger or had him review a manuscript can attest to how much red, blue, or green ink covered nearly every page, including the references; this was followed by a neatly penned summary of what your manuscript said versus what you wanted to say but had not achieved. Roger would rejoice in seeing how a person's writing would improve with successive versions, each time providing kind support.

Roger was a purist when it came to the rules of writing and geologic nomenclature, and he used these rules to set the tone for how the Treatise edited. Roger offered solid advice for expressing more clearly one's research in a manuscript. Avoid splitting the infinitive; for example, the phrase to better understand is more appropriate as to understand better. Sentences should not begin with however, because, or since. The solidus-virgule (/) should be avoided; it is ambiguous and not proper. In its place, an author should use and, or, or a hyphen (-) to clarify their point better. Avoid using a question mark, even in parentheses, in the text or any such shorthand that could be misconstrued. Time units are denoted by early, middle, and late; if formal names they should be capitalized. Rock units are denoted by lower, middle, and upper; the same applies for formal names here. Do not mix time and rock units, and remember that recent is not capitalized because it is not a formal time or rock unit.