What?:
This paper suggests a simple method for organizing scientific papers and technical reports that inform directly, forcefully, and with economy of words. Departing from traditional practices, the method uses the pattern of good dialog as a disciplinary guide for prose based on common sense and good judgment rather than outmoded rules.

Why?:
The popular notion that "scientists and engineers cannot communicate" is disproved daily--by the conversations of articulate geologists. It is possible for geologists to communicate with equal skill in writing. And skillful communication has become an economic necessity for both industrial reports and scientific articles.

How?:
Consider the article as a substitute for conversation. Use the questions a reader might ask in conversation (the silent half of the dialog); provide the answers you would give in conversation (the verbal half). Use these answers to construct an outline that gets directly to the "news," not only at the beginning of an article, but also at every major unit of the article. Use an expansion of this outline to dictate an article in the tastefully unpretentious language of conversation, and then polish it.

Now what?:
In this way, the length of an article can be cut without sacrificing desirable content; a reduction of 25-50 percent is not uncommon. A 40-percent reduction would save the Bulletin more than $340 on a single article of average length. More important, the combination of reduced length and simplified language would communicate your ideas in more usable form, with professional dignity.