Library: Professional Writing : General

Selected Resources

Handbook of Technical Communication
Covers computer-mediated text, voice and multimedia communication as well as technical documentation.Special emphasis is put on technical communication by means of web 2.0 technologies and its standardization in system development.
Scientific Writing
"The book helps scientists write papers for scientific journals. Using the key parts of typical scientific papers (Title, Abstract, Introduction, Visuals, Structure, and Conclusions), it shows through numerous examples, how to achieve the essential qualities required in scientific writing, namely being clear, concise, convincing, fluid, interesting, and organized."
Business Writing for Managers
"Can help you with all kinds of messages, from short emails to lengthy proposals. Includes: before and after writing samples, a process for effective editing, suggestions for formatting, advice for sharing difficult information, and tips for distinguishing yourself as a communicator."

American Medical Writers Association Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Journal of Business and Technical Communication Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC), is peer-reviewed and published quarterly, keeps you informed about the latest communication practices, problems and trends in both business and academic settings or sectors. It covers written, oral and electronic communication in all areas of business, science and government
Journal of Technical Writing & Communication
Technical Communication Quarterly

American Medical Writers Association AMWA's mission is to promote excellence in medical communication and to provide educational resources in support of that goal.
American Society of Business and Publication Editors Founded in 1964 as the American Society of Business Press Editors, ASBPE is the professional association for full-time and freelance editors, writers, art directors, and designers employed in the business, trade, and specialty press.
American Society of Journalists and Authors Founded in 1948, the American Society of Journalists and Authors is the nation's professional organization of independent nonfiction writers.
Association for Business Communication The membership of ABC, like the field of business communication, is richly interdisciplinary, drawing members from such fields as management, marketing, English, speech communication, linguistics, information systems, to name only a few.
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing ATTW is an active organization of teachers, researchers, and teacher-practitioners of technical communication across a range of academic and professional institutions. Members of ATTW work in graduate and undergraduate programs in technical communication, media, engineering, rhetoric, writing studies, and English, among other complementary research programs.
World Federation of Science Journalists "The World Federation of Science Journalists is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, representing 67 science journalists’ associations and 10,000 individual science and technology journalists from around the world."
National Association of Science Writers
National Council of Teachers of English
Society for Technical Communication The Society for Technical Communication is the world’s largest and oldest professional association dedicated to the advancement of the field of technical communication.
World Association of Medical Editors A global association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals who seek to foster cooperation and communication among editors, improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism, and self-regulation, and encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing.

Professional Writing Research Databases

Click on a database name to search:

JSTOR This link opens in a new window Updated regularly. Offers a high-quality, interdisciplinary archive to support scholarship and teaching. Includes archives of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. The entire corpus is full-text searchable, offers search term highlighting, includes high-quality images, and is interlinked by millions of citations and references.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window Search ALL ProQuest databases at once. Covering more than 160 subject areas, ProQuest Central is the largest aggregated database and contains a diversified mix of content including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos. Encompasses business, science & technology, health, social sciences, arts & humanities, and news.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window The world's largest academic, multi-disciplinary database with full text journals, newspapers, magazines, reports, eBooks and videos. Meets the needs of scholars in virtually every discipline.
SAGE Journals Online This link opens in a new window An interdisciplinary database that contains over 1,000 full text, online journals in the fields of business, education, health, the humanities, law enforcement, criminology, and other social sciences. Several of these journals are the most authoritative and influential in their fields. Access from 1999-present.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window Uses the popular Google search engine to search for scholarly sources. Accessing Google Scholar from within the Library will directly link you to items we subscribe to.

Multidisciplinary eBook databases:

eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window Multidisciplinary eBooks representing a broad range of subjects.
Ebook Central (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window eBooks on a range of subjects such as business, information technology, education, engineering, health, history, humanities, life & physical sciences, and social and behavioral sciences.

Learn more about finding and downloading eBooks:

Click on a database name to search:

Films On Demand: Master Academic Package This link opens in a new window Full-length streaming videos in the humanities, social sciences, business, health, medicine, sciences, and mathematics fields.
Alexander Street: Academic Video Online‎ This link opens in a new window A large multidisciplinary collection of streaming videos. Includes documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, raw footage, award-winning films, including Academy® and Emmy® winners, newly released films, and archival material previously unavailable.
ImageQuest (Britannica) This link opens in a new window Nearly 3 million rights-cleared images from more than 50 collections including Getty Images, the National Portrait Gallery of London, and the National Geographic Society.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Specialized reference eBooks for background information on all subjects, including audio, video, and image results.

Click on a database name to search:

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Specialized reference eBooks for background information on all subjects, including audio, video, and image results.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window The largest, most authoritative encyclopedia in the world, this database contains articles, maps, images, videos, and yearbooks from 1993 to present. Use it instead of Wikipedia for your research!
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window More than 50 reference eBooks in business, communications, history, law, literature, medicine, nation & world, science, and technology.

OneSearch

Find articles, eBooks, etc.

Using Google Scholar: Finding Peer Reviewed Resources (Transcript)

Background Information

The Granger Collection. (n.d.). Handwriting: Quill pen [Engraving].

Professional Writing Expertise
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Technical Writers The OOH can help you find career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations.
An Overview of Business Writing: Challenges and Solutions Arina, G. (2019). An overview of business writing: Challenges and solutions. Studies in Business & Economics, 14(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.2478/sbe-2019-0005
Writing in the Disciplines (Excelsior OWL)

Specific Business Writing eBooks

Grammar Resources

Grammar Essentials (Excelsior OWL) Discusses parts of speech, sentence construction, punctuation, and good writing.
Guide to Grammar and Style Helps a writer to avoid common grammar problems. Table of contents leads to short definitions with examples. (Author: Jack Lynch)