New tool for proofreading scientific manuscripts takes in its stride the things that confuse ordinary word processors, like chemical nomenclatures and Greek symbols
Any scientist or technical author will agree - standard word processing programs for spell checking and proofreading just aren't designed to cope with the complexities of scientific writing.
Very often, a piece of scientific text can look like someone has gone overboard with a red pen, because the spell checker flags everything it doesn't understand or recognise. And to remove the red flags, normally means manually instructing the spell checker to either add the word to the dictionary or to just ignore it.
Not only is this frustrating and time consuming, but in reality, you are still the one doing all the work and proofreading the text.
Now there's a solution that will save time proofreading, increase accuracy and allow you to focus on actual errors.
Sciproof is an innovative new, easy-to-use software package designed to streamline the scientific writing process.
Once installed, it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Word, to verify spelling, style, acronyms and Greek symbols - expanding the native spell-checker with over 250,000 terms from databases of scientific, biomedical, and chemical terms from the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
Additionally, terms can be customised and added to the Sciproof custom database, which can be constantly updated as new terms are invented and users provide feedback.
Such updates will be available free to registered users when released.
The spell checker is compatible with Microsoft Office and works with Word, Outlook, Outlook Express, Power Point, Front Page, Excel, Access and Microsoft Project.
The Sciproof Style Checker proofreads and suggests possible term styles and formats to the user.
For example, italics or underlining (identifying genus and species), sub- and super-scripts required in chemical nomenclature (eg C6H12O6, 32P), upper case characters for acronyms such as DNA, PCR, PAGE, and Greek symbols.
The Sciproof Symbol Checker will flag unique characters such as Greek words or letters, often preceded or followed by a hyphen, and suggest the corresponding Greek symbol. For example, if user types 'beta' '-b' or 'b-', Sciproof will suggest the appropriate Greek symbol.
Sciproof is also equipped with a glossary and a direct link to the US National Library of Medicine's PubMed database, allowing the writer to instantly access definitions and references without leaving the Word document.
These definitions can be conveniently displayed while Sciproof proofreads documents and the web links can be indexed, allowing for easy access and modification.
Additionally, definitions can be added or customised to suit each individual user.
Sciproof has been developed by scientists who understand the writing and resource needs of scientists and scientific publishers, with the aim of providing a tool to make the production of manuscripts more efficient and with the highest degree of accuracy.
Sciproof is compatible with Windows 98/98SE/ME/NT4.0/2000/XP and Microsoft Word 2000 (Office 2000) and 2002 (Office XP).
Users have the option to activate or deactivate any Sciproof function while writing/editing.
Sciproof is available to buy from Adept Scientific.
