Writing in the Sciences

Writing in the science.

Good writing communicates an idea clearly and effectively making your essay elegant and stylish.

Having something to say, logical thinking, and having a take-home message make good writers.

To become a better writer:

Read, pay attention, and imitate.

Write in a journal, talk about your research before trying to write about it.

Stop writing for inspiration, and accept that writing is hard for everyone.

Revise cos nobody gets perfect on the first try.

Learn how to cut ruthlessly, find a good editor, and take risks.

Scientific Paper should be enjoyable, interesting, and easy to understand (readable). The complex idea doesn't require complex language.

Principle of effective writing:

Cut unnecessary words, phrases, jargon, acronyms, adverbs, repetitive words or phrases, and eliminate negatives.

Eliminate there is / there are, omit the needless prepositions, and use the active voice, to emphasize author responsibility, improve readability, and reduce ambiguity.

Steps in the writing process:

Prewriting; collect, synthesize, and organize information that's going to go into your manuscript. Develop a road map/outline.

Writing in the first draft; don't be a perfectionist. The first draft is to get the ideas down in complete sentences in order and focus on logical organization more than sentence-level details.

Revision;

Read your writing out loud, do a verb check, don't be afraid to cut dead weight words, phrases..and etc. Do an organizational review in the margin of your paper, tag each paragraph with sentences that sum up the main point then move the paragraph around to improve logical flow and bring a similar idea together to check quickly.

The recommended order for writing an original manuscript:

- Tables and figures - Results

- Methods and materials - Introduction

- Discussion - Abstract

Tips for writing discussion section:

Showcase good writing; use the active voice, and tell it like a story.

Start and end with the main finding " we found that...''

Don't travel too far from your data.

Focus on the limitation that matter, not generic limitations.

Make sure your take-home message is clear and consistent.



KEEP IN YOUR MIND:

Simplicity is the heart of efficient scientific writing.

The secret of good writing is too strict every sentence to its clearest component.