Scientific writing

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Scientific writing

• Nuala Booth
• 1 May 2007

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Communication is the key
Write simply to communicate course summary,
University of Aberdeen (Ian Booth)
Write to express, not to impress course title,
University of Illinois
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I asked 8 members of staff --

• Remember your audience.
• Make it clear for an interested non-scientist.
• Keep a clear thread running through it.
• Keep it simple.
• Write in plain English.
• A picture is worth a thousand words.
• Its well written if its easy to read.

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So its not just about commas, apostrophes and
the other things you worry about!
Four key points to help you to get your message
across Complete Best order Brief Clear writing
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Scientific writing

• Structure
• Style

Good order of material Connections (figures, text)
Clear sentences Energy (choice of words)
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Think about the readers

• Writing is a one-sided conversation, so
• Lead the readers
• Anticipate their questions
• Carry them through the story

What matters is not what youd like to write but
what the reader needs to be told.
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Your 1st year report

• Think about its purpose to convince the reader
  that you should proceed to a PhD.
• The reader is asking two questions
• Will this person be able to write a PhD thesis in
  2009?
• Is there evidence of
• scholarship
• research of publishable quality?
• (both in future but nice to be sure of likelihood)

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Three key stages

• Plan
• Execute
• Polish

Try not to do two or more of these at the same
time.
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Title

• Keep it free of jargon or unusual abbreviations.
• You are trying to draw the readers in, not to
  exclude them.

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Introduction

• A clear statement to capture your readers
  interest 1st impressions count.
• Big picture and connections to project
• Different strands (connect, give prior warning)
• Lead up to AIMS
• Show that you know literature
• Reference for all key points (cited correctly)
• Figures help to show connections

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Aims

• These follow logically from introduction.
• Use the same order of themes as you will present
  in results.
• Make it easy for your reader to follow.

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Results your work to date

• The correct order is always
• Question or hypothesis
• Approach
• Experimenal design
• Result (as seen in Figures/Tables)
• Interpretation (do this as you go and keep the
  story flowing)

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Your plans

• Be realistic and specific.
• If there are problems, discuss how you can solve
  them.
• Show your breadth and your open-mindedness.

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Scientific writing

• Structure
• Style

Good order of material Connections (figures, text)
Clear sentences Energy (choice of words)
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Style

• Be simple and concise. Good scientific writing
  is clear and easy to read/understand.
• Read widely and learn from papers that are
  clearly written.
• Dont try to be literary but dont hesitate to
  go for a potent image to explain a complex idea.
• We can all write correctly its just a matter of
  following rules.

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Crisp text makes an impact

• are able to bind bind
• can bind
• The separation of A and B was carried out by
  electrophoresis.
• A was separated from B by electrophoresis.

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Lead with the main clause

• Although this technique is non-quantitative,
  it allowed us to discover the binding of A to B.
• A was shown to bind to B but the extent of
  binding could not be quantified.
• Commas must not connect sentences.
• The assay is not specific for lactate, it also
  responds to other weak acids. (Wrong)

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Paragraphs

• are units of thought, not of length.
• should make a point or establish an idea the
  next idea demands a new paragraph.
• On the other hand, avoid short, sketchy
  paragraphs, which suggest failure to build a
  structured argument.
• Make them obvious (a clear line in between looks
  good)

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Dont abuse apostrophes

• Its a fine day.
• Its fleece is white as snow.
• The manufacturers recommended
• The manufacturers (or manufacturers)
  instructions were followed.

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Abbreviations - easy rules

• Singular and plural are the same (no added s).
• base b (as in kb)
• Dalton Da (as in kDa)
• hour h
• minute min Dont forget
• minimum min. space - 30 min
• second s

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Third person, passive voice?

• The experiment was designed to test the
  hypothesis that ----.
• or We tested the hypothesis that -----
• It was decided to -----
• or We decided to -----
• The 3rd person, passive voice rule is the norm
  but there are times for making a statement
  personal

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Check your spelling

• Dont assume that if it looks right, it is right.
• Proof-read with care. It is not enough to use a
  computer spell-check.
• Three good investments
• A dictionary
• A guide to scientific writing by David Lindsay
  (Longman) (14.99)
• Grammar Book by Temple (0.99)

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Writers block

• Write a list of thoughts - worry about the order
  later.
• Explain to someone else what you are trying to
  write. Then use their brief notes to construct
  an outline.
• Record your oral explanation and use this to
  construct an outline.

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Take George Orwells advice

• A scrupulous writer ---- will ask himself ----
• What am I trying to say?
• What words will express it?
• What image or idiom will make it clearer?
• Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
• Could I put it more shortly?
• Have I said anything that is unavoidably ugly?

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Be your own critic

• Can you read the text aloud without stumbling?
• Is every word necessary?
• Text should be as short as possible and as long
  as necessary.
• See additional slides on web, not presented by
  Nuala Booth on 1 May 2007, but perhaps useful to
  you. These include some hints and tips and a
  method for analysing of your writing for long
  words/complex sentences.

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The reader wants

• Clear introduction of ideas
• Front-loaded paragraphs
• Links to indicate additional content or
  illustration
• Hierarchy of argument
• The writers task is to provide these.

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Introduction

• Moves from general to specific, maybe from
  known to unknown.
• General statements - establish the setting.
• More specific statements about what has been
  studied
• Show the need for more investigation and
  therefore set up aims/plan.

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Middle

• Varies, depending on whether you are writing a
  report, thesis or paper, but aim for an easy and
  logical flow.
• Think about the content of each paragraph and
  how they connect.

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Conclusion

• A conclusion must fulfil the promise of the
  introduction.
• It may
• summarize
• state implications
• link the main ideas to the future or to broader
  issues (specific to general).
• It should not introduce new points.

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Lead with the main clause

• Although this technique is non-quantitative,
  it allowed us to discover the binding of A to B.
• A was shown to bind to B but the extent of
  binding could not be quantified.
• Take care not to bury your best thoughts at the
  end of a long sentence.

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Commas must not be used to connect sentences.

• The assay is not specific for lactate, it also
  responds to other weak acids. (Wrong)
• The assay is not specific for lactate it also
  responds to other weak acids.
• The assay is not specific for lactate but also
  responds to other weak acids.
• The assay is not specific for lactate. It also
  responds to other weak acids.
• (All three of these are grammatically correct)

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Avoid complex constructions

• cellulose acetate electrophoresis procedure
• electrophoresis on cellulose acetate
• a random coil to helix transition
• a transition from random coil to helix
• Those in blue are clearer.

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Connections cement the text.

• Connective adverbs
• however, nevertheless, furthermore, therefore,
  thus, consequently
• Connective phrases
• on the other hand, on the contrary, in
  addition, despite this, to sum up
• Connective clauses
• it follows, this means, this suggests that

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Use words you understand

• Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude
  was, or Longitude either, but she thought they
  were nice grand words to say.
• Avoid big words if simple ones will do. Use
  is better than utilise.
• The experiment was done three times
• better than
• The experimental procedure was performed in
  triplicate. (unclear and long)

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From a grant application!

• Several important and novel observations,
  have been made in our laboratories which support
  this hypothesis.
• Edit this and see how you can improve it.
• Any questions, contact me n.a.booth_at_abdn.ac.uk

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From an editing company!
Date  May 24, 2006     From Katherina
Johnson SM Editors   Dear Dr Booth An expression
ineffectively conveyed is worse than that not
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Reading age the Fry test
From J. Reading 1968. Dotted lines show
boundary of maximum reliability of the
test. Example on next slide
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• from an abstract of grant application from Nuala
  Booth
• Fibrin degradation depends on the protease,
  plasmin, the activity of which is dictated by its
  inhibitor, a2-AP. Two key regions of a2-AP are
  involved in its localization. Both will be
  examined in the proposed studies. The role of
  the C-terminal region in binding to plasminogen
  and its potential to interact with cellular
  integrins will be investigated. Cross-linking to
  fibrin via sequences close to the N-terminus of
  a2-AP will be characterized quantitatively. The
  specificity and local activity of the
  cross-linked a2-AP will be defined. These
  studies will characterize the localization and
  activity of a2-AP, and will define the mechanisms
  by which it protects fibrin from degradation.
• 35 syllables in the first sentence (17 words)
  200 syllables per 100 words. This is off the
  scale and makes the text hard to read.
• 7 sentences per 100 words that compensates to
  some extent for the long words.