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Introduction to Scientific Writing

What is Scientific Writing?

A critical aspect of the scientific process is the reporting of new results in scientific journals in order to disseminate that information to the larger community of scientists. Communication of your results contributes to the pool of knowledge within your discipline (and others!) and very often provides information that helps others interpret their own experimental results. Most journals accept papers for publication only after peer review by a small group of scientists who work in the same field and who recommend the paper be published (usually with some revision).

Why a Scientific Format?

The scientific format may seem confusing for the beginning science writer due to its rigid structure which is so different from writing in the humanities.

  1. One reason for using this format is that it is a means of efficiently communicating scientific findings to the broad community of scientists in a uniform manner.
  2. Another reason, perhaps more important than the first, is that this format allows the paper to be read at several different levels.
    For example, many people skim titles to find out what information is available on a subject. Others may read only titles and abstracts. Those wanting to go deeper may look at the tables and figures in the results, and so on.

The take home point here is that the scientific format helps to insure that at whatever level a person reads your paper (beyond title skimming), they will likely get the key results and conclusions.

Source: http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html

Which Structure should I use?

Most journal-style scientific papers are subdivided into the following sections:

  • Title – “What is this paper about?”
  • Authors and Affiliation – “Who has written this paper?”
  • Abstract – “What did you do in a nutshell?”
  • Introduction – “What is the problem?”
  • Background (optional) – “What concepts, technologies etc. are required to understand the work”
  • Related Works – “What works tackle the same / a similar problem and how do they differ?”
  • Methodology or Approach – “How did you solve the problem?”
  • Implementation (optional) – “How could an implementation of the solution look like”
  • Results – “What did you find out”
  • Discussion – “What does that mean”
  • Conclusion – “How does it all fit together?
  • Acknowledgments (optional) – “Who helped you during your research?”
  • Literature Cited – “Whose work did you refer to?”
  • Appendices (optional)

Those sections are intended to mimic the experimental or research process. This is the structure we will use for preparing the scientific paper in this course.

Detailed information about which structural elements to apply for what type of scientific work together with details about each structural element will be provided on the page → The Structure of Scientific Papers.

Getting Started

The first task to accomplish as you begin the process of writing is to order and organize the information you wish to present. Some people work well from an outline, others do not. Some people write first to discover the points, then re-arrange them using an after-the-fact outline. Whatever process you may use, be aware that scientific writing requires special attention to order and organization. Because the paper will be divided into sections, you need to know what information will go into each. If you don’t normally work from an outline, this may be an occasion when you’ll at least want to develop a list of the major points to be included in each section, before you begin to write. If the paper has multiple authors, then this is a good time to work (and negotiate!) with your collaborators to insure that all the points the group wants to make get listed.

A Word about the Audience

Always ask

Who will be reading your paper?

Usually you will be writing to your peers so you can assume that they have at least the same knowledge and expertise base as you.

Knowing your audience helps you to decide what information to include–––you would write a very different article for a narrow, highly technical, disciplinary journal vs. one that went out to a broad range of disciplines. Similarly, you would write a paper for an audience of other.

Consider your colleagues’ knowledge level

Hint: For the preparation of the final presentation and the research paper, concentrate on the knowledge level of your colleagues.

Style

Your writing should be in complete sentences and easily understood. It should conform to the conventions of standard written English (sentence form, grammar, spelling, etc.). Your ideas will have little impact, no matter how good the research, if they are not communicated well. Remember always that scientific terminology very often has precise meaning. Be certain you choose your words correctly and wisely.

It is important to write clearly and concisely. Make sure that every paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that the paragraph content supports the topic. The goal is to report your findings and conclusions clearly, and with as few words as necessary. Your audience (other scientists usually) are not interested in flowery prose, they want to know your findings.

Writing is Thinking and Vice Versa

Writing and thinking are closely linked enterprises - many people have noted that, “fuzzy writing reflects fuzzy thinking.” When people have difficulty translating their ideas into words, they generally do not know the material as well as they think.

Some Style Recommendations:

  • Be clear and concise:
    Write briefly and to the point. Say what you mean clearly and avoid embellishment with unnecessary words or phrases. Brevity is very important. Use of the active voice alone shortens sentence length considerably.

  • Precise word use is critical:
    Scientific terminology carries specific meaning – learn to use it appropriately and use it consistently. A critical function of technical terminology is to say a lot with a few words, i.e., economy. This applies as well to appropriate acronyms (e.g., PCR) and abbreviations. Direct your paper toward the average reader in your intended audience. If writing for a highly technical journal, you will necessarily use the technical jargon. If writing for a general science audience you would limit the jargon.

  • Abbreviations:
    Do not use abbreviations in the text except for units of measure. Always abbreviate these when using them with data (2 mm; 10 min.). Except for temperature units (F,C, K) never abbreviate units of measure when using them in a non-data context (e.g., “we measured length in millimeters”; “time was recorded in minutes”; “temperature was measured in F (or C)”; “100 years have passed since Mendel did…”). A list of common abbreviations and conversions can be found online.

  • Use Past Tense:
    Research papers reflect work that has been completed, therefore use the past tense throughout your paper (including the Introduction) when referring to the actual work that you did, including statements about your expectations or hypotheses. Use the past tense, as well, when referring to the work of others that you may cite.

  • First vs. Third Person:
    If there is one stylistic area where scientific disciplines and journals vary widely, it is the use of first vs. third person constructions. Some disciplines and their journals (e.g., organismal biology and ecology) have moved away from a very strict adherence to the third person construction, and permit limited use of the first person in published papers. Other disciplines, especially humanities, still prefer the third person constrcution. Limit your use of first person construction (i.e., ” I (or we) undertook this study ....): usually it is most acceptable in the Introduction and Discussion sections, and then only to a limited extent. Use first person in the methods sparingly if at all, and avoid its use in the results.

  • Use Active Verbs:
    Use active verbs whenever possible; writing that overly uses passive verbs (is, was, has, have, had) is deadly to read and almost always results in more words than necessary to say the same thing.

    Active Language

    Example

    ACTIVE: “the mouse consumed oxygen at a higher rate…”
    PASSIVE: “oxygen was consumed by the mouse at a higher rate..”

    Active voice increases the clarity and effectiveness of your writing

    The clarity and effectiveness of your writing will improve dramatically as you increase the use of the active voice.

  • References:
    References to the research findings of others are an integral component of any research paper. The usual practice is to summarize the finding or other information in your own words and then cite the source. Any ideas or other information that are not your own must be substantiated by a reference that is cited in the text. As a rule, in research papers, direct quotation and footnoting are rarely practiced → simply restate the author’s ideas or findings in your own words and provide a citation.

Things to Avoid

  • You do not have to try to impress people by using words most people have never heard of. Many published articles are like this, and they are poor papers on account of it.
  • Do not use colloquial speech, slang, or “childish” words or phrases.
  • Do not use contractions: for example, “don’t” must be “do not” and “isn’t” must be “is not” etc.

  • Be very careful with personal, non-generalizable opinions; never state something like the following

    “I found it difficult to …”
    “The last part is very easy to accomplish…”
    “Now comes the hard part…”
    “The authors did not consider that aspect carefully…”

Plagiarism

Plagiarism (use of others words, ideas, images, etc. without citation) is not to be tolerated and can be easily avoided by adequately referencing any and all information you use from other sources. In the strictest sense, plagiarism is representation of the work of others as being your work. Paraphrasing other’s words too closely may be construed as plagiarism in some circumstances.

In journal style papers there is virtually no circumstance in which the findings of someone else cannot be expressed in your own words with a proper citation of the source. If you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, please confer with your instructor.

Disclaimer

Letztes Update: 17. September 2024