Lecture 1: Writing for science. Characteristics of good scientific writing.

Writing for Science

Subjects
:
10 characteristics of
scientific
writing
Scientific writing follows these conventions:
1.
It is conventional
2.
It is clear
3.
It is concise
4.
It is accurate
5.
It
uses formal language
6.
It is objective
7.
It exercises caution
8.
It avoids direct quotes
9.
It gets to the point
10.
It is often illustrated with figures
1.
It is conventional
This means that scientific writing follows strict rules,
with regard to a number of issues:
Structure
Writing for science subjects is generally more rigidly structured than in
other subjects. For example, if
you look at articles in scientific journals, you will see that they are usually
arranged under a series
of
headings. Here is a typical structure for a report on an experiment, with
suggestions for the kind of
information that should be included in each section. It is crucial when
writing reports that you should
include your information in the correct section
.
1.
Aim:
Describe the purpose of the experiment
2.
Abstract:
Give a short summary of the whole report, including conclusions
3.
Method:
Describe the techniques and materials you used. Discuss any difficulties in
carrying out
the experiment
4.
Results:
Describe you
r observations. Include calculations where appropriate
5.
Discussion:
Critically evaluate the significance of your results. Compare with previous
studies.
Discuss weaknesses in your study and suggest future avenues for
investigation
6.
References
Remember that
this is not the only way to structure a report
–
for example, some reports will have a
table of contents, a literature review, or recommendations. Some might
have a separate section for
conclusions, which summarises the findings. Your department may have t
heir own specific requirements
regarding which sections should be included, so make sure you check the
guidelines.
Use of abbreviations
The use of
abbreviations
is common in scientific writing, especially for long technical terms and it can
be a way to m
ake your writing flow more smoothly
.
Always give the term in full at the first use and show the abbreviation in
brackets
, eg:
•
“Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)” or “polymerase chain reaction (PCR)”
o
Subsequently use just the abbreviation
o
See Glover (2009, p
. R99)
1
Try to use accepted abbreviations
(
such as MRI) rather than making up your own
.
Always be consistent in your use of abbreviations
, eg
a
lways
MRI
, not
mri
,
Mri
etc.
1
Students at the University of Leeds can click on the links in the references
section to connect to the articles used as
examples in this
guide. Students elsewhere can check in their own library catalogues.
Formatting of names, technical terms etc.
Scientific disciplines have their own
rules about how names etc. are written
. For example i
n biology,
species names for animals and plants are given in ital
ics, with the genus capitalised,
eg
Homo sapiens
at
first use, later
H. sapiens
Note that the
re can be specific exceptions e
g animals or
plants are usually referred to by their scientific
names for accuracy, but the zebrafish
–
Danio rerio
–
is generally just called the zebrafish in genetics
.
Gene names are always given in italics, while the corresponding protein
products are in normal font
eg i
n
zebrafish,
zic2a
is the gene, Zic2a is the protein
.
Every discipline has its own conventions
-
for chemical elements and compounds, nuclear particles and
so on
-
and it is important that you know those in your subject. Refer to your lecture
notes an
d text books
or try the style manual in the resources page.
Use of tenses
Different tenses are used for writing about different types of information and
in different sections of a
scientific report
Established knowledge
Present tense
“Hh
function results in transcriptional activation of several
targets, many of which encode transcription factors (TFs).”
(Sanek, et al., 2009, p. 3791.)
Describing your experiment
(introduction, methods)
Past tense
“The aim of this study was to investigate
and quantify both
biological endpoints in human lymphocytes after CT scans
in the presence of an iodinised contrast agent”. (Jost, et al.,
2009, p. 6031.)
“To determine whether six3b transcription is regulated by
Zic2a in zebrafish, we employed antisense
MO knockdown
assays as previously described.” (Sanek, et al., 2009, p.
3792.).
Referring to figures in your
report
Present tense
Table 1 shows the results...” (Jost, et al., 2009, p. 6033)
Results of your experiements
Past tense
“OxdRE formed a homodimer
with non
-
crystallographic two
fold symmetry (Fig. 1A), consistent with previous gel
filtration analysis results.” (Sawai, et al., 2009, p. 32093)
Your answer to the question
(discussion/conclusions)
Present tense
“The findings of the present investigati
ons actually illustrate
that a dose enhancement in iodinated contrast agent
-
containing blood samples can be determined with both
biological endpoints.” (Jost, et al., 2009, p. 6035
-
6)
Referencing
You must reference fully and accurately, according to the
required style
.
The Harvard style is commonly
used in science subjects but not exclusively
; always
check with your department!

2.
It is clear
One
idea
per
sentence
o
Keep sentences 10
-
25 words in length (on average)
One
theme
per
paragraph
o
Keep paragraphs
¼
-
½ page long (on average)
Sub
-
headings can help
–
see Glover (2009)
-
but check with your department to see if they are permitted
.
See Sanek
et al
(2009) for a good example of clarity in writing
.

3.
It is concise
Use as few words as possible e.g.
“now” instead of “at the present time”; “near“ instead of “in close proximity
to”
Keep sentences 10
-
25 words in length
Avoid repetition within sentences as repetition just makes the sentence
more confusing because everything
is repeated unnecessarily and
this repetition reduces clarity and flow (because it‟s repetitious).

4.
It is accurate
Use simple terms e.g. “identical” instead of “exactly identical”
Avoid vague terms like “most”, “nearly
” eg
“The concentration was tested every 15 minutes” instead of
“The
concentration was tested regularly”
Avoid overgeneralisation e.g. “it is widely accepted”, not “everyone knows
that”

5.
It uses formal language (but not
excessive
jargon!)
•
No contractions (“do not” instead of “don‟t”)
•
No colloquialisms/ conversation
al terms (“exactly” not “bang on”; “approximately” not “near enough”;
“children” not “kids”)
•
No anthropomorphism (“offspring” not “babies”)
•
Be accurate rather than polite! E.g. “Man/Woman” not “Gentleman/ Lady”
•
No run
-
ons i.e. “etc.”, “ so on”
•
No
rhetorical questions e.g. “So, what do these results mean?”
•
Try to write in an active style rather than passive
Active
Passive
I observed the angle to be...
The angle was observed to be...
The authors suggest...
It is suggested...
We used a standard graphical
representation
to...
A standard graphical representation was used
to...
Linked to an active style is the use of first person (I/we) rather than third
person, and the person as subject
of the sentence, rather than things e.g.
First person
Third person
I
found...
It was found that...
I assumed...
It was assumed that...
Person as subject
Thing as subject
I noticed...
Analysis of the data indicated...
In this report I will show...
This report presents...
Examples from:
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/science/index.xml
Even in academic journals, opinions about whether it is better to use first or
third person vary, so it is
essent
ial to check with your own tutors about their preferences, but it is generally
thought better to write in
an active rather than a passive style
o
Sanek
et al
(2009) is largely personal and active, while Glover (2009) is completely
impersonal
–
which do you
find most clear?
T
ry Academic Phrasebank (
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
) for lots of suggestions on how to
phrase your writing in an appropriate way

6.
It is objective
Objective writing avoids loaded or emotive words that might prejudice the
reader, or exaggerate the situation
e.g. “scandalous”, “ridiculous” or “Sadly, half of the mice use in the
experiment died”
–
in the context of a
scientific report, it is not sad (wh
ich implies an emotional response) but “unfortunate” since it might interfere
with the validity of the result
You should avoid expressing your unsupported thoughts or beliefs
–
any opinion you give or claim you make
must be supported by appropriate evide
nce
You should aim to write as a neutral outside observer, without any
emotional or personal investment in the
subject
Look at this example from
:
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/
llonline/writing/science/index.xml
Subjective style
These results seem to be really quite good. The model fits very well with
the data points as can be
interpreted by the R
2
values of 0.32 shown in Table 1 above. But the method used to obtain the
best
values for a, b, and c was a little silly and time
-
consuming as it required putting lots of values into a
changeable Excel spreadsheet over and over to try and get the lowest R
2
value, even though this is
probably the only way to do it accurately. Also, this model can be used to
extrapolate the PCB
concentrations of fish of ages not measured in the study, but that's about it.
Writing more objectively
These results appear to be r
easonable as the model fits very well with the data points, as can be
interpreted by the R
2
values of 0.32 shown in Table 1 above. However, the method used to
obtain the
best values for a, b, and c was rather time
-
consuming as it required putting many val
ues into an Excel
spreadsheet many times to obtain the lowest R
2
value. While this is probably the only way to obtain
accurate results, a further limitation is that this model can be used only to
extrapolate the PCB
concentrations of fish within age range
s measured in the study.

7.
It exercises caution
–
sometimes known as
“hedging”
This also relates to accuracy
–
in scientific writing it is important to write
exactly
what you mean
Take care not to overstate what your evidence can support
Be especially careful with words like “proves” or “definitively”
Common hedging words*:
Nouns
Adverbs
Verbs
Supposition
Presumably
Appear
Idea
Probably
Postulate
Speculation
Possibly
Suggest
Conjecture
Apparently
Seem
Possibility
Not unlikely
May
be
Inference
Seemingly
Speculate
NEVER use more than one hedging word per sentence!
Eg:
“These results
may possibly suggest
that there is a
likelihood
that this species
could be vulnerable
to
extinction”
Better: “These results suggest that this
species is at risk of extinction.”
(*From:
Matthews, Janice R., Bowen, John M. and Matthews, Robert W. (2000)
Successful
scientific writing: a step
-
by
-
step guide for the biological and medical sciences
.2
nd
edn.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.
112
-
113).

8.
It avoids direct quotes
Why? T
hink about the reasons that you
would
use a direct quote. Do these reasons apply in a scientific
report?
You would only use a direct quote from a source when the exact words
used by the author are essential to
make your point. In writing for science this situation is very rare because it
is the ideas that matter most.
Explaining the ideas in your own words better demonstrates your
understanding of the issue (of course, you
still have to cite the source!).

9.
It
gets to the point
More than any other form of writing, scientific writing is skimmed or
scanned
–
if the reader can‟t see the
point of your work in about 30 seconds, they probably won‟t read it at all