Science Writing I Feb. 26, 2008

Science Writing

1. It may be at first difficult to see the importance or understand the necessity of writing about science.
   
   
2. Science writing communicates what you know to a specific audience.
   
   
3. Publication of discovery, a new theory, a new phenomenon or experimental results contribute to science and advance your career.
   
   
4. Dissemination of scientific ideas is crucial and inseparable from science itself.

Benefits of writing :

1. It is a visible token of your continuing activity.
   
   
2. It gains prestige for you and your work.
   
   
3. It helps you correspond with colleagues in the field.
   
   
4. It helps you obtain the funding, equipment, superior colleagues, research assistants and collaborators .
   
   
5. It is essential for the survival of science.
   
   
6. It establishes the Bragging rights of scientists.
   

Learning to write persuasively with fervor, vigor, imagination and precision is one of the keys to success in the practice of science.

Define goals of your writing

What is your goal ?

1. To explain a new concept ?
   
   
2. To demonstrate the efficiency of a method that you have executed ?
   
   
3. To lay out in a clear and logical way the data you have measured in experiments ?
   
   
4. To describe the existing research or thinking about a problem ?

Have your purpose clearly in your mind when you begin to write

The science writing should have

1. A concise statement of the goal of the paper.
   
   
2. Clear language
   
   
3. Precise description of procedures.
   
   
4. Good graphs, charts and tables.
   
   
5. Definition of all technical terms
   
   
6. A summary of findings

It should not have

1. Obscure language and terms
   
   
2. Long, difficult – to – read sentences
   
   
3. Consideration of subjects which cloud the issue or take you off the main track
   
   
4. Poor contexts for understanding new ideas.

Scientific Report

I. Front Material

A. Write an abstract, summarizing the research in 100 – 300 words.

B. Write a title that describes the major intent of your work

II. Introduction

A. Define the problem, explaining the importance of the problem wherever possible and necessary.

B. Specify your hypothesis.

C. Describe what others have said and done in attacking a similar problem ( Literature review )

D. Brief description of the main conclusion of your research.

III. Materials and Methods

A. Describe the methods and materials you used in the lab and for data collection

IV. Results

A. Describe the data you collected

B. Analyze the data

C. Interpret the data

V Conclusions

A. Draw generalizations from analysis of the data.

B. Draw conclusions from your generalizations

VI List of Citations