Lecture 1-4 Flashcards
Purpose of scientific writing
To inform, not entertain
Style of scientific writing
Brief, concise, technical
Tone of scientific writing
Object
Factual
Serious
types of scientific writing
Scientific journal articles (Research papers and Review papers)
Research notes/ commercials
Conference presentations
Research proposal
Magazine article for diverse background
Lab reports
Field notes
Sales and marketing materials
Progress reports
SOPs
How are scientific journals organized
Topic
What type of knowledge is in a scientific journal
Human
Why is it important to use peer reviewed or refereed journals
Experts scrutinize the experiment or theory for validity, this ensures competency and value. All inadequate is rejected
8 steps of publishing protocols
- Conduct a defensible experiment
- Produce a draft report (manuscript)
3.Choose a journal
4.submit your formatted manuscript to the editorial board of the journal - Editors send manuscript for peer review
- Experts validate or reject your manuscript
7.after it’s published others critically assess your work. Challenge or accept it - You have the opportunity to defend your work
Research papers
Report original findings and organize them into conventional format
What does AIMRDAR stand for
Abstract, Interdiction, materials/methods, results, discussion, acknowledgement and references
What 4 reasons are research papers written
1.share new findings on new experiments or articles
2.build on what is already known
3.improve a method or adapt a method to a different research question
4.make a process easier or more efficient
Define review paper
Critical synthesis of the research on a particular topic
Why is a review paper read
1.keep up to date on current knowledge in a field
2. Learn about unfamiliar subjects
Writing style is the product of what?
The words you choose
How you put the sentence together
Length of sentences
How sentences are connected
The tone
Ineffective writing style
Reader works harder
Less informative
Less persuasive
Unethical if it confuses or misleads reader
Effective technical writing style is:
1.clear
2.concise
3.fluent
How to avoid ambiguous phasing
Write to allow for only one interpretation
How to avoid ambiguous pronoun references
A pronoun should clearly refer to one specific noun
How to avoid ambiguous punctuation
A missing punctuation mark can obscure meaning
How to avoid telegraphic writing
Eliminating too many function words to be concise can obscure the meaning
How to avoid ambiguous modifiers
If modifiers are placed far from what they are modifying the meaning can be lost
How to avoid overstuffed sentences
Crammed sentences make details hard to remember and relationships hard to identify
Give readers no more information then they need to retain in a sentence
How to make negatives positive
Positive expressions are easier to understand more straightforward and more persuasive
How to write for conciseness
Make every word meaningful
Use only the words that are necessary to convey meaning clearly
Two types of wordiness
Giving the reader too much information: eliminate irrelevant details
Using too many words to say the same thing:avoid repetition and redundancy
Avoid needles repetition
Unnecessary repetition clutters writing and dilutes meaning
Fight noun addiction
Norminalizations after accompany weak verbs and needless prepositions
Clean out clutter words
Clutter words stretch a message without adding meaning
How do you write for flow
Ideas flow logically
Ideas connect to enhance meaning
Sentence structure and length are varied to prevent monotony
What is paragraphing
Each sentence conveys one idea: all sentences must support the idea
Requires a clear topic sentence: tells the reader what to expect out of a paragraph
How do you arrange sentence order for coherence
Arrange sentences in a logical order
Build sentences on preceding sentences Sentences work best when the beginning looks back at familiar information and the end provides new information
Why do you use transition words or phrases
Identify relationships between sentences
sentence structure and length
Both length and structure should be varied
Length depends on complexity of ideas
Short sentences should be used for emphasis-> to many short sentences will make writing choppy -> combine short sentences for better flow
Uses for tenses and third person
Previous studies: present tense
Your study:past tense
Perspective: third person
What are the 4 present tenses
1 the simple present (I study)
2 the present progressive (I am studying)
3 the present perfect (I have studied)
4 the present perfect progressive (I have been studying)
What present tense is required what one should be used
Simple present
Why is the simple present used
To describe an action, an event, or condition that is occurring in the present
When the precise beginning or ending of a present action, event or condition is unknown or is unimportant to the meaning of the sentence
To express general truths such as a scientific fact
To indicate a habitual action, event or condition
What are the 4 past tenses
1.simple past (I studied)
2. The past progressive (I was studying)
3.The past perfect (I had studied)
4.The past perfect progressive (I had been studying)
What past tense is required what one is used
Simple past
What is the simple past used to describe
An action, an event, or condition that occurred in the past, sometime before the moment or speaking or writing
Why is the simple present and simple past required
To simplify writing and removes wordiness
Takes out ambiguity
Writing perspective and what one is used in technical writing
Regular writing can use first, second, or third perspectives
Technical writing should always used third person
What is an active voice
The subject of the sentence i performing the action
What is a passive voice
The subject of the sentence is being acted upon
Why is the active voice used
Makes writing more vivid
Uses string verbs
Adds clarity
Places responsibility appropriately
What’s the technical writing conundrum
It’s easiest to write in the third person using passive voice
Allows the writer to place less emphasis on who
What happens with the overuse of passive voice
Come across as very abstract
Boring and passive
What voice to use in technical writing
Active voice as much as possible-> interdiction, results and discussion
Use passive when appropriate-> methods and materials
Reading sequence of scientific journal articles
Use title to identify the article
Read abstract to determine it’s what you want
Skim paper to get general information
What must you do when using article information
Always paraphrase, cite( incite and on reference page) this is to avoid plagiarism
Keeping track of references
Record all reference information
Give each arrival a symbol
Understanding scientific journal articles
Read it in detail
If you don’t understand use other sources to help you (review paper, dictionary, textbook, ect.)
What does the interduction do
Outlines what is already known
Ends with goals/ objectives/hypothesis
What is in the methods and materials
Gives an idea of the design of the experiment
Do not need to understand everything
What is in the results section.
Figured and tables- they usually contain the most pertinent information
What is in the discussion section
Summary of the most important finding
*Interpretation and explanation of the results
Possible reasons for unexpected results
Limitations of study major contributions to area of research
Where future research should focus
Where likely most the information is
Different types of articles
Some arrivals may not describe original research
Some may be essays, discussions or reviews
They usually have Abstract, Interduction, Discussion, Conclusion, References
