BIOL 391 IntroResearch 2025 Technical Writing PDF

10/22/24 Fundamentals of Scientific Fundamentals of Scientific Writing – Writing – Technical Style & Technical Style & Sentence Structure Sentence Structure Basics for composing technical...

10/22/24 Fundamentals of Scientific Fundamentals of Scientific Writing – Writing – Technical Style & Technical Style & Sentence Structure Sentence Structure Basics for composing technical Ch 3, Hofmann (2025) sentences. Technical style. BIOL 391 Introduction to Biological Research Burman, Fall 2024 1 2 3.1. Technical Style Exceptions to 1st person rule Use the first person (“I” for one author; Not in the Materials and Methods as often “we” for multiple authors) to describe what other scientists, like a technician, may have you did. performed the actual experiment. Prestigious scientific journals are written in Use of third person and passive voice is first person and active voice. preferred in the Materials and Methods section. 3 4 Use the active voice. Passive voice can be used… Use it when the readers do not need to know who performed the action, or when it sound more natural, such as in Materials and Methods. Example 3-3c. After incubation, plasmids were isolated as described previously (3). 5 6 1  10/22/24 Use past tense for observations and Use the present tense for general specific intepretations. rules, accepted facts and established knowledge. Use in the results section. Example 3-4. The IV caused local irritation in 53% of the patients. 7 8 Use clear prepositions. A preposition is a word – and almost always a very small, very common word – that shows direction (to in "a letter to you"), location (at in "at the door"), or time (by in "by noon"), or that introduces an object (of in "a basket of apples"). Prepositions are typically followed by an object, which can be a noun (noon), a noun phrase (the door), or a pronoun (you). https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Most verbs can be used with more than one preposition. Choose the preposition that reflects your intended meaning. 9 10 3.2 Sentence Structure Write short sentences and aim for one main idea in a sentence. Short sentences are easier to understand. Aim for 20 to 22 words per sentence to emphasize the main idea. However, complex ideas may need longer sentences. 11 12 2  10/22/24 Use active verbs. 13 14 Avoid strings of nouns. Use clear pronouns. Strings of nouns are awkward and often Pronouns : any of a small set of words (such as incomprehensible (or “double take”). I, she, he, you, it, we, or they) in a language that Use of prepositions add clarity to a phrase, are used as substitutes for nouns or noun showing how nouns relate to one another. phrases. Pronouns you use have to refer clearly to a noun in the current or previous sentence or paragraph. What about third person personal pronouns (such as he/him, she/her, and they/them)? – Not in scientific writing. 15 16 Use clear pronouns. Use clear pronouns. Sometimes the noun that a pronoun refers to has been implied but not stated. To clarify the reference, explicitly state the implied noun after the pronoun. 17 18 3  10/22/24 Use correct parallel form. Lists and ideas that are joined by “and”, “or”, or “but” are of equal importance in a sentence and should be treated euqlly by writing them in parallel form. The same grammatical structures are used to communicate ideas in parallel form. 19 20 Avoid faulty comparisons. Faulty comparisons arise due to ambiguous comparisons that “compare apple to oranges” instead of like items. 21 22 Avoid faulty comparisons. Incomplete comparisons can confuse readers because their intended meaning is unclear. Complete comparisons must include both the item being compared and the item it is being compared with. 23 24 4  10/22/24 Avoid errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Can be avoided by proofreading! Do not rely on the computer spell-checker. Occasional small infrequent errors do not bother readers, however, larger errors in structure like logical gaps and misplaced information are major annoyances. 25 26 3.3 Summary 3.3 Summary Technical style Sentence structure – Use the first person. – Write short sentences and aim for one main idea in a sentence. – Use the active voice. – Use active verbs. – Use past tense for observations and specific interpretations. – Avoid strings of nouns. – Use clear pronouns. – Use present tense for general rules and established knowledge. – Use correct parallel form. – Use clear prepositions. – Avoid faulty comparisons. – Avoid errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. 27 28 5