Scientific Writing-1 (1) PDF

Introduction To Scientific Writing Asmaa A. Elsayed Lecturer of Clinical Pharmacy THE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF FIRST… WHY and HOW? “What am I trying to say? Have I Said It?”  PRINCIPLES OF SCIE...

Introduction To Scientific Writing Asmaa A. Elsayed Lecturer of Clinical Pharmacy THE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF FIRST… WHY and HOW? “What am I trying to say? Have I Said It?”  PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING 1- Audience Compared with other types of writing such as journalism, scientific writing targets audiences with much wider ranges of familiarity with the content. In other words, while a sports reporter for a newspaper targets an audience with the same general understanding of a sport, a scientist often faces audiences with widely different levels of understanding about the subject. (1) who is the audience? reveals how challenging the document will be to write. (researchers/policy makers /donors/politicians/research managers/university teachers/business people/Healthcare professionals /students) (2) why is the audience reading? define the document’s scope: what work to include and what to leave out. (3) what does the audience know? which order to arrange the content, which terms to define, and what background to include. 2- Purpose (Analyze how much persuasion your document requires.) In scientific writing, you write for two specific goals: to inform and to persuade. All scientific documents have the first goal: to inform. Concerning the second goal, the level of persuasion varies widely across documents. In purely informative writing, your goal is straightforward: to provide the what, where, when, and how of the content so that the audience can follow your path. Both Audience and Purpose affects Style of writing 3- Occasion Occasion encompasses the form of the document, the document’s formality. Form comprises the rules of grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling but also the guidelines for length and format. The most important rule of grammar is the definition of a sentence: a group of words with a subject and verb that gives a complete thought. (Subject + Verb + ……, Object, Adjective, Adverb, Noun) Formality: the formality of an occasion influences the way that you write. Compared with fiction and journalism, scientific writing is formal. while beginning a sentence with the conjunction but is now allowed by many newspapers, the practice is still too informal for scientific writing. Most scientific editors would expect that you select the adverb however (followed by a comma) to begin such sentences.  CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING 1- Clear: avoid unnecessary details 2- Simple: use direct language, avoid vague or complicated sentences 3- Avoid excessive technical terms: used when necessary for accuracy 4- Neutral: avoid making assumptions or unproven statements (Everyone knows that / It can never be proved that…) 5- Logical structure: Ideas and processes are expressed in logical order (divide into sections with headings) 6- Accurate: avoid vague language whenever possible(about, almost, approximately….) 7- Objective: ideas are supported by evidence, acknowledge the work of others.  RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS which are open to scientists who want to deliver information on their research results. Research communications meetings with individuals research articles leaflets research reviews posters conference papers Extension communications theses newspaper reports book chapters magazine articles Reports radio and TV broadcasts newsletters project proposals video lectures demonstrations Poster Layout  RESEARCH PROPOSALS Title: clear and concise description of research topic Abstract: a summary and objectives of research Introduction: a brief background and context of the research problem Problem Statement: a clear and specific statement of the research question or hypothesis Objectives: a list of the expected outcomes and research contributions Literature Review: a critical analysis of the existing literature related to your research topic Methodology: study design, data collection, laboratory analysis, statistical analysis. Research report Layout Research article Layout  RESEARCH ARTICLE 1- Title The meaning of the paper is hidden by the way it was written 2- Abstract 3- Introduction (The Aim of the research) 4- Methods 5- Results 6- Discussion 7- Conclusion 8- References (Citations) 9- Appendices  IN BRIEF Introduction (What and why was the question asked?) Methods (How/when/where was that studied?) Results (What were the findings?) and Discussion (What do they mean and what is their implication?) Today’s lesson: Strip your sentences to just the words that tell. KEEP YOUR sentences short, concise, and to the target Choose your words carefully and revise sentence structure and grammar.