Scientific writing: a reader and writer's guide PDF
Preview Scientific writing: a reader and writer's guide
SCIENTIFIC WRITING A R E A D E R A N D W R I T E R ’ S G U I D E January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk J E A N - L U C L E B R U N Trainer of researchers and scientists from A*STAR Research Institutes. Singapore Former Director, Apple-ISS Research Centre, Singapore S C I E N T I F I C W R I T I N G A R E A D E R A N D W R I T E R ’ S G U I D E vp World Scientific - - - - NEW JERSEY LONDON SINGAPORE BElJlNG SHANGHAI HONG KONG TAIPEI CHENNAI Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. SCIENTIFIC WRITING: A READER AND WRITER’S GUIDE Copyright © 2007 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-270-473-3 ISBN-10 981-270-473-6 ISBN-13 978-981-270-144-2 (pbk) ISBN-10 981-270-144-3 (pbk) Typeset by Stallion Press Email: [email protected] Printed in Singapore. Wanda - Scientific Writing.pmd 1 5/17/2007, 7:05 PM January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA Preface You know how to write grammatically correct English. Congratula- tions.You have read Strunk andWhite’s little book,The Elements of Style.a Perfect. To pursue true writing excellence, you now need to takeintoconsiderationthepeoplekeytoyoursuccess:thereaders. What readers fear the most while reading a scientific paper is to get stuck or left behind. They are stuck when the experienced writer zigzags around the familiar obstacles in the knowledge field, whilst readers crash into them; and they are left behind when the knowledgeable writer runs where they can only walk. The knowl- edge gap that separates you from your readers cannot be ignored, yet adequate background knowledge does not guarantee that moti- vatedreaderswillfindreadingyourpapereasyandrewarding.Much moreisrequiredof them.Ascientificpaperrequiresmorememory, attention, and time than a typical novel of the same length. Good writing should therefore take into account the reader’s ignorance, fatigue, short-term memory, and impatience in order to minimise theirimpact. Uniquewritingtechniquesrarelypresentedinbooksontechnical writingwillbringthewriterclosertothesixqualitiesthatarethehall- mark of great scientific writing:fluid,organised,clear,concise,con- vincing, and interesting (FOCI). Consider sentence structure. Does aStrunkWJrandWhiteEB,TheElementsofStyle,PenguinPress,NewYork,2005. v January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA vi ScientificWriting: AReaderandWriter’sGuide placing a conjunction such as “because,“but,” or “although” at the headofasentenceprovidemorereadingpullthanplacingitmidway? Consider sentence progression. Does keeping the topic of the first sentence constant throughout a paragraph help the reader progress smoothlythroughawrittenargument?Considerthereader’sexpec- tations. Can a single word in a sentence trigger large expectations? “Because it was raining that day,” creates the expectation that the writerwillexplainwhathappenedbecauseof therain.Thesentence finisheswith“thepaintdidnotdryontime.”Thereaderreachesthe endofthesentenceknowingwhythepaintdidnotdry-thefirstexpec- tation raised is fulfilled, but another expectation arises: the paint did not dry on time for what? Expectations drive reading forward in science as they do in literature. By creating and controlling pull, progression,andexpectations,thewritercanguidethereader. Readers have different expectations for each part of a scientific article,from its title to its conclusion. Since ignoring these expecta- tions frustrates readers,the writer should avoid the short introduc- tion that sheds little light on the“what”and“why”of the paper,the abstractthatisindistinguishablefromtheconclusion,themisleading title,thebaggystructure,andtheimmatureandunprocessedvisuals. This book will help writers learn how to put together a coherent set of partsthatsatisfiesreaders. Thisbookcomeswithametaphoricalboxofchocolates:48stories designedtolivenupreadingandreinforcethelearningprocess.Italso comeswithacoreof100examplesinspiredorquotedfromscientific articles. No attempt has been made to “sweeten” them. Do not let themintimidateyou.Whatisofimportanceineachoftheseexamples isnottheirimpactontheworldof science:itistheplacementof the wordsinthesentenceandtheexpectationstheycreate. This book was written at the request of many scientists who have participated in the scientific writing skills seminars I conduct January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA Preface vii in various parts of the globe. In their assessment of the course, the participants highlighted benefits; some expected,some unexpected. As expected, those who had already published papers felt that their writinghadimprovedbykeepingthereaderinmind.Juniorscientists withoutanypublishingexperiencewererelievedthattheynolonger hadtoblindlyimitatetheworkofothers,notknowingwhetherwhat theywereimitatingwasgoodorbad.Unexpectedly,evenseniorsci- entistswithgreatpublishingexperiencefoundthattheseminarhad improvedtheiranalyticalreadingskillsandhadequippedthemwith amethodtoconductbetterpeerreviews. Beforeturningthepage,wordsofappreciationaredue.Morethan 1000scientistsfrommanyresearchcentreshelpedmetounderstand andlovethescientificreader.Thisbookisdedicatedtothem.Three authors, through their books, influenced the contents of this book: MichaelAlleybonscientificwriting,GeorgeGopenconreaderenergy and expectations, and Don Normand on user interfaces. They have mydeepestrespect.TheyarethegiantsonwhoseshouldersIclimbed todiscoveranewworldtheyhadexploredwellbeforeIdid.If,thanks tothem,Idiscoverednewtechniquesthatwillbeofhelptothereader of thisbook,maytheysharethecredit. bAlleyM,TheCraftofScientificWriting,Springer,NewYork,1997. cGopenGD,Expectations:TeachingWritingfromtheReader’sPerspective,PearsonLongman,2004. dNormanD,TheDesignofEverydayThings,BasicBooks,NewYork,2002. January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk January19,2007 wspc/spi-b452/FM ScientificWriting:AReaderandWriter’sGuide FA Contents Preface v Part I TheReadingToolkit 1 Chapter1 RequireLessfromMemory 3 • TheForgottenAcronym 3 • TheDetachedPronoun 5 • TheDivertingSynonym 10 • TheDistantBackground 11 • TheBrokenCouple 14 • TheWordOverflow 16 Chapter2 SustainAttentiontoEnsureContinuousReading 18 • MoveIdeasForward 19 • MakeImportantThingsStandOut 21 • IllustratetoClarify 24 • QuestiontoEngage 24 • RecreateSuspense 26 Chapter3 ReduceReadingTime 29 • VisualInformationBurgers 29 • SeparatingSpace 30 • TrimmedandDiscardedText 31 ix
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