How to Have Good Scientific Writing

So you’re setting out to do some scientific writing with the intention of submitting a paper. The chances are that you’d love to have your scientific writing published, but are unsure how to write it to make it sound like you really are the expert. Scientific writing is an art; you may be a world leader in your field, but if you write poorly -- you’ll never be recognized as the expert you are.

Whether you hope to be published in Nature, or you’re submitting a dissertation as part of your degree, your scientific writing needs to be up to scratch. So let’s waste no more time and get straight in with what makes good scientific writing.

Write For The Correct Audience

Step one of scientific writing is to identify your audience. Readers of a high school science magazine will have a different perspective on science to those who read a topic specific journal such as the Journal of Molecular Biology. Once you know your audience you can structure your paper appropriately, consider your vocabulary and thoroughly plan what you will write, all of which are crucial to the success of your scientific writing.

When this is done, you need to go over your as much of your research material as you can stomach. It’s crucial that you actually know what you’ re talking about before you begin your scientific writing. Telling your reader that atoms are made up of molecules will do no favors for your credibility. When you’re doing this, keep the topic of your scientific writing on a sheet in front of you, as it will help you aim your research at the purpose of your study.

Analyze The Results

By now you should be ready to write, bearing in mind the grammar rules you learned in preschool. Use paragraphs, and make sure you know the difference between a comma and an apostrophe. When it comes to quoting, focus on the point -- not the author (but don’t forget to mention them), and write about your results -- not the layout of your tables. The reader knows the table is there and can read the column headings themselves. Also make sure to not just tell the reader your results are interesting -- but why they’re interesting.

Make Sure It Makes Sense

I’m sure you would not submit your scientific writing without reading it through, but make sure that process goes further than just checking for spelling and grammar. Perhaps the most important thing to do is to list the biggest objections that readers could have to your conclusions.

If you can’t do this yourself, give it to someone else and ask them to criticize it. You won’t like to hear it, but if you strengthen the weak points, the whole piece of scientific writing will be better. Remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

That should give you an overview of how to go about producing good scientific writing. More detailed information is available, but following the basic tips included here, using skills you learned in elementary school and adding your own personal flare, should make your paper shine as an authority on your topic.

Colleen Spiegel is the founder of Clean Fuel Cell Energy LCC, and author of "Designing and Building Fuel Cells" (McGraw-Hill, 2007), “PEM Fuel Cell Modeling and Simulation Using MATLAB” (Elsevier Science, 2008), and (coming soon) “The Brilliant Mind: Fuel Cell Experiments for a Bright Future” (The Brilliant Mind, 2008). You can get a free fuel cell ideas booklet filled with simple tips to help you build your own fuel cells, plus a free newsletter and many free articles simply by visiting: www.cleanfuelcellenergy.com

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