Fundamentals of Scientific Writing
Style
Composition
Individual words
Use simple words
Use precise words
Omit unnecessary words and phrase
Unnecessary words:actually, basically, escpecially, fairly, essentially, much, really, practically, quite, rather, several, very, virtually
Unnecessary phrases: "There are many paper stating...", "It was shown to...", It has long been known that...", "It is speculated that...", "It has been found that...", "It has been reported that..."
Avoid too many abbreviations
Use correct nomenclature and terminology
Species and most Latin derivates are in itatics
Human genes are caps and italics
Mouse gene: first letter capitalized, the rest lower case and italic
Human proteins: capitals, no italics
Mouse protein: like mouse gene, no italics
Restriction Enzyme: combination of italics and non-italics
Word location
Establish importance
The end position in the sentence is more emphasized than beginning of the sentence
The main clause is more emphasized than the dependent clause
Place old, familiar, and short information at the beginning of a sentence
Place new, complex, or long information at the end of a sentence
Get to the subject of the main sentence quickly
Place the verb immediately after the subject and object right after the verb
Sentence structure and technical style
Use the first person
Use active voice
Use past tense for observations and specific interpretations
Used present tense for general rules and established knowledge
Write short sentences and aim for one main idea in a sentence
Use active verbs
Avoid strings of nouns
Use clear pronouns and prepositions
Avoid faulty comparisions
Avoid in spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Use prepositions instead
Incomplete comparisons- Include both items being compared
Ambiguous comparisons- Do not compare apple to orange
Paragraph flow
Paragraph must be composed unambiguously and logically
Paragraph must have transitions
Paragraph construction and organization
Organize paragraph
A topic sentence: introducing overall idea
Supporting sentences: provide details on topic
Concluding sentence: summarizing the paragraph or set the stage for the next paragraph
Use consistent order of topic
Use consistent point of view
Make sentences cohesive
Word location
Provide consistent point of view
Use key terms to continue continuity
Use transitions to indicate logical relationships between sentences
Condensing
Make your writing concise
Establish importance information
Deemphasize or omit less important information
Replace or omit words and phrases
Words: described, noticed, reported, noted, observed, seen
Phrases: "The results are presented in...", "It... that",
Change negative to positive
Excessive details
overuse hedges or intensifiers: usually, often, posibly, etc.