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Fundamentals of scientific writing - Coggle Diagram
Fundamentals of scientific writing
Style
Chapter 2
Sentence Structure and Technical style
Use the first person
"I" for one author
"We" for multiple authors
Use the active voice
Parrots were attracted by hawk B3------revise to--> Hawk B3 attracted parrots
Were analyzed---> analysed
was noted ---> noted
Use the past tense for observations and specific interpretations
Use the present tense for general rules and established knowledge
Write short sentences and aim for one main idea in a sentence
Avoid strings of nouns
use clear pronouns and prepositions
Use clear pronouns and prepositions
Word location
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 sentence quickly
Place the verb immediately after the subject and the object right after the verb
Individual words
Use precise words
Imprecise word choices can be problematic, becoming unclear to the reader.
kept in the cold -- revice to--> kept in 0 degrees celsius
Reagent Y was mixed with X --Revivise with --> Reagent Y and X were mixed together
Use simple words
Scientific writing has many technical terms intended for a specific audience, choose to simplify the rest of the words to keep the paper from being too 'heavy'.
For the purpose of examining --Revise to--> To examine
We utilised UV light --Revise to--> we used UV light
Employ--> use
terminate-> end
Based on the fact that --> because
Use correct nomenclature and terminology to avoid being misunderstood
Species and most Latin derivatives
are in italics
Human genes
all caps and italics
Mouse genes
first letter capital, italics
Human Protiens
capitals no italics
Mouse protiens
first letter capital no italics
Restriction enzymes
combination of italics and no italics, check with supplier for correct nomenclature
Omit unnecessary words and phrases
Words
quite
very
basically
essentially
several
much
really
virtually
practically
rather
Phrases
It was well known that
It has been reported that
It was shown to
it has been founded that
It is speculated that
A considerable number
Avoid too many abbreviations
limit the number of abbreviations so the reader does not get confused.
Composition
Chapter 3
Paragraph flow
Use transitions and logical connections
in fact
aside from
in addition
ideally
Paragraph construction and organization
Organise your paragraphes
The first and last sentences are the most powerful
Use a topic sentence to provide an overview of the pparagraph
Use a consistent order
If using a list, talk about the point in the order you listed them in.
Make your sentence cohesive
Use key terms to create continuity
Use transitions to indicate logical relationships between sentences
Use consistent point of view
Do not switch point of view styles, this can be hard for the reader to follow
Condensing
Make writing concise
omitting words and phases
modifying negative to positive words
do not over look----> note
not different--> similar
not many--> few
not the same--> different