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SCIENTIFIC WRITING and its SPECIAL CONVENTIONS

SCIENTIFIC WRITING and its SPECIAL CONVENTIONS. Science Writing science is subject “about” science creates secondary or tertiary information resource Scientific American , Science News, Popular Science. Scientific Writing science is context reporting discovery

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SCIENTIFIC WRITING and its SPECIAL CONVENTIONS

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  1. SCIENTIFIC WRITINGand itsSPECIAL CONVENTIONS

  2. Science Writing science is subject “about” science creates secondary or tertiary information resource Scientific American, Science News, Popular Science Scientific Writing science is context reporting discovery creates primary information resource Science, Nature, American Journal of Human Genetics Sciencevs.Scientific

  3. SCIENTIFIC WRITING DESCRIBES OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS AND THE MANNER BY WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED THROUGH EXPERIMENTAL OR NONEXPERIMENTAL METHODS, INCLUDING CLASSIFICATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS, AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES.

  4. CONVENTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING

  5. 1. EMPHASIZE MESSAGE • PRESENT FACTS OBJECTIVELY (NO PERSUASION) • MAKE LANGUAGE THE MEANS TO THE END, NOT THE END

  6. 2. REPORT FACTUAL INFORMATION • REQUIRES VERIFICATION • REQUIRES SPECIFIC • AND CONCRETE WORDS • REQUIRES PRECISE DETAILS (MEASUREMENTS, DIMENSION, SPEEDS, CONCENTRATIONS, ETC.) • REQUIRES CLEAR (TO THE POINT) AND CONCISE (ECONOMICAL) WRITING

  7. 3. USE OBJECTIVE TONE • TONE=ATTITUDE TOWARD TOPIC, AUDIENCE, & SELF • OBJECTIVITY=CONCRETE, SPECIFIC, PRECISEWORDS • WORDS WITH SPECIIC DENOTATION AND NEUTRAL CONNOTATION STEED VS. NAG VS. HORSE

  8. 4.EMPHASIZE ACTION NOT AGENT WHEN REPORTING METHODS “I measured the sample, then I weighed it and then I heated it to 310 C. The sample was measured, weighed, and heated to 310 C.  precise & concise: facilitates understanding and reproducibility

  9. 5. NURTURE YOUR PERSONA • CONVEYS INTEGRITY, INSPIRES READERS’ CONFIDENCE, IMPROVES RESEARCH CREDIBILITY • AUTHORITY (done homework, so…)  • POSITION (status, so…) • EDUCATION (degreed, so…) • EXPERIENCE (done it, so…) • REPUTATION (known, so…)

  10. ANALOGY: comparison between things or events to clarify or explain “Spider silk is elastic like rubber.” METAPHOR: an unfamiliar or strange comparison to evoke “Spider silk is the perfect ink of a blind draftsman’s unruled pen.” 6. Use analogies, not metaphors

  11. 7. Use Facts & Inferences, Not Judgements. • FACT:statement recognized as true and descriptively adequate about world • INFERENCE: reasoned interpretation of facts • To pass class, you must pass final. • Joe did not pass final. • Therfore Joe did not pass class • JUDGEMENT: assessment based on opinion • BMWs are my favorite car. • BMWs are the best cars.

  12. TRUE LANGUAGE conforms to world as known or perceived CORRECT LANGUAGE conforms to rules of grammar 8. Use true and correct language “Flying pigs sing orchids to sleep on submarines.” LIMITATIONS: “The sun came up this morning.” “The sky is blue.”

  13. EMPIRICALLY TRUE (VERIFIABLE) LOGICALLY CONSISTENT (Reasonable, Agreeable) 9. Satisfy the two essential criteria of scientific writing. • All copper conducts electricity. • This wire is copper. • Therefore, this wire conduct electricity. • All chickens speak French. • This creature is a chicken, • Therefore, this creature will speak French.

  14. In the littler scheme of things: descriptions comparisons phrases, clauses word choice In the BIG scheme of things: data, measurements, materials methods conclusion and discussion Be empirically true and logically consistent

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