Hi Experts
It is generally believe that writing a good research paper requires good scientific writing skills. I need your comments on;
a) What constitute scientific writing?
b) What are the DO and DON'T of scientific writing?
c) How one can enhance scientific writing skills?
Please share your opinion and views.
Thanks.
Dear Jawad
a +b) There are general and specific instructions and guidelines for writing a scientific paper but I think this depends on research question, type of study and the selected journal.
c) Such as:
1. Reading high quality studies of well-known researchers
2. Following the instructions of the selected journal
Note: Scientific writing skills will be developed within a period of time
Please find the attached documents that may help to answer your questions.
Good Luck!
The following sources should also be helpful:
- Cloutier, C. (2016). How I write: An inquiry into the writing practices of academics. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25, 1, pp. 69-84.
- Day, A. and Peters, J. (1994). Quality Indicators in an Academic Publishing. Library Review, 43, 7, pp. 4-72.
- Hartley, J. (2008). Academic Writing and Publishing: A Pactical Handbook, New York, NY, Routledge.
- Murray, R. (2011). How to write a thesis, Berkshire, England, Open University Press.
- Ortinau, D. J. (2011). Writing and publishing important scientific articles: A reviewer's perspective. Journal of Business Research, 64, 2, pp. 150-156.
- Rocco, T. S., Hatcher, T. and Creswell, J. W. (2011). The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing, USA: San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
- Rosenfeldt, F. L., Dowling, J. T., Pepe, S. and Fullerton, M. J. (2000). How to write a paper for publication. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 9, 2, pp. 82-87.
- Varadarajan, P. R. (1996). From the editor: Reflections on research and publishing. Journal of Marketing, 60, 4, pp. 3-6.
Hello Jawad,
I agree with Mansour that writing improves (or can) with practice e.g. by drafting articles for a range of journals that may be interested in your topic. But also write other things, like different length presentations (5 mins, 15 mins, 30 mins), and read them out aloud, edit as you find issues. If you can find a few folk to act as audience/ informal reviewers, even better.
Some common issues to look out for include:
- trying to fit too much into the word/ time limit (narrow and structure your topic and arguments such that if too much for one paper, you can spread content over two or more without unnecessary repetition)
- poorly explained concepts, hypotheses and choice of methods (don't assume everyone knows what you mean)
- lack of referencing, especially supporting evidence for your concepts, hypotheses and methods (acknowledge where your ideas have come from)
- over-use of jargon and complex language - always explain any technical terminology and keep language simple, especially if you want a wide audience over time
- assuming a 'standard' spell- and grammar-checker will produce a 'clean read' - better to get a knowledgeable person to read for technical content and a copy editor to check your writing before submitting
Have fun with your writing too,
Lorinne
I have published more than 200 popular science articles in science magazines and newspapers and also published 34 articles without learning separately 'how to wright them'.
It is just practice and continuous self analysis which may lead to more perfection.
Attend workshops and webinar. Elsevier publishing campus has a very good program for training researchers and reviewers alike
Attend workshops and webinar. Elsevier publishing campus has a very good program for training researchers and reviewers alike
http://www.nextscientist.com/scientific-writing-non-native-english-speakers/
https://www.erblearn.org/services/pathways/writing?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6PSSqavs2AIVAWQZCh29mAY2EAAYAiAAEgIUT_D_BwE
Meticulous reading, study of research methodology, better-quality but simple language, scope of journal, accuracy of citation, recent references, Paraphrasing and plagiarism free text.
A simple strategy is to craft out time to read between 3 to 5 scientific papers published in highly reputable journals of your area of research, and do this consistently on a daily basis. See you at the TOP soon!
Not at all more than practice and every time learn new things through practice. Practice makes man perfect …
First of all, you should have proper knowledge of English in order to write cohesively and coherently, in addition, so as to develop your manuscript based on scientific style, you should read quit a lot papers concerning your research area. High quality journal papers are one of the most important resources for learning correct structure of sentences in an article. By combination all of above recommendation, you will become one of the most talented researcher in your research area and your manuscripts easily will be publish in high quality journals.
Yap, the first step is revisiting the basics: the concept of register, style, and cohesion and coherence; a lot of reading, read quality publications; and finaly ....writing, writing, and writing.
The practice and reading a lot of scientific research papers which have been published in high-rank journals
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Methodology
- Research Methodology
- Research Papers