This course aims to help students write better scientific papers. It covers three main areas:
- ideas about the purpose and typical contents of each section of a scientific paper;
- points of grammar and style for scientific writing. It will examine the tense conventions for each section of a
scientific paper, the use of active and passive voice to lend appropriate emphasis, and aspects of sentence
structure, paragraph structure, and word choice to promote the clear flow of ideas;
- techniques for effectively structuring and telling stories, promoting a broader view of a scientific paper as a story-
telling medium.
Though this course focuses on writing papers, the skills developed will also aid other forms of scientific communication,
such as writing theses, proposals, and emails.
A. Students will understand that scientific writing aims for accuracy, clarity, and concision.
B. Students will understand the aims and typical contents of each section of an IMRaD paper and the relationships
between them.
C. Students will know the usual tense conventions of each section of a scientific manuscript based on the IMRaD
structure.
D. Students will be able to form the active and passive voices and use these appropriately to direct the emphasis of a
sentence or to emphasise or de-emphasise an actor.
E. Students will appreciate that scientific writing is a particular and specialised form of storytelling, and that this is a
powerful lens through which to analyse and improve the structure of scientific papers at the whole paper, section,
and paragraph level.
F. Students will be familiar with some basic story structures, how these map onto the IMRaD model, and how typical
paper and story structures vary between journals, often deviating from the IMRaD model.
G. Students will be able to manipulate sentence topic and stress to aid clarity of communication.
H. Students will understand the three main types of paragraph structure used in scientific writing.
I. Students will be able to achieve good flow of ideas between sentences, between paragraphs, and between groups