1
课程详述
COURSE SPECIFICATION
以下课程信息可能根据实际授课需要或在课程优化之后产生变动。如对课程有任何疑问，请
联系授课教师。
The course information as follows may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen
circumstances, or following review of the course at the end of the session. Queries about the course should be
directed to the course instructor.
1.
课程名称 Course Title
Writing for Publication
2.
授课院系
Originating Department
Center for Language Education
3.
课程编号
Course Code
CLE063
4.
课程学分 Credit Value
2
5.
课程类别
Course Type
通识选修课程 General Education (GE) Elective Courses
6.
授课学期
Semester
春季 Spring / 夏季 Summer / 秋季 Fall
7.
授课语言
Teaching Language
英文 English
8.
授课教师、所属学系、联系方
式（如属团队授课，请列明其
他授课教师）
Instructor(s), Affiliation&
Contact
（For team teaching, please list
allinstructors）
Adrian Rowland, Center for Language Education
adrian@sustech.edu.cn
9.
实验员/助教、所属学系、联系
方式
Tutor/TA(s), Contact
NA
10.
选课人数限额(可不填)
Maximum Enrolment
（Optional）
2
11.
授课方式
Delivery Method
讲授
Lectures
习题/辅导/讨论
Tutorials
实验/实习
Lab/Practical
其它(请具体注明)
Other（Pleasespecify）
总学时
Total
学时数
Credit Hours
32
0
0
0
32
12.
先修课程、其它学习要求
Pre-requisites or Other
Academic Requirements
Undergraduates: CLE030 EAP
Postgraduates: GGC5046 SUSTech Postgraduate English
13.
后续课程、其它学习规划
Courses for which this course
is a pre-requisite
N/A
14.
其它要求修读本课程的学系
Cross-listing Dept.
N/A
教学大纲及教学日历 SYLLABUS
15.
教学目标 Course Objectives
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.
16.
预达学习成果 Learning Outcomes
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
3
of paragraphs.
J. Students will be able to recognise and avoid some common types of non-concise writing.
K. Students will reduce the incidence of grammatical errors in their writing.
L. Students will improve some cosmetic aspects of their scientific writing (number and unit spacing, etc.).
M. Students will be able to apply all of this theory to the production of their own scientific writing.
N. Students will be able to apply this theory to the editing of other people’s writing.
17.
课程内容及教学日历 （如授课语言以英文为主，则课程内容介绍可以用英文；如团队教学或模块教学，教学日历须注明
主讲人）
Course Contents (in Parts/Chapters/Sections/Weeks. Please notify name of instructor for course section(s), if
this is a team teaching or module course.)
Most weeks, the lesson will be split into two parts. In the first part, new ideas about scientific writing will be examined.
This part of the lesson will be somewhere between a lecture and a seminar, with discussion highly encouraged. In the
second half, students will apply these ideas by working on their mini-paper (a piece of writing in the style of a scientific
paper) while the instructor circulates, reading students’ work and offering informal feedback. The mini-paper will be built
up and edited week by week and submitted near the end of the course.
Week 1: the basics:
- Course overview and introduction to the mini-paper;
- Basic philosophy of scientific writing and the aims of a scientific paper, including the idea of a scientific paper as a
story;
- Review of some grammar and punctuation terms in English (students may know them in Chinese but not English);
- Overview of a scientific paper: generic IMRAD structure of an experimental paper and brief survey of the function of
each section;
- Some ideas about story structure, including the acronym OCAR;
- Familiarisation with one or two generalist papers chosen as exemplar material for the course.
Weeks 2-3: writing an introduction:
- A detailed look at the purpose of an introduction in terms of the OCAR model introduced in week 1, with an especial
focus on the idea of the challenge;
- The “hourglass” shape of a scientific paper and the topic width of the introduction;
- The importance of concrete context;
- The function of the introduction as a preview;
- The typical uses of the simple present, present perfect, and simple past tenses within an introduction, including a
typical class of mixed-tense sentence (discussing accepted truths from past studies – mixes simple past and simple
present);
- Errors to avoid when writing introductions;
- Examination of examples from the literature;
- Writing exercise: producing an introduction.
Week 4: writing a method:
- The purposes of a method and general advice for method writing (justifying choices and showing the reader the
methods were sufficient to make the results valid, highlighting novelty, necessary details about materials, possible
logical structures, when to use tables and diagrams instead of text); the idea of replication;
- Logical principles for structuring methods;
- Tense conventions for method writing; different tenses for actions, apparatus, and procedures;
- Examination of examples from the literature;
- Writing exercise: writing a method.
Week 5: review of passive and active voices and their optimal use in scientific writing, with a focus on their use in the
method section:
- The advantage of the active voice for clarity;
- The advantage of the passive voice for emphasising the object and de-emphasising or obscuring the actor;
- Using “we” to signpost the story of the paper;
- Choice of passive or active, and the use or not of “we”, to emphasise the key point of a sentence;
- Style in the construction of the passive voice; avoiding excessively remote verbs;
- Analysis of use of passive and active voices in examples from the literature;
- Writing exercise: review and revision of introduction and method for good use of voice.
4
Weeks 6-7: writing a results and discussion section, including conclusions:
- The aims of a results and discussion section and what to include;
- Combined and separate results and discussion sections;
- Selection of data;
- Structural relationship between method section and results section;
- Tense conventions for results and discussion sections;
- Useful verbs;
- Functions of a conclusion;
- Analysis of examples from the literature;
- Writing exercise: writing a results and discussion section.
Week 8: writing an abstract:
- Aims and typical structure and contents of an abstract;
- The importance of the abstract standing alone;
- Accessibility to non-specialist readers;
- Conventions regarding abbreviations and citations;
- Concise and direct writing in abstracts;
- Analysis of several abstracts from the literature;
- Writing exercise: writing an abstract.
Week 9: sentence stress and flow between sentences:
- Choosing sentence topics to enhance flow of ideas between sentences;
- Sentence topics and paragraph theme;
- Using sentence stress to emphasise key points and communicate a clear argument; 2-3-1 sentence stress;
- Sentence weight and other aesthetic considerations when choosing topic and stress;
- Analysis of examples from the literature;
- Review of students’ own writing.
Week 10: paragraph structure:
- The three types of common paragraph structure in scientific writing, and positioning of key information within
paragraphs;
- Techniques for ensuring clear flow of ideas between paragraphs;
- Common mistakes with paragraph construction and flow;
- Analysis of examples from the literature;
- Review of students’ own writing.
Week 11: multi-paragraph arcs:
- Flow of ideas at the multi-paragraph level;
- Analysis of examples from the literature;
- Review of students’ own writing.
Week 12: more ideas for promoting flow and readability in sentences, paragraphs, and sections:
- Precise content to be informed by teacher’s review of student work during the course, but likely to include the use
of colons and semicolons;
- Analysis of examples from the literature;
- Review of students’ own writing.
Week 13: improving concision and avoiding common grammar and style errors:
- Precise content to be informed by teacher’s review of student work during the course.
- Possible focuses for concision might include:
Fuzzy verbs;
Nominalisations;
Prepositional phrases;
Redundant words and obvious information;
Adjectives and adverbs;
Metadiscourse;
LD sentence pairs;
5
- Possible focuses for grammar and style might include:
Hyphenation of compound adjectives;
Comma splices;
Fragments;
Misuse of transition words;
Placement of adverbs;
Dangling modifiers;
Separation of subject and pronoun;
Informality;
Misuse of the imperative mood.
- Students review and peer review their work with these points in mind.
Week 14: cosmetic considerations and final review of mini-paper:
- Choosing an appropriate title and running title;
- Small details such as spacing of numbers and units, not starting sentences with abbreviations, numerals, and
symbols, how to include equations in text, etc.;
- Peer review and editing of students’ work.
Week 15: course review:
- Submission of mini-paper;
- Review of course content.
Week 16: assessment:
- Written assessment.
18.
教材及其它参考资料 Textbook and Supplementary Readings
David Lindsay, Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2020
Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing, Springer, New York, 2018
Both books are available in electronic format via the university library, so students will not need to purchase them.
课程评估 ASSESSMENT
19.
评估形式
Type of
Assessment
评估时间
Time
占考试总成绩百分比
% of final
score
违纪处罚
Penalty
备注
Notes
Participation
Throughout course
10
Mark may be reduced by
unauthorised absence as per CLE
policy.
Engagement and
performance
Throughout course
20
Discussion and peer review will be a
central part of this course.
Mini-paper
written during
course
Throughout course,
submitted in week 15
40
See first sentence of Course
Contents above. Assesses Learning
Objectives A-L – i.e. assesses
students’ ability to apply ideas from
this course to their own writing.
Written
assessment
Week 16
30
Assesses learning objectives A-L
and N – i.e. assesses students’
ability to apply ideas from this course
to other people’s writing.
6
20.
记分方式 GRADING SYSTEM
A. 十三级等级制 Letter Grading
B. 二级记分制（通过/不通过） Pass/Fail Grading
以上课程信息可能根据实际授课需要或在课程优化之后产生变动。如对课程有任何疑问，请联系授课教师。
The course information as follows may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances,
or following review of the course at the end of the session. Queries about the course should be directed to the course instructor.
课程审批 REVIEW AND APPROVAL
21.
本课程设置已经过以下责任人/委员会审议通过
This Course has been approved by the following person or committee of authority
Center for Language Education
