Sapayeva Zevarjon From reading and writing

Sapayeva Zevarjon

From reading and writing

Scientific writing

Scientific writing is a technical form of writing that is designed to communicate scientific information to other scientists. Depending on the specific scientific genre—a journal article, a scientific poster, or a research proposal, for example—some aspects of the writing may change, such as its purpose, audience, or organization. 

What are some important hallmarks of professional scientific writing?

 

1. Its primary audience is other scientists. Because of its intended audience, student-oriented or general-audience details, definitions, and explanations — which are often necessary in lab manuals or reports — are not terribly useful. Explaining general-knowledge concepts or how routine procedures were performed actually tends to obstruct clarity, make the writing wordy, and detract from its professional tone.

2. It is concise and precise. A goal of scientific writing is to communicate scientific information clearly and concisely. Flowery, ambiguous, wordy, and redundant language run counter to the purpose of the writing.

3. It must be set within the context of other published work. Because science builds on and corrects itself over time, scientific writing must be situated in and reference the findings of previous work. This context serves variously as motivation for new work being proposed or the paper being written, as points of departure or congruence for new findings and interpretations, and as evidence of the authors’ knowledge and expertise in the field.

A scientific paper usually includes the following parts: a Title (statement of the question or problem), an Abstract (short summary of the paper), an Introduction (background and significance of the problem), a Materials and Methods section (report of exactly what you did), a Results section (presentation of data), a Discussion section (interpretation and discussion of results), and References (books and periodicals used). A Conclusion (concise restatement of conclusions) may also be included.