Scientific Writing. What is Scientific Writing? Recapitulation. Reporting of original research in scientific journals

Transcription

1 Scientific Writing Andreas Kämper SS Standard Structure Div. for Simulation of Biological Systems WSI/ZBIT, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Recapitulation What is Scientific Writing? Reporting of original research in scientific journals Scientific paper In a broader sense it also includes papers summarizing and integrating previously published research Review paper, book chapter, book Other types of publications Grant proposals, oral presentations, poster presentations 1

2 Key Characteristic: Clarity The key characteristic of scientific writing is clarity Clearly state the problem Clearly state conclusions Clearly state how these conclusions were obtained Clear to scientists reading outside their narrow discipline, to undergraduate students, and to readers whose native language is other than English Outline of the Course Research Idea for a Publication Select Medium Initial Manuscript Internal Review Final Manuscript Submission Peer Review Revision Revised Manuscript Rebuttal Editorial Decision Galley Proofs Published Paper Outline Historical Development of Scientific Writing Standard Structure of a Scientific Paper Introduction Materials and Methods Materials and Methods Results Discussion and Conclusion Grammar and Style Online reference books Expand your vocabulary: A word a day 2

3 Historical Development Standard Structure of a Scientific Paper Style and Grammar Corner Early historical development (I) Prehistoric times Knowledge was passed by oral tradition. 30,000 BC 10,000 BC (Upper Paleolithic) Cave paintings and petroglyphs Horse, cave painting, Lascaux, France Running priest, petroglyph, Val Camonica, Italy Since around 9000 BC (Neolithic) Pictographs used as labels Figures: (public domain), (GNU FDL). Early historical development (II) Around 7000 BC (Neolithic) Proto-writing Kish tablet (limestone, around 3500 BC) Transition between proto- writing and writing Around 3500 BC (Neolithic Bronze Age) Writing systems developed independently in Mesopotamia, Egypt (possibly influenced by Mesopotamia), and China Figure: (public domain); the original is in the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, United Kingdom. 3

4 Early historical development (III) Since around 3500 BC Mesopotamian peoples began to write down observations on clay tablets. Example: Mathematics The partial clay tablet Plimpton 322 (around 1800 BC) in cuneiform writing. Interpretation as reciprocal pairs (Robson, 2001) Example: Astronomy we still today use the 7-day-week, the lunar month, and the solar year E. Robson, Historia Math. 2001, 28, Figure: (public domain); original in the G.A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University, New York City, United States. Early historical development (IV) Around 2700 BC First scientific writings on papyri in Egypt. Example: Mathematics Moscow mathematical papyrus, problem 14. Correct calculation of the volume of a truncated square pyramid using the equation Figures: top: (public domain); original in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia; bottom: (public domain). Early historical development (V) Around 300 BC Euclid collects the mathematical knowledge of his time in a logically coherent framework: the Elements (in 13 volumes). Most influential textbook of all times (Boyer, 1991). First printed in 1482; over 1000 editions, second only to the Bible. Fragment of Euclid s Elements (Papyrus, around 100 BC) C. B. Boyer, A History of Mathematics, 2nd Ed. Revised by U. C. Merzbach, Wiley, 1991; Figure: (public domain). 4

5 Early Historical Development (VI) Fall of the Roman Empire 395 A.D.: Partition of the Roman Empire till 476 A.D.: Decline of the Western Roman Empire Sometime between 42 BC and A.D. 642: Royal Library of Alexandria largest library of the antique world destroyed Early Historical Development (VII) Early Middle Ages (Islamic Golden Age) around 1000 A.D.: Scientific method developed as systematic approach to theory and experiments by Arab and Persian polymaths: Ibn al-haytham (Alhazen), Book of Optics (Kitab al-manazir), published Abu Rayhan al-biruni, Book of Precious Stones (Kitab al-jawahir), published about Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Book of Healing (Al-Shefa), published Modern Historical Development (I) Renaissance of the 12th century Increased contact with the Islamic world (in Spain and Italy, Crusades) Translation of works of Greek and Islamic philosophers and scientists Scientific Renaissance Phrase coined by M. B. Hall Assimilation of Greek and Roman knowledge after Fall of Constantinople (1453) Invention of printing by Gutenberg (1455: Gutenberg Bible) 5

6 Modern Historical Development (II) The Scientific Revolution Phrase coined by Alexandre Koyré in 1939 A.D. 1543: Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres) Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica (On the fabric of the human body) Figures: N. Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, Libri VI, Nuremberg, 1543 (public domain); A. Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, Basel, 1543 (public domain). Modern Historical Development (III) The first scientific journals appeared in A.D Journal des Sçavans Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Figures: Title pages of the first issues ( File:1665_journal_des_scavans_title.jpg, both public domain). Modern Historical Development (IV) In the early days papers were written in a descriptive fashion Straightforward style of reporting Results often in chronological order, like First, I saw this, and then I saw that 6

7 Modern Historical Development (V) From the 1850s it became increasingly important to describe the methodology of experiments For instance, Louis Pasteur had to describe his experiments in great detail to allow his many critics to reproduce experiments Separate Methods section Modern Historical Development (VI) After World War II and after Sputnik billions of dollars were spent for science, resulting in many papers Journal space became precious Reduction of verbosity and of redundancy Organization of manuscripts in a standard form The Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRAD) format became standard Historical Development Standard Structure of a Scientific Paper Style and Grammar Corner 7

8 Standard Structure Introduction What is this all about? Why was this work done? Why do you write this paper? Materials and Methods How was the evidence obtained? Results What are the facts? What was found? Discussion and Conclusion What do your findings mean? Purpose of the Introduction Supply sufficient background information Allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of your study Do this in a way that the reader does not need to refer to previous publications on the topic Provide the rationale of the study State the purpose of writing the paper Structure of the Introduction (I) 1) What is it all about? Why is it interesting, exciting, and important to address this issue? State the nature and scope of the problem. 2) What is the state of the art? Briefly review the relevant literature. Select only the most important references, unless you are writing a review or thesis. 8

9 Structure of the Introduction (II) 3) What did you set out to do? What were your goals? State the aims/goals of your study. 4) What is your approach to the problems? What new methods or ideas did you develop or implement? State the method and, if necessary, state why you chose this method over competing methods. Structure of the Introduction (III) 5) What were your principal results? How do they compare to previous results? Summarize the most important findings. Structure of the Introduction (IV) 6) What were your principal conclusions? Let the reader follow the development of the evidence. Reading a scientific article isn t the same as reading a detective story. We want to know from the start that the butler did it. O. G. Ratnoff, 1981 O. G. Radnoff, How to read a paper. In: K. S. Warren (Ed.) Coping with the biomedical literature, pp. 95, Praeger, New York,

10 Purpose of Materials & Methods Describe and, if necessary, defend the experimental design. Provide sufficient detail such that a competent colleague can repeat the experiments. Allow readers to judge the appropriateness of the methods Judge the validity of the findings. Judge the extent to which results can be generalized. Purpose of Results Core of the paper: the data that constitutes new knowledge Short, without verboseness. State facts as clearly and simply as possible. Although the Results are the most important part of the paper, this section if often the shortest Structure of Results 1) Provide the big picture Overall description of the experiments without repeating the experimental details from Materials and Methods. 2) Present the data 2) Present the data. Select representative data for presentation. Choose appropriate representations for your data. 10

11 Purpose of Discussion/Conclusion Interpretation of your results against the state of the art Results: facts only. Discussion: here is the place for opinions. Show the relationships among observed facts. Answer (some of) the questions from the Introduction. Discuss, do not recapitulate results. Structure of Discussion/Conclusion 1) A general discussion of the addressed problem as a whole 2) A discussion and interpretation of your results against the state of the art Principles, relationships, and generalizations shown by the results Comparison with the work of others (agreement and contrast) 3) Point out exceptions or lack of correlation Structure of Discussion/Conclusion 4) A general discussion of the methods used What are possible errors or limitations of the methods and assumptions? What could have been done alternatively? y 5) A critical discussion whether you reached the goals outlined in the introduction. 11

12 Structure of Discussion/Conclusion 6) A discussion of still open or new problems and an outlook of further possible developments. 7) A conclusion about the significance of the results What are theoretical implications? Is there a practical application? Avoid readers asking so what? Historical Development Standard Structure of a Scientific Paper Style and Grammar Corner Get Reference Books Online English-English dictionary Merriam-Webster Online The Compact Oxford English Dictionary Online thesaurus Thesaurus means treasury of synonyms Merriam-Webster Online 12

13 Expand Your Vocabulary A Word a Day / Word of Today Every day a new word with explanation Wordsmith Today s word: Babylon AskOxford Today s word: grike Similar services with A Phrase a Day available online Online Grammar References Dr. Grammar FAQ AskOxford Ask the Experts / kth t / Guide to Grammar & Writing German-English Dictionary Standard online dictionary for German to English and vice versa is LEO: Warning: Warning: Do not thoughtlessly use English words from a German-English dictionary because they sound nice. Always check their meaning in an English- English dictionary! 13