Developing a good scientific writing practice-part one

Transcription

1 Developing a good scientific writing practice-part one Roland J.W. Meesters, Ph.D. Editor Journal of Applied Bioanalysis

2 Table of Contents 1. Scientific writing and reasons to publish Benefits to expect for being a good writer How to start from scratch in scientific writing? About the author

3 1. Scientific writing and reasons to publish In the present academic climate, scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals are imperative for the scientist s career advancement (publish or perish) and in some cases also for the economic survival of research departments. The number of publications is in many institutions used as a measure of scientific output and productivity. There are many reasons why scientists publish research results and they might be different for each individual scientist. In general, they can be divided into two main categories. A few examples; 1. Ethical reasons: e.g. it is seen generally as unethical by the scientific community to accept research grants from funding bodies and then not publish the research results obtained by using the funds. You have results that might improve health outcomes. 2. Professional reasons: e.g. failure to publish reflects badly on your career as a scientist and might likely to have a negative influence on attracting new funding as well have an impact your further career as a scientist. Articles published in well-respected journals is an important ultimate goal. It s not as easy as it sounds. Especially, for junior scientists and Ph.D. students is writing articles that are likely to be accepted for publishing in good journals a very harsh job. Scientific writing is like many other things in life, the more you practice, the easier it hopefully will become. That s also the case with scientific writing. A well-written article is one that will be easy to read, presents the reader of the article with the information under the correct headings, is visually appealing and most important tells a story. To improve your academic writing skills and increase the chance of being published you ll have to accomplish some basic skills. Not only scientific writing skills you ll have to accomplish but also your study has to have a rigorous design, your research results have to answer your most important research questions, and above all these things your article has to be written well. To improve your chances of getting your article published, the study described has to be of a rigorous design and the research questions stated in the article must be answered. 2

4 2. Benefits to expect for being a good writer In general, having good scientific writing skills will not only bring you the desired career success but also many other personal rewards such as a productive writing time, increase of funded grant applications and becoming a good reviewer or even a journal editor. A well-written article is an article that can add credibility to your reputation is read a lot by other scientists and is mostly cited. There is no doubt that good writing skills will bring you advantages; 1. A more rewarding career. 2. You have to spend less time on each published paper. 3. Your grant applications are more likely to be funded. 4. Your expertise can help to become a good reviewer or even an editor. In being a good writer of scientific articles there s a great chance that you also become a good reviewer. Reviewers are by definition experts in their field who are asked to determine the scientific validity of submitted manuscript drafts and/or grant applications. As an experienced reviewer of scientific articles, in the future, you might be invited to participate in advisory bodies or have the responsibility of judging a postgraduate thesis. All these possibilities are a rewarding recognition of your talent which has an important value for the scientific community. 3

5 3. How to start from scratch in scientific writing? For developing good writing skills, some other aspects are of high importance. Using your available time for writing effectively is as important as a good design of your study you are going to conduct. 1. Time management: a good time management makes you distinguish between urgent and important issues in your daily working day. Committed researchers have the skills to develop their dedicated writing time into their busy working day or week. You ll have to understand that writing a new manuscript is important but not urgent in doing so. If you are serious about wanting to write and publish a new article you ll have to schedule adequate time for the activity of writing. 2. Designing study, a collection of data, data analysis and writing the papers: a good study design, correct use of statistics and presentation of your data in easy to understand figures and tables will increase the chance that your manuscript will pass from the journal editor s desk into the peer review process. Writing a new manuscript only happens when you write effectively. The highest writing effectivity can the easiest be achieved at a place where you feel relaxed and comfortable and where you have the space to write. To write effectively, you ll have to find a space where you can think and work, you ll have to create your own thinking and creative space. This space has to be not necessarily your office or the desk in the laboratory. At some hours of the day or day(s) of the week, you can tune into your creative moment for writing. Whatever your creative writing pattern is, it is important to try to write every day if you can. The spare moment can be used for editing your writing. Scientific writing is a constant process of writing, editing, rewriting, editing etc. until your manuscript has reached a quality which is sufficient for submission to a journal. 4

6 4. About the author Dr. Roland J.W. Meesters is Adjunct Professor at the department of chemistry at the University of Los Andes in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. He completed a BS in Chemistry (1994) and a BS in Natural and Environmental Sciences (2004), MS in Natural and Environmental Sciences (2006) and furthermore a Ph.D. in Bioanalysis at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research focuses on the application and development of bioanalytical techniques in life sciences. Dr. Meesters is a passionate (academic) scholar/scientist with many years hands-on experience in scientific research. Specific interest in the application of bioanalysis in areas of metabolomics, proteomics, pharmacology, clinical chemistry and toxicology. He is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and 25 patents. Dr. Meesters is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Bioanalysis, an online full open access peer-reviewed journal on Bioanalysis published by in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 5