Scientific Writing: Meeting the Readers Needs

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Scientific Writing Meeting the Readers Needs

• Kent Harrison
• Ohio State University

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• Reasons for writing
• The importance of structure
• Organizing a scientific paper
• Reader expectations
• Tips for success

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A naturalists life would be a happy one if he
had only to observe and never to
write. Charles Darwin
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Reasons for Writing

• Brings research to completion
• Ethical obligation to funding sources
• Establish professional reputation
• Writing reaches the widest audience
• Professional rewards

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Products

• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Grant proposals
• Review articles
• Books and book chapters
• Progress and technical reports
• Extension publications
• Popular press articles

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Readers expect structure in

• articles
• sections
• paragraphs
• sentences
• clauses

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Readers have fixed expectations of structure
Example
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Readers have fixed expectations of structure
(revised)
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Organizing a Scientific Paper
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Organizing a Scientific Paper

• I. Introduction (readers needs)
• What is the problem being addressed?
• Why is it important?
• What have others done to address the problem?
• What have you done to address the problem and how
  is it different?

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Organizing a Scientific Paper

• Materials and Methods (readers needs)
• Which objective is being addressed by each
  experiment?
• Are the treatments and experimental design
  defined clearly?
• Can the procedures be duplicated accurately?
• How was significance determined, and how are
  findings presented?

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Organizing a Scientific Paper

• III. Results Discussion (readers needs)
• What are the findings relevant to each objective?
• Have all objectives been met?
• How do the findings support/contradict other
  research, and why?
• What are the practical implications and what
  future work is needed?

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Reader Expectations
adapted from Gopen and Swan, 1990

• Avoid separation between subject verb
• Place main point in the stress position
• Provide backward linkage in topic position
• Avoid logic gaps misplaced information
• Locate the action

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1. Avoid separation between subject verb

• The most prevalent winter annual weed that
  infests no-tillage fields, Lamium purpureum, is
  Lamium purpureum, an obligate winter annual and
  naturalized member of the Lamiaceae originating
  from Eurasia it has a prolonged emergence period
  and may require a second application of
  glyphosate.

• The most prevalent winter annual weed that
  infests no-tillage fields is Lamium purpureum, an
  obligate winter annual and naturalized member of
  the Lamiaceae originating from Eurasia it has a
  prolonged emergence period and may require a
  second application of glyphosate.

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2. Place main point in the stress position

• Recently, however, few viable seeds were
  produced according to seed germination tests, as
  well as tetrazolium assays, on seeds produced by
  seven of the biotypes.

• Recently, however, seven of the biotypes were
  shown by seed germination tests and tetrazolium
  assays to produce few viable seeds.

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3. Provide backward linkage in topic posn

• Capsules release seeds at rate proportional to
  capsule age. In a first approximation, one might
  expect that the maximum seed predation rate
  occurs in October, when most capsules reach full
  maturity. However, in some populations from
  central Texas the monthly rate of seed predation
  remained constant.

• Seeds are released from capsules at a rate
  proportional to capsule age. Capsules reach full
  maturity in October when the maximum predation
  levels might be expected. However, monthly seed
  losses due to predation remained constant in some
  populations from central Texas.

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4. Avoid logic gaps misplaced information

• (Topic Stress)
• An altered AHAS enzyme was determined to be
  responsible for the differential response of R1
  and R2 populations to chlorimuron. In order to
  confirm cross resistance to imidazolinones, AHAS
  was extracted from the R1 and R2 populations and
  assayed. Imazapyr and imazamox were used to
  generate a series of inhibition curves.

• The differential response of R1 and R2
  populations to chlorimuron was due to an altered
  AHAS enzyme. AHAS was extracted from the R1 and
  R2 populations and assayed to determine cross
  resistance to imidazolinones. The imidazolinone
  herbicides imazapyr and imazamox were selected to
  generate inhibition curves.

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5. Locating the action

• In the freshwater samples, photolysis of
  norflurazon increased with sensitizer
  concentration. We expected these results,
  because the initial degradation rate exceeded
  that in the distilled water controls. Abiotic
  hydrolysis likely accounted for little
  degradation, because pyridazinones can remain
  stable over a large pH range .

• Photolysis of norflurazon in the freshwater
  samples was dependent on sensitizer
  concentration. This is not surprising, because
  the initial degradation rate was different than
  in the distilled water controls. Abiotic
  hydrolysis is presumed to have little effect on
  degradation, because pyridazinones are generally
  stable over a large pH range .

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Tips for successful writing

• Read
• Write
• 3. Review
• 4. Rewrite
• 5. Relax
• 6. Repeat Steps 3-5

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Peer review and the Red Ink Factor
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References

• G. D. Gopen and J. A. Swan. 1990. The Science
  of Scientific Writing. American Scientist
  78550-558.
• Improving the quality of writing
• improves the quality of thought.
• Peat et. al. 2002. Scientific Writing Easy
  When You Know How. BMJ Books, London.
• Scientific writing is a well-defined
• technique rather than a creative art.

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Available atagcrops.osu.edu/weeds