SCIENCE WRITINGJournal, Magazine, Newspaper,

Literary

Scientific Papers

A written and published report describing original results. The reader should be able to do the following:

Assess the observations reported

Repeat the experiment exactly

Evaluate whether the author’s conclusions are justified from the data.

Scientific Journals

Importance of research can be classified in two general attitudes:

1. It has value, and is an addition– no matter how small– to the body of scientific knowledge.

2. It does not seem to have “importance” except as an addition to scientific knowledge; that is, it has no apparent use beyond science itself.

This distinction in the two attitudes is a constant source of disagreement in places where scientific research is conducted and where such research is funded.

Scientific Journal Writing

Significance of the research question or subject being studied

Originality of work

Appropriateness of approach or scientific design.

Soundness of conclusions and interpretations

Relevance of discussion

Adequacy of title

Length of article

(“Guidelines for Reviewers,” American Journal of Microbiology)

Recognizing scientific writing by scientists

Esoteric language

Proper grammar

Clear organization

Acute observations

Appropriate word choice

Science Magazines & Publications

Audience has some interest in science

Terms generally explained in context

Some background may be required

Reader friendly

News writing

HEADLINESGeek bites head off snakeBy Monty Python

* Contains a vivid active verb (often ends with "s")

* The headline attracts attention

* A sub headline often can add clarity to an attention-catching headline

* The by-line follows the headline

* Only proper nouns and first word are capitalized’

Headline???

Newswriting: Lead

The lead is the first one or two sentences of a news story. The most important information is contained in the lead.

The lead should contain the 5 W's and an H Who What When Why Where How

The lead should capture the audience's attention

Lead: Who? What? When? Where? How?

Parking lot barbecue leads police to meth labby Kevin Head

Police say a man roasting a raccoon in a Memphis, Tennessee parking lot Monday led them to a meth lab that landed his brother in jail.

Officers found the man grilling the raccoon in the back parking lot of a midtown apartment complex.

In addition to the cooking raccoon, he also had several large knives.

Newswriting: Organization

INVERTED TRIANGLE AND CUT RULE

The news is presented in descending order of importance.

Paragraphs are very short (1-3 sentences)

After the lead, any paragraph may be cut and the story will still be complete.

Newswriting: usage

SYNTAX

Eclectic style of writing; mixture of simple, compound and complex

Sentences often begin with conjunctions

Inaccuracies: Search for any of the following:

a. long sentences b. paragraphs with more than one topic c. confusing words d. scientific words not explained e. words in interviews not attributed f. words that could be interpreted in more than one way g. trite phrases h. misspelled words i. words used incorrectly j. errors in punctuation, syntax, and usage

Literary Science

Author has scientific knowledge High interest of audience on specific topic Wide variety of styles: Scientific non-fiction Novel with scientific woven through May (not always) be an emotional

reaction to science (pathos) yet retains objectivity