The purpose of writing in the
scientific field (and in general) is communication. Being able to
record and convey ideas that will be read and learned by others at a
later time is an invaluable tool. Below are the aspects which I
believe are important in a piece of scientific writing. They are
valuable because they allow information to be shared and received in
the most effective way.
Style
The way which information is presented can be the difference between a piece of writing being praised or ignored. Even if the information is accurate, no one will want to continue reading it if the writing style is tedious, unexciting and redundant. Science is all about exploring and explaining the unknowns in the world so writing should reflect this and make it interesting for the reader.
The way which information is presented can be the difference between a piece of writing being praised or ignored. Even if the information is accurate, no one will want to continue reading it if the writing style is tedious, unexciting and redundant. Science is all about exploring and explaining the unknowns in the world so writing should reflect this and make it interesting for the reader.
However
sometimes writing will require a less interesting approach to style
when the writing has to be formal and then the focus shifts solely to
the accuracy of ideas presented in an effective way.
Organization and
Clarity
Getting all the
information to the reader is important however if the information
isn't organized in a clear manner, it will be difficult for the
reader to understand the information in the first place. People only
have a limited memory capacity, so picking which information to
present is an essential skill. A paragraph with some key points can
easily be more valuable than a page of disorganized ideas.
Accuracy and Facts
The actual ideas
which are being presented should be correct and just in case someone
doesn't believe what you're say, they should be able to easily look
up the information and find research which supports you. Personally,
I find having to find sources to cite a chore however I do see their
importance especially when any information is being presented in
academic and scientific writing.
4 comments:
I agree with you on this style and the organization is important especially if you are try trying to have a flow to the writing. I find some writing that I have come across can be quite jumpy and hard to follow.
Well written post, I agree that all writing needs to be clear and concise I think regardless of if it is for science or anything else really. What we write today will be the future of how others learn tomorrow and hopefully they will be able to rectify any mistakes we make and make changes. In particular with reference to the environment.
I think I have found the point you made about one valuable paragraph being more than a page of waffle and I am certainly trying my best to make sure I think about this with my writing as I tend to go on sometimes to try and get the simplest point across.
Very clear. Only thing I would change is bolding your headings instead of underlining. They look like hyperlinks.
I've said it before, but I do like your use of headings, it really helps to keep your post organised. Your post is really informative, possibly something that I'll end up referring back to for help when I'm doing more writing.
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