GENOME 547 – SCIENTIFIC WRITING
WINTER 2015
Tuesdays 1:45 PM – 4:35 PM, W.H. Foege S040
Course instructor:
Leo Pallanck (616-5997; pallanck@uw.edu)
Course description:
This five-week course will focus primarily on effective writing principles. Class sessions
will be divided into three parts: during the first part (~1/2 hr) I will discuss general writing
principles; during the second part students will work in pairs to edit one another’s writing;
during the third part, you and your partner will present your edits to the class. All of the
writing I will ask you to do in this year’s course will pertain to your oral exam proposal.
Each week I will ask you to write a section (or subsection) of your oral exam proposal,
and to return the writing to me before the following course session. I will then send your
draft to two classmates, who will work as partners to edit and present your writing during
the next course session.
When you complete each of your writing assignments, please be sure to put your name
on it and send it to me by email as a Word document (Arial 12 point font) by 5:00PM
on the Saturday immediately following the class session that the assignment was
provided to you. Later that same day, I will send each of you a link to a server where
you can download a file with all of the writing assignments, and a schedule of your
weekly critique assignments. You should read ALL of the writing samples before the next
class session, but pay special attention to the two that you are responsible for critiquing
(try to consider what changes you would make to improve the writing samples you are
assigned before meeting with your partner). In the following class session, you and your
partner will edit your writing assignments on a laptop computer (please bring one to
class, if possible) and will lead a brief discussion of your editorial alterations. After taking
note of the edits made to your writing by your classmates, you will then turn in a final
edited version of your own writing assignment (double-spaced) the following week. Your
final version should include those edits that you feel are worthy of consideration that were
highlighted in class.
Tentative topical outline:
January 6th: Introduction; grant applications
Assignment 1: write the Research Plan (i.e., specific aims)
January 13th: Parts of speech; Characters and Actions; Active vs. Passive voice; critique
of Research Plans
Assignment 2: write the FIRST PAGE of the Background section. Include an
outline of the remainder of the background section (one sentence/paragraph).
January 20th: Cohesion & Coherence; Parallel Structure; Subject/Verb Agreement;
Pronoun Ambiguity; critique of Background section.
Assignment 3: write the first page of the Preliminary Studies section. Include
an outline of the entire preliminary studies section (one sentence/paragraph)
Turn in a final version of your Research Plan
January 27th: Concision; Excessive Hedging & Intensifying; Abbreviations, Numbers &
Noun Strings; Critique of Preliminary Studies section.
Assignment 4: write the Methods of Procedure section pertaining to ONE
aim of your proposal. Try to limit the writing to ONE page
Turn in final version of your Background section
February 3rd: Dangling Clauses; Sexist Language; Common Usage Problems; critique of
Methods of Procedure.
Turn in final version of your Preliminary Studies section
February 10th: No class session
Turn in a final version of your Methods of Procedure section
Useful Resources:
A website with a good overview of basic grammar:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar/
***Williams,
J.M. (2003) Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 7th ed. New York:
Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc.
Alley, M. (1996) The Craft of Scientific Writing. 3rd ed. New York : Springer Verlag.
Day, R.A. (1998) How to write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5 th ed. Westport, CT: Oryx
Press.
Garner, B.A. (2000) The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Matthews, J.R., Bowen, J.M., & Mathews, R.W. (2000) Successful Scientific Writing. 2nd
ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Porush, D. (1995) A Short Guide to Writing About Science. New York: Harper Collins
College Publishers.
Genome Sciences Written General Exam Guidelines:
http://www.gs.washington.edu/academics/gradprogram/handbook/second/written.htm
This is by far the best book that I’ve ever seen on writing. There are multiple used
editions available on the web for $2-$15 and I strongly recommend that you purchase a
copy. It contains an amazing amount of useful information that you will return to again
and again.
***