Scientific Writing Booklet Biology I Ms. Cohen Newton North High School Adapted from Scientific Writing Booklet by Mark Tischler PhD General Guidelines A scientific paper is a written report describing original research results. The format of a scientific paper has been defined by centuries of developing tradition, editorial practice, scientific ethics and the interplay with printing and publishing services. A scientific paper should have, in proper order, a Title/List of Authors, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and References. Title/List of Authors A title should be the fewest possible words that accurately describe the content of the paper. Omit all waste words such as "A study of ...", "Investigations of ...", "Observations on ...", etc. An improperly titled paper may never reach the audience for which it was intended, so be specific. If the study is of a particular species, name it in the title and make sure to italicize the scientific name (ex. Escherichia coli). The authors of the paper are listed alphabetically after the title. Abstract A well prepared abstract should enable the reader to identify the basic content of a document quickly and accurately, to determine its relevance to the reader's interests, and thus to decide whether to read the document in its entirety. The abstract should succinctly state the principal objectives and scope of the investigation where these are not obvious from the title. More importantly, the abstract should concisely summarize the results and principal conclusions. The abstract should not include details of the methods employed unless the study is methodological, i.e. primarily concerned with methods. The abstract must be brief, not exceeding 250 words. If the essential details of the paper can be conveyed in 100 words, do not use 200. Do not repeat information contained in the title. Omit all references to the literature and to tables or figures, and omit obscure abbreviations and acronyms even though they may be defined in main body of the paper. Introduction The Introduction should begin by introducing the reader to the pertinent literature. A common mistake is introducing authors and their areas of study in general terms without mentioning their major findings. For example: "Parmenter (1976) and Chessman (1978) studied the diet of Chelodina longicollis at various latitudes and Legler (1978) and Chessman (1983) conducted a similar study on Chelodina expansa." is not as informative or correct as: "Within the confines of carnivory, Chelodina expansa is a selective and specialized predator feeding upon highly motile prey such as decapod crustaceans, aquatic bugs and small fish (Legler,1978; Chessman, 1984), whereas C. longicollis is reported to have a diverse and opportunistic diet (Parmenter, 1976; Chessman, 1984)". Having introduced the pertinent literature and demonstrated the need for the current study, you should state clearly the scope and objectives. Avoid a series of point-­‐wise statements -­‐-­‐ use prose. The Introduction can finish with the statement of objectives or, as some people prefer, with a brief statement of the principal findings. Either way, the reader must have an idea of where the paper is heading in order to follow the development of the evidence. Materials and Methods The main purpose of the Materials and Methods section is to provide enough detail for a competent worker to repeat your study and reproduce the results. The scientific method requires that your results be reproducible, and you must provide a basis for repetition of the study by others. Often in field-­‐based ecology studies, there is a need to describe the study area in greater detail than is possible in the Introduction. Usually authors will describe the study region in general terms in the Introduction and then describe the study site and climate in detail in the Materials and Methods section. The sub-­‐headings "Study Site", "General Methods" and "Analysis" may be useful, in that order. Equipment and materials available off the shelf should be described exactly (Licor underwater quantum sensor, Model LI 192SB) and sources of materials should be given if there is variation in quality among supplies. Modifications to equipment or equipment constructed specifically for the study should be carefully described in detail. The method used to prepare reagents, fixatives, and stains should be stated exactly, though often reference to standard recipes in other works will suffice. The usual order of presentation of methods is chronological, however related methods may need to be described together and strict chronological order cannot always be followed. If your methods are new (unpublished), you must provide all of the detail required to repeat the methods. However, if a method has been previously published in a peer reviewed journal, only the name of the method and a literature reference need be given. Be precise in describing measurements and include errors of measurement. Show your materials and methods section to a colleague. Ask if they would have difficulty in repeating your study. Results In the Results section you present your findings. Present the data, digested and condensed, with important trends extracted and described. Because the results comprise the new knowledge that you are contributing to the world, it is important that your findings be clearly and simply stated. The Results should be short and sweet, without excessive verbiage. Do not say: "It is clearly evident from Fig. 1 that bird species richness increased with habitat complexity". Say instead "Bird species richness increased with habitat complexity (Fig. 1)". However, do not be too concise. The readers cannot be expected to extract important trends from the data unaided. Combine the use of text, tables, figures to condense data and highlight trends. An example of a table can be found on the next page. Discussion In the Discussion section you should discuss the results. What biological principles have been established or reinforced? What generalizations can be drawn? How do your findings compare to the findings of others or to expectations based on previous work? Are there any theoretical/practical implications of your work? When you address these questions, it is crucial that your discussion rests firmly on the evidence presented in the Results section. Continually refer to your results (but do not repeat them). Most importantly, do not extend your conclusions beyond those which are directly supported by your results. Speculation has its place, but should not form the bulk of the Discussion section. Be sure to address the objectives of the study in the Discussion section and to discuss the significance of the results. Don't leave the reader thinking "So what?" End the Discussion section with conclusions regarding the significance of the work. References There are a variety of styles used by journals for referencing information. Citations in the text may be referred to by number or by author name. In the reference section the citations are then arranged numerically or alphabetically. Some scientific journals have the submitters first alphabetize the authors and then number each. This is a complicated system and one which we will not use. You may choose to either number in sequence each new reference as it is cited or may alphabetize the first authors of each reference. While the choice is yours, the easiest system is the former because as you add a new reference to the text it is provided with a number. This saves you from interpreting the nuances of how to order the alphabetized authors in the latter system -­‐ it may seem trivial but, for instance, how do you alphabetize when the list of authors for two papers is identical and in the same year! In text: Book or journal article (one author) th
The sunflower is native to America and was exported to Europe in the 16 century (Smith 1987). Book or journal article (two authors). Using excessive verbiage and passive voice were shown to bore readers (Samilly and Waverly 2000). Book or Journal Article (more than two authors) Research shows that scientific writing that is concise and clear has more impact on the scientific community (Jones et al. 2003) Works Cited Page: Book Jones B., Haville A., Johnston C. (2003) Effective Strategies for Scientific Writing. London: Oxford U. Press, 234-­‐237. Journal article Lupoli T.J., Tsukamoto H., Doud E.H., Wang T.S., Walker S., Kahne D. (2011) Transpeptidase-­‐mediated incorporation of D-­‐amino acids into bacterial peptidoglycan. J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 133, 10748-­‐51. Online Source Junge W., Nelson N.“Nature's Rotary Electromotors.” Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-­‐44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009. Active versus Passive Voice in Writing In the active voice, the grammatical subject is the doer of the action, and the sentence tells, “who’s doing what.” The passive voice tells what is done to the subject of the sentence. The person or thing doing the action may or may not be mentioned but is always implied. Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the grammatical subject is the doer of the action, and the sentence tells, “who’s doing what”. The verb 'actively' moves the sentence along. The passive voice tells what is done to the subject of the sentence. The subject of the sentence is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed (The new policy was approved). There is nothing inherently wrong with the passive voice, but if you can say the same thing in the active mode, do so (see exceptions below). One further caution about the passive voice: we should not mix active and passive constructions in the same sentence: "The executive committee approved the new policy, and the calendar for next year's meetings was revised" should be recast as "The executive committee approved the new policy and revised the calendar for next year's meeting." When to use Active Voice In general, writing should be composed in the active voice because of the sense of immediacy and conciseness conveyed when the subject of the sentence carries out the action. In addition, fewer words are usually required for the active voice, it is more efficient, and it takes the reader from point A to point B in a “straight line.” When to use Passive Voice The passive voice does exist for a reason, however, and its presence is not always to be despised. The passive is particularly useful (even recommended) in two situations: When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or thing acted upon: The unidentified victim was apparently struck during the early morning hours. When the actor in the situation is not important: The aurora borealis can be observed in the early morning hours. The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance. Instead of writing "I poured 6 mL of acid into the beaker," we would write "Six mL of acid is/was poured into the beaker." The passive voice is also useful when describing, say, a mechanical process in which the details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility for the action: "The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid rinse." Thus in scientific writing, the passive voice is often preferred to indicate objective procedures. You can recognize passive-­‐voice expressions because the verb phrase will always include a form of be, such as am, is, was, were, are, or been. The presence of a be-­‐verb, however, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is in passive voice. Another way to recognize passive-­‐voice sentences is that they may include a "by the..." phrase after the verb; the agent performing the action, if named, is the object of the preposition in this phrase. Passive voice: It is understood by students that good writing is essential in college. Active voice: Students understand that good writing is essential in college. Consider these pairs of sentences: The report was read by Betty. Betty read the report. A decision was made to stop the project. We decided to stop the project. The passive voice should be avoided. Avoid the passive voice. Scientists conduct experiments to test hypotheses. Experiments are conducted by scientists to test hypotheses. Watching a reaction boil over through shielding reminds me to be careful. I am reminded to be careful by watching a reaction boil over through shielding. Now, ask yourself: which of the two sentences in each set sounds better to you — and why? In general, the active voice (the second sentence in each pair) is preferable to the passive voice (the first sentence in each pair) because the active voice tends to be simpler, clearer and more direct. The active voice also makes for more forceful and interesting writing. Active-­‐Passive Exercise: Rewrite the following sentences so that passive constructions are changed to active verbs. Some of these sentences do not use passive verbs or are better off left in the passive, so this exercise will also engage your attention in recognizing passive constructions and in using them when appropriate. 1. Before the semester was over, the new nursing program had been approved by the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees. 2. With five seconds left in the game, an illegal time-­‐out was called by one of the players. 3. The major points of the lesson were quickly learned by the class, but they were also quickly forgotten by them. 4. For several years, Chauncey was raised by his elderly grandmother. 5. An unexpected tornado smashed several homes and uprooted trees in a suburb of Knoxville. 6. I was surprised by the teacher's lack of sympathy. 7. Tall buildings and mountain roads were avoided by Raoul because he had such a fear of heights.