Scientific Writing Tips
Abbreviations
*Avoid abbreviations by writing out the full
word (minimum, October, Virginia, first, temperature,
with...).
*Exceptions include common biological terms like ATP
and DNA, units of measure (m, g, cm, °C), and
mathematical or chemical formulas.
*Sentences should never begin with an abbreviation or
an acronym.
Acronyms
• introduce an acronym: if your paper deals
with soybeans, Glycine max, you may use
the full scientific name once and substitute
G. Max, thereafter.
• eg: "Tidal freshwater marshes (TFM) are
important transitional zones in the
landscape."
Chemical Elements
These are not proper nouns, so do not
capitalize them. Only the first letter of the
symbol is a capital letter: nitrogen (N),
carbon (C), calcium (Ca).
Contractions
In formal writing, you should never use
contractions (didn't, can't, haven't...).
Data
The word "data" is plural, as in, "the data
were collected on January 21, 2001."
Direct Quotes
*These should be avoided, unless you are
presenting another author's specific
definition or original label.
*Paraphrase the writing effectively and
concisely, taking care to properly attribute
the sources of your statements.
Run-on Sentences
Review your writing to make sure that
each sentence presents one or two clear
ideas.
Scientific Names
• …consisting of genus and species, should
be underlined or italicized, with only the
genus capitalized
• eg: Homo sapiens or Ilex opaca.
Use of word SIGNIFICANCE
In science, the word "significant" implies
the result of a statistical test.
WRONG: “…the number of root nodules
on red clover plants increased significantly
when nitrogen was added," if you DID
NOT perform a statistical test to determine
significant differences.
SLANG
Do not use slang. Try to use precise,
scientific terms where possible (without
unnecessary jargon) and avoid
colloquialisms and figures of speech:
"somewhat" rather than "sort of," "many"
or "a great deal" instead of "a lot."
Spell-Check
Your word processor's spell-check and/or
grammar-check function is not errorfree. It cannot tell you when to use "it's"
and "its," and it cannot tell you that a
particular sentence does not make sense.
THREE IMPORTANT WORDS:
…proofread…proofread…proofread…
TENSES
* Describing methods and results = past
tense
* Present tense = for accepted facts, eg:
background information
* Present tense = when you discuss
results and conclusions
UNITS
All units of measure must be metric or SI
(international System)
SI: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/sipm.html
SOME PRACTICE
• Paraphrase:
“Will reputable scientists ever accept the
claim that extrasensory perception and
other paranormal powers really exist? It
appears that many of them already have.”
Suggested Paraphrase
Many scientists today believe in the reality
of ESP and other paranormal powers.
Unconscious Plagiarism?
Paraphrase:
“Contrary to popular belief, exercise has
never been demonstrated conclusively to
lengthen life.”
The Bad and the Good
• Contrary to popular thinking, exercise has
never been demonstrated conclusively to
lengthen life.
• No one has ever proved that exercise
lengthens life.
Understanding the Concept
Paraphrase:
“Olfactory receptors for communication
between different creatures are crucial for
establishment of symbiotic relations.”
Two Satisfactory Paraphrases
• The sense of smell is essential to
cooperation among different animal
species.
• Cooperation between different animal
species is made possible by their sense of
smell.
Dangling Modifiers
WHAT’S WRONG HERE?
Piled up next to the washer, I began doing
the laundry.
REWRITE IT…
Suggested Answer
I began doing the laundry piled up next to the washer.
WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE HERE?
Standing on the balcony, the ocean view was
magnificent.
Standing on the balcony, we had a magnificent ocean
view.
Misplaced Modifiers
What’s the difference?
I almost listened to the whole album.
I listened to almost the whole album.
One More…
On the evening news, I heard that there
was a revolution.
I heard that there was a revolution on the
evening news.
PASSIVE VOICE?
• USE “we” or “I”
eg: We converted all GIS data to a raster
format.
eg: All GIS data were converted to raster
format.
One Student Wrote:
“…It was decided to do the transpiration
experiment. The experiment was done by
my lab group and was repeated three
times. Results were obtained. These
results will be discussed…”
HIS TEACHER ASKED HIM WHY HE’D
WRITTEN EVERYTHING IN PASSIVE
The Student Replied:
"Biologists write like this because they're
objective. It's just how real scientists
write."
One of the most common complaints of
biology editors: the excessive use of
passive voice.
James Watson and Francis Crick…
…used active voice and a simple,
personal, get-to-the-point style of writing to
forcefully begin their monumental paper
describing the structure of DNA:
'We wish to suggest a structure for the salt
of the deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.).'
What does ACTIVE VOICE do?
•
•
•
•
it improves readability
it makes sentences more concise
it increases understanding
it increases the clarity and persuasiveness
of your writing
WHEN IS PASSIVE
PREFERRABLE?
• passive voice is effective when you want
to stress what was done rather than who
did it, as in the sentence, "Darwin's The
Origin of Species was published in 1859."
• passive voice is also useful when you
want to avoid accountability - that's why
embarrassed politicians report that "funds
were found to be missing" rather than "I
stole the money."
And…
Passive voice is also useful for adding
sentence variety, slowing the pace of
writing and reading, and when the actor
was unknown.
eg: The victim was approached from
behind and hit over the head with a
salami.
REMEMBER:
…the excessive use of passive voice
produces ineffective and boring prose prose that can be avoided by using active
voice.
SOURCES
• http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar/actpass.htm#NotWrong
• http://jaffeerevises.com/R.%20Moore%20on%20
active%20and%20passive%20voice.htm
• http://www.library.spscc.ctc.edu/electronicreserv
e/read9192/swanson/ParaphrasingtoAvoidPlagia
rism.pdf
• http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writin
gguide/PracticalTips.htm
• http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/sipm.html