Thread by @VnVrinda

The Science of Scientific Writing!

I don't have to stress about how much a PhD student has to write. Yet, sometimes we find ourselves in such an apprehensive situation that it becomes difficult to write.

A 🧵

@PhDVoice @OpenAcademics @AcademicChatter @ThePhDPlace @PhD_Genie

These points are helping me in a way to become a better scientific writer day by day. I hope it will help you too.

My major inspiration to write these points is from this article: usenix.org/sites/default/… which my supervisor suggested.

And I wish, I should have read this many years back. Anyways, you're never too late to learn anything.

Note: If you know these points already, I hope it turns out to be a reminder for you. Happy reading!

1. Keep your readers in mind: Write your piece accordingly to how you wish to read it. Your readers will have a different set of backgrounds even though it's a scientist who is working in another field.

If a sentence doesn't make sense to you then it will not be interpreted in the same way by your reader.

2. Have a “Shape or Structure “: A reader is consciously or unconsciously looking for a shape or structure to your writing. It's the author who will lead the reader through the article.

Imagine, when you read a journal article: you already know the structure because by now you're familiar with it.

3. Complexity increases misinterpretation: We all are masters when it comes to making things complex but it will not reach the reader with the same intent.

For example:
When people (like my family or friends) ask, what am I doing with my PhD project?

I say: I am finding new antibiotics using computers.

When someone who has a science background asks me

I say: I am finding new antibiotic hybrids using artificial intelligence.

When someone who is in my field asks me

I say: Drug design of small molecules implementing a deep learning model.

I learned to simplify my research project majorly because I participated in the #3MT competition.

To simplify is the major key!

4. Hook lines: Never underestimate the power of a hook line. Especially, when you're writing articles or essays. This catches the reader's attention.

5. The stress position: The article linked above has explained it beautifully. So it means, readers naturally emphasize the material that arrives at the end of a sentence.

We tend to take something like a “mental breath” and we begin to exhale that mental breath.

The exhalation produces a sense of emphasis.

6. The topic position: Again, the article linked above has explained it beautifully. But what it means is to “Save the best for last”

7. Link and context: Link all your sentences which technically means the reader should be able to look backwards and no sentence should be left incomplete. Provide context, which means the reader should be able to look forward to what the writer is offering.

Both the connections are important in any scientific writing.

8. The scientific process: Have old and new information, story, context and linkage. This will help the reader understand what you want to convey through your writing.

9. Give examples: Examples that people can relate to or are easy to understand.

10. Embrace your personal writing style: As mentioned in the article, “There can be no fixed algorithm for good writing”. So look to enhance your style of writing.

Final point 1: I am not an expert or super pro writer but these points help me whenever I sit down to write and keep me moving ahead with my writings. Even, I learn through trial and error methods. Always remember to implement these changes.

Happy writing!

Final point 2: Quoting from the article, “Science is often hard to read”. Improving the quality of writing actually improves the quality of thought.

#scicomm #phdchat #scientificwriter #Science