Herat University

Computer Science Faculty

Scientific Writing
Lecture 1
Introduction to Scientific Writing

Faraidoon Habibi
Fall 2020

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Contents
• Background to Scientific Writing
• Definition of Scientific Writing
• Key elements of Scientific Writing
• Scientific paper structure

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Scientific Writing - Background
• Started in England in the 14th century, adopted by the Royal Society in the 16th
century.
• Importance placed on plain and accurate description.
• Emhasis placed on the importance of not boring the reader with dull, flat style.

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Definition of Scientific Writing
• Most of people asked would answer simply: It is writing for science.
Definition (one of many):
• Writing about scientific subject matter, often in a non-technical
manner for an audience of scientists and non-scientists*.
• Scientific writing can include:
• Peer-reviewed journal articles (presenting primary research)
• Grant proposals (you can’t do science without funding)
• Literature review articles (summarizing and synthesizing research that has
already been carried out)*

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Why scientific writing?
• Scientists write to communicate their research results and findings with
other scientists or experts.
• Information is shared in a systematic manner, so that researchers can build
upon the work of others.
• There are different ways to share information amongst the scientific
community, such as:
• article in Journals
• oral or poster presentations
• on scientific conferences
• science blogs
or data warehouses
• written reports
...

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Key elements of scientific writing
• Precision
• Clarity
• Objectivity

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Precision
• Ambiguities in writing cause confusion an may prevent a reader from
grasping crucial aspects of the methodology and synthesis.
• How can I make my writing more precise?
• Word and phrasing choice
• Figurative language
• Level of detail
• Quantify

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Example
• Vague: A period of unfavorable weather set in.
• Specific: It rained every day for a week.

• Vague: He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well

earned reward.
• Specific: He grinned as he pocketed the coin.

(from Strunk and White)

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Clarity
• Concepts and methods in the sciences can often be complex; writing
that is difficult to follow greatly amplifies any confusion on the part of
the reader.
• How can I make my writing more clearer?
• Language use
• Sentence structure
• Avoid verbosity

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Avoiding Verbosity – cut cut cut
• Examples:

• “This paper provides a review of the basic tenets of cancer biology

study design, using as examples studies that illustrate the
methodologic challenges or that demonstrate successful solutions to
the difficulties inherent in biological research.”

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Avoiding Verbosity – cut cut cut
• Examples:

• “This paper provides a reviews of the basic tenets of cancer biology

study design, using as examples studies that illustrate the
and
methodologic challenges or that demonstrate successful solutions to
the difficulties inherent in biological research.”

“This paper reviews cancer biology study design, using examples that illustrate
specific challenges and solutions.”

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Activity
Shorten the sentence:
“As it is well known, increased athletic activity has been related to a
profile of lower cardiovascular risk, lower blood pressure levels, and
improved muscular and cardio-respiratory performance.”

“Increased athletic activity is associated with lower cardiovascular risk, lower blood pressure, and
improved fitness.”
Or just:
“Increased athletic activity is associated with improved cardiovascular health.”
Or, use verbs:
Increased athletic activity reduces cardiovascular risk and improves cardiovascular performance.
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Objectivity
• Any claims that you make need to be based on facts, not intuition or
emotion.
• How can I make my writing more objective?
• Passive voice/Active voice
• Acknowledging your limitations

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Example – Passive voice
President Kennedy was shot in 1963.
By whom??

Active: Oswald shot President Kennedy in 1963.

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Example – Passive voice
• In the passive voice,
• “The agent is AWOL” –Sin and Syntax
• AWOL= Absent without leave

• e.g. “Mistakes were made.”

• Nobody is responsible.

• vs. The President made mistakes…

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What is a scientific paper?
• Scientific work is a process in which we try to examine a subject or try
to solve a problem in scientific manner.
• with scientific standards and principles
• with scientific research process and methods
• A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original
research results.
• It must be the first publication of original research results.
• In a form whereby peers of the author can repeat the experiments and test
the conclusions, and
• In a journal or other source document readily available within the scientific
community.

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Organizing a paper: IMRaD structure
• Scientific writing has a long tradition
• Since the first half of the 20th century, the IMRaD structure has
become the dominant structure for scientific reports.
• IMRaD is an acronym for
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussions

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IMRaD structure

• Figure1: https://medium.com/literacy-discourse/what-does-imrad-reveal-about- science-7de7741ba987

[06,03,2018]
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Precise language
• Within the IMRaD format, the language of a scientific paper aims to
be clean, clear, and unemotional.
• The essential characteristic of scientific writing is clarity.
• Slippery words and vague phrases are confusing.
• In science, descriptions must be precise, recipes must be complete, data must
be exact, logic must be transparent, and conclusions must be cleanly stated.

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Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is copying of someone else’s work or ideas without proper
reference and present it as an own piece of work.
• To avoid plagiarism, do not literally copy any phrases from source
materials (article, book, or report).

• The Guttenberg case

• His PhD degree taken when plagiarism found in his dissertation.

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General hints - Proofreading
• Content, grammar, spelling, format
• Use spell check! (It’s free), but be careful
• Check for words like from (form), there (their)
• Capitalization
• Read a sentence and identify if it says what you meant it to say
• Nobody can proofread his/her own text to perfection

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