The Art of Scientific writing

Alemayehu N Ayana (Ph.D.)

August, 2019
 Structure of scientific report
• Paragraph Structure

• A topic sentence = main idea of paragraph (Level

1-sentence)
• Adequate development: elaboration
• Level 2-sentence: limitation or qualification of the TS
• Level 3-sentence: sentences that support level 2-
sentences: evidence, examples
• A concluding sentence (optional)
• conclusion to the argument presented in the
elaboration
 Writing style
• Move from Old to New Information
• Don’t overuse the subordinate clause
– While my research, which is based on BY2 cells, is
interesting because it could save the world—a
good cause, I think, I would prefer to work with
tulips, which are more interesting and beautiful
because of their pretty colors.
– While my research is interesting, I would prefer
to work with tulips. As a research subject, tulips
are more interesting, and I also like their pretty
colors.
 Writing style…
• When to Use a Comma
after an introductory word: furthermore,
nevertheless etc.
after a long introductory prepositional phrase (Are
there more than five words before the main clause?)
After dependent clauses that begin with after, when,
since, because, if, while
after introductory verbal phrases – infinitive phrases
e.g. To prove these results, we…
to avoid confusion. (Might a reader have to read the
sentence more than once to make sense of it?)
 Writing style
• Avoid redundancies
1. Take out those extra, unnecessary words.
2. Take out those unnecessary words.
3. Remove those unnecessary words.
 Writing style…
• Use passive voice economically
• The active voice creates a strong sentence. e.g.
– Some terms that are still under discussion will be defined
by us below.
– We will now define some terms that are still under
discussion.

• Use the passive when the object is more important

than the subject of the verb.
 Writing style…
• Nominalisation
• The main action in the sentence is represented by a noun
instead of a verb: the verb is ‘turned into’ a noun.
• The result is a more roundabout way of saying the same
thing and is nearly always harder to follow.
• e.g. Cultivation of barley was carried out.
 Barley was cultivated

• The opening of the fair will be done by the Minister.

 The Minister will open the fair.

• An expert will carry out an analysis of the situation.

 An expert will analyse the situation.
 Writing Style…
• Don’t use contractions in academic writing.
• Do not use contractions in academic writing.

• Use parallel construction not only to be concise but

also it clarifies and keeps the flow going.
• Use parallel construction not only to be concise but
also to clarify and to keep the flow going.

• Reading aloud can be a good way of finding faulty

parallelism, which breaks the flow of a sentence.
 Writing Style…
• Which vs That
• e.g. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel, which a friend
recommended.

• Which is used when the information is extra.

• e.g. We stayed at the hotel that you recommended.

• That is used when the information is necessary to

clarify the noun.
 Writing style…

• Try to keep subject and verb together

• e.g. Marion, despite her broken leg, was still fast on
her feet.
• e.g. Despite her broken leg, Marion was still fast on
her feet.
 Writing style…
• The elusive omnipotent “it” and “that”
e.g.
• The model and the drug worked well together, and
it helped my research immensely.
• The model and the drug worked well together, and
the results helped my research immensely.
Thank you