“THE SCIENCE OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING”George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan

Technical WritingENGL 3153Scott Hale

Scientific Writing

Remember:The goal is to communicate.

Accurate information is useless if the reader cannot understand it.

When presenting data in a table

Give context before data. The information which is

familiar (time increments) comes before the “new” data.

Time Degrees

0 min 25 3 min 27 6 min 29

Reader Expectations

• Readers expect information from left to right and top to bottom in chronological (or other standard order of) sequence.– Example:

• If the headings in your resume are top to bottom, and your content moves from left to right, don’t put a heading to the left/right of another (horizontally) or provide any content arranged vertically.

Reader Expectations: cont’d

• Readers expect the writer to follow generic considerations (Introduction, Experimental Methods, Results and Discussion)– Example:

• A cover letter should announce the position being applied for before the writer begins to talk about his/her qualifications.

Improving Accessibility

• First, grammatical subjects should be followed as soon as possible by their verbs.– Avoid:

• I would, because of many reasons--the first of which is location, the second of which is challenge, the third of which is independence--like to remain my own boss.

Accessibility--Con’t

• Second, every unit of discourse, no matter the size, should serve a single function or make a single point.– Avoid:

• I have received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and, since I live nearby, can come in to interview at any time.

– How many ideas are expressed here?

Accessibility--Con’t

• Third, information intended to be emphasized should appear at points of syntactic closure.– Syntactic closure occurs at the end of a clause or

sentence.– Think of this as a stress point.– What you hit readers with last is viewed as most

important. • Syntactic closure comes HERE, but it can also come

HERE.

"Put in the topic position the old information that links backward; put in the stress position the new information you want the reader to emphasize.”

1. The backward-linking old information can appear in the topic position.– Example

• While doing this experiment, a problem with the calibration was observed. This problem will have to be corrected before we can move on.

– NOT• Before we can move on, we must correct this.

Emphasis--Con’t

2. The person, thing or concept whose story it is can appear in the topic position.– Example:

• The asphalt was heated, then cooled, over 100 times in rapid succession. Only minor cracking occured.

– NOT• Our highly-skilled engineers tested the asphalt. They

heated and cooled it, and they found only minor cracking occurred.

Emphasis --Con’t

3. The new, emphasis-worthy information can appear in the stress position.– Example:

• We are pleased to report that we have had success.

– NOT:• This report of our success, which we are pleased to

provide, follows.

Look for Logical Gaps

Explanations should be step-by-step, and should not omit a step--assuming the reader can supply specialized knowledge. Treat descriptions of processes like mathematical proofs--supply all steps.

Make the Central “Action” Clear

Whether you are proving a hypothesis, making a recommendation (even of yourself), or reporting difficulties, make certain that this action is performed in your document (make it apparent and stress it).

Summary

• Follow a grammatical subject as soon as possible with its verb.

• Place in the stress position the "new information" you want the reader to emphasize.

Summary--Con’t

• Place the person or thing whose "story" a sentence is telling at the beginning of the sentence, in the topic position.

Summary--Con’t

• Place appropriate "old information" (material already stated in the discourse) in the topic position for linkage backward and contextualization forward.

Summary--Con’t

• Articulate the action of every clause or sentence in its verb.

• In general, provide context for your reader before asking that reader to consider anything new.