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Writing: a short guide

This short guide is based on "Scientific writing and communication - papers, proposals, and presentations” by Angelika H. Hofmann.

The key to strong scientific writing is revising your work. Expect to do multiple revisions!

At first sight, to write an article/review/thesis etc, can seem overwhelming. Take the writing process one step at a time. To begin with, you need all your materials (notebook, references, figures, tables, coffee(!)) and a block of time without interruptions. Start writing as early as you can.

Before you start writing:

structure your work by asking yourself:

  • what must be included?
  • can I (re-)present this information better as a figure?
  • what information are you unsure about including?
  • what is interesting but seems irrelevant to include in the main text?
  • which parts deserve an appendix?

Students: Make sure that you agree with your advisors on these points before you proceed !

Next, organise your thoughts by constructing an outline or table of contents. Short bullet points, in respective subsections, from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.

Students: Make sure you get the outline approved by your advisors before proceeding.

When you start writing:

You may not know precisely where to begin, what to write, or what information to include. Do not be discouraged! Leave blank spaces for the time being. If you are having problems to get started, try speed writing. As the name suggests, speed writing produces text much faster than you are used to. The central idea is generate as much text as possible during a short period of time. This is not about typing faster. Typing speed is typically not the issue here. Stopping to think is the number one reason for slowing you down. If you are not stopping to think, what you write ends up sounding more like what you would say if you were talking out loud. After all, you don't spend minutes thinking out a response in a conversation... it just flows. Speed writing lets you do the same thing through typing. Once you have a couple of paragraphs on paper, you can start the revision process to polish this information. Even if you remove large chunks, there will most likely be some valuable nuggets left and you are on your way!

In case of writer’s block:

Fortunately, most people experience writer’s block as a temporary condition. However, for some people this condition can be a serious impairment. The following suggestions can help you get over writer’s block.

  • Make your own rules. Just start writing wherever you want: the abstract, the conclusion, the reference list, … Then write what you want, not what you think you should.
  • Try to find sample sentence fragments as starting points. Just replace with your ideas and data.
  • Learn to imitate. Look at other works in the same genre.
  • Write as if you are explaining to a friend or relative. Be informal and use simple words. Do not write as if you are trying to impress someone.
  • Set yourself a deadline or make sure that you get a deadline from your supervisor.
  • Involve your coauthors. Ask them for comments on possibly existing drafts.
  • Think about your ideas. Theories and conclusions need time to be formed.

General guidelines:

  • Write short sentences. Aim for one main idea in a sentence.
  • Use the active voice. If the passive voice is used excessively, the text becomes very dull and dense. 
    Example:

	Passive: "Cats are hated by dogs"
	Active: "Dogs hate cats"

	Passive: "No change in activity was observed"
	Active: "We observed no change in activity"

You can still use passive voice if the reader does not need to know who performed the action

  • Use active verbs. Verbs are perhaps the most important part of an English sentence. Strong and active verbs enliven and energize you writing. Hiding verbs by deriving abstract nouns will make your writing heavy and harder to comprehend. 
   Examples:

    active (good) 	      buried verb (bad)
    follows		      is following
    decide		      made the decicsion
    measure		      measurement

    Sentence where the action is in the noun:

    	    "Their suggestion for us was a different analysis of the data"

    Revised sentence where all the actions are verbs:

    	    "They suggested that we analyze the data differently”
  • Use signal words to guide the reader through the text:
    • Time: afterward, later, earlier, formerly...
    • Place: elsewhere, here, above, below, farther on...
    • Example: for instance, for example, for one thing...
    • Contrast: however, but, on the other hand...
    • Sequence: first, second, next, finally...
    • Amplification: again, in addition, furthermore...
    • Emphasis: in fact, yes, no, indeed...
    • Restatement: in other words, that is, by way of explanation...
    • Concession: granted, of course, to be sure...
    • Likeness: similarly, equally important...
    • Consequence: thus, therefore, consequently...
    • Summary: in short, hence, in summary...
  • Writing the introduction.
    • The introduction of theses, reports, research articles should draw in the reader and contain all the information needed to provide context. Most importantly, it should make clear the overall purpose of the work. Similar to some parts of the abstract.
    • Readers have relatively fixed expectations about where in an introduction they will find particular items. Investigative texts are based on specific research questions you try to answer or on a particular hypothesis you try to test. Introductions for such texts should contain the following elements:
    1. Background
    2. Unknown/Problem (must be connected with element no. 3)
    3. Question/Purpose of study (stated precisely!)
    4. Approach (briefly)
    5. (Results/Conclusions/Significance)

Check-list before sending any draft to advisors:

  • Language:

    • Remove "unscientific" words such as "very", "good", "bad", ...
    • Make sure that all acronyms are introduced the first time they are used
    • Run a spell checker, and check the grammar (genitive case in particular)
    • Have a friend read the text
  • Citations:
    • Ensure that credit has been given where it is due
    • Only cite work that you have read
  • Graphs, tables:
    • Prepare figures and tables with the reader in mind. Place information where the reader expects to find it.
    • Use figures to show trends and relationships and to emphasise data.
    • Use tables to report precise numerical information, to compare component groups, or when data are not enough to produce a satisfactory graph.
    • Make sure that each “table/figure + caption" is self-explanatory
    • Make sure that all lines and ticks are clearly visible. Often, default line widths must be increased
    • Will a color-blind person be able to discern everything ? (suggestion: matplotlib - cubehelix)
    • Do all axes have labels and units (if appropriate) ?
    • The figure font-size is at least as large as the one used in the main text.
    • For aesthetics, all figures/tables use the same style (coloring, fonts, linestyles, etc)
    • Can figures be merged? Especially if the figure is for comparing quantities/results.
    • If two separate figures/graphs are meant to be compared, do they employ the same scale ?
    • Do you own the rights of every image and figure, or they are public domain ?
  • Equations, formulas:
    • Explain all key details of an equation.
    • Brief equations or definitions may be included in the text, although you should not start a sentence with a formula.
    • Lengthy equations, and those with larger than normal height, should be set apart in a separate line, indented and centered. If you plan to refer back to them later in your document, number them. Depending on the target audience or journal style, numbering all equations might be advantageous.
    • Treat all equations as if they are grammatically part of the text. Punctuation rules apply accordingly.