The scientist's guide to writing
Subtitle: how to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career
By: Stephen B. Heard
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9780691170213; 9780691170220
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Technical writing; Science
Other titles: How to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career
Description: "The ability to write clearly is critical to any scientific career. The Scientist's Guide to Writing provides practical advice to help scientists become more effective writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact. Drawing on his own experience as a scientist, graduate adviser, and editor, Stephen Heard emphasizes that the goal of all scientific writing should be absolute clarity; that good writing takes deliberate practice; and that what many scientists need are not long lists of prescriptive rules but rather direct engagement with their behaviors and attitudes when they write. He combines advice on such topics as how to generate and maintain writing momentum with practical tips on structuring a scientific paper, revising a first draft, handling citations, responding to peer reviews, managing coauthorships, and more. In an accessible, informal tone, The Scientist's Guide to Writing explains essential techniques that students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists need to write more clearly, efficiently, and easily"--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-298) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part I. What Writing Is. 1. On Bacon, Hobbes, and Newton, and the Selfishness of Writing Well ; 2. Genius, Craft, and What This Book Is About; title: Part II. Behavior. 3. Reading ; 4. Managing Your Writing Behavior ; 5. Getting Started ; 6. Momentum; title: Part III. Content and Structure. 7. Finding and Telling Your Story ; 8. The Canonical Structure of the Scientific Paper ; 9. Front Matter and Abstract ; 10. The Introduction Section ; 11. The Methods Section ; 12. The Results Section ; 13. The Discussion Section ; 14. Back Matter ; 15. Citations ; 16. Deviations from the IMRaD Canon; title: Part IV. Style. 17. Paragraphs ; 18. Sentences ; 19. Words ; 20. Brevity; title: Part V. Revision. 21. Self-Revision ; 22. Friendly Review ; 23. Formal Review ; 24. Revision and the "Response to Reviews"; title: Part VI. Some Loose Threads. 25. The Diversity of Writing Forms ; 26. Managing Coauthorships ; 27. Writing in English for Non-Native Speakers; title: Part VII. Final Thoughts. 28. On Whimsy, Jokes, and Beauty: Can Scientific Writing Be Enjoyed?