Lecture 2 Basics.I.pdf

Physics 596

BASICS OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING I

Dr. Herbst

Although writing about scientific topics encompasses many types of projects (lab

reports, homework assignments, essay questions, actual research papers), it is possible to organize

any effort along the following lines:

A. WHAT TO DO BEFORE WRITING

1. Ask yourself some questions:

(a) Exactly what information do you wish to present? (If your title is the

Doppler effect, will you only consider sound, light, both, relativity?)

( b) Do you truly understand the topic? It is impossible to write clearly on a

scientific subject if you don’t fully understand it.

( c ) What background information can you assume? Science is a subject

with sequential development and different groups of readers will bring

differing amounts of knowledge to their task. For example, if you are

writing about variable stars, you should not assume that physics students

know what RR Lyrae variables are, or what the term luminosity class

means.

( d) For what group of readers are you writing? Non-experts? Classmates?

Competitors?

( e ) What is the logical sequence in which to write?

2. Make a detailed outline of some type.

As you write, you may revise the logical order expressed in your outline. Still,

the very act of preparing an outline is a mental stimulus. Several other professors in this course

insist on what is known as a “sentence outline” in which you write down the leading (“topic”)

sentence for each paragraph of your paper before starting the actual writing. I am not in favor of

this approach because I cannot write this way; I tend to change my outline as a I go along and my

ideas crystallize. Also, often the last sentence of the first paragraph (the thesis statement) is more

important than the first sentence.

B. BASIC ORGANIZATION

A scientific paper can typically be divided into subsections. Sometimes, to help organization,

scientists actually write the title for the portion of the paper atop the section. You can do

this if you wish for the first paper, which is at the higher scientific level. It can lead to rather

choppy structure, but helps some writers.

1. The Abstract

Usually used in formal scientific papers, this is a brief exposition of the most

important aspects of the paper. It is very difficult to write. If you wish, you can try

to write one for the first paper, but it is not required. Some journals now even

subdivide the abstract into subsections such as “Aims” , “Methods,” “Results.”

2. The Introductory Paragraph or Paragraphs (“The Introduction”)

(a) make the choice of subject matter clear early

(b) whet the reader’s appetite for what is to come

specific, too soon.

(d) Try to end with a thesis statement, which gives the reader a hint of what is

to come.

3. The Main Body

This section can consist of several sections such as “Experimental Details”,

“Theoretical Background”, “Results”, etc. For all of these:

(a) Be clear – use simple sentences whenever possible.

(b) Be concise – avoid long-winded inexact usage (but don’t write a “postage

stamp.”)

(d) Define all symbols adequately, but not repetitively.

(e) Use moderately-sized paragraphs with broad initial (“topic”) sentences.

(f) Don’t over-organize – “I will now discuss the following subject, after

which I will discuss……”

(g) Don’t under-organize – if you have to use a statement such as “as shown

before….”, your paper may require better organization.

4. The Ending

This section can be called “The Conclusion” or “The Summary” or “Discussion”.

End with either a strong conclusion or a useful summary/discussion.

After writing your draft (never call it a “rough draft”), please check it against

C. STYLE TO USE (MORE DETAIL LATER)

1. closely related to level of difficulty

2. too low – newspaper article on science (Chatty, full of quotations of unnamed “experts”; see the

Dispatch))

3. too high – research paper for specialists (see a journal article)

4. proper for class – somewhere between text book or Scientific American depending on

topic.

suggestions here.

D. SOME TECHNICAL DETAILS

1. Including Equations

Try to avoid awkwardness! It is best, in my view, to include equations in sentence

structure with proper punctuation.

Newton’s Second Law states that

F = ma ,

(1)

where F is the applied force, m is the mass of the object, and a is the

Notes: (a) use italics for mathematical expressions

(b) use boldface of arrows for vectors

(d) use separate line for equation unless it is not important.

Newton’s Second Law states that

F = ma .

(1)

Here F is the applied force, m is the mass of the object, and a is the

acceleration.

2. Including Figures

Figures must be mentioned in the text as well as shown. They should have a caption

underneath them and should appear at the appropriate place in your paper. If you

don’t have the software to place them in such an appropriate place, you can place

them at the end, after the references. Number figures consecutively in the order they are

mentioned in the text.

EXAMPLE 1:

In the text you might see: Figure 1 shows the logarithm of fractional abundances

(concentrations relative to molecular hydrogen) plotted vs. time from a model for an

interstellar cloud of temperature 10 K and gas density 10 4 cm -3 .

EXAMPLE 1:

acceleration.

EXAMPLE 2:

Fig 1. Calculated fractional abundances vs. time in a cold interstellar cloud. Taken

from Herbst & Millar (2007).

(Note that figure captions do NOT have to be in complete sentences.)

3. Including Tables

Tables are included in a similar manner except that the caption goes above the table.

They must also be mentioned in a sentence of the regular text.

Table 5. Comparison of Some Calculated and Observed Fractional Abundances with respect to H 2 in

TMC1

EXAMPLE:

Species

Observed

Abundance

Old Calculated

Abundance

New Calculated

old DR

New Calculated

new DR

New Calculated

new DR & new

C 3 HN + +H 2 rate

5(-8)

8.4(-8)

3.0(-8)

2(-8)

2.4(-8)

1.2(-8)

5(-9)

3.9(-7)

1.8(-7)

8(-5)

1.2(-4)

4(-9)

9.3(-8)

7.0(-8)

3(-8)

9.4(-9)

3.2(-8)

2(-7)

7.7(-9)

5.7(-8)

2(-9)

1.8(-10)

1.8(-9)

CCH

2(-8)

2.0(-8)

2.8(-9)

2.9(-9)

C2S

8(-9)

2.3(-9)

1.9(-9)

C2O

6(-11)

8.4(-12)

6.7(-12)

6.8(-12)

6.7(-12)

H2S

5(-10)

1.2(-10)

1.5(-10)

HCN

2(-8)

1.9(-7)

9.6(-8)

9.7(-8)

9.6(-8)

HNC

2(-8)

1.9(-7)

9.7(-8)

9.8(-8)

OCS

2(-9)

1.9(-10)

2.5(-10)

SO2

1(-9)

5.2(-13)

3.8(-11)

C3H

1(-8)

1.9(-8)

2.2(-8)

C3N

6(-10)

2.4(-10)

7.7(-10)

C3O

1(-10)

3.4(-11)

1.1(-10)

C3S

1(-9)

9.0(-10)

6.8(-10)

H2CO

5(-8)

1.9(-8)

3.1(-8)

H2CS

7(-10)

4.2(-9)

1.9(-9)

NH3

2(-8)

2.1(-8)

2.2(-8)

CH2CN

5(-9)

3.3(-9)

1.9(-9)

CH2CO

6(-10)

3.2(-9)

4.2(-9)

4.3(-9)

4.2(-9)

c-C3H2

1(-8)

2.0(-8)

2.4(-8)

2.5(-8)

C4H 9(-8) 1.2(-7) 9.6(-8)

HCOOH 2(-10) 4.7(-11) 1.0(-10)

HC2NC 5(-10) 2.5(-10) 7.9(-11) 2.3(-10) 2.7(-10)

HC2CN 2(-8) 6.0(-9) 2.4(-9) 3.5(-9) 3.8(-9)

______________________________________________________________________________

Note: a(-b) stands for a x 10 -b .

The text corresponding to this table might be something such as: In Table 5, we show how our

calculated fractional abundances of assorted molecules in the cloud TMC1 compare with observed

values. Calculated abundances in boldface and italics are in error by more than one order of

magnitude. Runs have been made with an assortment of assumptions, including……

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