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What Is “Good” Scientific Writing?
Lecture 1
When we declare that a certain text is better than another, we rely on a scale of values, with “good” at one end and “poor” at the other.
But who sets the standards for “good” and “poor” scientific writing? Who is the ultimate judge? Who censors the quality of our scientific texts? While general opinion of what is “correct” may be divided, there are certain bodies or sources that we usually accept as authorities. These include:
• dictionaries
• grammarians, linguists, editors, and teachers
• scientific community
• set traditions and accepted trends.
When evaluating the “power” of a scientifi c manuscript – your own or some other author’s – you may find it helpful to consult the document standards listed in Table 1.
Table 1 Document Standards
| Standard | Description |
| Purpose | The purpose and objectives of the study must be obvious and unambiguous. |
| Conformity | Text has to conform to given formats and style requirements. |
| Accuracy | The wording must be grammatically correct, concise, and precise. All information and data provided must be accurate. |
| Consistency | Terminology should be consistent and appropriate. Only commonly known abbreviations should be used, and these must be used consistently. |
| Logic and flow | The manuscript should be a “story” with a clear message based on a logical train of thought. |
| Context | New findings must be reported and interpreted in the context of findings already published and must be congruent with accepted institutional or regulatory values. |
| Structure | A logical structure (i.e., headings and subheadings, paragraphs, and data displays) should be chosen. A well - balanced mixture of text and visuals (e.g., figures and tables) should be chosen, in line with the relevant instructions for authors. |
| Data presentation | High - quality data should be presented clearly, using tables and figures as appropriate. Duplication of data displays must be avoided. |
In the USA, the plain language movement dates back to the 1970s when the US federal government began encouraging its regulation writers to be less bureaucratic. Meanwhile, many agencies have introduced policies that enforce the use of plain language for academic, legal, and other professional texts. In 2010, the use of plain English became a federal requirement, after President Obama’s signing of the Plain Writing Act. Similar initiatives have been launched in the UK and Ireland. The plain language movement may be called a recipe to use
• a logical organzation of your text
• common, everyday words (except for necessary technical terms)
• “we” and other personal pronouns
• the active voice
• short sentences.
People who use documents written in plain language can quickly and easily fi nd
what they need, understand what they find, and act on that understanding. Many scientists believe that they have to write only for colleagues or experts in their own field. An effort to reassess one’s own writing style is usually only made after realizing that readers are overwhelmed, overloaded, and too busy to wade through dense writing.
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