Dr Sue Watts January 7, 2014

 What is your experience in writing?  What stage of your program are you at?  Have you written a thesis before?  Have you written a paper before?  Are you planning to write manuscript(s) as part of your thesis?  What are your expectations of this course? 2

Do you know what your supervisor has published and where? 3

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 Jan 7 – Introduction to course  Jan 14 & 21 –Library online workshops  Jan 28 – Ground plan for writing  Feb 4 – Titles, authors, copyright, abstracts  Feb 11 – Introduction, hypotheses  Feb 18 – Mid-term break (no class) 10

 Feb 25 – Methods & results I (tables)  Mar 4 – Results II (figures & statistics)  Mar 11 – Discussion & references  Mar 18 & 25 – Improving style  Apr 1 – Thesis writing for UBC  Apr 8 – TBA 11

1. Identifying & comparing journals 2. Writing an abstract 3. Introducing your research proposal 4. Improving your writing style 12

? The orderly collection of observations about the natural world Modern science is now an archive of published data 13

You can all think like scientists There is a direct link between thinking & writing 14 Logic WriteThink

How does it differ from other types of writing? Scientific writing is almost the opposite of descriptive writing. It must INFORM and PERSUADE 15

1. Always has a clarity of direction 2. Always concise 3. Always accurate 16

 Poor writing will not be published by a reputable journal  Your work may be disregarded if in a journal of low rank  If your paper is difficult to understand it may be ignored 17

 Research proposal, grant application, progress report, poster, thesis, journal article…..  UBC encourages manuscripts as components of your thesis 18

A good writer is like a well mannered person You must know your audience and aim for the most rapid and comfortable communication with that audience in mind 19

Practice at every opportunity  Read papers from reputable journals  Present a poster whenever you can  Give a talk  Discuss publications with your supervisor  Offer to review the work of your peers 20

 Logical (clear)  Precise (correct)  Brief (concise) 21

Logical (clear)  Clarity of direction  No weak sentences, ambiguity or needless complexity  Entire paper should point towards conclusion 22

Precise (correct)  Never fabricate data  Recipes must be complete (data must be correct) 23

Brief (concise) Rid sentences of “fat phrases” and abstract nouns “At this point in time” = now “Utilize” = use “Facilitate” = make 24

If you do research it must be available to others If no one can read about it, it does not count! 25

“Publish or perish” for academics Today a long publication list is needed if you want to become an academic. Not so when Watson & Crick published on structure of DNA Why? LPU common term today 26

You must be confident that the outcomes of your study are:  New  True  Meaningful 27

Must be: 1. First publication of results 2. In a form that peers could test results 3. In a primary journal – readily available 4. Organized in a stylized manner 28

Being organized is the foundation of this course  Start with question (hypothesis)  Provide evidence to support your answers  Persuade readers of your choice of answers 29

Consider the questions “so what?” and “who cares?” Where you publish is almost as important as what you have to say Conversely Where you publish is determined by what you have to say 30

Pick the right medium An article in the “wrong” journal will not be read An inappropriate article for a particular journal will be rejected if it is not in that journal’s specific area 31

1. Is your topic within the journal’s scope? 2. What is size and type of audience? 3. What is journal’s rejection rate? 4. How long does journal take to publish? 5. What is quality of graphic reproductions? 6. Are there page charges or processing fees? 7. Is the journal available online? 32

Consider the ranking of a journal There are many thousands of journals A range of indices such as impact factor, immediacy index, cited half life and circulation are used to assess journal quality Web of Science includes almost 6,000 journals 33

Due after your 2 computer labs 34 Identify and compare the journals in your area This is a writing assignment - no tables or lists Due date: January 28, 2014 Wolf Sue