Ground Plan for Writing Forestry 545 January 28, 2014

Ground Plan for Writing Forestry 545 January 28, 2014
Dr Sue Watts Faculty of Forestry University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC CANADA 54

Quick review Logic (be clear) Precision (be correct)
Requirements of scientific writing are: Logic (be clear) Precision (be correct) Brevity (be concise)

Quick review Scientific writing always has a clarity of direction
It is always concise It is always accurate

Journals What did you learn from your assignment?

Getting ready to write Write down your ideas as you have them
Keep your notebook at hand Every idea deserves a new piece of paper Keep copies of everything, back up files

Pace yourself You can only work creatively for a few hours each day
You need a quiet spot Remember that you cannot write a whole paper in one day! IT IS ALL ABOUT ORGANIZATION

Organization is key to successful scientific writing
Take your written ideas - these could be on pieces of paper, or transcribed to paper from a voice recording

Take your written ideas Organize your ideas

Take your written ideas Organize your ideas Disassemble your organization

Take your written ideas Organize your ideas Disassemble your organization Rewrite your ideas

Take your written ideas Organize your ideas Disassemble your organization Rewrite your ideas Reorganize your ideas

The 12 step method Any big project can be daunting
Organized “steps” can really help

Step #1 When is the right time to publish?
You know how many journals are out there and that there is already a massive amount of scientific literature…. Can you justify adding to this?

A public diary of your diligent activities as a scientist does not constitute a scientific journal article!

You cannot publish just your accumulated facts that may “shed light” on some, as yet, non-existent problem!

Also, consider that the printed word is indelible Safeguard your future reputation by never publishing something that would not inspire confidence in your work

So, to answer the question…

When a research question of some importance has been asked and A convincing answer has been found

You do not always need to wait for the complete answer (especially in forestry) You can publish once a sizeable step has been made

Ultimately you need to satisfy your own conscience (and the editorial critics) that a significant advance in knowledge has been made

Step #2 Identify the question and conclusion
What question has been asked? What are the conclusions? This step establishes exactly what the article will be about

You probably had multiple questions in your research But, to write a journal article you must decide which of your question(s) to discuss

“What question has been asked” could also be stated as “what hypothesis has been examined”

What question has been asked, or what hypothesis has been examined, is NOT the same as “what was the purpose of this research”

If you introduce your research by way of its “purpose” and do not identify your hypothesis your work is lacking explicitness and definition A common error!

Group exercise Find the “question(s) being asked” and the “conclusions” for the papers that your group has been assigned

Step #3 What is the most suitable journal?
Consider To get accepted your article must be within the scope of the target journal Determine this before you go any further

Consider Journal quality & prestige (impact factor, immediacy index, editorial board) What are your supervisor’s and colleagues’ opinions?

Consider Size of audience (circulation) Advertising usually indicates a circulation >5,000 Electronic access?

Consider Audience for the journal (specialists or generalists) Is this still important given full access to titles and journals through electronic data bases?

Consider Speed of publication Are articles available electronically? How soon?

With a journal in mind, study a copy of the journal’s “Instructions to Authors”

Step #4 Relate your findings to current knowledge
If you are ready to write, you should have a pretty good idea of step #4 in your mind already However, before you begin writing you will still need to clarify further “how your findings relate to current knowledge”

What you write must specify the EXACT area in which your advance has been made No deviations

What you write must specify where the work of others stopped short You will need to specify what future developments could be made

As you “lay the ground plan” for your writing you will need to eliminate irrelevant aspects of the field This focusing process will help immensely with your preparation of an introduction and discussion

Your thinking at this stage must be PRECISE Example: Think of the jig-saw of pieces that make up a complicated process such as photosynthesis….

Your thinking at this stage must be PRECISE Example (continued): You are not describing the whole puzzle, but just the pieces immediately surrounding the new knowledge of your findings on how acid rain impacts the rate of chlorophyll production

Step #5 Write your title and synopsis
Why do this now?

Because you can (you have enough information) Because writing a synopsis will really help peg out your ground plan

You already have an idea of: What you want to say (Step #2) How it relates to previous knowledge (Step #4) Your own experimental evidence

Using your: Chain of reasoning Observations Deduction You can write a synopsis that puts this all together without a weak link HINT Do this as though you are catching up with an old friend

Step #6 Re-read the journal purpose and scope
This is your last chance to change your mind about the selection of a journal

To be a successful writer, you must always be acutely aware of your audience From now on all of your words will be directed towards your selected journal and its readers

Communication, by definition, must go TWO ways You must know your audience so that they will receive what you transmit effectively

Step #7 Read the “instructions to authors”
This will tell you such things as whether there is a page limit, what style manual to follow etc In your thesis you should follow the style of a major journal from your field

Step #8 Decide on a basic form
Usual form for scientific articles is 4 sections Introduction Methods (may include materials) Results Discussion / Conclusions

Step #9 Stock the sections
How to get frustrated: Sit down and try to write in complete sentences on day 1! (only works if you are a born writer)

How NOT to get frustrated: Concentrate on facts, ideas and logical connections Use a new sheet of paper for each section

How NOT to get frustrated: As you are trying to write, put your facts, thoughts, experiments and observations on to paper and then into the correct section Order does not matter at this stage

How NOT to get frustrated: Have your notes, data, literature search etc on hand as you go through this process Before adding any item to your reservoir, ask yourself 3 questions

The 3 questions: Is the item necessary? What section does this item belong in? Do you have all the necessary items?

Step #10 Construct tables and figures
If you are ready to write a paper you will have already drafted your figures and tables Now you should lay these out in a way that will be understood by the reader – this means adding the title, footnotes, legends and labels (we will come back to this in week #8)

If you construct your tables correctly, the reader can glean results and experimental design without reference to the full text In the final paper, the tables and figures together with the title and abstract should form a coherent story

Advantages of doing this now: Tables and figures will extend your synopsis and may expose weaknesses in the order of your logic By checking tables and figures against your section reservoirs, experimental gaps can be exposed (you may even need to modify your conclusions)

Finalizing tables and figures should make you realize the value of beginning your paper when your research is NEARING completion, rather than when it seems to be finished!

Step #11 Topic outline Now is the time to put your section topics into a logical order There are no rules for the order, but it must represent LOGICAL thinking

Step #11 Topic outline Possible topic orders
Methods – chronological handling of samples Results – most important and explicable first

Step #11 Topic outline This is when you define headings, sub-headings and sub-sub-headings It is VITAL to maintain logical ranking

Step #11 Topic outline A doctoral thesis must be strictly ordered by the hierarchical system Manuscripts may be restricted by journal style guidelines Finally, make sure that everything from the reservoirs has gone into the topic outlines

Step #12 Sentence outline
Now that section topics are arranged in logical order (Topic outline defines what subject will be discussed in each section) You are ready for sentence outlines

Topic outline defines what subject will be discussed in each section

Topic outline defines what subject will be discussed in each section Sentence outline goes beyond the topic outline to express what the writer has to say about that subject

Topic outline defines what subject will be discussed in each section Sentence outline goes beyond the topic outline to express what the writer has to say about that subject Ideally, each sentence summarizes what will become 1 paragraph in the finished article

Why do this? To help reveal gaps in logic To help determine if any new headings are needed To help prepare for the next phase of continuous writing Note: Many people skip this step

Ground plan summary Is it time to publish?
Identify question & conclusion Pick suitable journal Relate to current knowledge Write title and synopsis Re-read journal scope Read journal instructions Decide on form Stock the sections Construct tables and figures Topic outline Sentence outline

Practice your writing All of this organization aside, you still need to be able to write in the English language Learn by reading the writings of others Pay attention to how professional scientists write Repeatedly practice reading, writing and critiquing the writings of others Practice thinking clearly – fuzzy writing is usually due to fuzzy thinking

Practice for next week Next week we will be discussing abstracts
Please read through some abstracts and see if you can find the common features from one to the next Sue Watts

Ground Plan for Writing Forestry 545 January 28, 2014

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Ground Plan for Writing Forestry 545 January 28, 2014

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