Writing and Writing and Presenting Presenting

Science Science InvestigationsInvestigations

Rodolfo S. TreyesBIOLOGY EDUCATION GROUP

UP NISMED

employs scientific method to find out the answer to a scientific problem

a process of collecting information from your own experiences, reliable sources and data from experiments

Purpose of Writing a Scientific PaperPurpose of Writing a Scientific Paper

To communicate the new findings or discoveries

Science Investigative ProjectScience Investigative Project

Scientific writing is NOT a science. Scientific writing is NOT a science.

A SKILL that must be developed through practice

Should inform the reader

How does one become a good 'scientific writer?' How does one become a good 'scientific writer?'

Examine how other scientists write (by studying their publications).

Be familiar with the basic 'rules‘.

Submit your work for review!

GUIDELINES FOR BETTER GUIDELINES FOR BETTER SCIENTIFIC WRITINGSCIENTIFIC WRITING

Avoid wordiness

Omit unneeded words; shorten wordy phrases.

Use active voice (but not excessively)

Example

Passive: Most seedlings were eaten by rabbits.

Active: Rabbits ate most seedlings.

Active: Territory size varied with population density.

Passive: Territory size was found to vary with population density.

Make sure each verb agrees with its subject.

The color and shape of the beak are [not is an] important taxonomic features [not feature].

Avoid repetition

Some sentences or paragraphs are wordy because the writer includes the same information twice.

Wordy: In Cupp's study, he found that temperature had no effect on display rates (Cupp, 1993).

Concise: Temperature had no effect on display rates (Cupp, 1993).

Instead of Use

It is a procedure that is often used.

This procedure is often used.

There are seven steps that must be completed.

Seven steps must be completed.

This is a problem that is...

This problem is...

These results are preliminary in nature.

These results are preliminary.

Omit excess words.

a number of many, several

a small number of a few

are found to be are

are known to be are

at present now

at the present time now

based on the fact that because

by means of by

due to the fact that because

during that time while

fewer in number fewer

for the reason that because

has been shown to be is

if it is assumed that if

in color, e.g., red in colorjust state the color, e.g.,

red

in order to to

in shape, e.g., round in shape

just state the shape, e.g., round

in size, e.g., small in sizejust state the size, e.g.,

small

is known to be is

it is clear that clearly

it is possible that possibly

of great importance important

on the order of about

prior to before

reported in the literature reported

subsequent to after

Make sure paragraphs are coherent units of thought.

A writer constructs, orders, and connects paragraphs to guide the reader from one topic to the next.

Be careful about using nouns as adjectives:

Students tend to use nouns (sometimes proper nouns) as adjectives.

Gray (1998) found that female Red-winged Blackbirds were less vocal during pair formation.

Gray (1997) found that Red-winged Blackbird females were less vocal during the pair-formation period.

Materials and Methods, Results and Citing Authors Directly

Use third person and verbs should be in past tense

Use present tense in discussion when referring to published knowledge, except when citing anauthor directly.

Examples of in-text citation style and tenses:

Fungi are not known to contain chlorophyll (Starr, 1991).

Starr (1991) found that fungi lack chlorophyll.

Jones (pers. comm.) found that fungi lack chlorophyll.

Use active voice. However, passive voice is used when focusing on materials.

Underline (or italicize) all scientific names (binomials) of organisms.

Cyathea contaminans (Hook) Copel.

TYPING FORMATPrepare all reports on a typewriter, or better still, a word processor, using the format guidelines below for technical organization.

Title - approximately 2 1/2 inches from top of paper

"by"

Your names

Group number

Time

Course Number

Instructor

Due date

A. Title page

Top margin - approximately 2 inches

Right, left and bottom margins - OK to use default settings on computer if they come close to present guidelines (~ 1 inch)

Page number - None

Between lines - Double space

B. First Page

Top margin - approximately 1 1/2 inches

Right, left, and bottom margins same as first page

Page numbers centered at the bottom.

C. Subsequent Pages

Should reflect the factual content of the paper Brief and grammatically correct, accurate and complete A two- or three-word title may be too vague, but 14- or 15-word title is long Long title can be split into main title and subtitle

• “on the”• “a study of”• “research on”• “report on”• “regarding”• “use of “

Avoid phrases:

In most cases, omit article “the” at the beginning of the title. Spell out all terms in the title and avoid symbols, formulas, and

abbreviations.

TITLE

The best time to determine the title is after you have written the text.

A good title is straightforward and uses keywords that researchers in a particular field will recognize.

may be written in 100 to 200 words (one or two paragraphs)

determines the nature and scope of the paper

concise, self-contained, and complete

briefly states the problem of an investigation

indicates the theoretical or experimental plan used

summarizes the principal findings

point outs major conclusions

ABSTRACToverviews of facts, results, conclusions and recommendations of an article.

composed of the following:

purpose(s) of the investigation appropriate background of the problem significance of the study scope and limits of the study

provides theoretical or historical background states how your work differs from or is related to work previously

published

Often, the heading “Introduction” is not used because it is superfluous; opening paragraphs are usually introductory.

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction and literature review usually integrated for journal; but kept separate in thesis.

In thesis, the literature review (Chapter II) has many subheadings and it is appropriate to change the name into formal title.

review scientific literature (i.e. the importance of the study involved).

explain choice of materials or methodology (i.e. alternatives and comparisons).

show rationale for investigation (e.g. why are you doing this and this?)

Serves to:

Tense for literature review (past tense or present tense or future tense):

Past tense - If referring to actual work done in the past.

Example

Roger and Moore (1965) investigated that the effect of tempering on the rate of moisture removal… )

Present tense - If referring to knowledge produced as a results of research.

Example

The storage potential of onion cultivars varies with their physical and physiological characteristics (Pacino and Ford 1957; Lennon and Ono 1967.

Describe special equipment and the general theory of the assays used.

If possible, provide drawing of the experimental apparatus.

Generally, this section attempts to answer the following questions:

What materials were used?

How were they used?

Where and when was the work done?

MATERIALS and METHODSThis section allows fellow scientists to:

1. judge the reliability of your data2. know the conditions under which results are applicable3. use your methodology.

For the Materials

Exact technical specifications and quantities and source or method of preparation are included.

List pertinent chemical and physical properties of reagents or chemicals used.

Avoid using trade names, use the generic or chemical names instead.

For methods

Presentation of procedure must be in chronological order.

For measurements, be precise as possible.

If your experimental method is new, you must provide all of the needed detail.

Do not include discussion, rationale, excuses, etc.

figures

tables

graphs

RESULTS

The result section should contain two components:

Presentation of overall description of the experiments (without repeating the experimental details).

Presentation of the data.

should have descriptive titles with legend explaining any symbols, abbreviations, or special methods used

should be numbered separately and should be referred to in the text by number

should be self-explanatory; that is, the reader should be able to understand them without referring to the text

All columns and rows in tables and axes in figures should be labeled.

Data can be organized into:

Results and Discussion keep separate (including in the thesis writing) unless:

1. required by journal 2. more “natural” to combine 3. extended discussion not possible

Don’t give results that are not accounted for in Materials and Methods (casual observation don’t belong to Results, such as raw data).

Don’t mention materials here.

Begin with overview of what you have found out.

Present summarized data in tables or graphs.

Summarized data means after we analyzed it using statistical analyses).

Present results simply and clearly.

Results often the shortest section of the report.

Preparation of Figures/Illustrations

Line-drawings

1. Authors tend to submit graphics prepared by a computer graph-drawing package. Some of these packages are not suitable for scientific work, because they are not flexible enough.

3. Broken and dotted lines should be avoided unless they improve the clarity of the Figure.

2. Line thickness should be 2 or 3 points in thickness, NEVER 1 point. Spidery lines will not show up on reduction.

4. Symbols should be open or solid rather than shaded. They should be slightly larger to allow for reduction. However they should not be excessively large.

Photographs

1. All photomicrographs should contain a size bar (see below).

2. Photographs should be well contrasted prints. Any irrelevant margins and areas of no interest should be cut off.

Legend

The legend is the explanatory text usually printed below the figure.

1. It is often helpful if not only photomicrographs, but also other diagrams or photographs of equipment have a size bar. The size of the bar should be clearly indicated in the legend to the figure.

2. For papers for publication in a journal, all legends should be on a separate sheet. For theses on the other hand, the legend should wherever possible be on the same page as the Figure or on the facing page.

Elements of Discussion Section:

Presentation of the principles, relationships and generalizations shown by the Results.

Point out any exceptions or lack of correlation and define any unsettled points.

Try to explain why those specific or unsettled points do not correlate, and suggest what you can do to avoid these lack of correlations if experimental errors were involved.

Show how your results and interpretations agree or contrast with previously published work.

Try to present reasonable explanations why your results do not agree with comparable results by other researchers.

DISCUSSIONThis is where you tell what your results mean. This section highlights your achievements.

Discuss the theoretical implications of your work as well as practical applications. This provides the basis on why your work is important and why your investigations are important in context with other people's research.

State your conclusions as clearly as possible and summarize your evidence for each conclusion.

Suggestions for future studies, comments, and summaries should be in this section.

In summary:

1. What did you find?

2. How do results relate to those reported previously?

3. Was the hypothesis correct?

4. Does it need to be changed and what are the appropriate changes?

HINTS FOR WRITING A SCIENTIFIC PAPER

1. Avoid wordiness!

2. Reports are usually written in the past tense.

3. Conjecture (discussion) is often written in the present tense.

4. Each graph and table is referred to and that reference is not made to nonexistent tables or graphs.

5. Check that each section contains the proper information; for example,

6. Check that each Literature Cited item in the text and that each citation in the text appears in the Literature Cited section.

Example

Do not put results in the Material and Methods section.

7. All scientific names (genus and species) must be italicized. (Underlining indicates italics in a typed paper.)

Writing Style1. Use the metric system of measurements. Abbreviations of units are

used without a following period.

2. Be aware that the word data is plural while datum is singular. This affects the choice of a correct verb.

3. The word species is used both as a singular and as a plural.

5. When one list includes numbers over and under ten, all numbers in the list may be expressed as numerals; for example,

Example

6 mm or 2 g but two explanations of six factors.

4. Numbers should be written as numerals when they are greater than ten or when they are associated with measurements.

Example

17 bananas, 13 mice, and 2 dogs

6. Never start a sentence with numerals. Spell all numbers beginning sentences.

7. Be sure to divide paragraphs correctly and to use starting and ending sentences that indicate the purpose of the paragraph.

8. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb.

9. Avoid using the first person, I or we, in writing. Keep your writing impersonal, in the third person.

Instead of saying, "We weighed the leaves and put them in a beaker."

Write, "The leaves were weighed and put in a beaker."

Example

10. Avoid the use of slang and the overuse of contractions.

11. Be consistent in the use of tense throughout a paragraph--do not switch

between past and present. It is best to use past tense.12. Be sure that pronouns refer to antecedents.

Example

In the statement, "Sometimes fireflies are in mango trees but they are hard to find," does "they" refer to fireflies or mango trees?

TablesTables are numbers or words arranged in rows and columns. 

Captions across the top tell the reader what the table contains and completely explains any abbreviations used.

As with tables, each figure should be able to stand alone and convey some useful information.

Figures

Graphs (line, bar, pie, etc.), drawings, scanned images are all good, if you have reason to discuss them in the text. 

Figures should have legends that describe the figure and point out what you want your reader to see in it. 

Citing Literature

If there are more than two authors then you would put the first author followed by an et.al., (Holt, et.al., 1999).

Put a reference number in parethesis (1), or (3, 9) or to use the last name of the author followed by the year of the publication.

Example

For one author: (Daubechies,1988)

For two authors: (Howard and Beechy, 2003)

For a book

2. Daubechies, I., (1988) "Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology", AAAI Press, Meno Park, CA pp.175-182.

For an article from an edited book

3. Sonnhammer, E., vonHeijne, G., and Krogh,A., (2001) A hidden Markov model for predicting trans-membrane helices in protein sequences. "Structural Biochemistry and Analysis", R.Clegg and V.Innut eds., CIAC Press, New Brunswich, IA, USA. pp. 473-488.

For a URL

4. Howard, R., and Beechy, R.B., (2003) The unpublished nature of things. http://biology.all.nature.org/things_in_general/UPNT.html.

Numbered references should be presented sequencially in the literature cited section.

For a journal article

1. Holt, J.M., Rinehart, C.A., and Winston, B.B., (1999) The title of liberty, a review of famous speeches that inspired a nation. The Journal of Free Speach and Democracy, 22, 45-96.

The only way to prevent errors in writing is to read and think about what you write. Learn to reread and edit your work.

Displaying the Project

The project board display tells the audience what you have done and learned.

It presents the following:

Quality of work

Ability to explain ideas

Methods used

What have learned

Typical Display Board

Title panel

Left panelRight panelMiddle panel

Table top panel

Purpose of the study

Background

Abstract

Hypothesis

Procedure (can also be placed in middle)

Left Panel contains the following items

Experimental Design

Results can be presented in the form of tables of data, graphs, photographs, drawings, etc… (can spill over to the right panel if necessary)

Middle Panel contains the following items

Sample layout

Results (any charts or graphs that will not fit in the middle panel can be places in the right panel)

Conclusion

Discussion

Right Panel contains the following items

A copy of an abstract in a font size of 10 to 12.

Equipment used in the experiment.

Table Top in Front of the Display Board:

No plants, food, chemicals, liquids, petri dishes, biological specimens, or machines with moving parts that could harm someone.