Writing for a non-specialist audience: Scientific writing competitions

Dr Helen WebsterWriting Development Centre

The Impact Agenda

Impact

Accountability and funding:

RCUK

Quality: The REF

Public engagement: NCL as civic university

Employability and transferable

skills

Scientific Writing Competitions

Routes to public engagement and impact: Broadcast media (print, television, radio) Social media Public outreach events

All of these benefit from training and support

Scientific writing competitions are a good way to promote your research and your profile on a large scale and in a supported way

Major science writing competitions

Europe PubMed Central Access to Understanding 2014

http://europepmc.org/ScienceWritingCompetition

PhD and Pdoc, pre-selected topics, closes 9th Dec

Medical Research Council Max Perutz Award

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Sciencesociety/Awards/index.htm

MRC funded PhD, your own research

The Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize

In association with the 'Guardian' and the 'Observer‘

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Public-engagement/Science-Writing-Prize/index.htm

Professional scientists, Non-professional writers

(UG>Pdoc) Any area of science

Science writing competitions: What do they have in common?

They all want to see

800 words Clear writing Writing that is accessible to a general, non-specialist,

but interested audience Writing that goes beyond description (of the problem

and of what the researchers did) Writing that effectively communicates the contribution

of the research (Why does the research matter?) Writing that is engaging

Starting with your audience

“clear” “accessible” “engaging”

Writing for a non-specialist audience: What do science writers say?

“If in doubt, assume the reader knows nothing. However, never make the mistake of assuming that the reader is stupid. The classic error in journalism is to overestimate what the reader knows and underestimate the reader's intelligence.”

Tim Radford’s Manifesto for the Simple Scribe: The 25 commandments http://

www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/jan/19/manifesto-simple-scribe-commandments-journalists

Meeting in the middle: knowledge, interest, intention

Scientist

Reader

• What is your message?

• What is your aim?• What is the

interest?

• What do they want?

• What are their expectations/needs?

• What will they do with it?The

science writer’s role

Scientists

Quality Lay

publishing

Reports

Tabloids, Clickbait

The Food Chain

Academic scientific peer reviewed publishing

Stakeholder reports Popular science

books/blogs/magazines Textbooks Quality press (broadsheets,

national news channels) Tabloids, ‘in brief’ news sites Online clickbait, listicles

Structure

The research paper: Diagram of structure

Introduction and literature review

Methods

Results

Discussion andConclusions

The news report: Diagram of structure

The ‘inverted pyramid’ model

Most important/attention-grabbing information

Elaboration and detail

Least important information? Return to why it’s interesting/important?

What’s the story here?

Isn’t science/nature amazing/weird? Plucky researchers strike a blow against disease So that’s why....now we understand. Bet you’re glad this isn’t you!

What story do you want to tell about your own research?

What makes a good opening?

What did you think of those openings?

The hook:

Connection to real or possible personal experience The Unexpected, The Mysterious and The Weird Or both! An emotional reaction

A good opening paragraph: Example

Studying blindness? There’s an app for that

Everything is hazy; I can’t even see my glasses. I keep my eyes closed; it doesn’t seem to make much difference opening them. My hand feels clumsily around the bedside table, knocking my mobile phone to the floor, and eventually I come across my glasses. On they go, and I can see again. Those brief few seconds as I awake each morning serve as a continual reminder of how much I value my sight.

Andrew Bastawrous, winner of the Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2012

The Middle Bit: finding a balance and getting to the point

How much knowledge does your reader really need to understand the research and its significance?

Where is the point in these texts where they move from setting the scene to describing the research breakthrough?

Academic Paragraph structure

Self assessment can also develop skills which make a student more attractive to prospective employers. Employers value students with skills in self assessment because these types of skills are relevant to a wide range of employment contexts. They want graduates who can accurately assess their own competencies in performing tasks. Students who can do this are well placed to take on responsibilities and adapt readily to roles in work places. The value in developing these types of assessment can be seen to go beyond meeting immediate educational needs. Students who have developed an autonomous approach to learning are well set up for life-long learning which will continue throughout and beyond their working lives.

Topic sentence: Introduction of the paragraph’s main idea

Main body in which the initial assertion is developed and explained

Conclusion to be drawn from the above points

Signpost word

Language

Writing about science: Complex material simple expression

“Whenever I write about science, I imagine a parrot on my shoulder saying ‘can it be said more simply’?”

Attributed to Dr Max Perutz, 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry,

after whom the Max Perutz Award is named

‘Simply’

Avoiding Jargon

“A plain English summary is a brief summary that has been written for members of the public, rather than researchers or professionals. It should be written clearly and simply, without jargon and with an explanation of any technical terms that have to be included.” – INVOLVE

Jargon is simply precise technical language which is used in an inappropriate context, in which the audience does not share the common and professional language the terms belong to.

Writing for a non-specialist audience: What do science writers say?

“The shortlisted authors did a great job of using eye-catching imagery to snare our attention.”

Jenny Rohon (Judge, Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2012),

in Mind the Gap blog

“Some of our writers used metaphor to really good effect. But there were examples of some metaphors that were a bit off-piste.

So think clearly about whether the metaphor is too tenuous, or simply extended beyond its useful life.”

Sharmila Nebhrajani

Using Imagery

Simile Metaphor Extended

metaphor

Symbolism

“research is like a journey” “research is a journey” “research is a journey. As

we travel, we may find we do not arrive at the destination we anticipated, or by the paths we planned”

We cannot know the destination of the Journey

The uses of metaphor: the spices in your dish

Metaphors can enable you to make a strong connection with the shared experience between you and your audience

It can create a strong ‘visual’ or concrete impression, which helps to explain the more abstract aspects of research

It makes your writing more engaging and interesting

Metaphor: leaving a sour taste

You need to be sure that both you and your audience share the same common understanding of the metaphor

Extended metaphors can break down as your meaning is twisted to fit the metaphor

Mixed metaphors are confusing

Too much metaphor can seem overly poetical and make the text too abstract

Voices – scientist, writer, reader

Scientist: Quotations from the scientists can change the pace, add a ‘human’ element, give a sense of the excitement of research

Reader: Using questions as paragraph openings can include the voice of the reader

Writer: do you want your own voice to reflect that of the scientist or that of the reader’s perspective?

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater

Scientific communication – What values and features

of academic scientific writing do we want to preserve?

Which hinder scientific communication to non-academic readers?

Europe PubMed Central Science Writing Competition: Comments from two judges

“… we are looking for accurate, balanced representation of the research.”

Anna Kinsey (Europe PMC Engagement Manager and Access to Understanding organiser)

“The best writers made complex science accessible, without patronising the reader. They drew out the ‘so what?’ question – why should I read this, why should I care? They were frank about the unknowns and the limitations of the science. And they created energy and excitement about the research, but without hyperbole.”

Sharmila Nebhrajani

Further reading: Writing for news media

Cole, P. (2008) New writing. The Guardian 25 September. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/25/writing.journalism.news.

Evans, H. (2000) Essential English for journalists, editors and writers. Revised edition. London: Pimlico

Giles, C. (2011) What's the point of this story? Handy tips for science writers. The Guardian 9 May. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/09/handy-tips-science-writers.

March, D. (2007) Guardian style. London: Guardian Books Parry, V. (2011) You want to know more, I know you do. The Guardian 3 May.

Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/03/secrets-good-science-writing.

Radford, T. (2011) A manifesto for the simple scribe – my 25 commandments for journalists. The Guardian 21 January. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/jan/19/manifesto-simple-scribe-commandments-journalists.

Vitae: the Engaging Researcher

Other routes to impact

Public outreach events