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WRITING PAPERS General Comments A. Write Well

WRITING PAPERS General Comments A. Write Well. WRITING PAPERS General Comments A. Write Well i . Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. WRITING PAPERS General Comments A. Write Well

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WRITING PAPERS General Comments A. Write Well

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  1. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well

  2. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON.

  3. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • - this is PARTICULARLY important for very specific topics with unique terminology: • - medicine • - molecular biology • Do not assume your reader knows the jargon – define terms if necessary, or let the context help. • The goal is COMMUNICATION.

  4. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT!

  5. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT! • - “It has been found that fly survival is often a function of the competitive environment (Worthen 1988).” • - “Studies have shown that drosophilids often consume entire mushrooms and probably compete intensely (Atkinson and Shorrocks 1977, 1978).”

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  7. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT! • iii. Don’t write until you have something to say.

  8. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT! • iii. Don’t write until you have something to say. • Learn the system. Think about things. • Don’t write about what you don’t understand. Learn it. • This takes reading, thinking, learning, reflection, and time.

  9. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT! • iii. Don’t write until you have something to say. • iv. Use the departmental website – especially the LAST SECTION on using terms correctly. http://facweb.furman.edu/~wworthen/writedoc.htm

  10. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • i. Don’t worry about sounding scientific, intellectual, or elegant. DEFINE JARGON. • ii. BE CONCISE. Read every sentence you write. Can words be removed? DO IT! • iii. Don’t write until you have something to say. • iv. Use the departmental website – especially the LAST SECTION on using terms correctly. • v. Passive or active voice? Passive: When the object of an action is the subject of the sentence. “Flies were cleared from vials.” Active: “We cleared flies from vials.” Not necessarily a first vs. third person issue: P: “We were reprimanded by the major for insubordination.” A: “The major reprimanded us for insubordination.” http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/citation/passive-voice

  11. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida.

  12. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida. • - can abbreviate genus after writing it out once in a section (intro, methods, results, discussion), unless it begins a sentence (Don’t begin with “D. putrida…”) or would be ambiguous with other genera in the report (Desmognathus ?). Genus alone is usually a plural noun. “Drosophila are…”

  13. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida. • - can abbreviate genus after writing it out once in a section (intro, methods, results, discussion), unless it begins a sentence (Don’t begin with “D. putrida…”) or would be ambiguous with other genera in the report (Desmognathus ?). Genus alone is usually a plural noun. “Drosophila are…” • - must italicize genus and species names; not higher taxa

  14. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida. • - can abbreviate genus after writing it out once in a section (intro, methods, results, discussion), unless it begins a sentence (Don’t begin with “D. putrida…”) or would be ambiguous with other genera in the report (Desmognathus ?). Genus alone is usually a plural noun. “Drosophila are…” • - must italicize genus and species names; not higher taxa • - must capitalize genus, and all higher taxa (Felidae).

  15. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida. • - can abbreviate genus after writing it out once in a section (intro, methods, results, discussion), unless it begins a sentence (Don’t begin with “D. putrida…”) or would be ambiguous with other genera in the report (Desmognathus ?). Genus alone is usually a plural noun. “Drosophila are…” • - must italicize genus and species names; not higher taxa • - must capitalize genus, and all higher taxa (Felidae). • - specific epithet is never capitalized, even if it is a place or name • Spizellawortheni (Worthen’s Warbler).

  16. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • - must include genus and species: Drosophila putrida. • - can abbreviate genus after writing it out once in a section (intro, methods, results, discussion), unless it begins a sentence (Don’t begin with “D. putrida…”) or would be ambiguous with other genera in the report (Desmognathus ?). Genus alone is usually a plural noun. “Drosophila are…” • - must italicize genus and species names; not higher taxa • - must capitalize genus, and all higher taxa (Felidae). • - specific epithet is never capitalized, even if it is a place or name • Spizellawortheni (Worthen’s Warbler). • These are proper nouns… so never say “theD. putridaemerged…”.

  17. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • ii. Common Names • - There is some conflict, but this is ALWAYS true:

  18. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • ii. Common Names • - There is some conflict, but this is ALWAYS true: • - Always capitalize specific species names in lists or field guides, such as: • Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk.

  19. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • ii. Common Names • - There is some conflict, but this is ALWAYS true: • - Always capitalize specific species names in lists or field guides, such as: • Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk. • - Always capitalize a proper noun in a species’ name: Stellar’s sea cow, • Siberian tiger, Queen Anne’s lace.

  20. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • ii. Common Names • - There is some conflict, but this is ALWAYS true: • - Always capitalize specific species names in lists or field guides, such as: • Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk. • - Always capitalize a proper noun in a species’ name: Stellar’s sea cow, • Siberian tiger, Queen Anne’s lace. • - Never capitalize common noun (not referring to a specific species), such as: • lion, tiger, bear, fly, or beetle.

  21. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • i. Latin Names • ii. Common Names • - There is some conflict, but this is ALWAYS true: • - Always capitalize specific species names in lists or field guides, such as: • Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk. • - Always capitalize a proper noun in a species’ name: Stellar’s sea cow, • Siberian tiger, Queen Anne’s lace. • - Never capitalize common noun (not referring to a specific species), such as: • lion, tiger, bear, fly, or beetle. • - Most botanical and entomological journals also want the author who named the species given the first time the species is named: • Drosophila putridaSturtevant.

  22. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • A. Write Well • B. Species Names • C. Types of Scientific Publications • i. Primary – new research, patent, technical report • ii. Secondary – review articles, books, edited compilations • iii. Tertiary – encyclopedias, newspapers, etc… for general public

  23. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • Structure and Scope of a Review Paper • - Pick a scope appropriate to the anticipated length. • - For a 502, “Type-II Diabetes” is too broad. There are books on it! • - Your job is a NEW synthesis – not something you can already find in one review article or book! • - An ‘Overview’ is a good idea, but don’t call it an abstract. One page. • Describe the sections and flow through the topic. • - Have logically sequenced sections. • - A ‘Summary’ at the end is necessary to pull everything together again.

  24. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • Structure and Scope of a Review Paper • Structure of a Primary Research Paper

  25. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • Structure and Scope of a Review Paper • Structure of a Primary Research Paper • A. Abstract • - ½ to 1 page; no longer • - one sentence from each • section; maybe more from • methods/results • - written LAST (we’ll take a • look at some later)

  26. WRITING PAPERS • General Comments • Structure and Scope of a Review Paper • Structure of a Primary Research Paper • A. Abstract • B. Introduction • i. Topical Flow • - general background • - integration of relevant lit. • - present contrasts in lit. • - Focus the reader on the • JUSTIFICATION of your study • - Present your objectives

  27. III. Structure of a Primary Research Paper A. Abstract B. Introduction ii. Writing Tips - do not include more than 3 citations in a parenthetical reference. If there are so many, maybe you need to be a little more specific in what you are saying.

  28. III. Structure of a Primary Research Paper A. Abstract B. Introduction ii. Writing Tips - do not include more than 3 citations in a parenthetical reference. If there are so many, maybe you need to be a little more specific in what you are saying. - for a general statement, a more general reference (text or review) should suffice.

  29. III. Structure of a Primary Research Paper A. Abstract B. Introduction ii. Writing Tips - do not include more than 3 citations in a parenthetical reference. If there are so many, maybe you need to be a little more specific in what you are saying. - for a general statement, a more general reference (text or review) should suffice. - Sometimes, you can parse references temporally….

  30. Competition is often an important interaction in ecological communities (Darwin 1859, Gause 1934, Connell 1961, Worthen 1989). - this is very general, and the long list of citations breaks up the flow of the prose… the reader has to look to see where the next sentence begins.

  31. Competition is often an important interaction in ecological communities (Darwin 1859, Gause 1934, Connell 1961, Worthen 1989). - this is very general, and the long list of citations breaks up the flow of the prose… the reader has to look to see where the next sentence begins. Ever since Darwin (1859), ecologists have appreciated that competitive interactions can structure communities.

  32. Competition is often an important interaction in ecological communities (Darwin 1859, Gause 1934, Connell 1961, Worthen 1989). - this is very general, and the long list of citations breaks up the flow of the prose… the reader has to look to see where the next sentence begins. Ever since Darwin (1859), ecologists have appreciated that competitive interactions can structure communities. In both laboratory (Gause 1934) and field experiments (Connell 1961), competition for limited resources between species with similar niche requirements leads to competitive exclusion.

  33. Competition is often an important interaction in ecological communities (Darwin 1859, Gause 1934, Connell 1961, Worthen 1989). - this is very general, and the long list of citations breaks up the flow of the prose… the reader has to look to see where the next sentence begins. Ever since Darwin (1859), ecologists have appreciated that competitive interactions can structure communities. In both laboratory (Gause 1934) and field experiments (Connell 1961), competition for limited resources between species with similar niche requirements leads to competitive exclusion. Even in insects, that are often thought to be regulated by density independent factors like predation and abiotic conditions, competition can be acute and can eliminate species from habitats (Worthen 1989).

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