The Scientists Guide to Writing, 2nd Edition

Autorentext

Stephen B. Heard

Klappentext

An updated and expanded edition of the acclaimed writing guide for scientists The Scientist’s Guide to Writing explains the essential techniques that students, postdocs, and early-career scientists need to write more clearly, efficiently, and easily. Now fully updated and expanded, this incisive primer offers practical advice on such topics as generating and maintaining writing momentum, structuring a scientific paper, revising a first draft, handling citations, responding to peer reviews, managing coauthorships, and more. The ability to write clearly is critical to any scientific career. The Scientist’s Guide to Writing shows scientists how to become better writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact. New chapters discuss effective reading, choosing the right journal for your research, and the advantages and disadvantages of posting preprints Provides additional advice on reporting statistical results, dealing with conflicting peer reviews, managing coauthorships, writing with English as an additional language, and more Emphasizes writing as a process, not just a product Encourages habits that improve motivation and productivity Offers detailed guidance on submission, review, revision, and publication Includes a wealth of new exercises

Inhalt

What’s New in the Second Edition?PrefaceA Note on the ExercisesPart I. What Writing Is

• 1. On Bacon, Hobbes, and Newton, and the Selfishness of Writing Well
• 2. Genius, Craft, and What This Book Is AboutPart II. Writing Behavior
• 3. Writing and Reading
• 4. Managing Your Writing Behavior
• 5. Getting Started
• 6. MomentumPart III. Content and Structure
• 7. Finding and Telling Your Story
• 8. The Canonical Structure of the Scientific Paper
• 9. Front Matter and Abstract
• 10. The Introduction Section
• 11. The Methods Section
• 12. The Results Section
• 13. The Discussion Section
• 14. Back Matter
• 15. Citations
• 16. Beyond the IMRaD CanonPart IV. Style
• 17. Paragraphs
• 18. Sentences
• 19. Words
• 20. BrevityPart V. Revision
• 21. Self-Revision
• 22. “Friendly” Review
• 23. Formal Review
• 24. Revision and the “Response to Reviews”Part VI. Some Loose Threads
• 25. Journals and Preprints
• 26. The Diversity of Writing Forms
• 27. Managing Coauthorships
• 28. Three Kinds of Reading: Reference, Survey, and Deep
• 29. Writing for Speakers of English as an Additional LanguagePart VII. Final Thoughts
• 30. On Whimsy, Jokes, and Beauty: Can Scientific Writing Be Enjoyed?AcknowledgmentsReferencesPermanent URLsIndex