CAP7110E - Writing science effectively

Five qualities of effective writing: concise, precise, active, vigorous, straightforward. Seven cardinal sins of writing: hedging, boasting, signposting, redundant, self-conscious, narcissism, periphrasis. Persuasion means: logos, ethos, pathos. Writing a scientific paper. Writing meaningful titles and abstracts. Differences between conclusion and abstract. Assigning co-authorship. Plagiarism.
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Workshop plan

1. Writing Style and the publishing industry (4 h.)
Why do we need to write well? What are the measures of success?  We discuss the five characteristics of good writing practices – precise, concise, vigorous, active and straightforward. Pathos, ethos and logos are forms of persuasion; we favour logos over pathos and ethos but each has their place.
 
Day 2. Elements of scientific articles (4 h.)
Activate your text: Admit that you did it and shave with Occam’s razor. Metadiscourse: when does it clutter an article – how much is too much?
 
Day 3. Practicum (4 h.)
 Reporting experimental data according to SI.  Making a graph that will reproduce in the journal.
The elements of an article: Apply good writing practices to Titles, Graphical Abstracts, High Lights and Introduction.
 
Day 4. Practicum (4 h.)
The last day, we will bring it together and will practice abstracts.  We will review how to write an abstract, review abstracts and then write them.  We will start the day with identifying what is plagiarism.  In the second half, the attendees will write a final exam.  We will correct the exam together and discuss the solutions.
 
Assignments
Homework  – Correct sentences (15 %)
Homework – Identify metadiscourse (15 %)
Project – Write an abstract (250 words) (30 %)
Active participation (10 %)
Final exam (30 %)
 
Evaluation: Pass/fail; presence is mandatory.