Becoming a scientific writer - putting the why before the how

Aim

The aim of this course is to help publishing scientists develop a more impartial, analytical view of scientific writing, to better understand their readership, and to make them more efficient writers and editors. Their writing will no longer be driven by the standard formula for ‘How?’ to write a paper, but will be inspired by the question, ‘Why?’.

Language

English

For

Mid-career scientists; postdocs and 3/4 year predocs

Contents

In this workshop, participants will develop a deeper understanding of the structure of scientific papers, with a renewed focus on the purpose of each section and the connections between them.

They will:

• Practice applying this knowledge to the task of constructing a scientific manuscript from scratch
• Gain a global framework to conceptualise the entire publishing process, and the profile of their readership
• Explore some common problems of language construction that make our writing unclear, and why we are prone to these problems
• Practice some intuitive editing tools to address these problems

Study commitment

Before the course the trainer will send some reading material and a preparatory task based on a published paper from the participant’s field. There will be also some work to do between sessions.

Entry criteria

This course is postdocs and 3rd & 4th year predocs - please indicate how you meet this criteria in the registration form.

For any issue regarding attendance before or during the course, please note that you should contact the Intervals team directly by sending an email to intervals@prbb.org.

NOTE: Conditions for participating in online courses  

Intervals courses are small, interactive group sessions in which confidential issues are often raised. During the Zoom sessions you must have your camera on, and a microphone ready to participate in the group activities. You should be in a quiet place with a good internet connection. If you are not alone in the room you must wear headphones. If you are unable to meet these conditions you will be asked to leave the course.