Scientific Writing Style with thanks to Chris Power
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Purpose Previous lecture Why we write Today How to write
scientifically
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Scientific writing Everything you say must be backed by
evidence From the literature Tactile maps (Figure 1) can be an
effective tool to aid route learning for people with visual
disabilities [1, 8] From your results As shown in Figure 4, road
crossings were rated as the most important landmarks.
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There is no place for opinion It was surprising to see that
That is, your results did not support your hypothesis. Too bad but
whether you were surprised or not is irrelevant. Nevertheless, I
believe that Who cares what you believe? What can you prove ?
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Finding your scientific voice It is not a highly personal
narrative I studied different sources in the library. I attended
the class on It does not have to be very convoluted, full of
complex terms If skin deformation is a critical factor for
roughness perception (Taylor and Lederman, 1975), then it would
seem reasonable to argue that roughness perception in virtual
reality might be more similar to roughness perception in the
physical world via a probe, than via a bare finger. 46-word
sentence - I have to draw breath, that is not a good sign
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Sentences building to paragraphs Skin deformation may be a
critical factor for roughness perception (Taylor and Lederman,
1975). Roughness perception in the physical world is usually
undertaken with the bare fingers and thus involves skin
deformation; sometimes it may be undertaken with a probe or other
device, and no skin deformation is involved. Therefore it is
reasonable to argue that roughness perception in virtual reality,
which inevitably uses a probe, is more similar to roughness
perception in the physical world via a probe than via a bare
finger.
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Readability Original sentence: Flesch Ease of Reading Index
33.4 Re-write: Flesch 47.8 These reading indices are not very good,
but can occasionally be a useful tool
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Keep it as plain and simple as you can Everything should be
made as simple as possible, but no simpler Albert Einstein
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Keep it as plain and simple as you can Try to find a way of
writing that is somewhere in the middle, that you are comfortable
with A certain amount of use of the first person is fine Keep
sentences short always (break the argument down into its logical
parts for the reader to understand) Keep words short and simple as
possible - except for technical terms
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Jargon Jargon is fine as long as you are using it with people
who understand it Doctor to medical staff ATMIS Advanced
Transportation Management Information System I think Doctor to
patient No jargon, please
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Jargon
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Learning the ropes 1 Flying Jib 2 Jib 3 Fore-topmast Staysail 4
Foresail 5 Lower Fore-topsail 6 Upper Fore-topsail 7
Fore-topgallant Sail 9 Foreroyal 10 Lower Studding Sail 11
Fore-topmast Studding Sail 12 Fore-topgallant Studding Sail 'Your
mariner is an honest fellow, none better; but he is sadly given to
jargon.' Patrick O'Brian, Post Captain
Jargon Acceptable long or jargon words in HCI multimodality,
augmented reality, avatar, cognition, keystroke, Wizard of Oz
although some of those might need at least a footnote See
later
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Do not go all literary, darling Do not feel that you are
expected to write in some very literary style Do not vary terms for
interest (see defining terms later) Volunteers acted as evaluators.
The participants Do not suddenly vary topic Do not intentionally
create suspense
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Do not be too informal, either Contractions such as dont, cant
and wasnt have no place in a formal document do not, cannot and was
not They are a way of documenting the way we speak - and signalling
informality
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Precision and rigor! A scientific style is usually as precise
as possible Avoid vague terms the web users tended to Make sure you
know the meaning of complex words you use ( e.g. sequencing
attribute grammar) Avoid colloquial/culturally specific expressions
training wheels interfaces nailed his colours to the mast
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Think about your reader(s)! You need to persuade your reader
that this is an important document/project and lead them through
the information The story Do not discuss a concept for three pages
and then define it - reader needs a definition at the beginning of
a discussion of the concept Provide introductory/bridging
sentences/phrases The next section will introduce concepts of web
accessibility and usability in order to establish the criteria for
evaluations of websites by users.
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Define terms (and abbrevs) and stick to them! Early in your
paper, define any technical terms you need to, set up abbreviations
and then stick to them In the case of technical terms, if you vary
them, the reader may think you mean something different web user,
evaluator, participant, tester are these all the same lot of
people?
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Abbreviations and acronyms Spell out all abbreviations and
acronyms the first time you use them Even common ones A long
standing controversy within human- computer interaction (HCI) is
The navigation device relies on GPS (the Global Positioning
System).
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Abbreviations and acronyms Specifying an abbreviation (abbrev)
and then not using it is just irritating for the reader - last
thing you want Make a list of abbreviations as you go along, at the
end check that you have introduced them on the first instance of
their use Do not use too many abbreviations - again, think of the
mental load on the poor reader This paper discusses the role of the
training wheels interface (which we will refer to as TWI) in word
processors
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If there is disagreement about terminology, key concepts? Do
discuss different researchers definitions, concepts if appropriate
But make it clear where you stand - you are now an expert! A
ccording to Jones (2001), web accessibility is However, Smith
(2004) defined web accessibility as In this thesis, I will follow
Jones Or: In this thesis, I will define accessibility as Conceptual
analysis and definition of new terms may well be an important part
of your contribution to the field
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Politically correct interlude If writing about human beings,
use non-sexist terminology Not: The web user was shown a scale on
which to rate the usability of each site. He was asked to study
this Easy way out - use the plural! But: Web users were shown a
scale on which to rate the usability of each site. They were If
writing about particular groups of humans, personalize them Not:
The elderly cannot see colours with the accuracy But Many elderly
people cannot see colours
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Political correctness Language is powerful It is easy to cause
offense So, try to avoid it but not at the expense of clarity e.g.
what is a visually challenged person?
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How do I start? See Thimbleby, H (2008) Write now!, (in)
Cairns. P & Cox, A. (eds.) Research Methods for Human-Computer
Interaction, Cambridge University press, pp.196-211
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Using other peoples words This might be something about
plagiarism, but let us think of this in another way
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Using other peoples words If you literally use the words of
other authors, it is not your own voice, and will lead inevitably
to a very uneven style - a bit from one author, a bit from another,
or worse, a bit from X, a bit from you, a bit from Y One thing you
are being assessed on is the ability to explain other peoples work
in your words
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Quotations So keep quotations fairly rare and keep them brief
Save them for really key points
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When to quote Where the original authors words are critical
Definitions Accessibility refers to the degree to which an
interactive product is accessible by as many people as possible
(Rogers et al. 2011, p.17) When the author is a particular
authority Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no
simpler Albert Einstein Einstein has great authority and knew a lot
about complexity versus simplicity (E=mc 2 )
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Headings Use them (they help the reader), make them informative
Background research - not very informative! Previous research on
web accessibility and usability (Some readers like only the
standard headings such asIntroduction, Methodology) BUT Do not
assume the reader has read them on the way through may seem odd,
but it is definitely true
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Headings So, do not follow a heading Research on Web
accessibility and usability with This area of research received
little attention until the late 1990s. Must be: Web accessibility
and usability received little research attention
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Figure and tables They can help a reader enormously It is OK to
use a figure/table from a published source, if it is acknowledged
usually in the caption Each figure/table should have a clear,
stand-alone caption Each figure/table must be referred to in the
text otherwise how will the reader know when to study it?
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Designing figures and tables Make sure they are sufficiently
rich in information (would it be simpler to give some words?) but
not too cluttered Are axes, objects all clear? Zobel has a good
section on good and poor design
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Computer-Science-
Justin-Zobel/dp/1852338024 Give figures/tables to a colleague and
ask them what they mean
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Example figure Figure 5. Auditory cues ranked by
importance
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Allow (as much time as possible) for checking, proofing Use
spell checks, but remember they are dumb, dumb, dumb Read yourself
out loud if at all possible Have someone else proof read if
possible Remember, you will not fail an assessment for the odd
spelling mistake, but you want your report to look as professional
as possible
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Readability Small grammatical errors are not a problem But if
they are so bad that they obscure the meaning, then they are Weird
Al Yankovichs view: Word Crimes
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Sources of information Zobel Writing for Computer Science
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Computer-Science-Justin-Zobel/dp/1852338024
Strunk and White - Elements of Style For the specifics of
constructions etc (if you are not confident) - Fowlers Modern
English Usage Mander K. (1994) Writing for Humans
http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/tutorials/writingforhumans.html Thimbleby,
H (2008) Write now!, (in) Cairns. P & Cox, A. (eds.) Research
Methods for Human-Computer Interaction, Cambridge University press,
pp.196-211 Read literature critically for style - re-read papers,
chapters that you found easy to read
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More sources of information Writing for a Purpose
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/writing-purpose/writing-purpose
British Council Free on-line interactive course Aimed at students
whose first language is not English If you want to study at a
British (or other English- speaking) university, you will have to
write assignments you can find out how here! Resources
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/writing-purpose/resources
