SCIENTIFIC WRITING

TERMS, TYPES & FORMAT

SCIENTIFIC WRITING TYPES:

• RESEARCH PAPER – INVESTIGATES OR

DISCUSSES A TOPIC

USING DATA OR A

THEORY

ABSTRACT -

• A BRIEF SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE

• SUMMARIZES A LARGER WORK

• INCLUDES PROCEDURES, RESULTS, FACTS & A SUMMARY

JOURNAL ARTICLE -

• WRITING ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC; INCLUDES DATA, RESULTS, METHODS OR TESTS PERFORMED, AND A SUMMARY OR CONCLUSION OF THE DATA

• PURPOSE IS TO OBTAIN INFO/FACTS

REPORT -

• FORMAL ACCOUNT OR RESULTS OF TESTING OR EXPERIMENTATION

TYPES OF RESEARCH PAPERS:

• SUMMARY RESEARCH - CHOOSE A TOPIC THEN SUMMARIZE WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID IN AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR OWN

• SCHOLARLY RESEARCH – WITH THIS TYPE OF WRITING YOU PROVIDE THE ORIGINAL THINKING FROM SOURCE MATERIAL

SUMMARY RESEARCH GUIDELINES:

• FIND A QUESTION OR PROBLEM THAT INTERESTS YOU & GATHER INFORMATION

• RESEARCH MANY SITES (RESEARCH CENTERS, LABS, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, BIOTECH LIBRARIES)

• ORGANIZE AND ANALYZE THE INFORMATION• FORMULATE YOUR OWN IDEAS OR INTERPRETATION• DEVELOP YOUR OWN RESONING AND DISCUSSION• DISCUSS THE DATA/RESULTS OF THE TESTS• SUMMARIZE THE DATA & SUPPORT YOUR IDEAS• CITE YOUR SOURCES

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

• WHAT IS PURPOSE OF THE STUDY?• WHAT WAS THE HYPOTHESIS?• WAS THE HYPOTHESIS TESTED?• WAS THE STUDY JUSTIFIED?• WHAT TESTS WERE PERFORMED?• WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?• WERE THE RESULTS SIGNIFICANT?• DID THE CONCLUSION MATCH THE RESULTS?• DID NEW QUESTIONS EVOLVE?

STEPS TO WRITING PROCESS:

• ORGANIZE INFO & RECORD FACTS• INTERPRET RESULTS• RECORD GENERAL IDEAS, REASONING• REWRITE INFORMATION USING

COMPUTER FOR SPELL CHECK, GRAMMAR USEAGE

• FINALIZE & SUMMARIZE INFORMATION WRITING• PROOFREAD AND WRITE FINAL DRAFT