Graduate Student Information

Professional Development - Writing Workshop

WRITING WORKSHOP

General Advice

1. Pay attention to the four C'S
   • Be careful. Text should be carefully crafted with attention to detail.
   • Be clear. Text should be easy to read; avoid run-on sentences. Use proper grammar, and sentence and paragraph structure.
   • Be concise. More verbiage is not necessarily better. Revise your writing to minimize superfluous words.
   • Be correct. Make sure your information is accurate.
     
     
2. Use your tools wisely. Search results are only as good as your design and interpretation. All databases are limited by the information entered into the program.
   • Sequence identification and analysis programs. Be aware of the limitations of the programs you use, and that the results you obtain may be affected by the way you design your search. The results you obtain will require study and interpretation on your part. Keep any such pitfalls in mind as you write your text.
   • Publication databases. Databases are limited by the literature entered into the programs. Papers published before a certain date may not be included. Not all journals will be represented. Be aware of these limitations, and make every effort to uncover the important papers you need to cite. Read the papers before you cite them, and accurately represent the findings and conclusions.
     
     
3. Get critical feedback.
   • From yourself: let the draft sit for a while before you revise it.
   • From others: in addition to your major advisor, ask others in the lab to read your text for general, as well as specific, impressions.
   • Be prepared to write multiple versions.
     
     
4. Image is everything (to quote a famous tennis pro..)
   • While presentation never replaces content, the more professional your presentation, the better reception it will receive. This is true for presentations as well as manuscripts. Hand drawn slides and transparencies send a message that you didn't respect the venue and/or audience enough to prepare in advance. Manuscripts and proposals are the same way; errors and carelessness in documents lead the reader to wonder if the quality of thought behind the data is the same. Reviewers appreciate a well thought out piece of writing.
   • Know and follow formats and good editorial practices. Consult the instructions to authors; this is especially important for journals in the field of genetics that are likely to have specific instructions about the designations for genes, alleles, proteins, organisms, cloned DNA fragments, reporter constructs, transgenic animals, etc. Always properly and completely format manuscripts to the specifications of the journal.
   • Know the literature in the field. Keep up to date in your own small sphere of research; this includes knowledge of the "classics".
   • Cite previously published works correctly; journals have different formats for literature cited.

WRITING YOUR FIRST JOURNAL ARTICLE

Getting Started. It is time to think about writing when you have acquired some data in response to a specific hypothesis or question. It is not necessary to have all references read, all experiments done, nor all answers in hand before you start thinking about, and begin, writing. In fact, the writing process serves to focus thinking in a more directed fashion, thereby identifying those areas that need additional attention. Start to think of your research as "packets" of information to help you focus. Identify a target journal for submission and consult instructions to authors before you begin. Many prolific authors adopt the practice of setting aside a finite amount of time, free from distraction, at the time of day they are most alert.

Scientific papers typically have the following sections:

I. Abstract
II. Introduction
III. Materials and Methods
IV. Results
V. Discussion
VI. Literature cited
VII. Figures and Tables

One suggested sequence for writing

It is often difficult for young scientific writers to get started. While the author is aware of the general thrust and major points of his research, the challenges of organization, focus, and presentation can be overwhelming. There are many successful strategies for writing, but here is one sequence that works for many inexperienced writers.

Abstract. The key points of the paper are briefly summarized in this section.

Introduction. Introductions are brief reviews of the significance of the work to be presented and of the background necessary to understand it. Although all will not be appropriate to every paper, following is a list of questions the introduction might address. What is the significance of this research? Why should anyone care? What is the overall theme of this piece of writing? What is its goal? What is the state of knowledge (brief and targeted review)? What are the gaps/weaknesses of the present state of knowledge? How does this work contribute to its advancement? What does this work accomplish? A good introduction funnels the reader's attention from the general to the specifics of the paper.

Materials and Methods. This is a section of a paper or thesis that can be worked on at any time. For a paper or presentation, refer to published protocols as appropriate to support general text; this section should not be very long. Provide detail of important modifications, or unpublished or novel methods. This section in a thesis will be more comprehensive to allow exact replication. Pay attention to proper abbreviations, terminology, nomenclature, and designations. Working on Materials & Methods text is always a good diversion when writer's block hits!

Results. The results section of a full-length paper is typically comprised of subsections, one for each major hypothesis/question/goal of the paper. Such subsections may or may not be subtitled in a given journal format. Each subsection will begin with a restatement of the specific information, question, or hypothesis addressed by that portion of the research. If necessary, a very brief recap of the rationale may be presented. A detailed analysis of each figure and table is presented, including any considerations of limitations or sources of error. The subsection concludes with a statement of what the results tell the reader about the hypothesis or questions posed. As you move to the next subsection of the results, it is important to make use of transition sentences to create a logical progression from one point to the next.

Figures and Tables. The answer to the question "What data have I actually generated?" will help focus the rest of the paper. Spend time considering how the data can be presented in the clearest and most logical fashion. Each of your figures/tables should correspond to a major point in the paper. Figures must always be of high quality and the major finding unambiguous. Format figures/tables as specified for the target journal; there will be journal-specific instructions for size, fonts, legends. Proper preparation of figures and tables is a time-consuming task.

Discussion/Conclusion. Most discussions begin with a brief recap of the entire work, including questions and findings. The main body of this section will be interpretations of the results in the context of the body of existing knowledge. This is also the appropriate place to discuss new models, theories, or questions that arise from the research. Discussions typically end with a brief projection of the next logical extension of the research (future directions).

Literature Cited. Be judicious in literature cited; reference only those publications that are directly germane to the text.