Checklist of writing a scientific story:
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Fight the pressure to publish prematurely. One good paper can launch a career; many mediate ones build a rather different one.
- The simpler an idea is at its core, the larger its swath of influence. Brevity is the soul of wit.
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Incremental science can be important, but really good papers go beyond incremental to novel: they say something new and unexpected.
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Identifying a knowledge gap creates curiosity. Filling that gap creates novelty. It is better to fill a small knowledge gap than none at all.
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Initial impressions are strong and lasting. Your first sentences get readers moving and set the direction.
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You must convince us of the importance of the problem, you must show us what we don’t know and why it is important.
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You have a question that drove your work. Make it clear. Then you can tell us how you answer it.
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Well begun is half done. Ending well is the best revenge.
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It’s okay to write point-first paragraphs, and it’s okay to write point-last paragraphs, but don’t write point-nowhere paragraphs.
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Whatever you put at the beginning of a sentence, readers interpret as the topic. The last words carry the greatest weight.
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The longer the gap between actor and action, the duller and more confusing a sentence becomes.
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Writing in a heavy academic style also identifies us as members of the club, but one increasingly isolated from broader society.
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Written English is different from spoken English, but the difference should be primarily in sentence structure, not vocabulary.
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Strong, clear nouns and verbs give writing power, eliminating unnecessary adjectives and adverbs will make your writing stronger and tighter.
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When you develop the courage and ability to ask new questions and take the risks to answer them, you will be prepared to do cuttingedge science.
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Even answering an old question with new technology won’t make the science novel. Leading journals look for new knowledge and understanding.
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In the modern world with search engines and open-access journals, good papers will be found and cited regardless of where they are published.
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If you’ve found the novelty, you’ve done the hardest part. It’s only after this that specific language skills matter.
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People are looking for application: what can we do with that understanding?
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Every suggestion above has been at the heart of communicating to non-scientists.
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The PhD degree you have struggled for meant nothing; it was just an entry ticket to the new arena. Indeed, all graduations are commencements.
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As a scientist, you are a professional writer. Focus on success strategies and ignore survival suggestions.
- You may survive by publishing a lot of papers, but you will only succeed by telling a compelling story. Good luck and good writing.
