[Week 1] Writing in the Sciences _ Coursera

1.1 Principles of effective writing

What makes good writing?

1. 생각을 분명하고 효과적으로 전달하는 것 (Clear thinking)

    - 과학 글쓰기에서 과학자 및 일반 대중에게 연구 결과를 전해야함. 명확하고 효과적으로 전달.

    - elegant and stylish

 

What makes a good writer?

    - Have something to say (어떤 의도로 말하려 했는가)

    - Logical thinking (논리적 사고력)

    - Rules of style

        - read a lot, write journal, let go of academic writing habits, talk about your research before writing,

        - not to bore readers, stop wating for inspiration, writing is hard for everyone,

        - Revise (go through the first draft quickly, just get it down on paper, and then put your emphasis on revision.)

1.2 Examples of what not to do

INTRODUCTION : authours are supposed to bo drawing you into their paper.

- Should be interesting

- Not to be written to obscure (To Inform)

- 명사 대신 동사 (production-> to product)

1.3 Overview, principles of effective writing

- Use VERBS instead of nouns.

- not to use of vague words (gilomagenesis -> the formation of giloma, avoid to use acronym)

- hard to read passive voice (Use active voice)

- 주어 + (기술문) + 본동사 --> 본동사가 너무 뒤에 있음

1.4 Cut the clutter

- Be vigilant and ruthless

- Dead weight words and phrase : Delete all

    (As it is well known, As it has been shown, It can be regarded that, It should be emphasized that...)

- Some words and phrass are blob

- Long words or phrases -> Short (Have an effect on > affect)

- Unnecessary jargon and acronyms

- Repetition, adverbs

# Before
This paper provides a review of the basic tenets of cancer biology study design, 
using as examples studies that illustrate the methodologic challenges or that demonstrates 
successful solutions to the difficulties inherent in biological research.


# After
This paper reviews cancer biology study design, 
using examples that illustrate the challenges and
solutions.

# Before
As it is well known, increased athletic activity has been related to a profile of lower cardiovascular risk, 
lower blood pressure levels, and improved muscular and cardio-respiratory performance.


# After
Increased athletic activity is associated with a lower cardiovascular risk, 
lower blood pressure, and improved fitness.

# After2
Increased athletic activity lowers cardiovascular risk and blood pressure and improves fitness.

# Before
The experimental demonstration is the first of its kind and is a proof of principle 
for the concept of laser driven particle acceleration in a structure loaded vacuum.

# After
The experiment provides the first proof of principle 
of laser-driven particle acceleration in a structure-loaded vacuum.

1.5 Cut the clutter, more tricks

- Eliminate negatives => Positive

not important - unimportant
does not have - lacks
did not remember - forgot
did not pay attention to - ignored
did not succeed - failed

- Eliminate superfluous uses of "there are/there is"

There are many ways in which we can arrange the pulleys.
-> We can arrange the pulleys in many ways.

There was a long line of bacteria on the plate.
-> Bacteria lined the plate.

- Omit needless prepositions (on, that...)

1.6 Practicing cutting clutter

Text of practice exercises for Module 1.6:

Anti-inflammatory drugs may be protective for the occurrence of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Clinical seizures have been estimated to occur in 0.5% to 2.3% of the neonatal population.

Ultimately p53 guards not only against malignant transformation but also plays a role in developmental processes as diverse as aging, differentiation, and fertility. 

Injuries to the brain and spinal cord have long been known to be among the most devastating and expensive of all injuries to treat medically.  

An IQ test measures an individual’s abilities to perform functions that usually fall in the domains of verbal communication, reasoning, and performance on tasks that represent motor and spatial capabilities.

As we can see from Figure 2, if the return kinetic energy is less than 3.2 Up, there will be two electron trajectories associated with this kinetic energy.

Text of practice exercises for Module 1.6:

Anti-inflammatory drugs may protect against Alzheimer’s Disease.

Clinical seizures occur in 0.5% to 2.3% of the newborns.

Besides preventing cancer, p53 but also plays roles in aging, differentiation, and fertility. 

Injuries to the brain and spinal are among the most devastating and expensive.

An IQ test measures an individual’s verbal, reasoning, or motor and spatial capabilities.

Figure 2 shows that a return kinetic energy less than 3.2 Up yields two electron trajectories.

 

 

https://www.coursera.org/learn/sciwrite