A fully updated and expanded third edition of the acclaimed writing guide for scientistsThe Scientist’s Guide to Writing explains the essential techniques that students, postdocs, and early-career scientists need to write more clearly, efficiently, and easily. Now in its third edition, this incisive primer offers practical advice on a host of topics, from maintaining writing momentum to structuring a scientific paper, revising a first draft, reading effectively, handling citations, responding to peer reviews, and choosing the right journal for your research. The ability to write clearly is critical to any scientific career. This book shows scientists how to become better writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact.Features a new chapter on AI writing tools that discusses the benefits and pitfalls of using LLMs as well as the legal, ethical, and professional implications scientists need to consider before working with themProvides expanded coverage of preprinting and predatory journals, humor and cultural references in titles, graphical abstracts, and managing very large coauthorship teamsOffers detailed guidance on submission, review, revision, and publicationShares invaluable advice on reporting statistical results, dealing with conflicting peer reviews, writing with English as an additional language, and moreEncourages habits that improve motivation and productivityIncludes a wealth of exercises along with numerous new literature citations to support the discussions in the book
Stephen B. Heard is professor of biology at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. He is the author of Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider: How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels and (with Bethann Garramon Merkle) Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences: An Evidence-Based Approach.
What’s New in the Third Edition?PrefaceA Note on the ExercisesPart I. What Writing Is1. On Bacon, Hobbes, and Newton, and the Selfishness of Writing Well2. Genius, Craft, and What This Book Is AboutPart II. Writing Behavior3. Writing and Reading4. Managing Your Writing Behavior5. Getting Started6. MomentumPart III. Content and Structure7. Finding and Telling Your Story8. The Canonical Structure of the Scientific Paper9. Front Matter and Abstract10. The Introduction Section11. The Methods Section12. The Results Section13. The Discussion Section14. Back Matter15. Citations16. Beyond the IMRaD CanonPart IV. Style17. Paragraphs18. Sentences19. Words20. BrevityPart V. Revision21. Self-Revision22. “Friendly” Review23. Formal Review24. Revision and the “Response to Reviews”Part VI. Some Loose Threads25. AI Writing Tools26. Journals and Preprints27. The Diversity of Writing Forms28. Managing Coauthorships29. Three Kinds of Reading: Reference, Survey, and Deep30. Writing for Speakers of English as an Additional LanguagePart VII. Final Thoughts31. On Whimsy, Jokes, and Beauty: Can Scientific Writing Be Enjoyed?AcknowledgmentsReferencesIndex