telling your story the craft of scientific writing

Telling Your Story

The Craft of Scientific Writing

Overview

A. Scientific writing as storytelling

B. Some general tips for writers

C. Constructing the skeleton

D. Fleshing it out: Major sections of a scientific report

E. Responding to Reviews

F. Just for the fun of it

A. Scientific Writing as Storytelling

When writing almost anything for publication, you are telling a story

Outline

• There is a clear, predictable structure to scientific articles

– Introduction and literature review– Methods– Results– Discussion

• but it doesn’t have to be boring!

Write a scientific report like a detective story

There is a predictable structure:

• Cover (Title and Abstract)

• Pose the mystery (Introduction)

• Lay out the plot (Methods)

• Denouement (Results)

• Closure (Discussion)

Pieces of the Story: The Reader’s Questions

• Title and abstract: Should I read this?

• Introduction: Why should I care?

• Methods: What did you do?

• Results: What did you find?

• Discussion: What does it mean?

Structuring for the Reader

• Write from an outline

• Headers and sideheads

• Orienting language– We will first . . . and then . . .

• Transitional language– Next . . Now . . In contrast, . . Nevertheless

• Summaries

B. Some General Tips for Writers

Be Clear About your Audience

A literature review on alcohol blackouts would be written quite differently if the audience were:– Substance abuse counselors– Neuroscientists studying memory– Psychiatrists– A lay audience (popular press)– School counselors

Choose Your Target Journal

• Look at your own bibliography• Audience and circulation• Editorial mission and scope• Normal length/format of articles• ISI impact factor• Peer-review process• Review and publication lag• Embargo policy

Tips for Writers

• Set aside dedicated cooking time

• Protect that time

• Always have three pots on the stove

• Follow a recipe (outline)

Group Support for Writing

• Regularly scheduled

• Consultation group (senior mentor present)

• Mutual support group with accountability

• Study hall– Extraverts: Resist the temptation to chat

Behavioral Self-Management

• Target: Set clear and achievable goals– Chunk into doable pieces

• Track: Keep records of progress• Commit: Social accountability• Comfort: Environment you need and like• Stay on task

– analogy of test anxiety – mental time off task

– avoid temptations to read the mail or email, answer the phone, chat

• Persist: Beware the rule violation effect

The Blank Page / Screen

• Outline

• Pick a piece

• Just do it – write!

• Edit later

• P.S. Writing gets easier, faster, and more fun with practice and feedback

In Initial Drafts . .

• Go for good enough• Perfect is the enemy of good

– (and of productivity and tenure, too)– You’ll have to revise it anyhow

• Start from an outline• Get words on the page• Then edit• Have colleagues read and critique• Revise and send it off

C. Constructing the Skeleton

Construct an Outline

• Overall structure – major sections

• Structure within sections– What are the pieces? Write them on cards– Move them around to create a logical flow– Put them in groups– Construct headers and subheaders

Alcohol Blackouts: A ReviewThe Pieces

Dose-response relationship – is it automatic?

Convergence with clinical SUD symptoms

Relation to neuropsych impairment

Changing threshold – age and tolerance

Clinical description; subtypes

Storage or retrieval problem?

Prevalence of blackouts

Individual differences, predictors

Alcohol’s acute effects on memory

Alcohol Blackouts: A ReviewA Logical Flow

1. Clinical description; subtypes

2. Prevalence of blackouts

3. Convergence with clinical SUD symptoms

4. Dose-response – is it automatic?

5. Changing threshold – age and tolerance

5. Alcohol’s acute effects on memory

7. Storage or retrieval problem?

8. Individual differences, predictors

9. Relation to neuropsych impairment

Alcohol Blackouts: A Review

• 1. The Phenomenon– Clinical description, subtypes– Prevalence– Diagnostic significance (relation to other Sx)

• 2. Blackouts and Blood Alcohol Level– Dose-response relationship– Changing threshold for blackout (relation to

age, tolerance, etc.)

Alcohol Blackouts: A Review

• 3. Etiology– Acute effects of alcohol on memory– Storage or retrieval problem?– Individual differences, predictors– Link to alcohol-related neuropsychological

impairment

• 4. Clinical Significance– The meaning of blackouts

D. Fleshing it Out

Major Sections of a Scientific Report

Title and Abstract

• The most important part of an article or proposal – not an afterthought

• What are the essential pieces?

• Draw the reader in

• Say enough, but don’t give too much away

Introduction: The Mystery

• Pose a puzzle, a question

• Trace the background – the theory, research, practical problems etc. leading up to the doorstep of your study

• Establish the significance of the question

• The introduction funnel

Opening Lines

Charles Dickens

• Marley was dead, to begin with. - A Christmas Carol• It was the best of times, it was the worst of

times. - A Tale of Two Cities

Opening Lines from Scientific Reports Don’t Have to Be Boring

• How effective is alcoholism treatment?– Journal of Studies on Alcohol 62:211-220, 2001

• Motivational interviewing began in a barber shop in Norway.

– Addictive Behaviors 21:835-842, 1996

• At midnight the old man, unable to sleep, stares uneasily into the darkness beyond his bedroom window.

– Can Personality Change? APA, 1994

Methods: The Plot

• Provide a clear, logical flow– Move through procedures in the order that a

participant encounters them

• Use a checklist (e.g., CONSORT criteria)

• Have someone unfamiliar with your research read it for clarity

Methods: The Pieces of a Plot

Interventionists Baseline assessment

Consent procedure

Hypotheses Treatments / conditions

Eligibility criteria

Source population & recruitment

Training and fidelity control

Randomization procedure

Data analysis plan

Screening Follow-up assessment

Methods: The Flow of a Plot (Clinical Trial)

1. Source population & recruitment

2. Screening 3. Eligibility criteria

4. Consent procedure

5.Randomization procedure

6. Baseline assessment

7. Treatments / conditions

8.Interventionists 9. Training and fidelity control

10. Follow-up assessment

11. Hypotheses 12. Data analysis plan

Results: The Mystery Solved

• Logical sequence of presentation

• Analyses should match specific aims and/or hypotheses

• Give some interpretation of meaning (e.g., direction of relationship) in results narrative

• “I didn’t find anything!”

Laying Out the Clues: Sample Results Section (Clinical Trial)

1. Sample characteristics

2. Distributional characteristics of DVs

3. Baseline DVs & equivalence of groups

4. Treatment adherence and fidelity

5. Time effects (whole sample)

6. Treatment effects

7. Clinical significance classifications

8. Therapist effects

9. Predictors of outcome

Closure: The Discussion Sandwich

• Summarize and contextualize important findings (don’t repeat results)

• Caveats (e.g., study limitations)

• Implications– What the findings may mean– Implications for practice– Implications for research

References

• Use bibliographic software (e.g. EndNote)• Find and enter the reference only once – never

look for it again• The software automatically formats your

references to the journal• When you resubmit to another journal with a

different referencing format, a push of a button does it for you

• Start now! It’s a small learning curve, and you’ll waste that amount of time in referencing just two articles

E. Responding to Reviews

Receiving Your Reviews

• Take a deep breath, then read the letter right away.

• Don’t take it personally! You are not defending your human worth.

• Don’t get too attached to your own words

• Get right to it – Prompt revising and resubmitting is a secret of success

Editors’ ResponsesFour Good Outcomes

• Accepted without revision (p<.001)• Accepted contingent upon revisions• Revise and resubmit: Will be reconsidered

and reviewed again after revisions• Rejected with recommendations

• Persistence is key to success

Reading the Reviews

• Read them carefully and thoughtfully

• 95% will be good recommendations and will make your publication better

• Make a flat list of changes recommended by each reviewer

• Pay particular attention to the editor’s own comments; they may contain hints about which changes are most important

Responding to Reviews

• Never deprecate the reviewer – The same people will read your next draft

• Be respectful, neither sycophantic nor peevish• Prepare a cover letter with your flat list of

recommended changes, and exactly what you have done in response to each

• Comply with 90% of recommendations• Choose your noncompliance points carefully• Make it easy for the editor and reviewers to find

the changes you have made

F. Just for the fun of it

• Keyboarding (typing) class

• Creative writing class

• Poetry writing seminar

• Philosophy course in logic

• Storytelling workshop