Scientific Writing

1.       Read and translate the text using a dictionary if necessary.

The term “scientific writing” соmmопlу denotes the reporting оf original research in journals, through scientific papers in standard format. In its broader sense, scientific writing also includes communication about science through other types of journal articles, such as review papers summarizing and integrating previously published research. (The term “science writing” is often used for writing about science topics for the general public.).

А scientific paper is а written and published report describing original research results. That short definition must bе qualified, however, by noting that а scientific paper must bе written in а certain way. А scientific paper is organized to meet the needs of valid publication. It is, or should be, highly stylized, with distinctive and clearly evident component parts. Most papers in various scientific disciplines have a similar organization pattern - Introduction, Body and Conclusion (especially papers on theoretical issues). Research papers based on experiments would include Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion/Conclusions. То determine how to organize such papers and which general headings to use, refer to the instructions to authors of your target journal and look at analogous papers the journal has published.

It is wise to begin writing the paper while the work is still in progress. This makes the writing easier because everything is fresh in your mind. Furthermore, the writing process itself is likely to point to inconsistencies in the results or perhaps to suggest interesting sidelines that might be followed. Thus, start the writing while the experimental apparatus and materials are still available. If you have coauthors, it is wise to write up the work while they are still available to consult.

A research paper has physical and structural characteristics. The physical characteristics consist of the title, the introduction, the main body parts and the conclusion, which you write in indented paragraphs.

When you start reading a research paper, its title is perhaps the most important part, because the key words in the title help you make a decision whether the paper is of interest for you or not. Thus the title should not be very long and general, but rather specific.

The first section of the text proper should, of course, be the introduction. The purpose оf the introduction should be to supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without needing to rеfеr to previous publications on the topic.

The body of the paper should provide evidence in support of the thesis sentence, each paragraph explaining one and only one aspect of the thesis. Begin each paragraph with a statement of the key idea in one sentence, which is called the topic sentence, and explain or support it with details and evidence. There are several ways of supporting the key idea and developing paragraphs — by describing, classifying, providing statistical data and scientific evidence, analyzing causes and effects, comparing and contrasting, etc. The strategies are determined by the point you want to make and the kind of information you have to work with.

The conclusion can be a summary of the introduction and the developmental paragraphs of the body parts, which is usually done from specific to general — this study to larger implications. But more importantly it should express your judgment on the research performed and the results obtained, explain the findings and/or make suggestions for further investigation.

An abstract should be viewed as а miniature version of the paper. As a rule, the abstract is placed at the beginning of the paper, below the title. It is written last, when the final version of the paper is produced. The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should be designed to define clearly what is dealt with. It should (1) state the principal objectives and scope of the investigation, (2) describe the methods employed, (3) summarize the results, and (4) state the principal conclusions. The abstract should be written in the past tense, because it refers to work done.

After writing your paper, you should list your reference materials to give credit to those sources, and to enable readers to consult the sources for further information. You can label this page “Works/Sources Cited”, “Bibliography”, or “References” depending on the character of items included — all works related to the subject or only those quoted; print as well as nonprint sources of information, e.g., speeches. Although there is no universally agreed-upon system for acknowledging sources, first, write down name of author, next, title of publication, and then publication source, date, and page. Alphabetize the entries according to the author's last name.

Nowadays in scientific publications there is a strong tendency to use definite verb tenses in certain types of papers. When you write a paper in natural sciences, use past tense or present perfect tense to cite an author's work and/or show what has been accomplished: (e.g., “Landau created” or “the experiment of Lakes and Paul has proven...”). Use present tense when you discuss the results or when you mention established knowledge (e.g., “water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade”). Your own present work must be referred to in the past tense. Your work is not presumed to be established knowledge until after it has been published. Write your paper with a third-person voice that avoids “I believe” or “It is my opinion”.

Notes:

·         inconsistency	- противоречие
·         sidelines	- дополнительные факты
·         evidence	- доказательство
·         thesis sentence	- положение, тезис
·         topic sentence	- вводящее предложение, в котором формулируется тема сообщения