We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. – Carl Sagan
As the global language of science, English goes hand-in-hand with scientific exploration and discovery. As a result, knowing English Scientific Writing is very important. We need to be able to communicate with not only other scientists and specialists but also the general public, many of whom do not speak general English as a native language. Scientific English was developed as a result.
Whether you are a committed scientist or just an avid enthusiast, Scientific Writing is a great tool to have. These posts will help you develop your scientific language skills:
Latest posts on Scientific English:
Paragraph Structures in Scientific English
In previous articles we have looked at linking paragraphs, linking sentences, and how to write sentences in Scientific English. These articles have had a common theme: structure. This article is also part of that series, focusing on the two types of paragraph structures in Scientific English. What is a paragraph? Why does it need a…
How to Link Paragraphs in Scientific English
In How to Link Sentences in Scientific English, we looked at how to link sentences by taking elements from one sentence and connecting them to parts of other sentences. Before reading this article about how to link paragraphs, you should read that article first. This article will be using information from that article. Linking Paragraphs…
How to Link Sentences in Scientific English
In How to Make Sentences in Scientific English, we talked about different positions in a sentence, for example, the topic and stress, and why you would choose to order information in a certain way. Please read that article before reading this one, which expands on that. In this article, we will look at how to…
The Basics of Scientific Writing
Just like learning anything, it is best to start with the basics (building blocks) and work up. If you are interested in learning Scientific Writing, I recommend you have an intermediate to advanced level of English. If you understood everything to get to this point so far, you will be fine.
The building blocks of Scientific Writing
The best way to start learning this “language” is to compare it to something you already know: general English. All those things you either learnt in school or when learning English are important. The good news: you use them in very specific ways and there are few to no exceptions to the rules! Here are some important concepts:
A Brief Post on the History and Use of Scientific English
So you may have seen my post on The Basic Characteristics of Scientific English, but what is it all for and where did it come from? What is the history of Scientific English? If you have wondered these questions, you have…
The Basic Characteristics of Scientific English
The words ‘Scientific English’ often conjure up convoluted, impenetrable sentences in the mind’s eye. What if I told you that it should not be this way? What if I said that Scientific Language (of any kind) should actually be easy…
Punctuation in Scientific Writing and How Powerful It Can Be
In addition to the basic characteristics of Scientific English, the next most important thing when writing is grammar. Oh no! I said the bad “g” word – grammar. No one really likes it but it is important and we will…
The Grammar of Scientific English: Spaces in all the Right Places
The first thing to remember for Scientific English (or any specialised language) is that it is based on the general language, in this case, General English. If you have read my post on the Brief History of Scientific English, you may…
The Grammar of Scientific English: Verbs, Voices and Abbreviations/Acronyms
If you think you have graduated from spacing, numbers and hyphens, try this post on for size! How do you feel about verbs/voices, abbreviations/acronyms and Latin? Now we are getting into the hard parts! Verbs/Voices – Active and Passive When…
Hedging
Time to get out the trimmers! No, not that kind of hedging!! Hedging is an important tool that all writers should have in their arsenal, especially when writing in an academic or scientific context. But what is hedging? Hedging is…
Now that you have the basics down, let’s look at some more advanced topics:
How to Make Sentences in Scientific English
As a teacher of Scientific English, I often get the following questions from students: “How do you make sentences in Scientific English”? “Is there a specific way to write sentences”? When I first started learning Scientific English myself, my initial reaction was “No, of course not. It is still English. English is a flexible language,…
What is an abstract?
So you have to write a scientific paper. You’ve done the research, you have an idea of what you will write about, and you have figured out the structure of the paper. There is just one problem – that pesky part at the beginning called the “abstract”. What is an abstract? What does it do?…
Can I trust this scientific article? Is this a predatory journal?
We have all been there: a friend comes up with a random crazy fact and you think to yourself “I don’t think that’s true”. Sometimes you see, hear or read something and doubt the message or what it wants to say. Something about it seems off to you. If you are a scientist, you may…
Types of Scientific Publishing
If you are part of the world of science in any way, you will know that many in the scientific community equate publishing articles with success. Many universities, companies and research institutions place a lot of emphasis on scientific publishing. As a result there are many journals and ways to publish. Should you publish in…
Parts of a Scientific Manuscript
Previously we looked at the different types of scientific articles – what are they, what are the differences and what can you expect from each type. In this article, we are going to talk about the different parts of a scientific manuscript, what each part has (or should have) and what you can expect: Parts…
Types of Scientific Articles
Scientific English is used in many different situations and places; however, none is more visible than in scientific articles. There are many types of scientific articles: short and to the point, long and extremely detailed, and everything in between. What are the different types? What kind of information does each one have? Why should I…
Latin in Scientific Writing: When do you use it?
If you have read a scientific article or scientific publication before, it is highly likely that you have read some Latin terms. Latin in Scientific Writing is a relatively common practice. Many English words come from Latin and many of the terms we use today still follow the rules of Latin. Sometimes we even see…
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