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A bat and ball together cost $1.10,and the bat costs $1 more than the ball.
How much is the ball?
A puzzle:
A bat and ball together cost $1.10,and the bat costs $1 more than the ball.
How much is the ball?
Answer: 10 cents?
A puzzle:
A bat and ball together cost $1.10,and the bat costs $1 more than the ball.
How much is the ball?
Answer: 10 cents?
no... 5 cents!!
(Frederick, 2002)
A puzzle:
A bat and ball together cost $1.10,and the bat costs $1.05.
How much is the ball?
A different puzzle:
The human mind is easily led into error or mis-interpretation
It is not only the content of the information that matters
“Framing Effects”
(Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University)Nobel Prize, 2002
The Nature editor?
The Nature editor
Howy JacobsEMBO Reports
Key questions
Why is this being done? What's the issue?
What is known, and unknown?
What does this paper report? What advance?
How significant is this?
Why have they sent this to ME?
The Bottom Line
Does this paper (if it is technically sound) report a significant advance of the kind that would interest a wide range of scientistsacross many fields? Who will care and why?
Editors at other journals have similar questions,for their own journal's audience.
How you write matters
It won't get bad papers published,
but...
bad writing may get good papers rejected
Good writing strings together simple, specific statements to build more complex arguments.
It never loses sight of the main point
Style is “having something to say and saying it clearly”!!
Writing has a purpose:
Watson & Crick
First paragraph:
Watson & Crick
Second paragraph:
Watson & Crick
Third paragraph:
Simple overall structure:
1. We propose a structure for DNA
2. A structure proposed by X doesn't work because ...
3. A structure proposed by Y also fails
4. We propose a structure with helicalchains etc. (gives details)
5. This structure is open...
How to achieve? Topic sentences
One sentence of a paragraph should state themain point; this is called the “topic sentence”and is usually the first sentence.
Other sentences in the paragraph support or explorethe point made by this topic sentence.
A scientific paper shouldn't be...
a puzzle
http://www.writeaboutscience.com
buchanan.mark@gmail.com
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