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Scientific

Communication

Gurudutt R. Kamath

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What We Do

• Bridge between those who know

and those who need to know

• Bridge between SMEs (Subject

Matter Experts) and lay persons

• Fast growing career

• Mainly known in software field• Technical Writers and Technical

Editors

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Our Work

• User documentation

• Journals and Whitepapers

• Research Reports• Books, Publications, and

Newspapers

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Scientific Papers

• Publish to complete research

• Communicate well to be published

• How to Write a Paper 1 (3rd edition)

– Edited by George M Hall(BywordViva)

• Scientific Writing: Easywhen you know how

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Why Publish?1

• Readers can

– Assess the observations you make

– Repeat the experiment if they wish

– Determine whether the conclusions

drawn are justified by the data

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IMRAD

(Abstract – brief summary)

Introduction – What question was asked?

Methods – How was it studied?

Results – What was found?

And

Discussion – What do the findings mean?

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Introduction

• Why you have undertaken the

study?

• Clarify what your work adds

• Keep it short

• Make sure you are aware of

earlier studies• Convince the reader

• Don’t baffle the reader

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Methods

• Study Design

– Who, what, why, when, and where?

– Randomisation, blind assessment

– Inclusion and exclusion criteria

• Analysis of the Data

– What hypothesis was tested?

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Results

• What was found?

• Organize the presentation

• Avoid – The results are presented in tables

X-Z and in figures A-C.

• Differentiate clearly between data

and results

• Republishing figures (copyright)

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And – General Points

• Instructions to Authors

• Wrong length – 400 word abstract

– 600 word length

• Audience – Generalist

– Specialist

• Structure and Format – Words

– Structure

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Discussion – So What?

• Summary of the field of enquiry – We conclude …

– This study found …

– Context of literature studied

• Finishing off – Perhaps …

– Possibly …

– More research is needed …

– Here’s another problem solved

• Conclusion to be backed up by data

• Acknowledgements

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Titles

• Interesting, concise, precise, not

misleading, informative,

descriptive, and appropriate for

classification

• Developing a title in 4 steps –

Lileyman, 1988, p441

– Nuclear reprocessing, radiationexposure, and childhood leukaemia: an

epidemiological study

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Abstracts

• 200-300 words

• Structured

– Context, objectives, design, setting,

participants, interventions, main

outcome measures, results, and

conclusions

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Authors

• Vancouver guidelines

– Participated sufficiently

• Concept, design, analysis, or

interpretation

• Drafting or revising

• Final approval

– Public responsibility for the content

– Nothing should be inferred from the

order of authors

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References

• Foundation on which the work isbuilt

• Large number

– Read review articles

– Take Expert help

• Vancouver and Harvard formats

– Numbered consecutively (1) – Name of the author (Year)

• Sloppy – reviewers will …

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Uniform Requirements

Double spacingMargins (25 mm)

SequenceTitle, abstract, key words, text, acknowledgement,

references, tables, legends to figures

IMRAD

New page – section, table

Permissions (previous material)

Required number of copiesElectronic copy

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Style

• Clear, Accurate, Concise

• Short sentences, simple words,simple structures

• Jargon only if required.

• Noun clusters• Obstetric complication frequency

• Frequency of obstetric complications• Say Who did What

• We compared the treatment group ...

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More Style

• Avoid This, these, he, she, or it

– If the baby does not thrive on raw

milk, boil it.

• Make comparisons clear (subgroup or

whole population)

– More women were alive five years

after diagnosis. – More women [than men] were alive

five years after diagnosis.

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Simple Words1

before prior to

more than in excess of

depends on is dependentant upon

also additionally

indicates is indicative of

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Say What You Mean

• After five days, the symptoms had

improved.

• After five days, the symptoms had abated.

• Dermatitis is less often diagnosed … • Dermatitis was less prevalent …

• …symptoms are not well correlated with

clinical disease severity.

• …symptoms are not related to diseaseseverity.

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House Style

• Director General or director

general

• Beta-carotene or ß carotene

• Moslem or Muslim

• Mumbai or Bombay

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Guru’s Tips

• Instructions to authors

• Study a few model papers, letters

• Read it out aloud• Spell-check finally and Proof-read

(missing not, or note)

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FAQ and CE

• FAQ

– We, I, You – yes personal pronouns

are fine

• Common Errors

– Poor references

– Poor titles

– Poor writing

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References

1. How to Write a Paper (3rd edition)

Edited by George M Hall (BywordViva)

2. Scientific Writing: Easy when you know

howJennifer Peat, Elizabeth Elliott, Louise Baur, VictoriaKeena

3. Science & Technical WritingGeneral Editor Philip Rubens (Foundation)

4. Scientific Style and Format (6th edition)

Council of Biology Editors (life sciences, physicalsciences, mathematics)

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Technical

CommunicationGurudutt R. Kamath

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Importance

Improved productivity

Improved use of product

Increased safety Legal protection

Reduces cost of training

Reduces support Lesser chance of rejection

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Audience3

Analysis• Surveys, questionnaires, structured interviews,

usability tests

Characteristics• Educational, professional background

• Knowledge, experience level

• English language

• Context

Objectives and Needs

Profile

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Information Analysis

Purpose and Structure

Document Type Marketing

Conceptual, Procedural, Tutorial, Job Aid

Referential

Frequency and Pattern of Use

Textual Features

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Textual Features

Overview, summary sections

Step-by-step instructions

Narrative explanations

Conceptual models, analogies, and/orexamples

Figures, charts, and/or tables

Cross-references and/or navigation aids Technical terminology, language

conventions, and/or symbolic conventions

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Media Characteristics

Articles – narrative Booklets – conversational Brochures – catchy

Newsletters–

journalistic Correspondence – formal, informal Manuals – action oriented Reports – formal and objective

Help systems – action oriented Wizards – concise and action oriented Websites – catch and easy to use

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Document Delivery

Print

Facsimile

Network Floppy disk

FTP (file transfer protocol)

Email attachment Website

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Technical Writing Process

Document Plan• Audience ~ Objective ~Media ~

Resources ~ TOC ~ Schedule

Writing Revising

Editing

Reviews• Peer, Technical, Domain, Quality

Publish

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Tools

Microsoft Outlook – email Microsoft Word – documents Microsoft Excel – spreadsheets Microsoft PaintBrush – drawings

Adobe Acrobat – PDF Microsoft FrontPage – web pages Adobe FrameMaker – large, complex documents Adobe PageMaker – desktop publishing Adobe InDesign – desktop publishing XML editors Macromedia RoboHelp Macromedia Flash

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Technical Writing Practices

• User Friendly Appealing

Step-by-step instructions

Language and Style

• Easy to Refer

Contents ~ Headings/subheadings ~ CrossReferences ~ Index

• Easy to maintain

Modular, reusable

Right tools and templates

• Language and Style

Parallelism ~ Grammar ~Active/Passive Voice ~ You~ Style Guides

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User Friendly

• Format and Structure Headings, templates

• Consistent

Headings, language, lists, cross-references, words

• Lists

Bulleted, Numbered

• Tables

• Graphics

• Instructions

Steps

• Tasks

• Concrete

Scenarios, Case Studies, Examples

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Document Design

Template

Use plenty of white space

Maximum of 5 fonts• Serif fonts (Times) – paper

• Sans Serif fonts (Verdana) - online

Maximum of 5 colours

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Style Guides

Chicago Manual of Style

• Grammar, References, Indexing, Punctuation

Microsoft Manual of Style

• Usages for the computer industry

Elements of Style

• Strunk & White

• Grammar and Punctuation

• Writing tips

• http://www.bartleby.com/141

http://www.bartleby.com/141

http://www.bartleby.com/141

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Guru’s Tips

Structure and outline (Word)

Use a template and modify it

Use references• Dictionary, Chicago MOS

Format

Perfect• Maxim of 5 errors in the document

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FAQ and CE

FAQ

• How can I become a technical writer?

• Courses in technical communication

Common Errors

• It’s and its

• &

• Double emphasis

• Verbiage

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Web & Email

http://www.documentorg.com

MITWA group on Yahoo(Mediapersons, Indexers, Translators, Writers & Associates)

• [email protected]

Book/Column


•http://lists.topica.com/list/documentorg/read

Email


http://www.documentorg.com/

mailto:[email protected]


http://lists.topica.com/list/documentorg/read

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