The Writing Process for Scientists
“Useful, efficient, and systematic approach to writing.”
– Defence R & D
This two-day course is designed for scientists and researchers who write a variety of technical documents, ranging from papers for publication in scientific and technical journals to field reports, cost-recovery documents, and project or funding proposals.
Through the course, participants learn to improve their technical writing, while reducing the total time they spend on their documents.
The course provides industry-wide standards for:
- structuring technical information according to various document models
- integrating text and graphics effectively
- making documents more readable, persuasive, and effective
We strongly recommend that participants bring to the session their documents—either completed or in progress—to apply course concepts to their own work.
Who Should Attend
Anyone producing or reviewing documents in a scientific environment, such as
- proposals for project funding
- technical and scientific papers for publication in print or on the web
- reports on field work, experiments, or other methodologies
Course Topics
In this two-day workshop, you will learn to
- use an efficient writing process: planning, design, drafting, revision
- recognize and apply three classes of scientific documentation to your own work
- maximize the computer as a tool for planning and organizing your ideas
- meet your reader’s needs and measure your document’s effectiveness from your reader’s perspective
- provide the right level of technical detail for your audience
- use specific structural models for
- descriptions and procedures in general technical documentation
- research papers for publication
- field reports and methodologies
- build research papers around a well articulated thesis
- integrate source information such as quotations and other data in your own argument
- identify and correct the grammar errors that most often arise in scientific writing