Writing in the Science - Coursera

Writing in the Science - Stanford University.

Taught by Dr. Kristin Sainani

Verified Certificate

Syllabus:

Unit 1: Principle of effective writing

• Recognize that writing is hard for everyone.
• Recognize that writing is a skill that you learn through practice.
• Practice removing clutter from writing.
• Practice writing clearly and concisely.

Unit 2: Verbs

• Distinguish between active and passive verbs.
• Practice writing with strong, active verbs.
• Fix sentences where the subject and predicate are too far apart.
• Correct specific grammar mistakes.

Unit 3: Sentence and Paragraph

• Practice using colons, dashes, parentheses, and semi-colons.
• Recognize the importance of varying sentence structure.
• Practice writing focused, organized paragraphs.
• Recognize that it is OK to repeat key words in scientific writing.
• Fix sentence parallelism.

Unit 4: The Writing Process

• Practice writing clear and concise paragraphs.
• Describe the steps in the writing process.
• Recognize the importance of spending sufficient time pre-writing.
• Recognize that good writing requires extensive revision.

Unit 5: The original Manuscript

• Understand how to write the sections of an original scientific manuscript.
• Critique poorly formatted tables and figures.
• Practice writing strong Results and Introduction sections.
• Summarize the elements of a Discussion

Unit 6: Scientific Publishing

• Identify and avoid plagiarism
• Understand the peer review process
• Understand criteria for authorship
• Recognize common pitfalls for new authors.
• Recognize predatory journals

Unit 7: Beyond the Research Manuscript

• Understand how to write review articles.
• Become familiar with the grant-writing process.
• Understand how to write a strong letter of recommendation.
• Understand how to write a strong personal essay.

Unit 8: Communication with broader audiences

• Recognize the importance of communicating science with broader audiences.
• Be prepared to be interviewed by a journalist.
• Recognize the difference between writing for scientific audiences and writing for lay audiences.
• Understand the structure of a science news story.
• Learn tips for how to interview a scientist.