Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded
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- Create Date：2021-10-13 09:54:42
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Joshua Schimel
- ISBN：0199760241
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Summary
As a scientist， you are a professional writer: your career is built on successful proposals and papers。 Success isn't defined by getting papers into print， but by getting them into the reader's consciousness。 Writing Science is built upon the idea that successful science writing tells a story。
It uses that insight to discuss how to write more effectively。 Integrating lessons from other genres of writing with those from the author's years of experience as author， reviewer， and editor， the book shows scientists and students how to present their research in a way that is clear and that will
maximize reader comprehension。
The book takes an integrated approach， using the principles of story structure to discuss every aspect of successful science writing， from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections， paragraphs， sentences， and words。 It begins by building core arguments， analyzing why some
stories are engaging and memorable while others are quickly forgotten， and proceeds to the elements of story structure， showing how the structures scientists and researchers use in papers and proposals fit into classical models。 The book targets the internal structure of a paper， explaining how to
write clear and professional sections， paragraphs， and sentences in a way that is clear and compelling。 The ideas within a paper should flow seamlessly， drawing readers along。 The final section of the book deals with special challenges， such as how to discuss research limitations and how to write
for the public。
Writing Science is a much-needed guide to succeeding in modern science。 Its insights and strategies will equip science students， scientists， and professionals across a wide range of scientific and technical fields with the tools needed to communicate effectively。
It uses that insight to discuss how to write more effectively。 Integrating lessons from other genres of writing with those from the author's years of experience as author， reviewer， and editor， the book shows scientists and students how to present their research in a way that is clear and that will
maximize reader comprehension。
The book takes an integrated approach， using the principles of story structure to discuss every aspect of successful science writing， from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections， paragraphs， sentences， and words。 It begins by building core arguments， analyzing why some
stories are engaging and memorable while others are quickly forgotten， and proceeds to the elements of story structure， showing how the structures scientists and researchers use in papers and proposals fit into classical models。 The book targets the internal structure of a paper， explaining how to
write clear and professional sections， paragraphs， and sentences in a way that is clear and compelling。 The ideas within a paper should flow seamlessly， drawing readers along。 The final section of the book deals with special challenges， such as how to discuss research limitations and how to write
for the public。
Writing Science is a much-needed guide to succeeding in modern science。 Its insights and strategies will equip science students， scientists， and professionals across a wide range of scientific and technical fields with the tools needed to communicate effectively。
Reviews
Phillip Kyriakakis
，
Great book for science writing！ If you are learning to write science， start here！ It is well written （of course） and succinct。 Also fun to read， not something you would expect from a learn to write book。
Scalar42
，
A nice read， very practical guidelines for academic writing and communication。 This book lies nicely somewhere in between general writing and academic word selection。 The author provides various examples from real papers and proposals to make his points persuasive， and I'd say he's done a pretty good job。 A nice read， very practical guidelines for academic writing and communication。 This book lies nicely somewhere in between general writing and academic word selection。 The author provides various examples from real papers and proposals to make his points persuasive， and I'd say he's done a pretty good job。 。。。more
Alyssa Stricklin
，
Let me start this review by making it clear that this book was helpful; it has improved my science writing and specifically helped my in my research internship （where I was lucky enough to hear Dr。 Schimel speak on two occasions）。However， this book could have done with another revision。 There were several typos， and Schimel often contradicted himself in his writing in a way that wasn't necessary。 It could also be even shorter - most of this information he was able to condense into two presentati Let me start this review by making it clear that this book was helpful; it has improved my science writing and specifically helped my in my research internship （where I was lucky enough to hear Dr。 Schimel speak on two occasions）。However， this book could have done with another revision。 There were several typos， and Schimel often contradicted himself in his writing in a way that wasn't necessary。 It could also be even shorter - most of this information he was able to condense into two presentations （that only took an hour each because he tends to ramble a bit when speaking）。I think the examples could also use some more consistency。 The most effective examples were broken up into sections to highligh exactly what they did right or wrong。 At other times， examples were just thrown onto the page one after the other with only a brief comment， which wasn't entirely helpful。Finally， I have to point out that quoting Stephen King's advice on revising a draft to make it shorter is definitely a choice， yeah？ 。。。more
Catherine
，
Fantastically useful book on writing science。 It has really affected my own writing strategy。
Kyle Shores
，
Fantastic！ I've always hated the editing process because it shows me just how poor of a writer I really am。 This book gave me tools and words to describe things that needed to be named。 I can identify what is bad and why and work on them now。 Great read！ Fantastic！ I've always hated the editing process because it shows me just how poor of a writer I really am。 This book gave me tools and words to describe things that needed to be named。 I can identify what is bad and why and work on them now。 Great read！ 。。。more
Amy
，
Excellent book that really made me start to see myself （and other scientists） as a writer。 I read this chapter by chapter with a small group from work， which made me get more out of it through discussion。 The only downside of the book for me was some slight repetition， and me forgetting all the acronyms constantly。 But a very useful book I will return to again and again at different stages of writing articles。
James Mason
，
Wow。 This was _so_ good！ Of course any book on writing has to pass the test that it is well written， and this one is。 The message came through loud and clear and it was well structured both across the whole book and at the granular level。 I read a lot of books on leadership and the like and what is always a bit frustrating is that the target audience is usually business。 It's the same for a lot of large audience books。 It's hard to find books like this that specifically target my community: scie Wow。 This was _so_ good！ Of course any book on writing has to pass the test that it is well written， and this one is。 The message came through loud and clear and it was well structured both across the whole book and at the granular level。 I read a lot of books on leadership and the like and what is always a bit frustrating is that the target audience is usually business。 It's the same for a lot of large audience books。 It's hard to find books like this that specifically target my community: scientists。 So this was very well received even if niche， and I've been recommending it to all of my friends who have ever expressed a modicum of interest in effective communication。 Adapting the principles from professional novel writers seemed a little bit of a stretch to me when the author first introduced it。 But I as sold after like 10 pages。 The author does such an excellent job of that adaptation part。 How do the principles of OCAR， SUCCES， LDR， etc apply when you're dealing with scientific papers （that are usually intro， methods， discussion， conclusion） and proposals。 And I was especially thankful for the small bits throughout about how the principles applied to proposals （the main focus was on papers）。 The author's deep experience and interest in this topic， plus being married to a writer， meant that every point made was so thoroughly thought through and backed up by examples。 And the examples。。。 it was so useful to see examples of actual scientific text with its problems pointed out and then stepping through the process of improving it。 That made every lesson concrete。 The _only_ area I wish had been developed a little more was the application of the writing principles to overall proposal structure。 Just as science papers are usually intro/methods/discussion/conclusion and the author did a great job talking about how OCAR etc adapt to that， I would've loved to see the same done for proposals。 I don't know structure of proposals is as common across scientific disciplines as it is for papers， but for NASA proposals they are structured as science/technical/management。 It's not immediately obvious how to do the adaptation myself， but I will be keeping everything I learned from this book in mind the next time I write a proposal， which is never more than a few months away。 Can't recommend this book highly enough for all of my scientist friends。 I did more highlighting on Kindle in this book than I have ever done。 。。。more
Robert Greener
，
Genuinely the most useful book I've ever read Genuinely the most useful book I've ever read 。。。more
Hui
，
More attention to the storytelling， structure of the story
Miguel Panão
，
A must-read book for every scientist， especially if English is his second language。 I learned a lot。 And the perspective of writing in science and storytelling resonates。
Anya
，
It’s been a year since I last read something on writing。 This break went well: I regained the curiosity and forgot some bits。 I got ready to perceive even some common pieces of advice without impatience and frustration， “I’ve already heard it elsewhere， now where’s the new stuff？”。 And I fully appreciated the attempt made by Joshua Schimel to share his writing experience in a thorough and sincere way。If I had to choose a single word to describe the essence of this book， it would be “story”。 Find It’s been a year since I last read something on writing。 This break went well: I regained the curiosity and forgot some bits。 I got ready to perceive even some common pieces of advice without impatience and frustration， “I’ve already heard it elsewhere， now where’s the new stuff？”。 And I fully appreciated the attempt made by Joshua Schimel to share his writing experience in a thorough and sincere way。If I had to choose a single word to describe the essence of this book， it would be “story”。 Finding a story and telling it is a central idea of what writing is about。 Every chapter adds to this idea， and together they form a story， indeed。I wouldn’t say the book is a practical guide: it goes far beyond such a goal。 It brings up controversial issues， discusses the background behind decisions that scientists have to make as writers。 On the other hand， these speculations never stay pointless: they do resolve in concrete helpful suggestions。 Each chapter is also accompanied by exercises， expanding the opportunities for application。 （I must admit that， same as with The Scientist's Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively Throughout Your Scientific Career， I missed the exercises。 They are quite demanding， and I’m thinking of dedicating special time to them， maybe with a group of interested peers）。A would recommend this to anyone who is a scientist and hence， as Joshua Schimel puts it， is professional writer。 。。。more
Esteban Martínez
，
Fantástico libro sobre escritura en ciencia， pero sospecho que sirve para escribir en general。 Creo que no solamente sirve para mejorar la escritura de texto sino la comunicación de ideas。 Está increíblemente bien escrito， como uno esperaría。 Lo dejé de lado un tiempo， por eso lo termino hasta ahora。
minhhai
，
Best book on writing for scientists。 A must-read for anyone whose careeer is determined by the quality of their research papers and proposals。 After reading this book， I found my papers looking like garbage。 I realized that for all those years doing and writing science， I had not known how to write a paper。Schimel argues that writing science is a form of story telling， that the article must convey a coherent story as clearly as possible。 From that standpoint， Schimel advocates for the OCAR struc Best book on writing for scientists。 A must-read for anyone whose careeer is determined by the quality of their research papers and proposals。 After reading this book， I found my papers looking like garbage。 I realized that for all those years doing and writing science， I had not known how to write a paper。Schimel argues that writing science is a form of story telling， that the article must convey a coherent story as clearly as possible。 From that standpoint， Schimel advocates for the OCAR structure: opening， challenge， action then resolution。 The structure and its variations， such as LD （lead - development）， should be maintained throughout the article from article-level down to paragraphs and sentences。 The book then discusses how to achieve concision and clarity。 It wraps up with some thoughts and advices on writing for young scientists。The writing strategies and advices are persuasive。 They fit well with academic writing （papers and proposals）。 Schimel himself is a renown scientist who learned writing the hard way。 That's why he understands the problems in scientific writing so well。 His points are illustrated by a large number ofexamples， both good and bad ones。 It is instructive and entertaining to see "live editing" when he fixes and polishes bad ones。The book itself is also an example of good writing！ Schimel is clearly an excellent writer。 There is just too much to learn from the book that I can't capture in this review。 You have to read and enjoy it yourselves。 。。。more
Plinio Jaqueto
，
It goes beyond writing
Zad Rafi
，
Excellent book on how to structure papers from a story telling perspective with audiences in mind。 Also has several other writing tips that the author has found to be useful from his time reading several style guides。
Smitesh Bakrania
，
An essential read for any technical writer。 You may not become a better writer overnight but you will at least avoid the common mistakes and organize your thoughts better on paper。 Bottom line: follow the OCAR structure （Opening， Challenge， Action， Resolution） as you tell your story about the data to create understanding and knowledge。 That structure is important and the story mindset helps drive your points。 Your number one job is to make the reader's job easy。 Avoid jargon， use verbs， and aim An essential read for any technical writer。 You may not become a better writer overnight but you will at least avoid the common mistakes and organize your thoughts better on paper。 Bottom line: follow the OCAR structure （Opening， Challenge， Action， Resolution） as you tell your story about the data to create understanding and knowledge。 That structure is important and the story mindset helps drive your points。 Your number one job is to make the reader's job easy。 Avoid jargon， use verbs， and aim for clarity。 The book breaks down each part by layers: structure， paragraphs， sentences， and words。 Discussing how to discuss， provides restrictions and limitations， and resolves the questions on conclusions。 Many examples are provided from journal papers - my best one was on the editing process。 This should be part of every writer's bookshelf。 Now， only if I could convince my students。 。。。more
Victoria
，
If you are a scientist who writes about science and you haven’t read this book， WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE？I urge mentors to make this a mandatory read for trainees。The author has collected many otherwise scattered writing lessons （that you may or may not pick up along the course of your career） and presents them here all in one excellent resource。 It gives structure to problems you might have intuitively picked up on in the past， so that now you can concretely identify and fix them more If you are a scientist who writes about science and you haven’t read this book， WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE？I urge mentors to make this a mandatory read for trainees。The author has collected many otherwise scattered writing lessons （that you may or may not pick up along the course of your career） and presents them here all in one excellent resource。 It gives structure to problems you might have intuitively picked up on in the past， so that now you can concretely identify and fix them more quickly。Taking Schimel’s guidelines to heart will help you shed any bad and pretentious habits you’ve inherited from ghosts of ‘The Academy’ past。 。。。more
Ashis Saha
，
কোন লেখা বিজ্ঞান নিয়ে হোক আর কল্পকাহিনী নিয়ে হোক， সে লেখার একটা গল্প থাকতে হবে， যে গল্পে চরিত্র থাকবে， গতিশীল কাহিনী থাকবে， কিছু টানাপোড়েন আর সবশেষে একটা সমাপ্তি। যত বেশি দিন গল্পটা পাঠকের মনে থাকবে， তত বেশি সার্থকতা। এ ধরনের সার্থক গল্পের কিছু রেসিপি আছে এ বইয়ে। রেসিপির শুরুটা গল্প বলার ধরন নিয়ে - শুরুতে জেম্স বন্ডের সিনেমার মতো অ্যাকশন দেখিয়ে পরে অতীতে ফিরিয়ে নেয়া হবে， নাকি সাসপেন্সটুকু শেষের জন্য রেখে দেয়া হবে এসব নিয়ে। এরপর ধীরে ধীরে প্রতিটা অংশের গভীরে ঢুকে কার্যকর পরামর্শ দিয়েছ কোন লেখা বিজ্ঞান নিয়ে হোক আর কল্পকাহিনী নিয়ে হোক， সে লেখার একটা গল্প থাকতে হবে， যে গল্পে চরিত্র থাকবে， গতিশীল কাহিনী থাকবে， কিছু টানাপোড়েন আর সবশেষে একটা সমাপ্তি। যত বেশি দিন গল্পটা পাঠকের মনে থাকবে， তত বেশি সার্থকতা। এ ধরনের সার্থক গল্পের কিছু রেসিপি আছে এ বইয়ে। রেসিপির শুরুটা গল্প বলার ধরন নিয়ে - শুরুতে জেম্স বন্ডের সিনেমার মতো অ্যাকশন দেখিয়ে পরে অতীতে ফিরিয়ে নেয়া হবে， নাকি সাসপেন্সটুকু শেষের জন্য রেখে দেয়া হবে এসব নিয়ে। এরপর ধীরে ধীরে প্রতিটা অংশের গভীরে ঢুকে কার্যকর পরামর্শ দিয়েছেন লেখক — কোন্ অধ্যায় কীভাবে লিখতে হবে， প্রতিটা অনুচ্ছেদের মাধ্যমে কীভাবে গল্পের কাহিনীকে সামনে নিয়ে যাওয়া যায়， কীভাবে কার্যকর বাক্য গঠন করতে হয়， কোন্ ধরনের শব্দ চয়ন করতে হয়। শুধু গাম্ভীর্যপূর্ণ বায়বীয় পরামর্শ নয়， বরং উদাহরণের মাধ্যমে ভাল লেখা আর খারাপ লেখার পার্থক্য হাতে ধরে দেখিয়ে দিয়েছেন। পুরো রেসিপি ঠিকমতো অনুসরণ করতে পারলে লেখা আকর্ষণীয় হতে বাধ্য।বইটা দ্বিতীয়বারের মতো পড়লাম। প্রথমবার ৪-তারা দিয়েছিলাম — কেন যেন মনে হয়েছিলো উপন্যাসের মতো আকর্ষণীয় হয়নি， তাই ১-তারা কমিয়ে রেখেছিলাম। কিন্তু এ বই থেকে এত কিছু শিখেছি যে ১-তারা কেটে নেয়া অন্যায় মনে হয়েছে। তাই সবগুলো তারাই ফিরিয়ে দিলাম। আর বিজ্ঞান গবেষণার সাথে সংশ্লিষ্ট সকলের জন্য এ বইটি সুপারিশ করছি। 。。。more
Colleen
，
Schimel has some great tips for the scientific writer， but sometimes seems to contradict himself。 He also seems to have very concrete ideas for how a paper should be written， and disapproves of all other styles。 If we all wrote like Schimel， papers would be 3 pages long and have nothing but short， powerful sentences。 I found a lot of good ideas that I will definitely incorporate in my own writing， but there were also things I think I shall leave to Schimel for his own。 Worth a read， but I wouldn Schimel has some great tips for the scientific writer， but sometimes seems to contradict himself。 He also seems to have very concrete ideas for how a paper should be written， and disapproves of all other styles。 If we all wrote like Schimel， papers would be 3 pages long and have nothing but short， powerful sentences。 I found a lot of good ideas that I will definitely incorporate in my own writing， but there were also things I think I shall leave to Schimel for his own。 Worth a read， but I wouldn't take it as gospel。 。。。more
Joe IV
，
I have learned a great deal from this book。 The acronyms that were most meaningful were SUCCES， OCAR， and SCFL （read them and find out their meaning :P）。 I will definitely go back to this book more and more as a reference on writing。
Chiu Pang
，
Excellent guide for writing， not only for science。
Lex
，
only read for the writing class I’m a TA for but a good style guide overall
Szymon Szott
，
Required reading Excellent resource for scientists with many insights to be gained！ It's slightly biased towards life science。 Still， having reached the end， I'm starting rereading it immediately。 Required reading Excellent resource for scientists with many insights to be gained！ It's slightly biased towards life science。 Still， having reached the end， I'm starting rereading it immediately。 。。。more
Chris
，
Pretty much essential reading for any research active academic。 I learnt a lot through reading this book， but there is so much to take it you have to read， impliment， re-read and repeat。 The focus is VERY natural sciences heavy which makes it hard to fully impliment if you are not in those fields。 I am a design academic， so the advice is good， but it can be a hard read at times。 Also， completely overpriced on Amazon！
Devon Bowser
，
My PhD adviser gives this book to all his graduate students as a guide for how to approach scientific writing。 It is written as a resource manual/textbook but was actually enjoyable to read。 I did take notes as I read because of that #gradschoollife mentality。 The takeaways from the book are presented in a straight forward manner that makes it easy to start incorporating the advice directly into your writing， revisions， and editing。
Olumuyiwa Ibidunmoye
，
Excellent book for doctoral students or anyone doing research for that matter。 The good thing about the book is that it is very hands-on （with exercises） and can as well be used by early-career or seasoned researchers alike。 Best enjoyed in a group read。
Amy
，
I found this book to be a fabulous resource to reflect on writing style。 It was very helpful to identify specific elements of my writing to improve。
Bruno
，
This book is one of the best I've ever read。 It offers awesome writing tools presented in a remarkably clear and engaging way。 It covers all aspects of writing， from designing story structure to the usage of specific words， and everything in between。 I recommend it even to non-scientists。 Although some of its chapters focus specifically on writing in science， most of the book is about writing （and communicating） in general。 This book is one of the best I've ever read。 It offers awesome writing tools presented in a remarkably clear and engaging way。 It covers all aspects of writing， from designing story structure to the usage of specific words， and everything in between。 I recommend it even to non-scientists。 Although some of its chapters focus specifically on writing in science， most of the book is about writing （and communicating） in general。 。。。more
Miroslav
，
Very useful especially for early-stage scientists， but also seasoned ones would benefit from reading。 I only regret that I did not read this book at the beginning of my Ph。D。
Moniquekaba
，