Effective Science Writing

Effective Science Writing 1

INTRODUCTION

Importance to Your Career

Share your Fast-tracks Achieves Secures funding Helps form new

research vision your career recognition to support your collaborations
and findings advancement of your research efforts with colleagues
with different contributions
audiences

Effective Science Writing 2

INTRODUCTION

The Importance of Writing Good Papers

Your research does not exist, if you do not publish papers!

Your paper does not exist, if no one reads it!

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INTRODUCTION

Three Paths of Academic Writing

Manuscripts Grants Public-facing

 Technical  Non-technical
Technical
 Funding agencies  General public are primary
Fellow scientists are primary
and fellow scientists audience, e.g., news,
audience
are primary social media, interviews,
audiences press releases

Our focus today!

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 Outline

What is a paper?

What is the structure of paper?

Three key elements for writing good papers

General advice for writing good papers

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 What is a Paper?

“A paper is an organized description of hypotheses, data and conclusion,

intended to instruct the reader”.
Whitesides, Adv. Mater. 2004, 16, 1375-1377

The goal of scientific writing is persuasion.

 Teach your results to readers
 Convince skeptical reviewers (and the scientific community) that you are right!

Scientific writing is not archiving your results.

 Imagine that you are giving a class to readers, and you want to make the class engaging…

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 WRITING SCIENTIFIC MANUSCRIPTS

The Structure of a Scientific Manuscript

Information Introduction Materials and Results and Conclusion and

about manuscript methods discussion additional info

Title, authors and Introduce the field, Detail process in Describe experiments Acknowledgment, data
affiliations, abstract, share context, explain sufficient detail that it and report findings, and safety statements,
keywords, and table of the gap, and outline can be repeated in a explain meaning of COI, supporting
contents graphic the planned approach, separate lab data information and
significance references

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Title: The Abstract of the Abstract

Two types of title:

 Eye-catching (News and Views)
 Descriptive (Research papers)

Pick up the type according to:

 The journals/magazines
 The target audience
 The nature of the article

Fig 1. Titles of the Sep 2021 issue of Nature Chemistry

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 Abstract: The summary of the entire manuscript
Specific labeling of biomolecules with bright fluorophores is the
Components of the Abstract keystone of fluorescence microscopy. Genetically encoded self-labeling
The context of the research tag proteins can be coupled to synthetic dyes inside living cells,
The gap/problem we are facing resulting in brighter reporters than fluorescent proteins. Intracellular
The description of your methods labeling using these techniques requires cell-permeable fluorescent
and key results (be specific) ligands, however, limiting utility to a small number of classic
fluorophores. Here we describe a simple structural modification that
The impact of your work
improves the brightness and photostability of dyes while preserving
spectral properties and cell permeability. Inspired by molecular
modeling, we replaced the N,N-dimethylamino substituents in
Writing tips:
tetramethylrhodamine with four-membered azetidine rings. This
Write it at the end
addition of two carbon atoms doubles the quantum efficiency and
Present tense (ACS Style) improves the photon yield of the dye in applications ranging from in
<150 words (in most cases) vitro single-molecule measurements to super-resolution imaging. The
novel substitution is generalizable, yielding a palette of chemical dyes
with improved quantum efficiencies that spans the UV and visible
range. Nature Methods, 2015, 12, 244–250

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 Introduction: The background of the story
Rapid evolution of fluorescence imaging techniques in recent
Components of the Introduction years demands fluorophores with enhanced brightness and
photostability. This evolution, particularly in biomolecular
labeling and super-resolution imaging techniques, has
Paragraph 1:
facilitated fluorescence imaging with single-molecule precision
 The first sentence sets up the topic.
in numerous biological and biomedical studies. However, many
 Why is it important? existing fluorophores lack sufficient brightness and
Paragraph 2: photostability for single-molecule and live-cell imaging.
Rational molecular engineering of fluorophores, based on a
 Background: What has been done?
deep understanding of their working mechanism, is thus crucial
 Give credits to other people and imperative to yield novel fluorophores with superior
 What is still missing? brightness and photostability.
Paragraph 3: Someone did this. Someone did that. However, some key thing
(brightness and photostability) is still missing. Solving this
 What did we do?
key thing can save the entire world.
 The impact/who should care? In this manuscript, we (almost) saved the world by doing…
JACS 2016, 138, 6960-6963

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 Materials and Methods: Details to Reproduce the Work

Writing Tips:
 Offer sufficient details
 Move it to the Supporting Information,
if possible
 Organize them into different sections
 Make it easy to look up information

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Results and Discussions Writing tips:
 Write it like a story
 Develop a hypothesis with brief and valid
reasons, but without sufficient
details/evidence.
Components of the Results and  Produce evidence along the way to
Discussion: support that hypothesis.
 Results and discussion are  Follow the story/logic; do not follow the
usually combined. actual orders of doing experiments.

 What did you obtain from your  Use declarative section headings
experiments?  “Selectivity Test” (X)
 “Probe XX demonstrates good selectivity
 What do those data mean? towards copper ions” (√)
 How do the data support your  Craft your figures/tables to
hypothesis/argument? minimize the use of text.

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 Conclusion
It is different from the abstract
Conclusion is a section of the paper
Abstract is a summary of the entire paper (which
includes the conclusion).
What conclusion can be drawn from the
study?
(Optional) What is the limitation of this
manuscript?
Write it in a positive way
“By addressing this solubility issues, this fluorophore
will become highly useful for bioimaging……”.
What is the significance of the work?

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Why does the restaurant food taste
better than home-cooked food?

Why are some papers written better

than others?

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WRITING SCIENTIFIC MANUSCRIPTS

Three Tips: From cooking appetizing food to writing good papers

Three ingredients to cook good food:
Garlic Shallots Butter

Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

Three elements to write good papers:

Logic Structure Coherence

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 Logic: The “Soul” of Your Paper

 The objective of the paper is persuasion.

 Are you addressing an important question?
 Are you aware of the milestone works in this field?
 Have you critically analyzed the gap/challenges of this field?
 Has your work made substantial progress?
 Is your conclusion well supported by data?

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 Logic: Focus on the Introduction Section
Paragraph 1: Establish a topic; show
 The introduction is the most difficult that this topic is important!
section to write in a paper. Paragraph 2: Background
 The introduction often reflects the (a)Review the literature.
(b)Conclude that one key thing is still
authors’ taste and determines if a missing.
paper will be accepted. • This key thing is the topic of this
paper.
• End this paragraph by emphasizing
 The introduction section typically has the impact of solving this key thing.
three paragraphs. Paragraph 3: Summarize what you
have done (in solving this key thing).

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 Logic: Focus on the Background section
 Cite important references
 To make friends and give credit to others
 To share the same “experiences” with your readers and reviewers.
 Typical features: (1) high-impact journals; (2) high citations; （3）reputable groups.
 Summarize the references
 Be precise, succinct, and relevant
 Be systematic
• “On the theoretical side… Accordingly, various experimental strategies have
been applied.…”
• “The current methods can be broadly classified into three categories.”
 Identify the gap/what key thing is still missing  Your contributions

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 Logic: Focus on the Results and Discussion
Does your paper have an explicit hypothesis (or claim)? Brief Reasoning
 This statement typically appears at the beginning of Results and Discussion
Make it like a story
 A good paper usually comes with the hypothesis/claim
Detailed Justification
Do your results support this hypothesis (or claim)?
 The rest section is developed to validate this hypothesis/claim.
 Foresee all possible questions and address them!
 What does the raw data say? Can it be interpreted in different ways, and if so, why is your
interpretation correct?
 What level of confidence does the raw data provide? (statistically)
 Are there different experiments that can be done to answer your claim?
 Is your conclusion supported by established theories or does it stand aside from those ideas?

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 Structure: The “Backbone” of Your Paper

A paper has a layered structure.

The order that a paper appears

The order that we read a paper

Ensure that your writing is structured and easy to index.

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Structure: How to organize a paragraph?
• The structure of a paragraph Examples:
Our calculations also showed that the state-crossing to
the nonemissive ET state is accompanied by the
rotation of the substituted meso-phenyl ring in
BODIPYs. Accordingly, restricting such rotations (i.e.,
in high-viscosity solvents) should recover the
fluorescence. Hence, we measured the viscosity
dependence of the emission intensities in B4−B6. As
we increased solvent viscosity by raising the volume
ratio of glycerol in the ethanol/glycerol mixture, we
noticed a considerable enhancement of fluorescence
intensities in B4−B6, by 7– 11 times (Figure 3c).
These results are in good agreement with our
theoretical calculations.
JACS, 2020, 142, 6777-6785.

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 The structure of a section:
Structure: How to organize a
paragraph and a section?
•The structure of a paragraph
Context

Results &
Discussion

Conclusion

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 Structure: The overall view of Results and Discussion
Declarative
headings give an
overall view of the
argument.

Topical sentences
provide the outline of
the evidence.

The summary is optional, especially for short sections.

•Organize the sections according to their importance and logic, not the order of doing experiments.
•Provide a clear and layered structure to make a reader’s life easier.

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 Structure: Pay attention to graphics
A picture is worth one thousand words
The order we read a paper

Guidelines from the Fluorescence Research Group

1. Use professional software. 5. Calculate the font size.
• CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, MatLab, • The font size of the text in the figure: ~7-8 after
Python… the scaling
2. Use the TIF format. • The font size of the figure subtitle [a, b, c, etc.]:
• TIF preserves the size of the picture when ~14-16 after the scaling
embedded in Microsoft Word. • Ensure consistency of text sizes in all figures.
3. Make a good choice of colors. 6. Check the requirements on figure sizes and make full
4. Use the “Arial” font. use of space (especially width).

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 Structure: Pay attention to graphics

WASTED SPACE
NOT IN USE

revision

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WRITING SCIENTIFIC MANUSCRIPTS

Coherence: The “Muscle” of Your Paper

An Example:

The Singapore University of Technology and

Design is established to advance knowledge
and nurture technically-grounded leaders
and innovators to serve societal needs, with
a focus on Design, through an integrated
multi-disciplinary curriculum and multi-
disciplinary research.

We “read” a picture as a whole We “read” texts line by line

– two-dimensional view – one-dimensional view

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Coherence

(1) Start sentences with the same topic

“ľkc Jouí⭲al of īkc €½cíica⭲ Ckc½ical SocicīQ

(J€CS), ro"⭲dcd i⭲ 1®79, is tkc rlagskip jo"í⭲al or tkc
Amcíica⭲ Ckcmical SocictQ a⭲d tkc woíld's píccmi⭲c⭲t
jo"í⭲al i⭲ all or ckcmistíQ a⭲d i⭲tcíraci⭲g aícas or
scic⭲cc. ľkis pcíiodical is dc:otcd to tkc p"blicatio⭲ or
r"⭲damc⭲tal ícscaíck papcís a⭲d p"bliskcs appíoximatclQ
19,000 pagcs or Aíticlcs, Comm"⭲icatio⭲s, a⭲d
Pcíspccti:cs a Qcaí. P"bliskcd wccklQ, J€CS pío:idcs
ícscaíck cssc⭲tial to tkc ricld or ckcmistíQ.”

About JACS, https://pubs.acs.org/page/jacsat/about.html

Effective Science Writing 27

Coherence

(2) Connect the previous “end” with the next “start”

Information Processing

“Scientists ”ad píe»iouslQ belie»ed ť”ať ť”eíe eíe jusť ť o ťQpes or caťalQsťs: ½eťals a⭲d e⭲zQ½es.
co⭲ťai⭲ ”u⭲díeds or a½i⭲o acids oí píoťei⭲s, buť ť”e i⭲⭲eís eíe able ťo de½o⭲sťíaťe ť”ať a si⭲gle oíga⭲ic
E⭲zQ½es
½olecule ca⭲ acť as a caťalQsť.”

CNN Ncws (kttps://cditio⭲.c⭲⭲.com/2021/10/06/woíld/⭲obcl-píizc-ckcmistíQ-wi⭲⭲cí-sc⭲-2021/i⭲dcx.ktml)

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The third method to achieve coherence

(3) Combine the previous two methods in a flexible way

“Ckc½isīíQ ”as lo⭲g-be⭲eriťed río½ ť”e use or ½odcls ťo i⭲ťeípíeť paťťeí⭲s i⭲ (río½ ť”e EQíi⭲g equaťio⭲
daťa
c”e½ical ½i⭲eťics, ť”e scales or elecťío⭲egaťi»iťQ ťo descíibe c”e½ical sťabiliťQ a⭲di⭲ íeacťi»iťQ, ťo ť”e liga⭲d-
appíoac”es ť”ať co⭲⭲ecť ½oleculaí sťíucťuíe a⭲d specťíoscopQ) . Suck ½odcls aíe ťQpicallQ i⭲ ť”e roí½ or
rield
íepíoducible closed-roí½ equaťio⭲s a⭲d íe½ai⭲ íele»a⭲ť o»eí ť”e couíse or decades. Hoe»eí, īkc íulcs of
ckc½isīíQ aíe orťe⭲ li½iťed ťo speciric classes or sQsťe½s (roí exa½ple, elecťío⭲ cou⭲ťi⭲g roí polQ”edíal
boía⭲es) a⭲d co⭲diťio⭲s (roí exa½ple, ť”eí½odQ⭲a½ic equilibíiu½ oí a sťeadQ ”
sťaťe)
Aítíitk eť al., Naťuíe C”e½isťíQ, 2021, 1«, 505–
50®
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The fourth method to achieve coherence

(4) Use sequencers in English

These sequences are useful when:

• Discussing your experimental procedures;
• Describing your journey of investigations.

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 General Advice on

How to write a paper?

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 Writing tip: Start your writing with an outline
• Purpose: (1) Plan your research. (2) Seek agreement between you and your supervisor.
• What to include in the outline:
 1. Title;
 2. Authors;
 3. Introduction: (1) what is the objective? (2) why the objective is important? (3) Background. (4) what is the
gap? (5) what do we do? (6) what is the implication?
 4. Results and Discussion
• Use section heading
• For example, (1) Molecular Design Strategy; (2) Quantum Chemical Simulations; (3) Experimental
Validation; (4) Bioimaging Applications.
• Do not follow the historical order of experiments. Follow the story/logic of your paper.
 5. Conclusion
 Prepare graphics and tables; insert them into the outline. Include detailed captions.
• You may start with your one/two sentences of conclusion, and write the rest to make this point.
• Use a minimal amount of text.

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 Writing tip: The first draft – Just write it.
• Write down whatever is in your mind.
• Do not expect to be perfect; revisions will come later.
• The speed matters; just complete it first!

• If you think too much, you may not even complete one paragraph in one
day!
• Nobody will read your first draft!

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 Writing tip: Revision…Revision….Revision…

• You will need to revise the manuscript many times.

• Break long sentences into multiple short sentences.
• Modify your structures, logic, and coherence.
• Use software to check out grammar mistakes.
• Grammarly (The free version is sufficient).

• Seek feedback from colleagues and revise your paper accordingly.

• Wait for one day or several days to relook at the paper again (at least
once)
• Read your final manuscript on paper (NOT on a screen) at least once.

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 Writing tip: Deletion…Deletion….Deletion…
• Be succinct and relevant.
• Writing a short paper is equivalent to saving readers’ time.

First version: “The mechanical switch OX … Second version: “The mechanical switch OX …
represents an efficient mechanophore with represents an efficient mechanophore with
versatile functionalization, rapid ring-closure versatile functionalization and rapid ring-closure
kinetics and diverse regioisomeric kinetics.” (15 words)
mechanosensitive modes.” (19 words)
JACS 2021, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c05923.
Note: The regioisomeric property in not used in the paper, so this phrase is deleted.
•Delete “as shown below”; just do it.
•Delete “we will first do this; then do that.”; just do it.
•Make use of the Supporting Information to deposit information and
shrink the main text.

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 Writing tip: Some Points of Styles

• Avoid using nouns as adjectives:

• Not: “the fluorophore quantum yield”
• But: “the quantum yield of the fluorophore”
• “Quantum yield” is fine.
• “This” should be followed by a noun – to be explicit:
• Not: “This is a reliable method, as shown by XXX.”
• But: “This method is reliable, as shown by XXX”
• Mind the order of wording – reduce the interruptions to brains:
• NOT: “As shown in Figure 1a, A possesses a higher quantum yield than B”
• But: “A possesses a higher quantum yield than B, as shown in Figure 1a”
• Even better: “A possesses a higher quantum yield than B (Figure 1a)”

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 Writing tip: Some Points of Styles

• Mind the tense:

• Abstract should be in the present tense (ACS Style).
• Describe all experiments in the past tense.
• Use the present tense as much as possible.
• Use the active voice whenever possible:
• Not: “It is demonstrated that this polymer has considerable potential in force sensing.”
• But: “We demonstrate that this polymer has considerable potential in force sensing.”
• Probably better: “This polymer has considerable potential in force sensing.”
• Complete the comparison
• NOT: “SUTD is relatively small.”
• But: “SUTD is smaller than NTU.”

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 Writing tip: Some Points of Styles

• Abbreviations
• Have you defined the abbreviations?
• It only takes 5 seconds!

• The curse of knowledge

• “The SLEET model suggests fluorophore XX is prone to photo-induced electron transfer.”
• Do you know the SLEET model?
• Elaborate on the SLEET model, before you use it.

• The invisible spaces

• Do a search of double whitespace characters and replace them with a single whitespace character
(when appropriate).

Effective Science Writing 38

 Writing tip: Some Points of Styles
• Common phrases to avoid
• Replace “in order to” with “to”
• Avoid using “One one hand… ; one the other hand…”; “however” will do.
• Do not say “As a rule of thumb”, use “In general”.
• Do not say “home-made”, use “developed in-house”.

• Pay attention to citation styles

• Use software (such as EndNote) to manage citation styles
• Download citations from the publisher’s website (instead of Google Scholar) whenever
possible.
• Keep the Endnote citations within the documents. Only replace the reference list with
“pure texts”.
• Check all references carefully— are abbreviations, page numbers, year, DOI all
complete, and correct?

Effective Science Writing 39

 Useful References

• G. M. Whitesides, “Whitesides’ Group: Writing a Paper”, Adv. Mater. 2004, 16, 1375-

1377

• D. A. Weitz, “Weitzlab Guide to Good Paper Writing”, available online

• D. J. Lipomi, “Style Guides and the Garlic, Shallots, and Butter of Scientific Writing”,

Chem. Mater. 2021, 33, 3865-3867

• Grammarly (software)

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Additional Key Resources

Where can I find journal guidelines and templates

for submission?
publish.acs.org/publish/

Where can I read more?

Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication
pubs.acs.org/page/vi/art_of_scientific_publication.html

ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication Online

pubs.acs.org/doi/book/10.1021/acsguide

What else can I do?

Take the 7 courses in the new ACS Author Lab
connect.acspubs.org/author-lab

Effective Science Writing 41

Conclusion
What is a paper?
• Organized description for persuasion and instruction.
• Highly structured organization for indexing and accessing information.
Three key elements for writing good papers
• Logic – the “soul” of a paper
• Structure – the “backbone” of a paper
• Coherence – the “muscle” of a paper
General advice for writing good papers
• Develop an outline
• Finish the first draft as quickly as possible
• Revise and delete texts to write a short, structured and persuasive paper

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