What is Good English Science Writing?
Writing Good Science in English
We hope you are gaining new information from our essays on good English writing. Each of our essays contains different information, but all share a common thread, the basic rules of good English writing. The subject knowledge for science, law, medicine, and other fields does change the basics of writing. A legal writer needs to know law to write; a medical writer needs to know medicine; a science writer needs to know science.
Many people try to explain that writing is different in these fields. Indeed, there are differences, but we believe they are not significant. The greater difference is the body of knowledge that writers bring to their field. Thinking of yourself as a bundle of specialized knowledge that you apply to your writing might be a helpful metaphor. If your goal is to produce good science writing with the bundle of knowledge you carry with you, we have the following suggestions for you as a writer and a translator.
- Know your branch of science well in your first language.
- Read scientific publications in your first language to keep current with new developments.
- Know your science well in English.
- Read science publications in English to keep current with new developments.
- Remember that translators must translate, but writers don't have to.
- Read good English writing in a wide variety of fields. These are your models.
- Read good science writing. This may provide additional models.
This essay will discuss these seven suggestions. Another of our essays, Watson and Crick and Good Science Writing, looks at an example that provides a model of good scientific writing. If you can follow our suggestions as well as remembering and using the principles that the example embodies, your writing will immeasurably improve.
1. Know your branch of science well in your first language.
The process of learning is going from the known into the unknown. Think of yourself moving from one territory into a new one. Understanding the new territory is normally easier for us if we know about things in our first territory, our first language. If you want to be a good science writer, you need to know your science in your first language.
2. Read science publications in your first language to keep current with new developments.
Reading is one of our modes of learning. We read for many reasons. Two important reasons for writers and translators are to learn and to improve our writing. Reading science publications will help you to learn and keep current with new developments.
If you read good writing, doing so will help you become a better writer. In contrast, if you read bad writing, you have an opportunity to discover the missing qualities and to avoid making the same mistakes.
3. Know your science well in English.
You need to know your science well in English, so you can devote yourself to your writing or translating. The human brain can only do so much at one time. If the human brain is confronted with too much new information, it faces a task overload. If task overload occurs, the brain is not able to function well. This means that it is difficult to learn about science in English and write in English at the same time. We propose that you first learn about science in English, and then devote yourself to your writing.
4. Read science publications in English to keep current with new developments.
Reading is a primary mode for learning. We read for many reasons, but two important ones are to learn and to improve our writing. Reading science publications will help you to learn and keep current with new developments. If you read good writing in English, doing so will help you to become a better writer. If you read bad writing in English, it would be helpful for you to think about why the writing is bad. Then, your task is to try to avoid making the same mistakes.
5. Remember that translators must translate, but writers don't have to.
Translators must translate. That is their job. For example, a Japanese to English translator working on an academic science publication must translate the publication from Japanese to English. This can be a difficult job. Japanese writing can often be vague, which makes it difficult to translate it into English. Japanese sentences can be long and unclear, which makes it more difficult to translate it into English. The Japanese writing style used in academic science papers, while clearer than that used in many liberal arts academic papers, can still be very different from the English writing style of introduction, body, and conclusion.
Writers, however, don't have to translate. If you are writing your own academic science publication though, you can write it in English and avoid these problems. True, it will be difficult to write in English, but you can produce a much better paper if you move cleanly and clearly through the introduction, body, and conclusion.
6. Read good English writing in a wide variety of fields. These are your models.
Good English writing is invaluable for writers and translators. It is most important for writers as it provides a model of how to organize and write. It is also important for Japanese to English translators. They may be unable to follow some of the things they learn as the document they are translating may leave them unable to reorganize as English requires. Still, they will be able to use what they learned at the sentence level to write better English sentences for translation of the original Japanese. It is important for English to Japanese translators too, although not as much as for Japanese to English translators and writers, because reading helps improve English understanding. If understanding improves, translation will be better.
7. Read good science writing. This may provide additional models.
All the reasons above hold true here too, yet there is one more reason. This shows how your subject matter is handled. We hope you will read another one of our essays, Watson and Crick and Good Science Writing, in which we continue our discussion of good science writing.
Conclusion
We began this essay discussing how there was not that much difference in writing between fields. The basis of writing remains the same across fields. The difference is the knowledge required by different fields. Similarly, the path to becoming a better writer or translator is the same for writers and translators in different fields. Know your subject well in your first language and your second language. Read in both languages to know your subject better and keep current with new information. Read to become a better writer. Reading helps us improve our writing. When you read bad writing, as everyone does, try to understand the reasons the writing is bad. Make a list of the writing problems. Include examples of each problem. When you write, try to avoid the same errors. In closing, we would like you to reread this essay to notice the structure. This kind of structure is basic in science writing.
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Improving your writing
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