22/04/2021
Post 1: What is technical writing
Technical writing is a particular type of written explanation that explains how processes, services, and products work. It is more like a process in which information is collected from experts and presented to an audience in a clear and concise manner — various fields such as engineering, science, health, technology, etc., make use of technical writing. Technical writing comes under the subcategory of professional communication.
Characteristics of Scientific Technical Writing
Some of the key features of scientific-technical writing are as follow:
• Purpose: to inform the audience about the concerned topic primarily.
• Emphasis: to be very specific.
• Relationship of the writer to the publishing organization: Interior (writers of reports, stipulations, manuals/ instructions) and Exterior (writers contributing manuscripts to journals, book authors).
• External validation of writing: for example, arbitrators may secretly revise journal articles.
• Style: Slang, humor and puns are not readily tolerable. Quotations are uncommon, annotations and references are standard, First- and second-person references are a must, and the passive voice should be in use.
• Language: Some terms are not well-defined as it is assumed that the reader has relevant knowledge of the general topic of the paper.
Differences Between Technical and Other Kinds of Writing
Technical writing tends to focus on the purpose and the audience it is targeting. It helps the readers to understand the process or concept it is referring to entirely. An objective tone is usually used while writing technical content for a scientific journal because the subject matter is more crucial than the writer's style. Make sure you use direct, simple, and precise words rather than using elegant or complex words because you have to let your audience understand the topic scientifically.
In other general forms of writing, the focus is to entertain and inform the audience about the topic. The specific/technical terms are defined, unlike in technical writing. Technical terms that are not often used in the specific field that the audience is likely to have knowledge of should still be defined.
Careers & Study
It is never too late to learn scientific, technical writing! You do not have to earn a degree to write well technically; you can always learn it from the internet or take guidance from your teachers. A better way is to take help from friends who know the research field well, or experts that you trust in the field. They are more experienced in the area, and you will have a comfort level too. People from other fields can learn from their employees who tend to have assertive communication skills. You can also ask your colleagues to give you valuable feedback as you work together on various projects. Getting additional certification for such skills is a great way to make your CV look nice too.
Knowledge of the subject matter and the field is essential for any technical writing because you need to be aware of the terms, vocabulary and have complete command over the subject area. It is never too late to learn technical writing!
Post 2: How to write an abstract
The abstract is one of the most crucial parts of a scientific paper. It acts as an advertisement for the research paper. Many authors, unfortunately, fail to understand the importance of a good abstract. It adds to the success of the article. We usually tend to keep the abstract for the end and write it in a hurry in the form of a summary, but I'm afraid that's not right. In this blog, I will tell you how to write an abstract for a scientific journal.
Importance of an Abstract
The abstract is the foremost part of the paper and helps the reader decide if they should read the rest of the article. In some research papers, such as conference papers, the abstract helps to determine whether the article should be accepted or not. The abstract is also a good indicator of the quality of the research paper.
Structure of the Abstract
Some journals provide templates of the abstract beforehand, which have four to five parts, e.g., the background, research question, methodology, the results, and conclusion. But if they don't provide the structure, then follow a simple structure such as the one given below:
What problem did you study, and why is it important?
Firstly, start by giving the background of the study, the reason you chose the topic, and its proper justification. You have to specify the hypothesis you stated or the research question. Few sentences should be used and the message should be succinctly written.
What methods did you use to study the problem?
Secondly, you have to give an overview of the methods and methodology that are used. Whether you will be carrying out primary or secondary research. This section is usually kept short.
What were your key findings?
Keep in mind that the objectives should not exceed more than three, and so your results will be based on those. Be very precise in using your words and vocabulary for abstracts. You cannot analyze your paper if your data is incomplete, so make sure you carry out the steps well to present the research paper correctly.
What did you conclude based on these findings, and what are the broader implications?
In the conclusion section, you discuss your study's implications and how your research adds significance and novelty to the findings. You write about the applications of your results and how you can use them in your field of study.
A strategy you can follow is using Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In SEO, you use the search terms that people will use to search the topic related to your research paper, so make sure you use those keywords in your title and throughout the abstract. I hope my tips on how to write an abstract for a scientific journal have proved fruitful, and you have got the basic idea of it.
Post 3: How to publish your scientific work
Working on a research article, thesis, or dissertation requires a lot of effort and time. You work hard to produce high quality content for the relevant field. After you are done writing the study, you have to submit your script for publication to a well-known journal. Here, I will give some tips for publishing your scientific work.
Below are the top 5 ways which can help you get your scientific study published.
1. Do not hurry in submitting your article for publication.
It would help if you started drafting your paper in the early stages of your work because communicating your work properly requires a lot of time and effort. That will help minimize the chance of rejection of your work. It is a process, and you have to go through it stepwise. Read your manuscript as many times as you can and at separate times. That will help you in identifying your mistakes which you tend to overlook.
2. Select a suitable publication journal
You should search about the top relevant journals of your field and see which has the highest impact factor, SNIP or SJR number. That will help improve your chances of acceptance and will help you in targeting your relevant audience better. You should also keep in mind that you must only submit your research manuscript to one journal at a time. Otherwise, you may have to face copyright problems.
3. Carefully read the aims and scope, and author guidelines of your target journal.
An effective way of minimizing rejections of your work is to go through the scope of the journals of your relevant field. You should also download and re-read the author's guidelines to make sure the paper meets the requirements. Requirements for different journals will vary. You should follow the exact format and tone as asked by the journal. Despite following the requirements and procedures, there is still a chance that your work gets rejected but you should not get disheartened and should keep trying to meet your goal. Rejection of papers, even if the work is good, is a normal part of academic life. Read the comments from the reviewers carefully and use them to improve your work for resubmission at a later date.
4. Make an excellent first impression with your topic heading and abstract.
The heading and abstract are critical constituents of a manuscript as they are the primary elements a journal editor focuses on.
• Your title should review the central theme of the research and imitate your input to the theory.
• Your abstract should include the aim and scope of the study; the critical problem highlighted the theory, the methodology used, the data sources you have used, the results, the limitations of the research, and its implications.
5. Have an expert editing firm copy-edit your manuscript
The crucial part of excellent scientific writing is the language, vocabulary, style, and tone used. Having clarity is essential. It would help if you asked a pro editing firm to help you review and edit your work before submitting it to the journal. Most of the manuscripts get rejected because of their poor language. An organized, well-written, and error-free work will minimize the chances of rejection.
Conclusion
Give proper time to the recommendations you get after your review and try meeting all the comments carefully for the next try. For an excellent academic career, the key is never to give up. I hope that some of the points on how to publish your scientific work will help you get your scientific work published.
Post 4: How to write a good technical conclusion
The conclusion is also an essential part of your research article and can be challenging to write. You have to avoid the redundant details and sum up everything in a clear succinct manner. A good concluding paragraph can have a significant impact on the presentation of your paper. Here are a few tips on how to write a good technical conclusion for your scientific study.
1. Reaffirm your research topic
The foremost step is to restate your research title. Usually, one sentence is enough to show what your study is about. You can then explain the importance of your work. The conclusion should include only the crucial details, and you should present it with clarity.
2. Restate the hypothesis
Next, restate the hypothesis of your research paper.
After that, you should repeat the work of your research paper. An easy way of doing this is by going through the original work you wrote in the introduction. But make sure that you use different words than the introduction for your conclusion's thesis statement
3. Review the main points of your research
Try summing up the critical points of your research study in a concise way. When you go through your paper using a list of main points that should be highlighted, it will help you revise your paper and identify any shortcomings. The aim of writing the central issues is to remind the audience of the significance of the study.
4. Join the implications of the results to the main points
After you jot down the critical pointers of your argument, you can then show their scope or importance. You can talk about how your topic will impact the findings and how it will contribute to the scientific world. Present your findings in such a way that it emphasizes the importance of your results.
5. Conclude your thoughts
After you finish writing your conclusion, a good tip is to create a call to action or carry forward an idea that puts your audience into thinking further about your argument. "Call to action" is also a terrific way to point out the questions left unanswered by your work.
Tricks for writing your conclusion better
Here are some valuable tips to consider when concluding your research paper:
• Make sure you keep the key pointers of your thesis short and crisp.
• Don't use statements like "in the summary of" or 'in conclusion' as they are baseless.
• You should stick to one basic format and style of concluding your thesis.
• You have to add the research question or problem, the methods used, the key findings, the recommendations you have, and also the limitations of your topic.
• Make sure you include the most pertinent arguments and opinions you presented in your paper.
• Make sure all information in the conclusion has been stated previously in the paper.
You can always experiment with different conclusion styles; however, using the summarizing layout can help you be sure that you include the relevant details of your topic. This article can help guide you to write a good technical conclusion for your scientific study.
