Scientific_writing

Golden Rules of Scientific Writing | My Personal list of experiences

Golden rules of scientific writing

1. Be clear, focused and precise without sacrificing the meaning of your sentences
2. Keep your paragraphs and sentences as short as possible. Less is more !
3. Avoid unnecessary jargon
4. Use personal pronouns like "I/we" for self promotion
5. Begin by framing and contextualizing your research idea and write the methodology section first followed by experimental results
6. Let your reader know what you are writing about and why you are writing
7. Define all acronyms when they are used for the first time
8. Simplify your paper to not lose your reader
9. Readers should find it very easy to understand your paper, they should be readily able to absorb the methods you are explaining else they will lose interest and find an alternate paper
10. Keep the reader in your grip
11. Focus only on "one" thought that your reader did not have before. Reader should be provoked by just one thought in your entire paper.
12. Do not say what you do not need to say in your paper

Paper Compression strategy: –

• The precision comes from “selection” not from “compression” or pruning.
• First Draft - Build a good story frame. Nothing should be repeated in your paper. Repetition means inefficiency
• First Draft - When your paper is compact and condensed after your first self-review, then decide what words you can get rid of.
• Formula for Second review - Second Draft = First Draft – 10%
• Avoid – redundancies, pretentious words, words that add no meaning or little meaning.
• Don’t present the things that are already well known. There is no need to lecture people about the things they already know or someone has already discussed in past.

Hedging Strategies –

When you need to express doubt or uncertainty in your Research Results -

1. Hedging represents professional modesty, professional purism, It can be used to express unsurety of findings honestly
2. When you avoid Hedge words, then you demonstrate that you are absolutely confident of your results in your paper.
3. If you have confidence in your research then you should not use hedge words. This will help your readers find more trust in your work.
4. Reader should not go to the end of your sentence and start re-reading your sentence. It should be simple and non-cryptic.
5. Editors of high ranked journals do not allow more than 5-6 hedging constructs in your paper.

Writing via ChatGPT or Other Language Models:

Give the following prompt to Large Language Model:

1. Adhere to a simple, sober, and formal and scientific tone.
2. Avoid heavy word embellishments and jargon. For instance, words like,"underscoring", "pronounced" "juxtaposed", "elucidate", "myraid", "methodological", "realm", "insight","underpinning","delve ","embark", "discern" , "delineate","sheds light", "nuanced" , "build upon" ,"insights", "building upon" ,"intricacies", "intricate","instrumental", "revolutionary","intriguing","holistic", "intersection", "dive","deep","dive deep", "Vital","Moreover","Arguably","tapestry", "navigate into"," navigate", "Unfortunately","comprehensive", "placeholder" should be avoided as they are overused words.
3. Additionally the following phrases should be avoided in the response: "It’s important to note","Important to consider", "Based on the information provided","Remember that","Navigating the [landscape]/[complexities of]","A testament to…","As an AI language model", "As of my last"
4. Prioritize concise and direct statements over long-winded explanations.
5. Avoid redundancy and repetitive statements. For example, phrases like "to offer a clearer understanding" are often unnecessary.
6. Prioritize concise and direct statements over long-winded explanations.