Davis / Dunagan Scientific Papers and Presentations

3. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-0-12-384728-7
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 368 Seiten

Electronic publishing and electronic means of text and data presentation have changed enormously since the first edition of this book was published in 1997. The third edition of Scientific Papers and Presentations applies traditional principles to today's modern techniques and the changing needs of up-and-coming academia. Topics include designing visual aids, writing first drafts, reviewing and revising, communicating clearly and concisely, adhering to stylistic principles, presenting data in tables and figures, dealing with ethical and legal issues, and relating science to the lay audience. This successful legacy title is an essential guide to professional communication, provides a wealth of information and detail and is a useful guide. - Covers all aspects of communication for early scientists from research to thesis to presentations. - Discusses how to use multi-media effectively in presentations and communication - Includes an extensive appendices section with detailed examples for further guidance

After teaching English composition and world literature, Martha Davis crossed the line between the humanities and the sciences. Always an aficionado of biology and gardening, her interests led her to the biological and agricultural sciences where she has worked for some 15 years mostly with graduate students relative to their communication skills in science. This handbook is the result of seeking answers to their questions and of recognizing that most other communication handbooks are limited to specific areas of writing or speaking. Scientific Papers and Presentations is her attempt to put under one cover the basic guidelines for the communication endeavors of the graduate student as well as the professional scientist.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Davis, Martha

Davis, Kaaron Joann

Dunagan, Marion

Leseproben

Chapter 2
Before You Begin
He has half the deed done, who has made a beginning. —Horace Before you begin to prepare the paper or presentation, you should be alert to several components in the semantic environment of science that affect the communication: your attitude; your abilities to speak, write, and listen; the audience and the purpose; the scientific message; and techniques, tools, and sources that can be helpful. We need a philosophy behind our communication because, as humans, we are willing to figure out how to accomplish goals if we know why. Perhaps our primary struggle as humans is to live, but a close second is the need to communicate with others, first with parents and then with family and friends, with teachers and peers, but also as scientists with scientists and other audiences. Along the way, we develop vocabularies and conventions for putting words or other symbols together so we will be understood. It is most frustrating and often destructive to say the wrong thing or to be misunderstood. Enter human nature. Both the attitude of the speaker and the attitude of the listener, or writer and reader, are important to prevent misinterpretation. Attitude may be the strongest influence on what is communicated and how it is interpreted by an audience. We can hardly change our personalities, but we can adjust our attitudes and philosophies. Bad attitudes in scientists and others are often derived from such feelings as “Be impressed with me; I’m important.” “I’m scared; feel sorry for me.” “I have a poor background and will never be a good communicator.” Or, worst of all, “My audience is ignorant and it’s their fault if they don’t understand.” Sincere scientists believe in themselves and what they are saying, and they want to communicate that confidence to the audience but flavor it with a good dash of humility. Of course, the audience is somewhat ignorant of what you have to say or there would be no need for you to say it. The good attitude simply wants to be honest, objective, and clear in sending and receiving messages. It is the responsibility of the speaker or writer to present ideas as clearly as possible to a given audience, but it is also a responsibility of a listener or reader to make an effort to interpret a message clearly and justly. As babies, we mispronounce words. “Wawa” may mean “water” or “I want a drink,” and the parent will interpret accurately but may smile at the mispronunciation. We are often amused by inadequacies or differences in communication as children or persons from other areas of the country or other countries communicate in our vernacular. But our own colloquial language may be no better than that of others, and they may smile at the way we say things. It is good to be able not to take our linguistic foibles too seriously. It is destructive to belittle someone else’s attempts to communicate or to use terminology you know they will not understand. Some in-groups will develop their own ways of saying things that are not well understood by others—for example, the street talk of some young people or the jargon of scientists. Such terminology can add to the language and our ability to express ourselves, or it can be destructive and lead to misunderstanding. Creativity can be good for the language; hiding meanings or reserving them for a particular group can be detrimental to society. Communication is a vehicle for conveying ideas—a network like a nerve or blood system that flows through the body of humanity or the smaller environment of science. It can create or kill. If it flows smoothly, it carries civilization forward. In science, it pools knowledge on knowledge to afford us a background to find the answers to questions that our grandparents would not even have known to ask. If the flow gets clogged, it can completely disrupt a semantic environment. The sins of language, like other sins, can come with excess, omissions, dishonesty, ignorance, or malicious intent. It is a scientist’s responsibility to guard against these forces. Respect for language is a serious matter, and miscommunication is dangerous. Enter here the world of science. I have been repeatedly told that communicating in science is different from what the composition English teacher told us to do. I agree that science has differences, but the fundamentals of the language are the same. Involved in science is a different semantic environment with different people, purposes, general rules of discourse, some different vocabularies, and differences in the situation. The complexity of communicating in science is compounded by the fact that science must be precise and objective, and objectivity is difficult for human beings. Any communication is interpersonal, psychological, and social as well as objective and intellectual. Personalities must be involved so that with communication in science it is essential that one be as simple and exact as possible. For that reason, usually we need to follow conventions that are set forth, follow the same formats and techniques others use, and choose words precisely. Nora Ransom’s primary rule (see Chapter 3 for a complete list) for scientific and technical writing is “If it can be interpreted in more than one way, it is wrong.” That is a strong statement, and we cannot always condition the audience to think exactly as we are thinking when we send a message, but as nearly as possible the scientist sending a message must put forth information in the most easily understood way, and the receiver of that message must listen and interpret as honestly as possible. The progress of science is at stake. You will become more comfortable with scientific papers and presentations by knowing the conventions and tools for the various kinds of scientific communication. 2.1 Kinds of Scientific Communication
The most common forms for scientific communications are reports, journal articles, proposals, theses, abstracts, speeches or slide presentations, poster presentations, and sometimes books, chapters, review papers, group communications, and writing or speaking for lay audiences. Report is really a catch-all term that includes everything from a laboratory account of a single experiment to progress reports and group reports on entire research programs and the consultant’s or practitioner’s report to clientele. Your chief interest in graduate school may be the graduate proposal, your first journal manuscript, and the thesis or dissertation as well as slide and poster presentations, but as a scientist, you will also become concerned with producing numerous reports, journal articles, grant proposals, collaborative reports, memos, and even chapters or books. As practicing scientists, some of you will find that your careers involve a great deal of writing or speaking to an audience of nonscientists. These messages are often called science communication rather than scientific communication. Chapter 19 provides a more detailed discussion of communicating with nonscientists. Acquaint yourself with all these forms and produce them with simplicity, precision, clarity, and always honesty. Your first attempts with scientific papers and presentations may benefit from some help. In this handbook, I can give you some fundamental ideas on the kinds of scientific communication, but I cannot go into a great deal of detail. I do, however, attempt to refer you to more detailed publications on the subjects in each chapter. Become familiar with other sources that can save you time and improve your communication. 2.2 Sources of Help
Your difficulty at this point may be that you do not know how to get started on these kinds of communication. The communication courses you took never required writing a journal manuscript or making a poster presentation. There is help out there. If you have had difficulty with writing, you may need to think about how to accomplish clear communication for anything. That is the subject of the first three chapters of this book. Several other good books are available on the subject. I recommend Zinsser (1998), but you can find others as well. Keep in mind that when I name sources here and throughout this book, the list cannot be definitive. Many books have been written on scientific communications and many more on all kinds of communication. If you do not find the one I suggest or if it does not fit your purpose, find another. Sources are not difficult to find, especially with electronic searches. Browse on the electronic screen or the library bookshelves, but you may save time by first simply becoming oriented to what is available. Your own search can be made easier by noting the references cited in this or other books on scientific writing or speaking. Even before exploring those lists, collect information available through your graduate office or your department on writing theses, proposals, or other reports. If you are a student, ask for recommendations from your professors or librarians. In your career as a scientist, you may not have professors and librarians to consult and may find publications more helpful. Obviously, no one can read all that has been published on scientific communication, and you need to be selective. The sources in this and other chapters can get you started or perhaps lead you to the source you need. The following are simply representative of what is out there. For success in graduate school, become familiar right away with the library services and computer databases for literature searches in your discipline. You can also become...