2 unit Syllabus Scientific Writing HRP 214 Winter 2012 Class Information Tuesdays 3 15 5 00pm in T138 Instructor Information Kristin Sainani kcobb stanford edu Class website http www stanford edu kcobb courses writing All lectures and homeworks are available for download on the course website I generally will not make printouts Office T211 HRP Redwood Building Office hours By appointment TA information Rebecca Gilsdorf gilsdorf stanford edu Office hours By appointment Course Statement Objectives This course aims to demystify the writing process and teach the fundamentals of effective scientific writing Instruction will focus primarily on the process of writing and publishing scientific manuscripts but grant writing will also be addressed The course will be presented in two segments Part 1 teaches students how to write effectively concisely and clearly and part 2 takes them through the preparation of an actual scientific manuscript or grant Students taking the class for 2 units will be asked to attend a weekly lecture and to complete some short writing and editing exercises including writing a news article and a real Letter to the Editor Required Texts Sin and Syntax Constance Hale Successful Scientific Writing A step by step guide for biomedical scientists Matthews and Bowen Please take the course for credit no credit If there is a pressing reason that you need to take this course for a grade you must clear it with me first Course Outline I Segment One Demystifying the Writing Process Jan 12 Lecture What makes good writing Are there good writers and bad writers Words word choice the basic elements of sentences and sentence structure Writing in the active voice Homework One Read chapters 1 4 Sin and Syntax pp 1 87 Read Chapter 6 of Successful Scientific Writing Exercise 1 revise sentences for clarity and brevity Jan 17 The News Article Lecture Dissecting the news article News writing is the art of maximizing information and minimizing words it s the barest bones form of writing The fundamentals of good writing can be learned by dissecting news articles In Class Exercise Sorting through news articles Homework Two Exercise 2 pick a lengthy feature article 3000 words from a popular magazine on any subject have fun with it and rewrite it as a bare bones news article 300 words maximum for 2 unit students Read chapters 5 8 of Sin and Syntax pp 88 128 Jan 24 Writing Basics I Lecture Punctuation and Parallelism Tricks for clarity brevity and finesse In Class Exercise Peer interviews and write up mini profiles Homework Three Read chapters 9 10 of Sin and Syntax pp 129 168 Read Chapter 7 of Successful Scientific Writing Exercise 3 more sentence re writing exercises Jan 31 Writing Basics II Lecture Paragraphs logic and organization Organizational strategies Homework Four Read chapters 11 12 of Sin and Syntax pp 169 195 Read Chapter 1 of Successful Scientific Writing Exercise 4 paragraph re writing exercise Find an article for a Letter to the Editor piece Feb 7 Writing Basics III Lecture Putting it all together In Class exercise group rewrites Homework Five Exercise 5 Write a real Letter to the Editor II Read chapters 13 16 of Sin and Syntax pp 197 finish Read Chapter 5 of Successful Scientific Writing Good Writing Applied The Scientific Manuscript Feb 14 Methods and Results Sections Lecture s How to present data effectively How to write prose that complements a table or figure In Class Exercise Discuss a variety of journal articles that present data in different ways Homework Six Read chapter 3 4 of Successful Scientific Writing Exercise 6 Edit a peer s Letter to the Editor Feb 21 The Abstract Introduction and Discussion Lecture s Getting to the main point and summarizing effectively How to conduct literature reviews Writing an effective discussion Homework Seven Read chapter 2 of Successful Scientific Writing Feb 28 Wrap up scientific manuscripts plus Overview of grant writing Lectures I Submission and authorship for scientific manuscripts II Overview of the NIH grant writing process Homework Nine and Final Read chapter 8 of Successful Scientific Writing Prepare a final draft of your Letter to the Editor III Communicating effectively with the media and lay public and peer review March 6 Communicating effectively with the media and lay public peer review Lecture s How to write articles for the lay public How to deal with the media Ethics Also how to write a peer review In Class Exercise Practice writing a peer review CLASS CALENDAR Sunday Jan Part I Oct Monday Tuesday 10 first class 17 mini exercise 1 and reading due 24 news article exercise and reading due 31 mini exercise 3 and reading due Feb 7 mini exercise 4 and reading due Part II 14 Letter to the Editor assignment Due 21 Peer edits due 28 reading due March Part III 6 Revised Letter to the Editor due last day of class Wedn esday Thursday Friday Saturday