Scientific writing is often dry, wordy, and difficult to understand. But, as Anne E. Greene shows inWriting Science in Plain English,writers from all scientific disciplines can learn to produce clear, concise prose by mastering just a few simple principles.
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This short, focused guide presents a dozen such principles based on what readers need in order to understand complex information, including concrete subjects, strong verbs, consistent terms, and organized paragraphs. The author, a biologist and an experienced teacher of scientific writing, illustrates each principle with real-life examples of both good and bad writing and shows how to revise bad writing to make it clearer and more concise.?She ends each chapter with practice exercises so that readers can come away with new writing skills after just one sitting.
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Writing Science in Plain Englishcan help writers at all levels of their academic and professional careersundergraduate students working on research reports, established scientists writing articles and grant proposals, or agency employees working to follow the Plain Writing Act. This essential resource is the perfect companion for all who seek to write science effectively.
Anne E. Greene is a biologist by training and teaches scientific writing in the Wildlife Biology Program at The University of Montana.
Acknowledgments
1 Why Write Science in Plain English?
2 Before You Write
Audience
Register
Tone
3 Tell a Story
Make Characters Subjects and Their Actions Verbs
Use Strong Verbs
Place Subjects and Verbs Close Together
4 Favor the Active Voice
Benefits of Active Voice
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