However good your science is, if it is not communicated effectively, its value, your value, is lessened. Whether you like it or not, the modern scientist is a professional writer and learning how to do it properly is essential. Yet despite the ‘publish or perish’ culture in scientific research, almost no investment is made into teaching researchers how to become better writers. Since 2006, Craig Riddell has helped edit hundreds of scientific papers to successful publication, many for high-impact factor journals. This experience led to the development of a bespoke scientific writing course, Effective Scientific Writing (ESW), from which hundreds of researchers working in UCT, as well as commercial research institutes, have benefitted. ESW teaches the participant to really think about the mechanics of writing and changes their approach to it. Real-life examples provide the basis for exercises that help attendees to understand the importance of style and structure while also reducing the number of grammatical mistakes they make. Successful graduates will not only demonstrate improved scientific writing and editing skills but also be much better positioned to publish scientific papers in the future, especially in journals with a high impact factor.

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Mandatory Streams I (Style and Structure)

Unit 0: Context – Where the course comes from and why it is necessary

Unit 1: The 7 key principles of good writing style – How to write in a clear, concise and reader-friendly way

Unit 2: First impressions – Qualities of a good Title

Unit 3: The 5 parts of a model Abstract – Structure is the key to developing a summary that successfully informs and persuades

Individual consultation of your v1 Title/Abstract as a basis for editing and improving it until it reaches publishable-level quality

Optional Streams I (Grammar)
Unit 4: Articles change meaning (misuse is the most common form of writing error) – How to use them correctly and how to use noun-noun phrases to reduce the need for them

Unit 5: The 7 essential elements of word order – A guide to thinking about and applying good sentence structure

Unit 6: Understanding clauses

Mandatory Streams II (Style and Structure)

Unit 7: The flow chain – Overlap, positioning and signalling strategies for making sure that there is connection and coherence between your sentences

Unit 8: Good paragraph design helps both reader and writer – The 6 principles of good paragraphing

Unit 9: The 5 parts of a model Introduction – Bridging the knowledge gap and pinpointing your research gap are the keys to structuring your story

Individual consultation of your v1 Introduction as a basis for editing and improving it until it reaches publishable-level quality

Unit 11: Model Conclusion – A different approach to structure and style is needed to make the right claims in the right tone

Individual consultation of your v1 Conclusion as a basis for editing and improving it until it reaches publishable-level quality

Optional Streams

Unit 10 (self-study): Materials and Methods writing tips

Unit 12 (stream): Punctuation is not random – Punctuation marks should only be used to perform their specific communicative function(s)

Successful graduates will not only demonstrate improved scientific writing and editing skills but also be much better positioned to publish scientific papers in the future, especially in journals with a high impact factor.

You must be a PhD Student based at or associated with UCT, Prague

You need a minimum B1 (Intermediate) level of English

You must be a PhD Student based at or associated with UCT, Prague

You need a minimum B1 (Intermediate) level of English