Writing is an essential professional skill that can and should be learned. Having participated in Effective Scientific Writing (ESW) I, students bring to ESW II a much better understanding of (i) the core principles of good writing style, (ii) the key grammatical issues to be considered, (iii) the importance of structure in writing, and (iv) the need to give editors and readers what they expect, both in terms of content and clarity. In ESW II, this knowledge, together with the new topics covered, is applied to the ‘meat’ of a research paper. As it progresses, ESW II evolves into a workshop, with the participants writing, editing, rewriting, presenting and receiving feedback on their own introductions and conclusions. (Results & discussion is covered in a separate inter-semester intensive course available to all graduates of ESW II.)

Successful graduates of the course will:

− develop a philosophy of scientific writing

− consistently apply key principles of style to their writing so that their message is communicated in a clear, concise and reader-focused way

− understand and produce the structure the editor and reader requires for each section of a scientific paper

− be aware of the most common grammar mistakes made by non-natives in scientific writing and, thereby, avoid making them (or at least significantly reduce them)

− not only develop writing skills but also the enhanced editing skills necessary to properly self-edit, as well as to give constructive feedback on the work of their students and colleagues

Furthermore, and this is crucial, many participants actually learn to enjoy the writing process; partly because the sense of structure gives them more confidence in what they are doing, and partly because they learn to recognize

that by thinking (really thinking) about how to improve their writing they are also thinking about how to improve their science.

In the end, it is all about the output, which is that, typically, all participants demonstrate improved scientific writing and, thus, are much better positioned to get their scientific papers published.

All materials are supplied as needed on the course.

1 Sentence flow: strategies for ensuring clear sentence connection and overall text coherence

2 Recognising and fixing bad flow

3 The importance of signalling

4 The rules of good paragraph design

5 Model Introduction: structure brings flow and, thereby clarity

6 Mid-course presentations: your Introduction

7 Materials and methodology tips: errors to avoid to keep the prose normal and concise

8 Reaching the right Conclusion: understanding its more flexible structure; making just the right claims in the right tone

9 Punctuation is not random; it is a tool: the particular communicative function(s) of the main punctuation marks

10 Final presentations: your Conclusion

11 Final presentations

12 Final presentations

13 Final presentations

14 Final presentations