Sierpinski triangle, a famous fractal created by connecting the midpoints of each segment of an equilateral triangle, removing the shape, and repeating in the resultant three new triangles

Writing as a Scientist

Writing as scientist is very different from any other kind of scholarly writing, but it's equally essential: peers can't be convinced, professors can't be impressed, grants can't be given, results can't be replicated... without clear writing.

To be useful, scientific writing must be precise, accurate, and detailed. The styles, structures, and formats used are quite different from those used in other disciplines.

Resources at Collins Library can make writing to satisfy a scientific audience much easier. Below, you can find selected print and web resources. Check SIMON to see if the book you're looking for is available, and if not, you can request a copy from Summit.

Also, remember you have a great human resource in the University of Puget Sound Writing Center!

General Resources

These resources are useful for any scientific field, and contain information about most forms of writing you'll encounter, from lab reports to articles to professional forms of writing like CVs, progress reports, and memos. Exceptionally useful resources are starred.

  • *Alley, Michael. The Craft of Scientific Writing, 3rd ed.; Springer: New York, 1996.
    Location: T11 .A37 1996. Books.
    Michael Alley has also authored an extremely useful, freely accessible companion, Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.
  • Booth, Vernon. Communicating in Science: Writing a Scientific Paper and Speaking at Scientific Meetings, 2nd ed.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1993.
    Location: Q223.B664 1993. Books.
  • Day, Robert A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 5th ed.; Oryx Press: Phoenix, 1998.
    Location: T11.D33 1998. Books.
  • Lay, Mary M. Technical Communication. Chicago: Irwin, 1995.
    Location: T10.5 .T413 1995. Books.
  • Lutz, Jean A. and C. Gilbert Storms. The Practice of Technical and Scientific Communication: Writing in Professional Contexts. Stamford, Conn.: Ablex Pub. Corp., 1998.
    Location: T11 .P73 1997. Books.
  • Montgomery, Scott L. The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
    Location: T10.5 .M65 2003. Books.
  • Paradis, James G.; Muriel L. Zimmerman. The MIT guide to science and engineering communication. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997.
    Location: Q223 .P33 1997. Books.
  • Perelman, Leslie C., James Paradis, and Edward Barrett. The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing. Mountain View, Calif: Mayfield Pub. Co, 1998.
    Location: Mayfield Handbook of Scientific & Technical Writing
    This fantastic, free online resource discusses all types of scientific & technical writing, from academic to workday communications.
  • Scientific Style and Format: the CSE (Council of Science Editors) Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 6th ed.; Reston, VA: Council of Science Editors in cooperation with the Rockefeller University Press, 2006.
    Location: T11 .S386 2006. Reference
  • Shortland, Michael and Jane Gregory. Communicating Science: A Handbook. Harlow, England: Longman Scientific, 1991.
    Location: Q223 .S48 1991. Books.
  • Sides, Charles H. How to Write & Present Technical Information, 3rd ed.; Oryx Press: Phoenix, 1999.
    Location: T11 .S528 1999. Books.
  • *Valiela, Ivan. Doing Science: Design, Analysis, and Communication of Scientific Research; Oxford University Press: New York, 2001.
    Location: Q180.A1 V35 2001. Books.
  • Wilson, Anthony. Handbook of Science Communication. Bristol; Philadelphia: Institute of Physics Pub., 1998.
    Location: Q223 .H345 1998. Books.
    Location: eBook

Grammar & Style

These grammar and style guides will help you apply the general rules for good writing in a scientific context, as well as provide information you won't find elsewhere, like how to best represent that huge equation or data set.

  • Day, Robert A. Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals. 2nd ed. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1995.
    Location: PE1475 .D38 1995. Books.
  • Kirkman, John. Good Style: Writing for Science and Technology; Chapman & Hall: London, 1992.
    Location: T11.K54 1992. Books.
  • Microsoft Corporation Editorial Style Board. Microsoft manual of style for technical publications, 3rd ed.; Microsoft Press: Redmond, WA, 1995.
    Location: T11 .M467 1995. Books.
  • Rubens, Paul, ed. Science and Technical Writing: A Manual of Style, 2nd ed.; New York: Routledge, 2001.
    Location: T11 .S378 2001. Reference.

Scientific Field

Some guides are written to address the unique challenges of writing for a particular field. These are great resources when you have a very specific problem or an in-depth question.

  • Biology:

    • American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 9th ed.; Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore, 1998
      Location: R119 .A533 1998. Reserves.
    • Knisely, Karin. A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology. Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 2002.
      Location: QH305 .K64 2002. Reference.
    • McMillan, Vicky. Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences, 3rd ed.; Bedford Books: Boston, 1988.
      Location: QH304 .M36 1988. Books.
    • Pechenik, Jan. A Short Guide to Writing about Biology, 6th ed.; New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007.
      Location: QH304 .P43 2007. Books.

  • Chemistry:

    • The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 3rd ed.; Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 2006.
      Location: QD8.5 .A25 2006. Reference.
    • Ebel, Hans Friedrich, Claus Bliefert, and William E. Russey, eds. The art of scientific writing : from student reports to professional publications in chemistry and related fields, 2nd ed; Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 2004.
      Location: QD9.15 .E23 2004. Books.

  • Mathematics & Computer Science:

    • Higham, Nicholas J. Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1998.
      Location: QA42 .H54 1998. Books.
    • Knuth, Donald Ervin, Tracy Larrabee, Paul M. Roberts, and Mathematical Association of America. Mathematical Writing.Washington, D.C.: The Mathematical Association of America, 1989.
      Location: QA42 .K58 1989. Books.
    • Miller, Jane E. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers. Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004
      Location: T11 .M485 2004. Books.
    • Zobel, Justin. Writing for computer science; Springer: New York, 2004.
      Location: T11 .Z62 1997. Books.

  • Physics

    • American Institute of Physics. AIP Style Manual. New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Physics, 1990.
      eBook
    • Waldron, Anne, Peggy Judd, and Valerie Miller. Physical Review Style and Notation Guide. New York: American Physical Society, 2005.
      eBook

Types of writing

On the other hand, some very specific formats like posters and proposals cut across all fields of science. Use these resources to write a great proposal or finish your senior thesis with more ease and style.

  • Design of Scientific Posters
    This site, hosted by Penn State, presents a clear and brief description of how to make a good poster with many examples.
  • Friedland, Andrew J. and Carol L. Folt. Writing Successful Science Proposals. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
    Location: Q180.55 .P7 F75 2000. Books.
  • Kanare, Howard M. Writing the Laboratory Notebook; ACS: Washington, 1985.
    Location: Q180.58 .K36 1985. Book.
  • Lipson, Charles. How to Write a BA Thesis: A Practical Guide from Your First Ideas to Your Finished Paper. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
    Location: LB2369 .L54 2005. Books.

Web Resources

These web resources are largely guides from practioners to students or newcomers to the field, and are great sources of practical tips. You'll also find information about scientific communication in the larger world.

  • Practioner Tips

    Design of Scientific Posters
    This site, hosted by Penn State, presents a clear and brief description of how to make a good poster with many examples.

    Tips for Technical Papers
    Jennifer Widom, a computer science professor at Stanford, provides a concise, computer-science oriented guide to technical writing from title to appendix.

    Kenneth Hanson’s Help with Technical & Scientific Writing
    Kenneth Hanson, a researcher at Los Alamos, has posted useful links and slides on technical communications. In addition, he has posted with permission some articles from IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, including one by Kurt Vonnegut (who had a brief career as a technical writer with General Electric).

  • e-Handbook

    Mayfield Handbook of Scientific & Technical Writing
    This fantastic, free online resource discusses all types of scientific & technical writing, from academic to workday communications.

  • Exploring on your own

    eServer Technical Communications Library
    A web portal to open access technical communication resources, focusing more on technology and workplace communications.

  • Communicating your research to non-scientists

    Communicating Science
    While it's most immediately important to communicate your research to other scientists, ultimately the broader community needs to know and understand science. This resource helps you learn to communicate complex concepts to the public.

An engraving of a horsetail

Citations in Science

In the sciences, styles are often determined by the journal publishing the article. For example, authors submitting to Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) journals must follow specific rules about citation style.

Your professors may want you to use a familiar citation style like APA or AMA, or they may ask you to prepare for the future by using the style of a particular journal important to the class's field of study.

Most journals have a webpage of guidelines for contributors which will explain their citation style.

A Refworks logo serving as a link

You can use RefWorks to help you manage your citations more easily. This online tool can help you manage resources, create bibliographies, and cite sources. You can choose from a very long list of styles, including many individual journal styles. Don't see what you need? You can also create custom styles.

Collins Library provides information and tutorials to get you started with Refworks, or get help from a librarian.

Remember to always double check your citations and bibliography, because whatever tools you use, you are ultimately responsible for their accuracy.

Built by R. Kuglitsch.
Updated March 26, 2009