What is scientific writing? Scientific writing refers to communicating science to non-scientists in a way that is easily understood by the literate public. Scientific writing often involves publishing research and findings in peer-reviewed journals and magazines or presenting findings at conferences, academic lectures, and public talks.
Scientific writers try to overcome the public by using scientific language (words used in sciences) and a particular writing style.
As such, scientific writers and professional academic writers need to use language that is generally understandable by non-scientists. Scientific writing also includes other publications, including popular science magazines, science fiction novels, and children’s books on science topics like dinosaurs or outer space.
Academic writing and scientific writing are both scholarly pursuits. So it is not surprising that the two types of writing have many similarities. Many scientific papers contain a similar introduction, body and conclusion, and a list of references at the end.
Scientific papers also typically use exact numbers rather than generalizations to give information in each section. The following are three main purposes for academic writing:
- To explain or describe a situation or process.
- To report information in a scientific journal.
- To persuade others to agree or disagree with a particular point of view.
In the broadest sense, scientific writing is written communication produced by scientists. But “scientific” is a term that can be applied to many fields of knowledge and thought. The most familiar type of scientific writing still deals with natural sciences such as physics or chemistry. In other words, this type of writing originates from the fields in which scientific research is conducted.
Scientific writing is about communicating the research clearly without academic jargon or dense language. This guide will show what makes scientific papers similar to academic writing.
Are our scientific writing and academic writing really similar?
Scientific writing and academic writing are very similar, but scientists need to use the correct format style when communicating their research findings.
While a scientist is doing his experiment and he gets results, he needs to share them with the world. Scientific writing is a way of sharing information with other scientists. It’s very important to know how to write scientific papers because it’s not the same as writing in a diary or an email to a friend. Scientists must have a formal voice when writing about their work –meaning that they should use passive sentences while avoiding using ‘I’ unless they are stating their personal opinion.
Academic writing refers to the forms of expository prose used by researchers to convey a body of information about a particular subject. The kinds of publications accepted as contributions of knowledge or research vary greatly between fields (from the print-only, peer-reviewed journal article published annually within the field of history to the weekly magazine published online within physics.)
Style/format of writing
Academic writing and scientific writing are similar because they both have more than one style/format of writing. The APA style and MLA style are two of the most common academic and scientific writing forms. The APA (American Psychological Association) style mainly focuses on social sciences, while the MLA (Modern Language Association) style primarily focuses on humanities.
The style of these writings is impersonal. This means one cannot use first-person pronouns such as “I”, “we,” and “our.” Nor can one give opinions about the subject matter. Instead, one must use third-person pronouns like “he,” “she,” or “it” to describe people, ideas, or other subjects.
Lastly, as with academic writing, scientific writing follows a specific format consisting of an introduction, methods used (if applicable), results obtained from empirical studies (if applicable), analysis of the results (if applicable), and a section for conclusions and recommendations.
Reliance on evidence to support an argument
Another similarity is that both types of writing rely on evidence to support an argument.
In scientific writing, data and evidence are more important than opinions. In contrast, it depends on what type of assignment one is given (e.g. research paper vs. opinion essay). However, both types of assignments require one to provide arguments to support the claims.
Basically, in scientific writing, this evidence comes from experiments and observations; in academic writing, it comes from personal experience, interviews, and internet research.
Attention to clear and concise language, grammar, and spelling
Communication is the main essence of excellent scientific and academic writing. Whether describing an experiment or arguing a point, clear language is essential to engaging the audience and communicating ideas effectively.
They both have the purpose of informing the reader. There are different ways scientific and academic writing can inform, but they both use logic and reason to be persuasive.
When writing these papers, avoid slang, contractions, hyperbole and other forms of exaggeration, and first-person pronouns.
Tone
Both scientific and academic writing adopt an objective tone where the writers can write without bias as they share their information. Using pronouns such as I, me, or you is avoided. These works are written from a third-person point of view.
They typically appear in scholarly journals
Similar to academic writing, scientific writing is typically published in scholarly journals or other publications. Scientific writing is often peer-reviewed and, thus, subject to many of the same style and formatting rules as academic papers.
Scientific writing is generally intended for a specific audience with some experience with scientific research and/or terminology. It’s quite specialized, so it’s important to be precise in the descriptions and explanations when one writes.
Conclusion
The main thread that weaves these two types of writing together is the need to use the proper tools of the trade. This doesn’t mean that one has to complicate everything by using overly-complicated language or awkward phrasings. But it does mean that one should take time to organize their thoughts and create a well-structured piece, whether they’re writing about science, technology, or anything else.
Students who cannot write their academic or scientific papers on their own always have the option of hiring the best academic essay writing services or searching for some scientific writing tips online. So, if one cannot write their papers for whatever reason, they can hire a professional writer who will do the work for them.
