The Abductive Inference: An Effective Tool for Science Communication

Suggests that the interrelated skills of understanding and representing (re-presenting) the abductive inference (often neglected in technical and professional communication pedagogy) are critical for the scientific communicator vis-a -vis kairos, and that science communication instructors ought to develop a pedagogy that includes the instruction of this skill.

Graham, S. Scott. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric

Academic Writing: Scientific Reports

This handout describes an organizational structure commonly used to report experimental research in many scientific disciplines, the IMRAD format: Introduction, Methods, Results, And Discussion. (This format is usually not used in reports describing other kinds of research, such as field or case studies, in which headings are more likely to differ according to discipline.) Although the main headings are standard for many scientific fields, details may vary; check with your instructor, or, if submitting an article to a journal, refer to the instructions to authors.

University of Wisconsin (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Reports

Adapting Technical Communication Core Skills to Navigate the Health Care System  

Technical communicators gather data from subject-matter experts and then transform it into information that helps users accomplish tasks. In this workshop, we demonstrate how to adapt our expertise to effectively interact with health care professionals--to improve our understanding of the health care industry. By relying on our professional skills, we can successfully navigate the health care maze and effectively operate in the "foreign" environment of the doctor's office, hospital, and care facilities. And, in doing so, we will improve the quality of care we receive.

Isakson, Carol S. and Katherine Brennan Murphy. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Advice for Beginning Science Writers

This document is the record of a discussion that took place on the nasw-talk mailing list from May 10th through May 14th, 1997. It deals with several issues at the core of the science writing profession.

NASW (2006). Careers>Scientific Communication

Advice on Designing Scientific Posters

A scientific poster is a large document that can communicate your research at a scientific meeting, and is composed of a short title, an introduction to your burning question, an overview of your trendy experimental approach, your amazing results, some insightful discussion of aforementioned results, a listing of previously published articles that are important to your research, and some brief acknowledgement of the tremendous assistance and financial support conned from others. If all text is kept to a minimum, a person could fully read your poster in under 10 minutes.

Purrington, Colin. Swarthmore College (2007). Design>Presentations>Posters>Scientific Communication

American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting

The AAAS Annual Meeting offers an interdisciplinary blend of more than 130 symposia, plenary and topical lectures; seminars on nanotechnology, vaccines and proteomics; the Forum for School Science; poster presentations; career fair; career workshops; and an exhibit hall.

AAAS. Academic>Conferences>Scientific Communication

AMWA Journal

The AMWA Journal is the official publication of the American Medical Writers Association. Delivered quarterly to AMWA members and Journal subscribers, the AMWA Journal aims to be an authoritative, comprehensive source of information about the knowledge, skills, and opportunities in the field of biomedical communication worldwide.

AMWA. Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

AMWA Position Statement on the Contributions of Medical Writers to Scientific Publications  

AMWA formed a new task force in 2001 to develop a statement regarding AMWA’s position on the contributions of biomedical communicators to scientific publications.

Hamilton, C.W. and M.G. Royer. Hamilton House (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

"Aristotle's Pharmacy": The Medical Rhetoric of a Clinical Protocol in the Drug Development Process      

This article analyzes the clinical protocol within the rhetorical framework of the drug development and approval process, identifying the constraints under which the protocol is written and the rhetorical form, argumentative strategies, and style needed to improve and teach the writing of this document.

Bell, Heather D., Kathleen A. Walch and Steven B. Katz. Technical Communication Quarterly (2000). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Assessing Information Needs of Diverse Users to Guide Web Design and Content Development  

This paper presents a qualitative study of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's diverse users and their mental models regarding injury-related content. The study employed an innovative modified contextual inquiry method utilizing tailored, in-depth interviews with five distinct user groups. Included in this paper is a detailed description of the background, framework, and method used for this study. Analysis of the full results was still in process at the due date of this paper. The results will be in the presentation's slide set and available from the STC website www.stc.org.

Pettit Jones, Colleen and Susan J. Robinson. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Web Design>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST)

ARST was founded in 1992 with the hope of providing a forum for researchers and teachers in the area of the rhetoric of science and technology. Since then, ARST has hosted day-long conferences in conjunction with the annual meetings of National Communication Association (NCA). In addition, ARST acts as an interest group of NCA to host panels and papers within the conference itself. Originally called the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology, in November 2006 members voted unanimously to rename the organization to the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology in order to better reflect the international nature of its membership and intellectual concerns.

ARST. Organizations>Rhetoric>Technology>Scientific Communication

Association of British Science Writers: Members' E-Mail Directory

This page lists freelance and staff writers who have their own web pages. there is a separate page for members you can reach by email. Members: fill in this form to get into the directory.

ABSW. Resources>Directories>Scientific Communication>United Kingdom

Association of British Science Writers: Members' Websites Directory

This page lists freelance and staff writers who have their own web pages. there is a separate page for members you can reach by email. Members: fill in this form to get into the directory.

ABSW. Resources>Directories>Scientific Communication>United Kingdom

Authorship for Research Groups    

Major clinical research investigations, especially large multicenter trials, require the involvement, cooperation, and dedication of many individuals. Roles and responsibilities range from conceiving the study and designing the protocol to collecting and analyzing the data, and numerous essential steps in between. Following completion of the study, the most important responsibilities are prompt preparation of a manuscript that reports the study findings, and timely submission of the paper to a journal for peer review, publication, and communication of the study findings to the scientific and clinical communities. The number of collaborative studies and multicenter clinical trials seems to be growing, with increasing numbers of published articles involving a study group. For instance, 22% of the 185 research articles published in JAMA as Original Contributions in 2001 specifically identified a study group, compared with 6% of 172 Original Contributions published 10 years earlier. Authorship of these studies increasingly involves some indication of group participation and responsibility, reflecting the cooperative nature, multidisciplinary teamwork, and complexity of such investigations.

Flanagin, Annette, Phil B. Fontanarosa and Catherine D. DeAngelis. JAMA (2001). Articles>Scientific Communication>Collaboration

Avenues to a Career in Scientific Communication  

Scientific communication (SC) covers science, medicine, and technology. Its documentation format ranges from research papers and regulatory-agency submissions to educational/ training materials and reference guides. This panel discussion addresses issues for those entering the area of scientific communication or wishing to enhance their skills in this area.

Armbruster, David L., Nancy E. Davis, Alice L Philbin and Jim J. Walsh. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Scientific Communication

Avoiding Disasters with Better Communication  

Many of the memoranda and letters related to the Chicago flood, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters that warned of impending disasters went unheeded. The reason: the writers failed to properly use various rhetorical features and conventions. They failed to include necessary information, omitted unnecessary detail, placed important information in inappropriate locations, used qualifiers to reduce perceptions of the consequences of actions, and failed to follow organizational conventions related to transmission of information. Their lack of knowledge of rhetorical strategies exacerbated the problems associated with the contexts in which the various documents were written, resulting in misunderstandings.

Boiarsky, Carolyn. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Scientific Communication>Risk Communication

Beginning to Edit Physics  

A physicist-turned-editor shows you the basics required for copyediting physics papers (physical quantities, symbols, units, scientific notation, the structure of mathematical expressions, the nature of graphs), and points the way to learning enough 'editorial physics' to begin substantive editing.

Murphy, Peter W. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Editing>Scientific Communication

Behind the Scenes of Scientific Debating

In analysing a scientific debate, there are at least two types of relevant information. One is the debate itself, experienced first hand or via a transcript. Another is what can be called backstage information, which includes the debaters’ preparations, plans, notes, thinking and reservoir of arguments and responses. Familiarity with backstage information can provide insights for understanding the dynamics of the debate. Often, the only individuals with much backstage information are the debaters themselves, plus perhaps one or two advisers or close friends. An observer of the debate seldom has access to backstage information. The next best thing, then, is generalisations based on backstage experience with debates of a similar nature.

Martin, Brian. University of Wollongong (2000). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric

Bibliography of Works on Scientific Writing

The compilation of bibliographies is at best an inexact science. Since the literature on scientific writing is both vast and diverse, I've tried to narrow this list down to those works which answer two basic questions: 'What are the distinguishing characteristics of scientific writing?' and 'How do scientists learn the norms and style of scientific writing?'

Carpenter, Harrison. University of Colorado. Resources>Bibliographies>Scientific Communication

Biomedical Writing

Learn about biomedical writing and biomedical writers, what they are doing at various stages of their careers, and what their interests are.

Velez, Lili Fox. Earthlink (1999). Careers>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Biotechnology: Opportunities for Technical Communicators  

Tanrikulu describes the opportunities and professional requirements for technical communicators seeking employment in the biotechnology industry. The article includes a list of Web sites where readers can seek more information.

Tanrikulu, Marta. Intercom (2001). Careers>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Board of Editors in the Life Sciences

The Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) was founded in 1991 to evaluate the proficiency of manuscript editors in the life sciences and to award credentials similar to those obtainable in other professions. The Board was founded by 10 editors who had long been active in national and international professional associations in scientific editing and publishing. They began working on the development of the certification program in the early 1980s. They were assisted by consultants in testing and by administrators of certification programs in other professions. BELS was incorporated in the state of Maryland on January 23, 1991, and the first official certification examinations were offered that year. BELS now has hundreds of members in the United States, Canada, and several European countries.

BELS. Organizations>Editing>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Boundary Objects as Rhetorical Exigence: Knowledge Mapping and Interdisciplinary Cooperation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory    

This article uses qualitative material gathered at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to construct a model of the rhetorical activity that occurs at the boundaries between diverse communities of practice working on complex sociotechnical systems. The authors reinterpret the notion of the boundary object current in science studies as a rhetorical construct that can foster cooperation and communication among the diverse members of heterogeneous working groups. The knowledge maps constructed by team members at LANL in their work on technical systems are boundary objects that can replace the demarcation exigence that so often leads to agonistic rhetorical boundary work with an integrative exigence. The integrative exigence realized by the boundary object of the knowledge map can help create a temporary trading zone characterized by rhetorical relations of symmetry and mutual understanding. In such cases, boundary work can become an effort involving integration and understanding rather than contest, controversy, and demarcation.

Wilson, Greg and Carl G. Herndl. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Scientific Communication>Collaboration>Rhetoric

A Brief History of the Role of Technical Communication in Developing Environmental Literacy  

This paper introduces a two-part grouping of papers on “Ecological Literacy and Advocacy through Technical Communication.” Both technical communication and environmental rhetoric have historical roots in the professionalization of science and government in the late 1800s. The association of technical communication with “patrons” in industry has limited the roles of technical communicators to purveying ecological literacy within the relatively tight constraints of “risk communication.” But with the blurring of contemporary communication genres and the growth of ecological consciousness, technical communicators may follow science writers into roles more closely associated with environmental advocacy.

Killingsworth, M. Jimmie and Jacqueline S. Palmer. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Scientific Communication>Environmental>Civic

Building a Biodiversity Content Management System for Science, Education, and Outreach    

We describe the system architecture and data template design for the Animal Diversity Web (http://www.animaldiversity.org), an online natural history resource serving three audiences: 1) the scientific community, 2) educators and learners, and 3) the general public. Our architecture supports highly scalable, flexible resource building by combining relational and object-oriented databases. Content resources are managed separately from identifiers that relate and display them. Websites targeting different audiences from the same database handle large volumes of traffic. Content contribution and legacy data are robust to changes in data models. XML and OWL versions of our data template set the stage for making ADW data accessible to other systems.

Parr, C.S., R. Espinosa, T. Dewey, G. Hammond and P. Myers. Data Science Journal (2005). Articles>Content Management>Scientific Communication