Teaching scientific writing to non-native English speakers

Abstract

Scientists and clinicians around the world are facing the tyranny of publishing in English in journals with high-impact factors. The workshop format is not suitable for language teaching. Participants in workshops on scientific writing whose first language is not English should therefore be taught the structure of scientific manuscripts. Once a manuscript is properly organised, the English can be improved by a native-English-speaking person, preferably an author's editor. As an example, I describe the basic design of a 3-day workshop on scientific writing for non-native English speakers. Specialists in scientific writing are not necessarily language teachers; the skill should be taught as a subject in its own right, preferably as part of general training in research.