Scientific Writing Skills Research Articles

Vision and Change in Biology Undergraduate Education, A Call for Action—Initial Responses

The executive summary provides an overview of some of V&C's key recommendations regarding next steps in the effort to mobilize the biology community. It is, in essence, a call for national service. A publication discussing these recommendations and action items in more depth will be available later this year. Meanwhile, we highly recommend reading the Executive Summary of V&C, the NAS report (NAS, 2010), and a seminal article by Labov et al. (2010) summarizing the synergy created by these several reports on the changing nature of studies in biology and concomitant need to change biology education. Then, take action! Our hope is to see the formation of a community of biologists, similar to that forming in geology (Manduca et al., 2010): one that will advance biology undergraduate education so it truly reflects the discipline it serves.

Enhancing the Mission of Academic Surgery by Promoting Scientific Writing Skills

Writing and publishing are key to career development and academic success for surgeons who have less time than ever to devote to these activities. To improve the scientific writing skills of its faculty and trainees and to help them complete their manuscripts and grant proposals more quickly, the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) established a service dedicated to scientific writing and editing. Through coursework in scientific writing, individual writing consultations, and editorial review, the service helps academic surgeons with the difficult tasks of writing and publishing their research and seeking extramural funding. The service has rapidly become a successful adjunct to the academic mission of the UCSF Department of Surgery and could offer a model for other academic surgery departments to increase scientific productivity and advance the academic surgical mission.

Field Research as a Pedagogical Tool for Learning Hydrogeochemistry and Scientific-Writing Skills

The main objectives of the advanced undergraduate applied hydrogeochemistry course at Eastern Connecticut State University include (1) thinking scientifically, (2) doing science, and (3) writing scientifically, all in the context of hydrogeochemistry. To these ends, students read and give presentations on scientific-journal articles, work collaboratively on a semester-long field-research project, and write a final formal report. The class is involved in every step of the research project from project design, sample collection and analysis, and data interpretation, to final report preparation. The course is process-oriented rather than task-oriented in an effort to concentrate on developing critical-thinking skills as opposed to learning “cookbook” techniques. Students who complete the course successfully take with them basic hydrogeochemical knowledge, collaborative research experience, and a report that they can show to employers or graduate schools as evidence of their writing ability. During the two years the course has been offered, student response has been overwhelmingly positive.