Scientific and Technical Communication: Theory, Practice and Policy

Introduction

Communication is not merely important to scientific and technical development — it is essential. The primary medium for such communication is a document called the paper or, more commonly, the article. The modern scientific article began over three hundred years ago with the (coincidentally simultaneous) publication of the Journal des Scavans in France and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in England. The first such documents read very much like letters; to us they may seem digressive and conversational. The tone and form changed in the late 1800s, when Louis Pasteur insisted that the proper test of the validity of his work was that it could be reproduced. He encouraged such reproduction by describing his experiments in great detail and giving special attention to methods. Pasteur's concerns became fundamental to scientific practice, and consequently, to the article's emphasis on method. Since Pasteur, the article has become shorter and more rigidly structured. Both changes were necessitated by the space limitations and time constraints of scientific journals, and — especially in recent decades — the flood of scientific research.

In the years ahead, increasing specialization will require scientists to narrow their focus, and at the same time the need to work within larger systems will require them to explain themselves to other scientific communities or to the public outside all scientific communities.

Some of you may be writing articles and essays naturally, as part of ongoing activities. You will publish in scientific journals. Others of you may publish only occasionally — when, for instance, a supervisor asks you to make public an experiment or a developmental process. You will publish in "trade" journals which describe research with immediate commercial application. And a few of you, writing for a general audience, will publish in popular science magazines and newspapers.

This chapter will examine various forms of communicating scientific knowledge: the research article, the review article, the abstract and various forms for the layperson.

Reading Research Articles

A research article presents original work done by its author or authors. It has three purposes: to convey knowledge, to acknowledge the contributions of others, and to establish priority for its author (the article is a flag planted on each scientist's particular Mount Everest, saying "I was here first"). These purposes are met through a standardized and nearly universal format of six sections: overview, literature review, purpose, method, results and conclusion. The article "Efficacy of Brief, Intense Light Exposure for Treatment of Winter Depression," excerpted here, is typical. It devotes approximately one page to each section; the entire article, including works cited, is eight pages.

An article's overview summarizes the article in a single paragraph. In some cases it is the article's first paragraph. In other cases it is as an abstract (or summary) which appears in boldface or italics, and is placed on the page between the authors' names and the first paragraph. The abstract which introduces the "Light Exposure" article, like all overviews, begins directly:

A high-intensity fluorescent lighting system, tilted downward toward the head, and emitting negligible levels of ultraviolet radiation, was tested under two random crossover protocols in winter-depressed patients: 30-minute sessions at (a) 3,000 lux vs. 10,000 lux in early morning, and (b) morning vs. evening sessions at 10,000 lux.

(A "lux" is unit of illumination equal to the light of one candle.)

The literature review localizes the article in time by summarizing recent and ongoing work in the area. Most literature reviews are one or two paragraphs in the text itself; some appear in the footnotes. Authors who take issue with a certain piece of research discuss that research at length. The literature review section of the "Light Exposure" article begins:

Bright artificial light has been widely investigated in the past 5 years for the treatment of the recurrent winter depression of seasonal affective disorder. This nonpharmacological intervention reduces depressive symptoms . . . within 1 week, with negligible side effects. Most previous clinical studies have used full-spectrum fluorescent light of approximately 2,500 2,500 lux — an intensity level achieved outdoors within 15 minutes after sunrise — for 2 to 6 hours of daily exposure.

. . . .

Given the rather long required exposure duration at 2,500 lux and the need to maintain treatment nearly daily through several months of the year, the patient's behavioral investment is considerable, and many find it incompatible with their normal routines. Furthermore, as originally prescribed, patients were instructed to glance directly at the light approximately once per minute (Rosenthal et al. 1984) — although the necessity of doing so was never tested — which could distract from activities requiring concentration.

Purpose describes the aim or goal of the researchers' work, and distinguishes it from similar work. The purpose section of the "Light Exposure" article explains:

We . . . decided to increase the intensity of early-morning exposures to 10,000 lux, a level achieved outdoors within 40 minutes after sunrise, while reducing duration to 30 minutes per daily treatment session. Two approaches were used to establish the differential efficacy of this brief, intense method: crossover comparisons with dimmer morning light and with early-evening light.

Method describes and explains the procedure used to achieve the purpose. This section is particularly important in a scientific article because a researcher's method in large part determines her results. As a reader you will pay close attention to this section; any objections you have are likely to fault method. Accordingly, authors give specific attention to uncommon or unusual aspects of the method. Authors in any of the natural sciences consider the use of new processes and equipment, new distribution records, new or unusual instrumentation; authors in medicine consider new operative techniques; authors in the social sciences consider type of question and manner of administration.

The methods section of the "Light Exposure" article is divided into subsections called subjects, apparatus, and procedure. The subjects subsection begins: "Thirty-four research volunteers meeting DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association 1987) criteria for seasonal (winter type) depressive disorder entered the protocols ..." The apparatus subsection begins: "The lighting fixture (Ultra-Bright 10,000, Medic-Light, Inc.) was a metal box containing fluorescent lamps, with a reflector and plastic diffusing screen." The procedure subsection begins:

Two random crossover protocols were compared: (1) 30 minutes of early-morning light at 3,000 lux or 10,000 lux (n = 12 completers); and (2) 30 minutes of 10,000 lux presented in early morning or evening (n = 12). Four subjects were studied after completion of the intensity crossover. Subjects chose a fixed, 30-minute light exposure period within the window of 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. or 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They were instructed to keep a consistent sleep schedule throughout the study and to begin morning sessions upon awakening. A daily telephone message was required at the beginning or end of each session so that compliance could be monitored.

Results describe the findings in quantitative or qualitative terms. The "Light Exposure" article discusses results in terms of the traditional measure of clinical depression — the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D): "Nineteen of the subjects (79%) showed pre- to post-treatment score reductions of at least 50 percent ..." Like many results sections, this includes a graphic — here a line graph of HAM-D scores for the subjects over the course of the experiment.

This section observes any peculiarities in the data, notes especially anything unexpected. It may also discuss related concerns; the results section of the "Light Exposure" article addresses a possible health hazard:

Although with our current lighting apparatus we have taken precautions to minimize UV radiation and reduce brightness and glare through the downward angle of the light and instructing patients not to stare directly at the source, it is not without question that such light treatment — whether at 2,500 or 10,000 lux — imposes an unsuspected long-term hazard to the eyes. Fortunately, we have thus far found no clinically relevant change, or abnormality, in any of the ophthalmological examinations of lens, retina, or visual performance, after 2 to 6 weeks of 10,000 lux light treatment.

Conclusion (or Discussion) summarizes, evaluates and explains the results. The "Light Exposure" article concludes:

Thus far we have tested 24 crossover completers under 10,000 lux light and found the remission rate in 30-minute sessions to equal or exceed that of most 2,500 lux studies with exposure durations of 2 hours or more . . . More subjects responded to morning than to evening light, although the evening response appeared to be enhanced in the first phase of the crossover (a possible placebo effect) . . . The advantages of the briefer, more intense treatment include greater likelihood of patient compliance and perhaps heightened clinical response.

Composing Research Articles

Research articles are likely to have more than one author. Those of you who enter graduate programs will likely work closely with a specialist; odds are good that your first publication will be co-authored with that specialist and others. When researchers collaborate on an article, writing and research are likely to proceed simultaneously. When research is completed before the article is begun, the article may be written by the member of the research team who writes most clearly. In this case the several names do not mean that the composition of the article was shared equally, but that, on the whole, the authors made more or less equal contributions to the research.

You will find that most research articles are difficult to write not because you do not know what to say, but you are unsure what to omit. Such decisions may be especially difficult when research took months or years and involved several researchers; understandably, they are likely to feel that the time spent merits more than a few paragraphs.

A set of standards for punctuation, citation, abbreviation, representing physical constants, etc. is called a professional style. Most disciplines have associated societies which explain styles in style manuals. For instance, the style manual of the American Chemical Society (The ACS Style Guide) recommends that if a mark of punctuation is part of the quotation, it should lie within the quotation marks; otherwise, it should appear outside them.

Some widely-used style manuals are listed here.

Biology CBE Style Manual: A Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers in the Biological Sciences (Fifth edition, revised and expanded). Bethesda, MD: Council of Biology Editors, 1983.

Chemistry The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 1986.

Humanities MLA Style Manual. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1985.

Medicine Iverson, Cheryl and Barclay, William R. American Medical Association Manual of Style. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1989.

Physics AIP Style Manual. Fourth Edition. New York, NY: American Institute of Physics, 1990.

Psychology American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Third Edition).

There are also style guides for types of authors.

Inventors Patents and Trademarks Style Manual. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1984.

Non-English O'Connor, Maeve, Woodford, Peter and the European Speakers Association of Editors of Biological Periodicals Style Manual Committee. Writing Scientific Papers in English: An ELSE-Ciba Foundation Guide for Authors. Amsterdam and New York: Associated Scientific Publishers, 1976.

As a student, you may be expected to abide by the style of the discipline in which you are working: a microbiology instructor may require that your work follow CBE style, and a psychology instructor might ask that it follow APA style. As an employee, you will have guidelines set by your employer (U.S. government offices, for instance, each have specific styles). As an author of a research article, you face a situation which is more complicated. Journal styles vary from not only from discipline to discipline, but in many cases from journal to journal. For instance, although chemistry journals generally abide by the recommended style of the ACS Style Guide, they differ in certain specifics — like means of citation. In Chemical Reviews and Journal of the American Chemical Society, references are cited by a superscript: Hydrolysis was begun immediately.3 In Analytic Chemistry, references are cited by numbers in parentheses: Hydrolysis was begun immediately (3). And in Biochemistry and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals, references are cited by author name and date: Hydrolysis was begun immediately (Mitchie, 1991). Some journals adopt styles which have little relation to that recommended by their associated society. How to find a journal's style? Request a style guide directly from the journal, or simply follow the format of an article in the most recent issue.

Publishing Research Articles

The first step is finding a professional journal. The journal should be one likely to publish your article; it should also be one in which you would like your article published. You are trying then to ascertain both suitability and prestige. To determine suitability, find two or three recent articles on similar topics, and look at the journals listed in their "works cited" sections. They are likely to regard your article as suitable. To determine prestige is a bit more difficult. Most beginning authors simply ask a colleague knowledgeable in the field. If, however, you seek a view likely to be more objective and perhaps more comprehensive, refer to Journal Citation Reports — a publication which calculates for journals an "impact factor" based on number of citations a year divided by the number of "citable" papers in the same period.

Most journals have directions for the submission of manuscripts placed on the inside cover, or on one of the first few pages. Some ask for two copies; some ask for a floppy disk; some ask for a statement that the only copy in circulation is in their hands; some ask for an abstract of the article. Most ask that you enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope so that they may return the manuscript, and all advise you as to the style the journal follows: i.e., Chicago, American Psychological Association, etc.

Nine-by-twelve inch envelopes are ideal for mailing manuscripts. Two envelopes are necessary. One should be self-addressed and stamped, folded in half and — with the manuscript and cover letter — placed inside the other. The cover letter needs be little more than two sentences. The following are typical: "Please consider the enclosed article — "Gravity and Its Effect on Granny Smith and Macintosh Apples" — for publication in Scientific American. Thank you for your attention." The practice of mailing a manuscript to more than one publisher at a time (a multiple submission) is considered unethical in certain fields. It may also be impractical: should two journals in such a field accept your manuscript, you will have to withdraw what was understood as an offer — upsetting printing schedules and perhaps ruining your chance to be published in that journal again. In other fields multiple submission is a practice both accepted and expected. To know which is which, consult a teacher or a colleague.

Upon receiving your manuscript, the journal will send you a postcard or brief letter stating that the manuscript has arrived safely and that it has been sent to readers; it will also give you an approximate idea of the time by which a decision will have been made. Depending on a number of logistical matters, the time between submission and publication decision may be anywhere from three weeks to a five months. The manuscript is sent to one or more peers of the author (that is, people whose credentials show an expertise comparable to yours), who recommend to the journal's editors that the manuscript be accepted or turned away. Upon receiving recommendations, the editor sends you a letter regarding his decision. Most journals have three types of notice: 1) acceptance, 2) rejection, and 3) request for revision and re-submission. Acceptances inform you of the production schedule. Rejections usually describe reasons for rejection, and may include reviewers' comments; especially conscientious editors suggest other journals to which the article might be submitted. Requests for revision and re-submission, of course, are accompanied by specific suggestions for rewrites.

In the 17th Century the Royal Society of London gave scientists a new incentive to make public their findings: it ruled that priority for a discovery would go not to the scientist who made the discovery, but to the scientist who published the discovery. Thus was begun what in the present day has become not merely "publish or perish" but — particularly in the fields of physics and biology — publish sooner or perish. Watson and Crick's 1953 paper describing the structure of DNA was published three weeks after its submission. It was fast by 1950s standards, and it is fast by today's. But the speed was justified: the paper described a discovery which had, in its own words, "profound implications." In years since, less important articles have been published as quickly and more quickly.

The trend towards quick publication is caused by both the increasing pace of scientific discovery, and by competition among journals. Many authors welcome the fast publication time because it ensures them recognition. Others criticize the practice — suggesting that the type of article rushed into print may be decided according to a kind of fashion, and that the pressure to publish quickly will result in a flawed product. These critics cite the cold fusion controversy as an example of a "fashion" which produced a number of poor papers. In fact, some have suggested that Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann's infamous article was unlikely to represent good work simply because it was rushed into print a mere four weeks after its submission.

Writing for Electronic Journals

In the last few years have appeared journals which exist entirely in the electronic realm — never appearing in print. An author may submit an article from a computer connected by an internet to an electronic mailbox accessible by the journal's editor. The editor will read it on his computer screen. If he thinks it unsuitable for the journal he will respond to the author with an electronic rejection letter. If he thinks it is suitable, he will send the author an electronic letter saying so, and will forward the article to the electronic domain of the journal, where it may be accessed by the journal's subscribers. The Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists offers addresses and brief descriptions of over 200 journals and newsletters and over 1000 discussion lists or bulletin boards. It is the most comprehensive guide to date.

The advantage of such forms of publication, obviously, is speed. The sheer mechanics of editing, printing and mailing all delay publication; in most scientific journals, the time between submission and publication may be six months — in other fields, several years. Obviously the delay hurts some fields and undercuts the purpose of the journal — to get information in the hands of those who need it when they need it.

In physics, there has long existed a practice of distributing copies of an article submitted for publication to scientists working in the same field before publication. Electronic preprint archive and distribution systems — more commonly called "bulletin boards" — extend this practice into the electronic domain, where it is faster and less expensive. Bulletin boards are a less formal version of electronic journals, differing only in that submissions are not reviewed by peers. Critics have suggested that the absence of peer review encourages articles which are wrongly conceived, poorly researched and/or sloppily written. Defenders argue that the process is democratic, and that competent persons within a given field will be able to judge for themselves the merit of articles in that field. Further, they point out that bulletin boards are in an early stage of development; there is no reason they cannot be made to combine the advantages of accessibility with some type of peer review simply by separating reviewed articles from unreviewed articles.

Certainly the full potential of bulletin boards has yet to be realized. Many foresee a time when bulletin boards contain interactive papers — that is, papers which are only half-written and which invite conclusions, papers with equations that may be solved by readers, and papers whose reviews can be accessed with a few keystrokes.

Describing the Work of Others

The advantage of describing your own research is that you do not have to study the subject. The disadvantage is that you may be so close to it that you find it difficult to regard objectively. And although describing the research of others may require you to study an unfamiliar area, its great advantage is that it provides you the perspective gained by distance.

In Review Papers

A review paper summarizes research which may or may not have been done by the author. It may also evaluate that research. It may review the work of several researchers working on separate projects in a given area; it may review the work of a particular individual or group. Most review papers average between five and twenty pages, and are published in journals whose title contains the word review. They are especially useful for readers requiring an overview of a field.

The following piece — "Genes, Cholesterol and Heart Attacks" — is a review paper written for an undergraduate general science class. It presents recent findings in factors contributing to heart attacks.

Genes, Cholesterol and Heart Attacks

Courtney Caskey

A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of heart is impaired. This blood supply is limited by clogged arteries. People prone to coronary diseases are rarely identified until their arteries are already narrowed by cholesterol-laden deposits.

Many factors can increase a person's chances of having a heart attack. These include smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and a history of vascular disease. 1 These risk factors are cumulative. If, for instance, a person has two of the risk factors, his chance of having a heart attack is four times greater than they would be had he had only one risk factor. 2 One of the more common factors leading to heart attacks is a high cholesterol level. A blood cholesterol level over 240 milligrams per deciliter is considered high, between 200 and 239 is borderline, and below 200 is normal.3

Although high blood cholesterol can increase risk of heart disease, diet can lower cholesterol and so reduce the risk. 4 For every one percent drop in cholesterol in a person with high blood cholesterol, the chance of developing heart disease is reduced by three percent. 5 (While high levels of cholesterol seem to predispose some people to coronary heart disease, other people with equally high cholesterol counts are unaffected. 6 In other words, the dangers of high cholesterol seem to be exaggerated. 7

Both adults and young children can be genetically predisposed to heart attack. Genetic testing would allow individuals to be identified as vulnerable at birth. They might be raised to avoid conditions that contribute to heart attack such as obesity and smoking. Why do some have life-threatening heart attacks in their forties and fifties, while others survive into their eighties without a hint of heart trouble? To answer this question many factors must be considered — heredity, cholesterol and risk factors. Most people who develop coronary artery disease do so through the interaction of a hereditary predisposition and one or more risk factors.

Early severe heart disease can be caused by the lack of the cholesterol-transport proteins. Cholesterol in the body is genetically controlled. Defects in any of the genes dealing with cholesterol can disrupt the system. There are many important cholesterol-processing genes such as apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein C-III. Defects in the apolipoprotein A-I gene and apolipoprotein C-III gene may inhibit their production of cholesterol-transporting proteins. A defect can occur when a piece of apolipoprotein A-I gene trades places with a piece of apolipoprotein C-III gene. If these two genes are inactivated, there will be an absence of these two cholesterol-transporting proteins in the blood. 8

Apolipoprotein A-I is a protein that carries cholesterol throughout the body using the bloodstream as a delivery route. Cholesterol is used all over the body to manufacture the membranes that enclose each cell. The fresh cholesterol that is carried throughout the body is combined with fat and proteins, making a package called low-density lipoprotein or LDL. This is the "bad" cholesterol which is linked to heart disease. 9

Cells discharge their used cholesterol in packages called high-density lipoprotein or HDL. This is the "good" form of cholesterol which is transported to the liver to be recycled. It is "good" because it is leaving the bloodstream. 10 HDL cholesterol level is the best predictor of the risk of heart disease. For each milligram HDL increases, the risk of heart attack drops by six percent. The most effective means to increase HDL level is exercise. 11 Liver cells that process LDL have a feedback mechanism. When a sufficient amount of LDL is present in the blood, the cells stop manufacturing it. When a cell senses a scarcity of LDL, it begins manufacturing again, until the original level is regained.

Studies have shown that a small percentage of the population has genetic protection against heart disease; and an equally small percentage has a genetic susceptibility. The majority of the population falls between these extremes. The discovery of genes and their cholesterol-transporting proteins will allow scientists to distinguish among these groups; and when those genetically susceptible to heart disease are given that knowledge, they may take action to prevent it.

1 Dale Blumenthal, "Do You Know Your Cholesterol Level?," FDA Consumer (1989): 24-26.
2 Paul Raeburn, "Beyond Cholesterol," American Health (1990): 88.
3 The Great Cholesterol Debate: Is It a Myth or a Killer?," American Health Jan./Feb. 1990:79.
4 The Great Cholesterol Debate: Is It a Myth or a Killer?," American Health Jan./Feb. 1990: 80.
5 Robert Barnett, "High Blood Cholesterol: Even More Dangerous That We Thought?," American Health (1990): 88.
6 Jerry E. Bishop and Michael Waldholz, "Is a Heart Attack Hidden in Your Genes?," Longevity (1990): 61.
7 "The Great Cholesterol Debate: Is It a Myth or a Killer?," American Health Jan./Feb. 1990: 80.
8 Jerry E. Bishop and Michael Waldholz, "Is a Heart Attack Hidden in Your Genes?," Longevity (1990): 67.
9 Dale Blumenthal, "Do You Know Your Cholesterol Level?," FDA Consumer (1989): 26.
10 The Great Cholesterol Debate: Is It a Myth or a Killer?," American Health Jan./Feb. 1990: 80.
11 Dale Blumenthal, "Do You Know Your Cholesterol Level?," FDA Consumer (1989): 26.

In Abstracts

An abstract is an abbreviated and unbiased summary of a longer document. Scientific and technical communicators encounter abstracts in four areas:

2) as an overview of an article which accompanies the article itself. Abstracts of articles may appear in the table of contents — or, more commonly, beneath the title and above the first paragraph of the article itself.

3) as parts of abstract journals — that is, journals which summarize the contents of other journals. Abstract journals arose as a response to the proliferation of information in specialized fields. A polymer chemist, for instance, is unlikely to have the time to read all the articles relevant to his work. He does, however, have time to read their summaries in Chemical Abstracts.

4) as summaries of Ph.D. dissertations. These are used as overviews of the dissertation, and usually appear in the introduction. Also, they are collected annually in Dissertations Abstracts.

Abstracts are by definition brief: the average abstract should contain about 200 words, and should never exceed 500. It should be preceded by a full bibliographic citation to the original document. The title should not be repeated in the body of the abstract — such practice is redundant and suggests a kind of circular definition. And the abstract should be clear enough that reader should not need to refer to the document to understand it.

As you know, it is impossible to abbreviate without showing some bias. If you have ever tried to summarize an article or a book, you appreciate the difficulties inherent in deciding what to include, what to omit. Those decisions are greatly assisted by formats which have evolved specifically for the abstractor. There are two such formats — descriptive and informative.

Descriptive abstracts

The format of the descriptive abstract is designed to help the reader decide whether she needs to read the original the document. As an author of descriptive abstracts you may usefully think of the librarian as your target audience — in other words, you should write abstract to answer the question "Where should this document be filed?" In general, descriptive abstracts are three to five sentences long. Each sentence uses passive voice for the same reason most scientific articles use passive voice: it foregrounds the receiver of the action (in this case, the research) and backgrounds performer (in this case, the researcher). Further, it implies that the identity of the researcher is irrelevant: anyone repeating the experiment or study could and would produce the same results. This example is from the National Technical Information Service publication Tech Notes.

199308
U.S. Shipping Technology Forecast and Assessment: Volume II Blackman, AW
United Aircraft Research Laboratories, East Hartford, Connecticut, 06108
Task I, Technology Assessment Definition, MA-RD-940-7305, July 1974, 318 pp

This study has evaluated the current state of technology in the maritime industry and projected technological capabilities for the next 25 years. Evaluations were made of the impacts of the key maritime industry sectors' technology in the future of the U.S. maritime industry and the nation. These evaluations included a quantitative impact analysis of economic and social factors for the 1975-1985 time period. Action options and their consequences were developed and the problems and constraints analyzed.

NTIS
Maritime Administration

The phrases "has evaluated," "were developed ... and ... analyzed" are common in descriptive abstracts — as are phrases like them: "is reported," "were studied," "were determined," "was concluded" and "was recommended."

Informative Abstracts

An informative abstract provides a reader knowledgeable in the field enough information to render reading of the document optional. As you might imagine, composing an informative abstract requires a greater knowledge of the field.

The length of an informative abstract is determined relatively: in general, an informative abstract should be ten per cent the length of the original document. Most scientific documents use the format of purpose, method, results and conclusions. Even if the sections are not labeled, you can learn to discern them, and use them as guidelines in determining what parts of the article are essential. Obviously, articles which do not ascribe to this format present you with a greater challenge. In general, you may impose the format on an article not written to this format without greatly altering its meaning.

1) Purpose. State the objectives of the research, or reasons the document was written.

2) Method. State the techniques used, or mean by which the purpose was achieved. If the document involves the natural sciences, pay as much attention to equipment as is necessary for the readers comprehension. If the document involves the social sciences, describe data sources and/or manipulation of data.

3) Results. Describe the findings.

4) Conclusions. Describe the author's evaluation of the results. Do not describe your own.

5) Specialized information. Describe any information necessary to understanding the rest of the abstract. Consider the following as possibilities. In the physical sciences: new materials (compounds, etc.), new chemical structures and formulae, new processes and equipment, new hypotheses or theories. In the biological sciences: new taxa and classification, distribution records, instrumentation, specific drug and chemical names and their action in tissues, methodology and techniques. In medicine: drug dosages, operative techniques, details of diagnosis and therapy, therapeutic results including undesired effects. In sociology: type of question and manner of administration, geographic or social characteristics of respondents or sources.

Informative abstracts abide by certain stylistic principles: these too, assist a writer in deciding what to include and what to omit. The first sentence should be topical — should, in other words, describe the whole document. (It is helpful to think of the first sentence as an abstract of the abstract.) Often the first sentence can perform this function and describe the purpose simultaneously — "The report addresses ..." Like an author of any technical paper, abstractors should explain their own abbreviations the first time they are used by supplying the abbreviation in parentheses immediately after the term: "Heuristic-algorithmic (HAL)." Other abbreviations should conform to generally accepted abbreviations of professional organizations or governmental agencies. This example is from Psychopharmacology Abstracts.

004583 Timsit-Berthier, M.; Mantanus, H.; Jacques, M.C.; Legros. J.J. Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie, Clinique et de Psychopathologie, Boulevard de la Constitution 153, B-4020 Liege, Belgium /Use of lysine-vasopressin in the treatment of posttraumatic amnesia./ Utilite de la lusine-vasopressine dans le traitement de l'amnesie post-traumatique. Acta Psychiatrica Belgica. 80(5): 728-747, 1980.

Seven subjects suffering from posttraumatic amnesia were treated with lysine-vasopressin as a nasal spray for 15 days (14 UI per day). All subjects (males, aged 20 to 63) previously presented a deficit for 3 years, did not follow any treatment, and did not hope for any improvement. Five subjects presented a real improvement, either immediately during the treatment, or some weeks after the treatment. Improvement was evidenced by psychological tests of attention and short-term visual retention and by electrophysiological measurements. Improvement was mainly on general activity, motivation, and capacity for social adaptation and was associated in four subjects with a marked increase in the level of neurophysine I. The mode of action of lysine-vasopressin is discussed in light of recent neurochemical and neurophysical research. 19 references.

Reading and Writing Science for the Layperson

Although most of you will write for none of the publications discussed in this section, all of you will read them. You should acquaint yourself with such publications for two reasons. First, because they may be the layperson's only access to your work and your field, you should see whether they are represented fairly. Second, they may be your only ready access to work in other fields; the more familiar you become with the practices and standards of these publications, the more easily you can gauge the accuracy of their presentations.

In Newspapers

Science writing in newspapers is a relatively new phenomenon. Once upon a time, even large newspapers had no writer whose specific purview was "science." The detonation of the atomic bomb in 1945 changed that immediately and permanently. Suddenly, a reader needing to understand world affairs required at least a rudimentary knowledge of the atomic nucleus. In recent years an understanding of current events requires even more knowledge of science and scientific practice. Many large newspapers — The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post — devote a weekly section exclusively to science. Articles are wide ranging, discussing, for instance, current scientific controversies, frontier research, and — in a nod to technology's effect on our personal lives — new software programs.

Scientific journalism is difficult: the author must in a very few words explain a complex subject to an audience with only a general background. Moreover, the author must beware legalities. Science and technology often appear in newspapers as disasters — the near meltdown at Three-Mile Island Nuclear power plant, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, the chemical leak at Bhopal, the Challenger disaster, etc. The reporter cannot say "what went wrong" — not necessarily because no one knows (although that may be the case) so much as because a formal investigation has not been made. To suggest a cause would leave the newspaper open to lawsuits. Such stories are likely to end with a mention of the investigation underway.

Newspapers have fairly rigid practices concerning the use of visual aids. If a newspaper puts a science story on the front page, it is more likely to accompany it with a photograph than a graph. Even in their science section, newspapers are inclined to use photographs; in fact, graphs and tables are used only when a subject is incomprehensible without them and/or when their import is obvious and dramatic. A story on health care will include a picture of a health-service workers rather than a chart of health costs over five years; a story on nuclear power is more likely to include a picture of a nuclear reactor rather than a pie chart of a community's electricity sources.

How Newspaper Writing was Shaped by Technology

A newspaper article is written in an "inverted triangle" shape. The most important information is given first, the second-most-important next, and so on. Obviously such an organization allows readers who don't require details of a certain story to stop reading. But it is interesting that the reason such a form exists at all is that because early teletype machines were prone to break down after a few minutes of use, a teletype operator would send the most important news first.

Press coverage of science offers at most "snapshots" of scientific practice. The science sections of many newspapers do not so much report on research as they summarize lead articles in much-respected journals — Nature, Science and The New England Journal of Medicine. In so doing, the newspaper editors concede their lack of expertise to the journal editors. In the case where a scientific discovery arouses further attention — the findings of the Mars Viking biology team or the claimants to cold fusion, the scientists themselves issue a press release. Some newspapers summarize it uncritically; larger papers have staff science writers who may put it in context. More recently, small newspapers reprint the report of the science writer from a larger paper.

The press and the lay public may expect a crucial experiment to occur to sort out winners and losers; but controversial science and technology are long, life is short . . . and so the story disappears. The reverse occurs as well. Many newspaper stories of science (the discovery of extra-solar planets and the top quark — both in April 1994) reported the final outcome of years of research and controversy which was reported, if at all, on the newspaper's back pages or in a Sunday supplement.

In News Magazines

Weekly news magazines — most notably Newsweek, TIME and U.S. News and World Report — all have regular sections devoted to science. In most cases, these articles involve an aspect of science and/or engineering with direct and obvious impact upon everyday life — an article on genetic engineering addresses concerns for parents; an article on ozone depletion ends with recommendations for wearing sunscreen; an article on high resolution television concludes with estimates of the time they will appear on the market and their probable retail price. Accordingly, the article will take the same subject of an article for a specialty journal, and emphasize and develop the section called "recommendation" or "conclusion" and de-emphasize the section called "methods."

Occasionally will appear articles about subjects which have no immediate or obvious impact — dinosaurs, colliding galaxies, Neanderthal culture — if the article is a cover story, it is accompanied by lavish illustrations — and although these articles are generally longer, the methods section is proportionally the same. Occasionally appear sidebars (a few paragraphs of text set within a box) containing a flattering description of a scientist working on the project — hobbies, private life, religion, etc.: their emphasis too, is on people, the intent being to humanize a subject which a reader might otherwise regard as cold and remote.

In Popular Science Magazines

The first scientific articles appealed not so much to specialists (in the 1700s there were none) as to readers with a general interest in the natural world. Authors assumed only a general knowledge on the part of their reader; allowed themselves to digress and — perhaps most interestingly — they allowed their personality a place in their prose:

I shall never forget the evening when I first became acquainted with Mr. Ellis's report on the present state of Analysis [on elliptic and hyperelliptic functions] published by this Association. I felt like a traveler who, on entering an unknown country through dark and narrow paths, suddenly arrives at an eminence from which he sees the whole region spread out like a map before him . . .

These features survive in magazines devoted to helping the layperson understand science. Discover, Popular Science, Omni and others like them, bridge the gap between the news magazines and specialized journal articles. Their audience is likely to have some knowledge of the subject, and may be more interested in a given subject than a reader of a newsmagazine. Accordingly, the articles are longer, and make at least a gesture towards a "methods" section. Like articles in news magazines, these often accompany a discussion of a certain subject with a brief profile of a leading figure — or, perhaps more often, a controversial figure — in the field.

Discussion

1. As a class, draw up a list of criteria for judging popular science articles — and be certain to include among your criteria their success at conveying complex information.

2. Much science writing for the layperson depends upon metaphor. The "information superhighway" is a kind of central metaphor around which science writers have invented a great many subsidiary metaphors: on-ramps, potholes, traffic-jams, highway patrols, etc. Locate three or four articles on the information superhighway (they appear almost everywhere, but you will find them most easily in computer magazines). Quote the subsidiary metaphors, and evaluate them.

Exercises

1. Write a review paper comparing scientific or technical articles written at various points in history in a subject which interests them. You may wish, for instance, to compare articles presented to the Royal Society at fifty or one-hundred year intervals concerning spiders or comets or lightning. Observe organization, tone and whatever you find unusual or surprising.

2. Find articles on the same subject from a professional journal, a popular science magazine and a weekly news magazine or newspaper. In a brief essay, outline the most striking features of their presentations and describe their appeal.

3. Write a descriptive abstract of a scientific article (You may use "Genes, Cholesterol and Heart Attacks" from this chapter.) Read your abstract aloud to the class; observe differences and similarities — ideally, they should sound very much alike.

4. Many journals — Science and Nature among them — devote a good deal of space to "letters" — which are in effect short scientific articles responding to articles or letters published previously. Certain of these debates are carried on for a year or more. Find a letter which participates in such a debate, and trace its lineage backwards through previous letters to the originating article. Compose an essay describing the debate. Observe where and how rhetorical strategies are taken up, abandoned and taken up again.

5. According to the criteria established in Discussion question #1, compose a one-page review of an article on a scientific or technical subject outside your field of study.

Further Reading

Day, Robert A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. New York: Oryx Press, 1988.

The Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists (1993)

Federal Laboratories, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service. Tech Notes. August 1992.

Feldman, Tony. The Emergence of the Electronic Book. London: British Library, 1990.

Harmon, Joseph E. "Development of the Modern Technical Article." Technical Communication, First Quarter 1989.

Huber, Peter. "Publicize or Perish." Forbes, June 11, 1990. 208.

Kronick, David A. The Literature of the Life Sciences. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1985.

Michaelson, Herbert B. How to Write and Publish Engineering Papers and Reports. Third Edition. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1990.

Roberts, Leslie. "The Rush to Publish." Science, Vol. 251, 18 January 1991. 260-63.

Taubes, Gary. "Publication by Electronic Mail Takes Physics by Storm." Science. Vol. 259, 26 February, 1993. 1246-1248.

Terman, Jiuan Su et. al. "Efficacy of Brief, Intense Light Exposure for Treatment of Winter Depression." Psychpharmacology Bulletin. Vol. 26, No. 1, 1990.

Scientific Articles and Abstracts
Chapter 13

David M. Toomey and James H. Collier

Book Contents

Chapter 13

Scientific Articles and Abstracts Chapter 13

David M. Toomey and James H. Collier

Book Contents

Chapter 13

Scientific Articles and Abstracts
Chapter 13