Interlude: New Books, Neglect, and Text Recycling

Earlier this week, I was walking my dog, and we stopped by a Free Little Library. (Confession: I might plan our walks so that we pass these little gems).

As I browsed the books, I found myself thinking, "Why am I looking at more books? I already have a stack of books that I need to read at home."

And then I thought, "But these are new books!"

I think there is something joyful about getting a new (or new-to-me) book. I enjoy the excitement of possibility—of learning something new or being engrossed in a story.

I also appreciate that books are packages of knowledge or imagination that the author is sharing with the world. It's a pretty remarkable accomplishment and contribution to society.

So the next time you pass a Free Little Library, take a book or leave a book to spread the joy.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

One Scientist Neglected His Grant Reports. Now U.S. Agencies Are Withholding Grants for an Entire University.​
"The National Institutes of Health, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Army are withholding all of their grants from the University of California at San Diego because one scientist failed to turn in required final reports for two of his grants..."

​When it is and isn’t OK to recycle text in scientific papers​
"Text recycling refers to the reuse (copying) of one’s own previous writing in the production of a new piece of work. . . From the journal’s perspective, we encourage reuse of methodological information from your previous work, as long as you cite the original paper in which you introduced the method (and the reuse complies with copyright law). However, reusing ‘boilerplate’ stretches of text outside of the methods section is not only problematic, but is also likely to obscure the specific point that you are trying to make in a paper and to reduce its accessibility and impact."

🖥️ Watching

Rejection​
In this post, Jamie Kern Lima shares her positive outlook on rejection. I think that her perspective is a valuable way for us to reframe our thoughts and feelings when we face rejection from a journal or funding agency.

💬 Quote

"In any case, don't get into the habit of using a semicolon (or anything else) merely to mark a breathing space. Your reader will be perfectly capable of doing his own breathing, providing your sentence is well punctuated; punctuation is an aid to understanding, not to respiration." –R L Trask, Penguin Guide To Punctuation

✅ Action

The next time you pick up a book to read, pause for a moment to appreciate the time and effort that the author invested in crafting that book.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Mindset, Honorary Authorship, and AI-Generated Abstracts

Your mindset is powerful.

And whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset can influence your success in writing.

According to Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, people with a fixed mindset believe that their qualities are carved in stone, whereas people with a growth mindset believe that their qualities can be cultivated through effort, strategy, and support.

How does this apply to your writing?

If you have a fixed mindset, you might be telling yourself limiting beliefs that hold you back from success with your writing. For example, you might think that you're not a good writer or that writing is hard.

However, if you have a growth mindset, you might be telling yourself empowering beliefs that support your success with writing. For example, you might think that you're working on improving your writing skills or that writing has challenges that you can overcome.

Do you find that you have a fixed mindset when it comes to your writing?

If so, there's good news: mindsets can be changed. So whenever you have a fixed-mindset thought about your writing, trade it for a growth-mindset thought.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

🤔 Trade "I'm not a good writer" for "I'm not a good writer yet".

🤔 Trade "Why is writing so hard?" for "How can I make writing easier?"

🤔 Trade "Why do I keep making mistakes?" for "What can I learn from this?"

How does your mindset affect your writing?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Honorary authorship is highly prevalent in health sciences: systematic review and meta-analysis of surveys​
"...HA [hyperauthorship] prevalence was 26% when respondents were asked if there are honorary authors on their publication at issue, and not explicitly informing authors about criteria for authorship. The pooled prevalence was 18% when they were asked the same question but ICMJE criteria were disclosed to them, and 51% when respondents were asked to declare their co-author(s) contributions and these contributions were then compared to the ICMJE criteria independently. This indicates that how questions are asked may affect HA estimates, but also that what researchers perceive as HA and may differ from how authorship is defined using ICMJE criteria."

​Can ChatGPT assist authors with abstract writing in medical journals? Evaluating the quality of scientific abstracts generated by ChatGPT and original abstracts​
"ChatGPT generated an authentic-looking abstract with an appropriate structure and concise language while it attempted to extract relevant details to the methodology and results components of a RCT report. . . GPT-generated abstracts demonstrated significantly inferior overall quality as the original abstracts outperformed GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 by 22.22% and 37.30% in the OQS, respectively. Moreover, the original abstracts outperformed GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 in 10 and 14 of the 18 items from the CONSORT-A checklist, respectively. . . abstracts generated by GPT 3.5 were deemed to be most readable in 62.22% of cases in comparison to the GPT 4 and original counterparts, and it demonstrated minimal hallucination rate of 0.03 errors per abstract.

🖥️ Watching

How to Stop Holding Yourself Back​
In this 2.5-minute clip, Simon Sinek shares how taking control of your perspective can make you much more likely to succeed. I bookmarked the video and watch it every so often as a reminder of the power of your mindset.

💬 Quote

“The questions you ask yourself will largely determine the answers you get.

• “Why am I not successful?” You’ll get answers that berate you.

• “How can I succeed here?” You’ll get answers that push you.

Be deliberate in the questions you ask yourself.” – Julie Gurner

❓ Question

How is your mindset holding you back?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Struggles, Fonts, and Article-Level Metrics

Let's get something straight: we all struggle with writing.

But very few of us see that struggle in others.

What do we see? The final product—the published article, the printed book, or the funded proposal.

What don't we see? The blank page you faced, the isolation you felt while writing, the countless hours you spent doing research, the words and sentences you deliberated over, the fascinating data you uncovered that doesn't support the core idea of the paper, the beautifully crafted paragraph that you cut to meet the word limit, and the many revisions that you made before arriving at the final draft.

Just because we don't see the struggle doesn't mean the process was easy.

The struggle is part of the writing process. And with great struggle comes great wisdom and reward.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

📆 Upcoming

Craft the Essential Elements of a Compelling Grant Proposal – April 9/16, 2024
Next week, I’ll be facilitating a workshop for the Center for Research Artistic, and Scholarly Excellence at the University of San Francisco. During the workshop, we'll cover how to effectively craft the essential elements of a grant proposal.

…Oh, and if you’re interested in sponsoring a seminar or workshop for your group, just reply to this email. I’d be delighted to discuss ideas.

👓 Reading

Measuring the impact of scientific publications and publication extenders: examples of novel approaches​
"The past decade has seen the development of article-level metrics (ALMs), that measure the online attention received by an individual publication in contexts including social media platforms, news media, citation activity, and policy and patent citations. These new tools can complement traditional bibliometric data and provide a more holistic evaluation of the impact of a publication. This commentary discusses the need for ALMs, and summarizes several examples..."

​Writing matters​
"Compared to the original versions, economists judge edited versions as higher quality; they are more likely to accept edited versions for a conference; and they believe that edited versions have a better chance of being accepted at a good journal. . . Making the writing easier to understand causes economists to evaluate academic papers more positively."

🖥️ Watching

Fonts Hanging Out – Part 3​
In this clever Instagram reel, you can watch a creative spin on what a conversation might be among a group of fonts. I hope it adds a smile to your day.

💬 Quote

“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.” –Stephen King, On Writing

✅ Action

The next time you sit down to read something, take a moment to acknowledge the hard work that the author(s) put into the draft. Notice if you feel more appreciation for the work and empathy for the struggles the authors faced while writing.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Email Invitations, Predatory Journals, and Disappearing Papers

Earlier this week, I opened my inbox to find an invitation to submit an article to a journal. My first thought was, "How delightful!"

Then I read the email.

At first, the email seemed legit. Although I hadn't heard of the journal, the name seemed plausible. And the email referred to me by name and mentioned the title of one of my publications.

So, I took the next step: I checked the email address of the sender.

That's right. I've read a lot about predatory journals, so I always check the sender's email address before clicking on anything in these types of emails.

And I'm glad I did.

The email address was a generic address that clearly wasn't from a specific web domain of the "journal." Red flag.

To be extra sure, I also googled the journal name (I did not click any links in the questionable email). Believe it or not, I found a website for the "journal." The website had all the elements you might expect: a landing page, author guidelines, a mission statement. But the design was shoddy, the text was poorly written, and the website used a submission form rather than a portal. More red flags.

So I promptly deleted the email.

This wasn't the first email of this kind that I've received. And I anticipate that you have likely received similar emails.

I've even met researchers who put hours and hours into writing and submitting a manuscript, only to discover that they submitted to a predatory journal. It's heartbreaking.

However, sometimes these email invitations are real. So when you get these emails, do your homework before clicking any links, downloading any documents, replying to the sender, or submitting anything to the "journal." If everything checks out, you might be on your way to a great opportunity.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Millions of research papers at risk of disappearing from the Internet​
"More than one-quarter of scholarly articles are not being properly archived and preserved. . . The findings...indicate that systems to preserve papers online have failed to keep pace with the growth of research output."

​US project seeks standard way to communicate research retractions​
”A large part of what we’re recommending is modifications in how retraction information — including article titles and author names — is shared. We recommend that all journals use the same format to label retracted papers, as well as those that have been flagged with other editorial notices.”

💬 Quote

"Writing is the only way to talk without being interrupted." – Jules Renard

💭 Thoughts

Writing from an outline is like driving with a map.

It's easier to get to your destination of a finished draft if you have clear directions to get there.

✅ Action

If you receive an invitation to submit a manuscript to a journal, take just a minute to do a little research first. The easiest indicator is to check the email address of the sender. If the email address doesn't look legit, delete the email.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Introverts, Meetings, and Plagiarism

Happy National Introverts Week!

Many writers and editors are introverts, including me.

Although we often hear advice on what introverts can do to become (or at least appear) more extroverted, both introverts and extroverts have valuable strengths.

I recently listened to a podcast interview with Clair Hughes Johnson, an advisor for Stripe and former leader at Google. During the interview, she said that "introverts think to talk, and extroverts talk to think."

I was struck by the simplicity and accuracy of this statement.

I think this thinking and talking dynamic is readily apparent in meetings, where extroverts can dominate the conversation while introverts contemplate before responding. Because of this dynamic, I think we can support more inclusive and collaborative meetings with a few strategies:

Circulate an agenda in advance to give introverts time to think before the meeting.

Collect input before the meeting, even anonymously when possible.

Give adequate time for processing after asking questions.

Make decisions after, not during, meetings.

If you're curious about the dynamics of being an extrovert and introvert (and how you may channel these different ways of being in different scenarios), I highly recommend that you check out Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. It's a fascinating read.

Now for this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

🎉 Featured

​A few favorite resources for academic writers and editors​
I was delighted to learn that Kyra Freestar of Bridge Creek Editing featured me in her list of favorite resources for writers and editors—and at the top of the list! Check out her blog post for more great resources on language, writing, publishing, and technical skills, as well as several great books on writing.

📆 Upcoming

Connection Compass: Create Flow that Guides Readers Through Your Writing – March 27, 2024, 11 am PT
Next week, join me and the American Medical Writers Association for my recent conference presentation on flow. During the webinar, I’ll share how writers can apply valuable writing principles to create a smooth flow that guides readers through the content, builds on their knowledge, and keeps them engaged in the writing. All are welcome to attend.

👓 Reading

Why is There So Much Plagiarism Right Now?​
"Fixing this is going to require systemic change in academia. However,...a good place to start would be to emphasize education about the writing process itself, with a heavy focus on citation. Teaching students how to write and how to cite and making those expectations clearer can help separate the students with bad habits from those actively trying to game the system."

​The ChatGPT conundrum: Human-generated scientific manuscripts misidentified as AI creations by AI text detection tool​
“This has broad-reaching implications, with the possibility of career-altering allegations being made against students and researchers when their work was an original creation. . . up to 8.69% of the ‘real’ abstracts had more than 50% probability of being characterized as AI-generated text, and up to 5.13% of all “real” abstracts being erroneously characterized as having a 90% likelihood of being AI-generated.”

💬 Quote

"Quiet people have the loudest minds." – Stephen Hawking

✅ Action

The next time you plan a meeting, try a new strategy that encourages more contributions from introverts. After that meeting, reflect on what went well and how that strategy could be improved to support more inclusive meetings.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Sculpting, Authorship Gaps, and Diverse Opinions

Do you tend to write and edit at the same time?

Admittedly, I have struggled to overcome the habit of writing and editing at the same time. And sometimes I still falter. As a professional editor, my default is to edit.

But writing and editing at the same time can slow down the writing process, interfere with the flow of writing, and diminish the quality of the final piece.

If you're not convinced, I recently read an article that correlated the craft of writing with the art of sculpting.

A sculptor visualizes a statue within a block of marble, and chips away to reveal it. She does so in iterations of the whole statue, rather than focusing and refining one part before moving to another. In her first iteration, she carves out the rough dimensions of the statue itself, from head to toe. In the second one, she outlines some details such as the face, the limbs and the torso. In the third pass, specific features such as the eyes, nose and the fingers start to appear. Later, she adds the finishing touches such as fingernails, eyebrows and curls of the tunic.

On the contrary, if she started with one part — if she started carving out the statue’s hand in intricate detail it is likely to be over-defined compared to the rest of the statue. The hand could also end up disproportionately smaller or larger.

The craft of writing works in the same manner. Great writers have always separated their writing from their editing. They wrote in a flow — the words appeared on paper just as they thought about them. Later, they edited their drafts and rewrote them.

I think that this analogy beautifully and accurately explains the importance of separating writing from editing: efficiency, flow, and quality.

To avoid writing and editing at the same time, I have a few strategies that I use that you might find helpful:

• Create an outline to "sculpt" the document, and then expand and write from that outline.

• Write comments to myself to do more research on a topic or come back to something later.

• Use square brackets around words or language that I want to revisit (this helps me avoid thesaurus rabbit holes).

• Add placeholders for citations that I insert later (this helps me maintain my writing flow without pausing to cite while I write).

What strategies do you have for avoiding writing and editing at the same time?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

​A bibliometric analysis of the gender gap in the authorship of leading medical journals
​“…this computational audit indicated that gender disparity in medical research is country-specific, partly related to the distinct research focus and more evident at the senior researcher level.”

​A bibliometric analysis of geographic disparities in the authorship of leading medical journals​
“This study demonstrates that medical publishing is marked by Anglocentric dominance. Moreover, journals tend to publish more studies from the country in which the journal is based, and authors are more likely to cite work from their own country. However, geographical representation has gradually increased in recent years.”

🎧 Listening

Claire Hughes Johnson, Building Stripe from 160 to 6,000+ Employees — How to Take Radical Ownership of Your Life and Career (#724)
​"And why do I care about inclusion? Yes, inclusion is a good thing for people to feel better and included, but actually because if you’ve hired a bunch of smart people and yet they don’t feel included, they will not share their opinion. And the reason you hired them is because they’re smart people who bring diverse opinions, and if they won’t say them, then you’re not really benefiting from all that work hiring them, because you want a better outcome."

💬 Quote

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” –Shannon Hale

💭 Thoughts

Editing while writing is like driving with the emergency brake on.

✅ Action

During your next writing session, resist the urge to edit your work as you write. Instead, add notes and placeholders to come back to later.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Science-ese, Authorship, and Synonyms

How do you feel while reading legal contracts?

I'll bet that you don't enjoy reading the complex language that many people refer to as "legal-ese." And actually, lawyers don't enjoy reading legal-ese either.

Yet, many researchers use "science-ese" in their writing. And science-ese sparks the same feelings in readers, whether or not they are experts in the same field.

Many researchers attribute this style of writing to convention, formality, "academic writing," or wanting to impress readers. But these perceptions only rob your writing of clarity, concision, and persuasion.

To secure your reader's attention, make their job of reading your writing easy. Avoid using science-ese and burying your ideas in complex language. Instead, use simple language that will showcase your work and ideas.

Now let's get to this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

📆 Upcoming

Connection Compass: Create Flow that Guides Readers Through Your Writing – March 27, 2024, 10 am PT
Join me for an expanded version of my conference presentation at the 2023 American Medical Writers Association conference. During this webinar, I'll share how writers can apply valuable writing principles to create a smooth flow that guides readers through the content, builds on their knowledge, and keeps them engaged in the writing.

👓 Reading

Up-Dated ICMJE Recommendations (January 2024)​
The ICMJE updated the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. These updates include guidance on why authorship matters, how to acknowledge work conducted with artificial intelligence, use of artificial intelligence in the review process, medical publishing and carbon emissions, acknowledging funding support, protecting research participants, and referencing citations. To see the exact changes, check out the annotated pdf.

​How many authors are (too) many? A retrospective, descriptive analysis of authorship in biomedical publications​
"Credible explanations for this seemingly unstoppable trend [in authorship proliferation] are increasing research complexity, increasingly sophisticated methodology, multidisciplinary research, larger research units, internationalization, and multicenter collaborations. . . [However,] the reported high frequency of authorship misconduct (honorary authorship etc.) suggest additional and different factors driving authorship inflation: mainly the (increasing) pressure to publish primarily induced by current academic performance assessments, promotion policies and reward structures which themselves mainly focus on quantitative citation metrics and publication counting. Against this background, this paper discusses possible approaches to limit authorship proliferation, to maintain its value, and how to sustainably embed a more sensitive attitude towards the ethical aspects of authorship."

💬 Quote

Writing is hard work, not magic. It begins with deciding why you are writing and whom you are writing for. What is your intent? What do you want the reader to get out of it? What do you want to get out of it. It's also about making a serious time commitment and getting the project done." – Suze Orman

💭 Thoughts

Choosing words for writing is like choosing spices for cooking.

Salt and sugar may look similar, but they have different flavors that affect how people experience the meal.

Words may seem like synonyms, but they have different meanings that affect how people experience the writing.

✅ Action

Open the most recent manuscript that you collaborated on and review the author names in the byline. Did all the authors qualify for authorship? Were the authors listed in the fairest order? What would you do differently when discussing authorship for your next manuscript?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Commitments, Saying No, and Buying Time

Do you have a hard time saying "No"?

I sure do.

Whether it's an exciting opportunity or my (full confession) people-pleasing nature, I tend to quickly say "Yes" to things without thinking about the ramifications of that commitment.

And that's when a three-letter word leads to overwhelm.

I anticipate that you have similar struggles. Maybe you don't want to say "No" to a student who asked for help. Or maybe you fear saying "No" to a request from your supervisor. Or maybe you want to say "Yes" to an exciting idea, but you're already juggling a lot of other commitments.

So one question that's been on my mind is: If you say "Yes" to this task, what are saying "No" to?

If you say "Yes" to meeting with a student, are you saying "No" to writing your grant? If you say "Yes" to taking on another project from your supervisor, are you saying "No" to quality work? If you say "Yes" to an exciting idea, are you saying "No" to another commitment you already made?

And that leads me to another question that's been on my mind: How can you say "No" (or "Yes") effectively and respectfully?

In my quest to find strategies, I've found some interesting perspectives that I thought you might find helpful. So I put together a themed issue on how to say "No" so that you can focus on what truly matters to you.

Let's get to it...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Success Requires Saying No, Here's How The Experts Do It​
"Successful people say no to 90+ percent of the things that are asked of them. They just don't have the time to take advantage of every opportunity. But because they say no so frequently, they learn to do it in a way that's effective but respectful. That leaves a positive impression.

Each response Ferriss published had similar structural elements:

• Personal acknowledgment

• Admission that the recipient is doing too much--a sort of "It's me, not you" message

• Statement that the recipient has to focus on his or her own priorities at the moment

• Explanation of those priorities (a lot of people need details to sympathize)

• Information about why completing existing commitments is more important than taking on new ones

• Rationale for blanket policy of not taking on new meetings, calls, or projects"

​Work Speak: How to Say “No” to Extra Work​
"...there is a right and wrong way to turn down tasks. . .Instead of pushing back or going on the defense, you can be thoughtful, explain your reasoning, and avoid making enemies along the way." This article includes sample scenarios and language to help you understand (and practice) the strategies.

🎧 Listening

Insights from Google's Productivity Expert—On Saying No, Cozy Corners, The Laundry Method, and More with Laura Mae Martin​
In this episode of the Free Time Podcast, Laura shares five ways to say no:

• Ask questions to better understand the time commitment and whether it aligns with your top priorities.

• Say you’ll think about it or don’t respond right away to buy yourself time to figure out if you really want to commit.

• Imagine the different scenarios for saying "Yes" or "No."

• Say "No, but..." and send some helpful resources.

• Say "No, because..." and give a little context for why you are saying "No."

🖥️ Watching

The Power of "Yes And"​
In this Instagram Reel, Vinh Quang Giang shares how "Yes and" is a powerful conversation technique that can transform any negative into a positive.

💬 Quote

"The obvious way to buy back your time is to pay someone to do something for you. Pay the mechanic to change your oil or a dry cleaner to press your suit.

The less obvious way to buy back your time is to say no. Passing on a promotion might "buy" you more time with family. Declining the dinner invite might "pay" for the time you need to exercise. We buy back our time not only with the money we spend, but also with the opportunities we decline.

The more clearly you know how you want to spend your days, the easier it becomes to say no to the requests that steal your hours." –James Clear

✅ Action

The next time you find yourself wanting to say "Yes" to something that you don't really want to do, try an expert tactic for saying "No."

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Empty Chairs, Literature Maps, and Bridging the Gap

A few years ago, I learned that Amazon has a unique strategy for keeping customers in mind during meetings.

At every meeting, no matter what size, they have an empty chair. This chair represents the customer, which Amazon considers the most important person in the room.

What if we could use this strategy for our writing?

For writers, this chair would represent readers, who are the most important people for us to keep in mind while we write.

I do recognize that many writers work in isolation and spend most of their time staring at a monitor and their workspace. So, an empty chair by their desk may not be the best (or space-appropriate) visual cue to focus on writing for their readers. But here are a few other ideas to try.

🪑 Add an image of a chair to the header of your document so you see the visual cue on every page.

🪑 Buy a dollhouse chair to place on your desk.

🪑 Buy a mouse pad with an image of a chair.

What strategies do you have for keeping readers in mind while you write?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

📆 Upcoming

Connection Compass: Create Flow that Guides Readers Through Your Writing – March 27, 2024, 10 am PT
If you missed my presentation at the 2023 American Medical Writers Association conference, join me for an expanded version. During this webinar, I'll share how writers can apply valuable writing principles to create a smooth flow that guides readers through the content, builds on their knowledge, and keeps them engaged in the writing.

👓 Reading

​The power of language: how to bridge the gap between healthcare research and patients – a scoping review
​“Four major themes about the use of language were developed from the literature analysis and were used to develop the set of recommendations. These recommendations include guidance on using standardized terminology and plain language when involving patients in healthcare research. They also discuss the implementation of co-development practices, patient support initiatives, and researcher training, as well as ways to improve emotional awareness and the need for greater equality, diversity, and inclusion.”

​Why doctors and nurses should use more plain language and less jargon​
"...the Ask Me 3® programme. This programme was developed by health literacy experts and aims to help patients by providing these three questions as a starting point to improve conversations between patients, caregivers and healthcare providers. The three specific questions to ask to better understand their health conditions and what they need to do to stay healthy are:

What is my main problem?
What do I need to do?
Why is it important for me to do this?"

🧰 Tools

Litmaps​
Litmaps uses a unique approach to identifying relevant literature. This app uses Seed Maps of the citation network to find articles based on their connections via citations and references. You can even visualize the relationships between the articles in your collection with literature maps (Litmaps).‍

💬 Quote

"I think writing is really a process of communication... It's the sense of being in contact with people who are part of a particular audience that really makes a difference to me in writing." – Sherley Anne Williams

✅ Action

The next time you sit down to write, visualize your reader sitting in a chair next to you. What writing advice would they give you?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Communication Framework, Misused Words, and Genuine Images

Hi Crystal,

I recently read an article that described a simple model for effectively communicating a message. The model is called the “What, So What, Now What” Framework.

This framework comprises three simple questions:

What: What are the facts, situation, product, position, etc?

So What: What is the relevance of these details to the audience?

Now What: What next steps do you want the audience to take?

This simple framework is also a great high-level model for effective communication in manuscripts and grant proposals. With some minor tweaking to the questions, we get the following:

📝 Manuscripts

What: What approach did you use and what are the findings?

So What: What is the relevance of those findings to the field?

Now What: What next steps can be taken now that we have those findings?

💰 Proposals

What: What data will you collect and what approach will you use to collect that data?

So What: What will be the relevance of that data to the field?

Now What: What next steps could be done once we have that data?

The “What, So What, Now What” Framework is a simple model that does not delineate the complexities of manuscripts and grant proposals. But I think the framework can give authors a helpful high-level view of whether they are effectively communicating their overall message.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Scientific Writing—What's in a Word​
“Even the most meticulous scientific writers misuse words and forget grammar rules. These mistakes delay the reviewing process, frustrating authors and JNEB editorial staff. This column aims to address the most common mistakes seen in submissions. Hopefully, this list will help identify and clarify these kinds of issues.”

…Oh, and if you want to learn more words that are commonly misused, check out our collection of resources on this topic.

​Genuine images in 2024​
"…in 2024, the Science family of journals is adopting the use of Proofig, an artificial intelligence (AI)–powered image-analysis tool, to detect altered images across all six of the journals.

Proofig screens images for duplication and other types of manipulation. It is similar to the iThenticate plagiarism detection software (which Science has been using for 7 years), but it works on images rather than text.”

🖥️ Watching

Pep Talk​
In this short Instagram Reel, Jefferson Fisher shares how words and your communication are "the greatest power or tool of influence that you can possess."

💭 Thoughts

As writers, we need to clearly define and understand our audience so that we can write for them, not to them.

✅ Action

On a sticky note, write "What", "So what", and "Now what" on three separate lines. Place the sticky note on your monitor so that you can see it whenever you need to craft a message.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Portals, Hypotheses, and Bad First Drafts

Have you ever been consumed by a book? So much so that you felt like you were transported to a new place?

In a recent podcast episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, Greg McKeown shared his thoughts on the power of books in transporting readers:

"...every book is potentially a portal, it takes you there in time and place...You suddenly experienced this whole other world..."

Greg's thought made me think about how manuscripts and proposals are portals that transport readers into the world of research and ideas.

His thought also made me think about how we as writers have the power to design portals that transport readers into the story we are writing. And this portal can create an experience that influences how our readers think, act, and feel.

So in essence, you can use your writing to design a portal and create an experience that helps you persuade readers.

That's powerful.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

📆 Upcoming

​Connection Compass: Create Flow that Guides Readers Through Your Writing – March 27, 2024, 10 am PT
I was thrilled when the American Medical Writers Association invited me to give my 2023 conference presentation as a webinar that anyone can attend. During this webinar, I'll share how writers can apply valuable writing principles to create a smooth flow that guides readers through the content, builds on their knowledge, and keeps them engaged in the writing.

👓 Reading

Why Stating Hypotheses in Grant Applications Is Unnecessary​
“Rather than the superfluous guesses such as “Our hypothesis is that statins do not increase the risk of cancer,” grant applications should describe the question researchers are asking, why they are asking it, and how they propose to answer it.”

​Communicating Medicine—A New JAMA Series​
"JAMA is launching an Insights series titled “Communicating Medicine” as a forum to introduce strategies for the clinician to improve communication of medicine and health-related topics to patients."

​Delivering Effective Messages in the Patient-Clinician Encounter​
"Clinicians have 4 communicative responsibilities to ensure shared and accurate understanding with their patients: (1) uncover what the patient understands and why, (2) provide accurate information in an understandable way, (3) promote the credibility of the information, and (4) check for shared understanding."

💭 Thoughts

Be brave enough to write a bad first draft.

Be humble enough to refine it.

✅ Action

Think about a book that transported you to a different world. What did the author do to create that portal? And how can you emulate that in your writing?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Handwriting, Citation Cartels, and Fonts Hanging OutInboxSearch for all messages with label Inbox

In this digital era, you might be surprised to learn that the pen is mightier than the keyboard when it comes to your memory.

According to a new study, writing by hand can improve your spelling and memory recall. In the study, the research team found that brain connectivity patterns were more elaborate when writing by hand than when typing on a keyboard.

I've experienced this phenomenon firsthand. And several studies, including this one and this one, found that handwriting notes in your own words enhances your learning and understanding.

That's why I still write morning pages every day, keep a notepad and pen on my desk, and use printed checklists with notes sections while I work.

Do you still put pen to paper? How has it helped your learning and memory?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

🎉 Featured

​Understanding Authorship in a Changing World​
I was delighted when the American Medical Writers Association invited me to help develop an authorship guide for medical writers. In this article, you can learn about the different types of authorship, the role of medical writers in authorship, and case studies that can help you navigate difficult authorship situations. Pair this article with my Best Practices to Guide Decisions of Authorship and Author Order in a Research Manuscript, and you'll have everything you need to determine authorship for your team.

👓 Reading

​Citation cartels help some mathematicians—and their universities—climb the rankings​
"Cliques of mathematicians...have been artificially boosting their colleagues’ citation counts by churning out low-quality papers that repeatedly reference their work. . . These so-called 'citation cartels' appear to be trying to improve their universities’ rankings, according to experts in publication practices. 'The stakes are high—movements in the rankings can cost or make universities tens of millions of dollars'...."

​Use of plain language summaries in anaesthesia journals​
“We found that only 30% of anaesthesia journals had easy-to-read summary articles, and only three of these were aimed specifically at non-medical/lay readers. This suggests that while some journals are starting to adopt plain language summaries, there is still a significant gap in making research accessible to a broader audience. Additionally, while there has been an increase in the publication of plain language summaries over the last decade, we found that these were mostly not published as open access.”

…Oh, and if you want to learn more about crafting plain language summaries, check out our Lay Summary Fundamentals course.

🖥️ Watching

​Fonts Hanging Out​
In this clever Instagram reel, you can watch a fun take on what a conversation might be among a group of fonts. As a fan of sans-serif fonts (particularly Helvetica), I had a good chuckle. I hope it adds a moment of fun to your day.

📝 Experiment

The next time you want to cite a reference, pause to ask yourself what your intentions are in citing that reference. Are you self-citing just to increase your citation count? Are you citing another researcher because you think they might be a reviewer for the journal? Or are you citing a reference that meaningfully supports your work and interpretations?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Giving, Time, and Author Contributions

When I was a kid, my mom would make huge batches of homemade soup, bread, and jam. While the bread was still warm from the oven, she would wrap it up tightly in towels to keep it warm and then load it into the car along with mason jars of soup and jam. Then we would drive all over town to leave the treats on her friends' doorsteps. She would tell me to drop the treats at the door, ring the doorbell, and then run back to the car so we could take off before we were noticed.

I had so much fun delivering treats with my mom. And it taught me an important value.

Giving.

To this day, I leave "treat surprises" for my friends and neighbors. But my philosophy of giving doesn't stop there. It also extends into my work. I want to give researchers and other professional writers like you the tools you need to write well and advance your career.

That's why I created the Scientific Writing Masterclass—to equip you with the principles, resources, and systems you need to write well. And that's why I also expanded the course to include a community. This community creates a platform where I and other members of the community can give you ongoing support with your writing.

I'd be thrilled to support you in the masterclass and The Grove community. But doors close on Monday, so you'll need to enroll soon.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

💻 From My Desk

​The Best Order to Draft a Research Manuscript​
When you write a manuscript, do you start with the Introduction section? Although you might start with the Introduction when reading a manuscript, you don't want to start with this section when writing a manuscript. Writing your manuscript in a different order than you read it can save you time and energy.

👓 Reading

​Is it time to change our approach to reporting author contributions?​
“Rechavi and Tomancak’s approach involves assigning credit to each result in a manuscript. They ‘argue that it should be known who thought of each idea, who ran each experiment, and who analysed the data.’ But how exactly would this be achieved? The authors propose two ways. Rechavi suggests substituting the word ‘we’ for the names of specific, responsible authors. For instance, ‘we sequenced RNA’ would become ‘Rechavi sequenced RNA’. Alternatively, Tomancak proposes assigning a number to each author in the author list and citing these for each contribution. For example, ‘we sequenced RNA1’ would credit the first author in the author list.”

🧰 Tools

​Harvest​
After testing different tools to track my time, I finally landed on Harvest. I like the user interface, customizability, and reporting options. Even if you do not need to track time for your work, I recommend tracking your time for at least one month. You might be surprised to learn how much time you spend writing, answering emails, and attending meetings.

...Oh, if you want access to our ongoing list of helpful tools, we just added a resource library to The Grove community in our Scientific Writing Masterclass. You can get access to our growing list of resources, including writing tips, management tools, funding opportunities, and much, much more.

💬 Quote

“Getting good at communication—particularly written communication—is an investment worth making. My best advice for communicating clearly is to first make sure your thinking is clear and then use plain, concise language.” – Sam Altman

📝 Experiment

The next time you whip up a batch of treats or visit a bakery, leave a "treat surprise" for your friend, colleague, or neighbor. If you'd like, you can also leave a little note so they know the treat is from you.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Investments, Data Sharing, and Short Peer Reviews

What do you think is the best investment you can make?

Many people jump to thinking about savings, retirement, buying a house, etc. Although these assets are valuable, I don't think they are the best investment you can make.

I think the best investment you can make is in yourself.

Unfortunately, many of us let investing in ourselves fall low on our list of priorities. We put it off—sometimes indefinitely—until we have more time, money, or motivation.

But investing in yourself by learning new skills and developing your mindset can enrich your life personally and professionally in so many ways. And investing in yourself can lead to growth in your career, relationships, health, and more.

I like to invest in myself daily by reading non-fiction books while I drink my coffee in the morning. I also invest in myself annually by allocating time and money to participate in professional development programs, such as courses, conferences, and workshops. These investments have come back to me many times over.

Do you have a practice of investing in yourself?

If you're thinking about investing in your writing skills, I hope you will join me in the Scientific Writing Masterclass. I'd be thrilled to have you. Enrollment is open until January 29, 2024.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

💻 From My Desk

​How to Request Funds for Professional Development Programs​
Although your institution may not offer professional development programs in scientific and medical writing, they may support you by sponsoring your participation. After all, these programs benefit you and the organization. If you want to request resources to participate in a professional development program, such as the Scientific Writing Masterclass, you can follow this easy four-step process.

👓 Reading

Prevalence of Short Peer Reviews in 3 Leading General Medical Journals​
"In this study of 3 leading general medical journals, one-fifth of initial editorial decisions for published articles were likely based at least partially on reviews of such short length [>200 words] that they were unlikely to be of high quality."

​Data Sharing — A New Era for Research Funded by the U.S. Government​
“Many journals now require data-sharing statements in published articles, but studies have shown that authors rarely honor these statements and data generally aren’t made available upon request.”

💬 Quote

"Ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself. Nobody can take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potential they haven’t used yet." – Warren Buffet

📝 Experiment

Take a moment to think about the last opportunity you took to invest in yourself. How did that opportunity benefit you? Now what do you plan to do next to invest in yourself again?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: SMARTER Goals, Research Management, and a Two-Word Theory

The new year tends to spark a surge in goal setting. But many of us set goals without creating a plan of the actionable steps we need to take to accomplish those goals. And in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "A goal without a plan is just a wish."

I like to create SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—goals. I have found this strategy to be really helpful in planning the steps I need to take to accomplish my goals.

But I recently learned about an expanded form of this approach: SMARTER. This expansion adds the criteria Evaluate and Reward, which are really important parts of accomplishing your goals.

We need to continually evaluate our progress to help us stay accountable, and we need to reward ourselves and celebrate our wins.

I'm going to add ER to my SMART goal-setting practices moving forward. And I hope that you will experiment with them too.

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

​How research managers are using AI to get ahead​
This article shares several ways that research staff are using AI for research management. "For those at the interface of funding organizations and the scientific community, platforms such as ChatGPT can tackle menial tasks and free up time for relationship-building work such as coaching and mentoring."

​Guest Post — Hanging in the Balance: Generative AI Versus Scholarly Publishing​
"The issues with generative AI chatbots are known: accountability, potential to propagate bias, and not-always-reliable accuracy. But they can also help us humans to think in different and creative ways, and to streamline tedious tasks, which may ultimately be a boon for burdened researchers."

🖥️ Watching

Writing Advice from Matt Stone & Trey Parker @ NYU​
In this 2-minute clip, the creators of South Park share how a simple theory with two words—"but" and "therefore"—drives their approach to creating connections in their stories. I've been playing around with this theory, and I think it might help some writers avoid gaps in logic in their writing.

🧰 Tools

​Strava​
This tool might seem unusual to include in this newsletter, because it's not related to writing. But I've been a fan of Strava since I was an avid cyclist and still use the app as a runner. I find the app helps me stay accountable, connect with friends for kudos, and track my progress. If you're not a cyclist or runner, the app includes an array of exercises to help you track your fitness progress and goals.

📝 Experiment

On a fresh sheet of paper, write your biggest goal for this year at the top. Then write the letters S-M-A-R-T-E-R in a column down the left-hand side of page. Next to each letter, write down the relevant details of your plan to accomplish that goal. Now tape/pin that piece of paper somewhere where you will see it every day.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Goals, Energy, and Promotion

Happy New Year!

Did you make a New Year's resolution?

I stopped making them years ago. The only resolution I've ever kept was to quit smoking. (Yup, you read that right. I had a rebellious streak in my teenage years.)

Over the past couple of years, I've taken a different approach. Instead of creating a resolution, I choose a word to set my intentions for the year.

This year, my word is ENERGY.

Where we direct our energy reflects our priorities. This year, my intention is to better focus my energy on my list of top priorities. And YOU are on that list.

I've got some exciting things in the works for you this year, and I can't wait to share them with you. Stay tuned.

Now onto the first round-up of 2024...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Presence and consequences of positive words in scientific abstracts​
“…this paper shows that in recent decades, scientific abstracts have not only become longer descriptions of research, but have also increasingly used positive language in describing their study results, thereby adopting a more promotional function….By triggering a low-threshold, positive affect through an excessive use of terms with positive connotations this trend can systematically impact the judgments of the respective abstracts in a way that is counterproductive to rigorous scientific practices.”

​How to get your writing found: Why medical writers and academics need to use search engine optimisation​
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your writing so that it can be found easily on the internet. There are five key steps that you can take to increase the discoverability of your work, which will be discussed below. These are:

• Choose your keywords carefully;

• Optimise your title;

• Optimise your abstract;

• Use your keywords throughout your article; and

• Build links to your work.”

🎧 Listening

​How to Set & Achieve Goals: 2 Surprising Science-Backed Steps You Must Follow - The Mel Robbins Podcast​
In this episode, Mel Robbins shares five mistakes that many of us make when setting goals. She also shares hacks to help you set achievable goals, including the two parts of a goal you need to factor in to ensure you accomplish that goal.

💭 Thoughts

Passive voice is not the enemy in scientific and medical writing.

Overuse of passive voice is the enemy.

📝 Experiment

Take a few minutes to think about a word to help you set your intentions for this year. Write that word on a sticky note and put it somewhere you will see it every day.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Reflection, Authorship, and Best of 2023

At the end of the year, I like to do a Past-Year Review. I typically follow the original strategy by Tim Ferriss. But this year, I did something a little different.

Like Tim suggests, I created lists of positive activities to prioritize and negative activities to avoid. But when I reviewed each item in my lists, I also asked myself why I listed the item in a particular category. This extra step helped me learn the root of what needs to be addressed.

For example, if a particular project made my negative list, was it because I didn't find the project inspiring? Or was it because the project was not well managed? Or was it because I was having a tough week?

Sometimes we just need to address the root of the problem rather than avoid the problem altogether.

Do you have a practice for reflecting on the past year? Hit reply and let me know. I'd love to learn other ways that I can reflect and grow.

Now onto the last round-up of 2023...

💌 Round-up

🎉 Featured

Best Practices to Guide Decisions of Authorship and Author Order in a Research Manuscript​
I'm delighted to share my latest publication in the AMWA Journal. In the article, I share how to determine who qualifies for authorship, in what order authors should be listed, and strategies for how teams can prevent authorship conflict when writing a research manuscript.

💻 From My Desk

Top 10 Scientific and Medical Writing Articles in 2023​
I recently reviewed which of my resource articles were most read during the past year. This review helps me learn what resources you find most useful so that I can create more resources to help you become the best writer you can be. This article includes my 10 most-read articles on scientific and medical writing in 2023.

🎧 Listening

​Super Brain: 10 Things to Eat, Think, & Do to Improve Your Memory and Learn Faster​
In this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast, Jim Kwik shares how to read faster, how to remember someone's name, and how you can better retain information with visualization strategies.

🧰 Tools

​How to play background music on Zoom—without sharing your screen​
I recently hosted an online workshop and wished that I could play background music while the attendees worked on their exercises. So I looked up whether it was possible to play music in a Zoom meeting—and it is!

💬 Quote

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” – John Dewey

📝 Experiment

Before the end of the year, take 45-60 minutes to do a Past-Year Review. Then take the added step of asking yourself why each item landed in the positive or negative category. Did you learn anything that surprised you?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Excellence, Integrity, and Popular Papers

Do you often wish that you could write the perfect first draft?

Many authors strive for perfection in their writing. Personally, I think "perfect" is unattainable for any draft, let alone a first draft.

The word "perfect" suggests that something is completely free from faults or defects. And I believe that there is always room for improvement, even if we don't see how in the moment.

Have you ever read something that you felt proud to publish only to discover a typo or other error you wish you could fix? I sure have.

So rather than strive for perfection in your writing (and life), strive for excellence. Do the very best you can do.

Now for this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

🎉 Featured

​Most Popular Papers​
​I was delighted to discover that my article, "Inclusive Language Matters: Recommendations for Health Care Providers to Address Implicit Bias and Equitable Health Care," is among the top five most popular papers downloaded from the Journal of Maine Medical Center.

...Oh, and if you want to learn more about inclusive language, you can enroll in my Inclusive Language Course—for free!

👓 Reading

​Notice to research community: Use of generative artificial intelligence technology in the NSF merit review process​
"To safeguard the integrity of the development and evaluation of proposals in the merit review process, this memo establishes guidelines for its use by reviewers and proposers:

• NSF reviewers are prohibited from uploading any content from proposals, review information and related records to non-approved generative AI tools.

• Proposers are encouraged to indicate in the project description the extent to which, if any, generative AI technology was used and how it was used to develop their proposal."

​Author reports of potential conflicts of interest: room for improvement​
“Inaccurate author disclosures continue to be an issue in medical publishing. A recent study shows that most authors fail to report, or under-report, ‘potential conflicts of interest’.”

​Detecting generative artificial intelligence in scientific articles: Evasion techniques and implications for scientific integrity​
“AI detectors have low efficiency, and simple modifications can allow even the most robust detectors to be easily bypassed. The rapid development of generative AI raises questions about the future of scientific writing but also about the detection of scientific fraud, such as data fabrication.”

💭 Thoughts

Be brave enough to write a bad first draft.

Be humble enough to refine it.

📝 Experiment

The next time you sit down to write, add the statement “Strive for excellence, not perfection” to the header of your document. Then as you write the draft, you will get gentle reminders to focus on doing your best.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Creativity, Statistics, and Gifts for Writers

Do you consider scientific and medical writing as creative?

Many scientists and clinicians think that writing manuscripts and grant proposals is technical writing that does not require creativity. But writing is a creative process, even if you're writing about something technical.

If you're not sure you agree, I highly recommend that you read The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. I recently finished this book and was incredibly impressed with the author's insight and advice—too much to share in this little newsletter. I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and have every intention of buying a hardcopy that I can take notes in, so you know it's good.

Now onto the other good stuff...

💌 Round-up

🎉 Featured

​Elected Vice-President/President-elect for the AMWA Northern California Chapter​
I'm thrilled to share that I was elected the 2024 Vice-President/President-elect and the Communications Committee Chair for the AMWA Northern California Chapter. I'm so excited to continue supporting the chapter and its remarkable community of medical writers.

👓 Reading

​Introducing the Guide to Statistics and Methods: A New Series for JAMA Internal Medicine​
"JAMA Internal Medicine is...introducing a new series, the Guide to Statistics and Methods, intended to help clinician readers more fully understand and interpret scientific articles...The focus of each...article will be a specific statistical method applied in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine and will address why one should apply that statistical method vs another approach. These articles will explain how the findings from the specific statistical method used in the accompanying...article should be interpreted, including consideration of its limitations, potential for bias, and generalizability.”

​Randomized Clinical Trial Visual Abstract Display and Social Media–Driven Website Traffic​
“Linking VAs [visual abstracts] were associated with increased link clicks compared with expandable VAs and article figures. Expandable VAs were associated with increased impressions and engagement compared with linking VAs and article figures.”

🎁 Gifting

​Your 2023 Guide to Holiday Gifts for Writers​
Are you looking for a holiday gift for a writer (or yourself)? Check out this incredible list of gifts for the word nerds in your life. I've got my eye on the Scone with the Wind cookbook and book puzzle.

💬 Quote

"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science." – Albert Einstein

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal

Interlude: Multitasking, Feedback, and Significant Results

Do you tend to think you're good at multitasking?

I think that many of us like the idea of multitasking. We dream of juggling many different tasks so that we can accomplish more in less time.

But multitasking is a fallacy. Your brain is wired to process only one task at a time. So when you think you're multitasking, you're actually switching between tasks over and over.

When you switch your attention from one task to another, you incur the cognitive switching penalty. Your brain spends extra time and energy adjusting to the context of each task as you switch tasks. And the more tasks you juggle, the more your ability to do each task well suffers.

How can you avoid the cognitive switching penalty? Use strategies that help you focus on one task at a time. Here are a few of my favorite strategies.

• Turn off all notifications. You can even log out of messaging and social media apps. The additional step of needing to log back in will help you resist the temptation to take a quick peek.

• Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode. Better yet, put your phone in a different room. Just having your phone nearby reduces your cognitive capacity.

• Batch communication tasks. Rather than spend 10 minutes every hour replying to emails, dedicate a block of 30 minutes each day to process emails.

What strategies do you use to avoid the cognitive switching penalty?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

💻 From My Desk

​When to Use Continual vs Continuous​
Some authors use the term continuous as a synonym for continual. Although these terms may seem similar, their definitions have important nuances that distinguish their meanings.

👓 Reading

​Writing to Think​
"Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about. Of course, you can learn a lot about something without writing about it. However, writing about something complicated and hard to pin down acts as a test to see how well you understand it. When we approach our work as a stranger, we often discover how something that seems so simple in our heads is explained entirely wrong."

​The role of results in deciding to publish: A direct comparison across authors, reviewers, and editors based on an online survey​
“Our findings suggest that statistically significant findings have a higher likelihood to be published than statistically non-significant findings, because (1) authors…are more likely to write up and submit articles with significant results compared to articles with non-significant results…; (2) reviewers…give more favourable reviews to articles with significant results compared to articles with non-significant results…; and (3) editors…are more likely to accept for publication articles with significant results compared to articles with non-significant results…”

🎧 Listening

​How to Master the Difficult Art of Receiving (and Giving) Feedback - The Tim Ferriss Show​
In this podcast interview, Sheila Hein and Tim Ferris give great insight on writing. They share their thoughts on how writing communicates with the reader's internal voice, how writers need to meet readers where they are, how to ask for feedback on writing, and much more. If you don't want to listen to the full 2.5-hour episode, listen from about 24:00 to 55:00 to get the most valuable nuggets of writing wisdom.

📝 Experiment

The next time you sit down to write, turn off your notifications for 1 hour and notice how your focus and productivity improve.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal