Interlude: Guiding Principle, First Authors, and Voice Memos
Here's my latest curated round-up of the best tips, tools, and resources on scientific and medical writing.
💌 Round-up
🎉 Featured
The Guiding Principle in Scientific Writing
I was delighted to be invited to write an article for Edge for Scholars at Vanderbilt University. This community fosters candid conversation about doing good research, networking, productivity, writing grants, and more. In the article, I discuss how the guiding principle in scientific writing means hard work for the author—and what authors can do to make that job easier.
💻 From My Desk
Why You Need a Writing Journal Club and How to Create One
Many academic institutions have journal clubs that meet regularly. Most of these clubs focus on content, such as sound methods, accurate findings, and convincing interpretations. But very few focus on the writing itself. By creating a journal club that focuses on the writing, you can help participants develop their writing skills.
Communication Conundrum: Continual vs Continuous
Sometimes words are so similar that we use them interchangeably without really thinking about it. For example, I have noticed that some authors use the term continuous as a synonym for continual. Although these terms may seem similar, they have different meanings that can affect how a reader interprets your writing.
📆 Upcoming
Scientific Writing Masterclass - Starts February 14
Are you still thinking about how mastering scientific and medical writing can take your career to the next level? It's not too late to enroll in my Scientific Writing Masterclass. Registration closes February 7.
👓 Reading
Up-Dated ICMJE Recommendations (December 2021)
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) revised its Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Most of the changes regard preprint materials, including choosing a preprint archive, submitting manuscripts that are in preprint archives to a peer-reviewed journal, and referencing preprints in submitted manuscripts. For more details, review the annotated pdf of changes.
Who’s on first? Duking out scientific paper authorship order
"Recently Stanford researcher Garry Nolan, PhD, tweeted about an unconventional way two researchers in his laboratory who had each contributed equally to a study decided who should be listed first on the print version of the paper. The researchers...played three games [and] the winner...was permitted to list himself as the first author..."
How artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of scientific communication
"AI is expected to play an increasingly important role in complex editorial processes and improving AI literacy among scholarly publishing stakeholders will be important for future adoption."
A comparison of systematic reviews and guideline-based systematic reviews in medical studies
"Ranking the citation impact of the different document types has revealed that PRISMA-based systematic reviews dominate irrespective of indicator and citation window. ...this dominance could represent the idea that methodological quality leads to higher citation impact..[or] that whatever makes authors achieve high citation impact also leads them to willingly apply new methodological standards."
🧰 Tools
Voice Memos
I recently started using a voice memos app on my phone (check out the link for app options). When I am walking my dog or cooking, and I think of an idea or a great way to phrase something, I'll record a voice memo to capture it. It's been a game-changer for me.
💬 Quote
“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever.” ― Amy Poehler
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
