Writing
Writing clearly
- The structure of a scientific paper — Introduction (why), Methods (what you did), Results (what you found), Discussion (what it means). Match the reader's needs at each stage.
- Paragraphs, sentences, and words — one idea per paragraph; short sentences; precise verbs. Cut hedging that hides the point.
Advice
- Drafting and revision — write a rough draft fast, then revise for structure and clarity. Good writing is rewriting.
Writing reproducibly
- Why write reproducible reports? — a report that embeds its own analysis code lets readers re-run and verify, and saves you from "the number I can't reproduce."
- Principles of reproducible writing — separate data, code, and prose; generate figures/tables from code, not by hand.
- The reproducibility–collaboration trade-off — heavy tooling helps reproducibility but can slow collaboration; pick what your team can sustain.
Writing responsibly
- Responsible disclosure and interpretation — don't overclaim; match the strength of the claim to the evidence (see Inference).
- Responsible handling of errors — correct mistakes openly and promptly.
- Responsible citation — credit prior work; cite the original, not just a review.
- Responsible authorship — authorship reflects real contribution; avoid gift and ghost authorship.
Key terms
- Reproducible report — prose with embedded, re-runnable analysis.
- Responsible interpretation — claims scaled to the evidence.
- Authorship — credit tied to genuine contribution.
Further reading
- Previous: Project management · Next: Visualization · Hub: Experimentology
- Plan before you write: Preregistration
- Pool evidence: Meta-analysis
- Research Methods — writing as part of the method.
- Research Ethics — responsible conduct in publication.