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Science Writing

This guide will help you with your science writing needs

What is Scientific Writing?

What's the difference between science writing and scientific writing?

You may be required to do both science writing and scientific writing in college. If your assignment is asking you to write something in order to communicate with the general public, you will use science writing. For research papers and assignments, you will likely use scientific writing.

  Science Writing Scientific Writing
Purpose To communicate scientific discoveries to a wider audience To communicate scientific discoveries to other scientists and researchers
Intended Audience General audience Other scientists or people doing research
Publication Outlet Newspapers, magazines, popular science books (e.g. National Geographic, Scientific American, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat) Peer-reviewed journals (Nature, Journal of Immunology, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
Writing Style More straightforward, often uses metaphors and analogies to explain concepts Technical writing likely using "jargon", or language specific to the field
Format Uses a narrative structure to tell a story Typically uses "IMRaD" format (I = introduction, M = methods, R = results, and D = discussion)