3: Writing Technical Science Like a Journalist

Writing technical science like journalism is described in this chapter. The Abstract, Introduction, Results, and Conclusions should all be written like individual journalistic pieces. The most important sentence in the entire document is the first of the Abstract followed shortly by the first of the Conclusions. The most important ideas for each other section or subsection of a paper should be included in the first sentence of each section. Furthermore, practical tips for writing the Methodology, Introduction, and Results are also provided. The Results should be written after the tables and figures are constructed and should serve to highlight, synthesize, or explain the concepts from the tables and not merely regurgitate them. Finally, each of these pieces should be woven together with a common theme or motif.