How to Write a Science Paper

Papers whether scientific or social are given by teachers, whose prerogative determines what you write. They determine the font sizes, formats, procedures and detailed steps to follow when you are writing the paper. It’s your duty and responsibility to follow your teacher’s instructions to get the most marks. 

However, not all teachers give the instructions on how they want their paper presented. You are free to use industry standards to write the science paper. Here are the standard guidelines required when it comes to writing science papers.

Use of headings

Science papers are structured and have sections with headings. The basic headings in science papers are the abstract, introduction, the method, results and discussion. Depending on what type of paper you are writing, try to divide it into different sections with unique headings as much as possible.

Concise statements

Overall, science is objective and so should its language be. Keep off poetic and flowing language in the science paper to get more marks. Science papers dwell on facts and it’s your responsibility to make them interesting by using interesting action words.

Use supporting details

When you write the science report, you need to explain what happened in the experiment directly. However, these alone cannot stand independently. Each time you are enthused to explain a cause and effect scenario in the paper, add details to support the claims.

Measure opinions and use them wisely

Science as mentioned is built on verifiable facts. As much as possible, keep your personal opinions to yourself in the paper, unless you have scientific backing for them. However, during instances where your personal experience is required to get the message right, it’s advisable for you to use scientific facts to explain them. Issue opinion when expressly asked to do so.

Keep off absolute statements

There is nothing absolute in science unless there is experimental proof to support it. As such, all claims must be supported by evidence. Bear this in mind.

Don’t use contractions

A contraction should not be used in scientific writing. This is because science is largely formal and official-more or less like business writing. In report type scenarios such as science papers, contractions must be avoided at all costs.

Avoid slang

Slang is common among the youth and on most occasions; they reflect this in their papers. Could blame this on the texting culture, but it’s totally unacceptable in science writing. Logically, this limits the paper’s effectiveness and sense. Avoid this as much as possible. You can start reading the newspaper on a daily basis to get back to good writing.

Proper tenses

Grammar is what glues a paper making it readable. When writing the science paper, you are better off using the right tenses to make the paper sensible and easy to read. Normally, the paper is more about what happened and you need to articulate this in the right perspective.

Active verbs

The passive voice is hard to read. It also elicits inaction at its best. To make the paper impactful and special, use active voice/verbs to drive your message across.

Avoid misuse of science terms

A recent survey revealed that many students are addicted to scientific jargon. They even love it and in the process, end up misusing scientific terms. Be careful to use the scientific terms correctly to avoid distorting the meaning of words. Also consider using the terms sparingly, but use them anyway.

Author bio: Anita Yeager provides dissertation help at ukbestdissertation.com