Writing Resources

Scientific Paper Writing Resources

Online Resources

• American Scientist – 12 Tips for Scientists Writing for the General Public by Katie L. Burke
• American Scientist – The Science of Scientific Writing (PDF) by George Gopen and Judith Swan
• Bartleby.com – The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. (1918 edition)
• Bates College – How to Write a Paper in Scientific Journal Style and Format by Greg Anderson – designed primarily for undergraduates, but useful for more advanced writers as well
• The Chronicle of Higher Education – 10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly by Michael C. Munger
• Colorado State University – Writing the Scientific Paper
• Duke University – Summary of Some Internet Sources for Scientific Writing
• Guardian.co.uk – A manifesto for the simple scribe – my 25 commandments for journalists by Tim Radford
• News@nullNature.com – The write stuff by Henry Gee
• Oikos – How to write consistently boring scientific literature by Kaj Sand-Jensen
• Purdue University – Online Writing Lab
• Science writing & presenting advice – links from the Baskett Lab, UC Davis
• University of Chicago – the Chicago Manual of Style

Books

• A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th Edition by Kate Turabian (2007)
• A Short Guide to Writing about Biology by Jan A. Pechenik (2012)
• A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology by Karin Knisely (2013)
• How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 7th edition by Robert A. Day and Barbara Gastel (2011)
• How to Write a Master’s Thesis by Yvonne Bui (2013)
• Scientific Style and Format by the Council of Science Editors (2006)
• Writing in the Biological Sciences: A Comprehensive Resource for Scientific Communication by Angelika H. Hofmann (2012)
• Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences by Victoria E. McMillan (2011)
• Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Joshua Schimel (2011)
• Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps by Margaret Cargill and Patrick O’Connor (2009)
• Writing Successful Science Proposals, Second Edition by Andrew Friedland and Carol L Folt (2009)

Science Writing – Writing About Science

• A Field Guide for Science Writers – from the National Association of Science Writers
• On the Origin of Science Writers – Ed Yong’s blog

Grant Proposal Writing Resources

• The Baskett Lab, UC Davis – Grant & job resources
• The Chronicle of Higher Education – How to Fail in Grant Writing
• The Foundation Center – Proposal Writing
• The Foundation Center – Proposal Writing Short Course
• Human Frontier Science Program – The Art of Grantsmanship
• Indiana University – The Most Common Errors Made in Research Proposals and Applications
• Jacob Kraicer – The Art of Grantsmanship (pdf version)
• Learner Associates – Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal
• Michigan State University – Academic Fundraising Web Resources
• National Institutes of Health – Grant Writing Tips Sheets
• National Science Foundation – A Guide for Proposal Writing
• PLoS Computational Biology – Ten Simple Rules for Getting Grants
• Bruce Railsback, University of Georgia – Writing a scientific grant proposal: advice for students
• Alice Reid – A Practical Guide For Writing Proposals (pdf)
• Science – Grants and Grant Writing – extensive collection of articles
• University of Michigan – Proposal Writer’s Guide
• University of Pittsburgh – Selected Proposal Writing Websites
• University of Vermont – Grant Writing Resources
• Vanderbilt University – The Original How to Write a Research Grant Application (pdf)
• Stephen Wilbers – Grant proposal writing

Sample NSF Proposal – Implications of Disequilibrium Ecology for Environmental Ethics and Policy
Proposal Samples from the University of Toledo

Textbook Writing Links

• There’s More to Publishing Than Meets the Screen (NY Times 1/2/2010)
• In a Digital Future, Textbooks Are History (NY Times 8/8/2009)
• The Future of E-Textbooks (Wired 8/15/2000)