The WikiDoc Manual of Style
Editors-in-Chief: Brian Blank and C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D.
Overview
Good scientific writing is terse and efficient. It is objective and avoids the use of adjectives.
Avoid the passive tense, use the present or past tense
Do not use of the passive tense with words ending in "ing". Use the present or past tense.
Avoid the words "causes" and "predicts"
Biology is largely phenomenology and it is hard to verify causal pathways.
Do not use the phrase ___"causes" ____ unless a causal pathway is firmly established.
Instead use the phrase “ ___ was associated with ___”.
Do not use the word “predictor” unless causality has been established and the observation has been validated in both an exploratory and validation cohort.
Avoid using the words I and we
Do not use the word “I” or “we”. These are too conversational and casual. Insert instead “This study examined …” not “We examined …”
Table to translate conversational / casual styel to WikiDoc / Scientific style
| Casual Style | Science Style |
|---|---|
| in patients | among patients |
| after | following |
| given | administered |
| use | received, administered |
| seen | observed |
| cell | cell |
| cell | cell |
| cell | cell |