Reasoned Writing / A Framework for Scientific Papers 

Reasoned Writing and A Framework for Scientific Papers seek to use reasoning to improve writing.

Writing is difficult... for just about everyone. Scientific writing is particularly hard for several reasons. First, the style of scientific writing is unfamiliar to most people, which makes writing scientific text itself a challenge. Second, reading and writing scientific papers often involves using many new concepts and vocabulary, which adds to the complexity and difficulty of clear writing. Finally, it is often difficult to find guidance for how to write scientifically that is specific enough to be useful. 

This website, including the sections on Reasoned Writing and A Framework for Scientific Papers, seeks to provide concise, practical advice about how to write scientific text. However, one thing that you will notice is that much of the advice on the website isn't just about writing! The first step towards effective scientific writing is to ensure that our REASONING is organized and strong. Once we have strong reasoning, then if our writing is simple and specific, then the resulting text will be clear and compelling.

To navigate the site, use the buttons at the bottom of each page to go forward and the buttons at the top of the page to go back. Alternatively, you can access an outline of the site using the button at the upper left of the page, or through the text outline below.

Please send feedback/comments to Devin Jindrich, djindrich@csusm.edu

UPDATE! (2020 Fall) I have also developed a companion module on statistics and research methods. Only a very brief description of module is included on this website... please contact me for more information.

Please contact me (djindrich@csusm.edu) if you would like source (MS Word) documents of the modules. I am willing to share most things with most people who are at institutions that respect diversity and fairness, and don't discriminate against students (or job applicants) based on religion or other characteristics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (text version)

REASONED WRITING

• PREFACE

• TOPIC OUTLINE

• FRAMEWORKS

  • CHRONOLOGIES

  • LISTS

  • REASONED FRAMEWORKS

    • WHY REASONING

      • HEURISTICS

      • RHETORICAL TRICKS

    • ELEMENTS OF REASONING

      • CONCLUSIONS

      • PREMISES

        • ASSUMPTIONS

        • FACTS

          • FACTS FROM YOUR DATA

          • FACTS FROM OTHERS' DATA

          • STRONG OR SOUND CONCLUSIONS AS FACTS

        • CLARIFICATIONS

      • TRANSITIONS

        • CONJUNCTIONS

          • AND

          • HIERARCHICAL CONJUNCTIONS

          • BUT

        • DISJUNCTIONS

        • INDICATING CONCLUSIONS

    • TYPES OF REASONING

      • DEDUCTIVE REASONING

        • SYLLOGISMS

        • GRAPHICAL FRAMEWORKS

        • DEDUCTIVE FALLACIES

      • INDUCTIVE REASONING

        • INDUCTIVE FALLACIES

      • HIERARCHIES

        • TREE FRAMEWORKS

        • OUTLINES

        • LITERATURE GRIDS

• SIMPLICITY

  • PRINCIPLES OF SIMPLICITY

    • THE RULE OF THREE

    • REPETITION

    • ONE IDEA PER ELEMENT

  • SIMPLIFYING WRITING

    • PAPERS

      • EFFECTIVE SUBHEADINGS

      • REVERSE ENGINEERING

    • PARAGRAPHS

    • SENTENCES

• SPECIFICITY

  • PRINCIPLES OF SPECIFICITY

  • WRITING SPECIFICALLY

    • PAPERS

    • PARAGRAPHS

    • SENTENCES

SOME ACTIVITIES FOR REASONED WRITING

A FRAMEWORK FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

• HYPOTHESES

  • WHAT ARE HYPOTHESES?

    • SCIENTIFIC MODELS ("GENERAL" HYPOTHESES)

    • PREDICTIONS ("MEASURABLE" HYPOTHESES)

  • HOW CAN WE TEST HYPOTHESES?

    • USING DEDUCTIVE REASONING

      • MODUS TOLLENS

      • STRONG INFERENCE

    • USING INDUCTIVE REASONING

      • INDUCTIVE FRAMEWORKS

    • LIMITATIONS TO HYPOTHESIS TESTING

• STRUCTURING SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

  • SUMMARY OF A FRAMEWORK FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

  • THE INTRODUCTION

    • IMPORTANCE

    • IDENTIFYING A "GAP" IN UNDERSTANDING

    • OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES

  • THE METHODS

  • THE RESULTS

    • EXPLAINING DATA

    • MAKING COMPARISONS

    • SUPPORTING OR REJECTING PREDICTIONS

  • THE DISCUSSION

    • EXPERIMENTAL LIMITATIONS

    • CONCLUSIONS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC MODELS

      • SUPPORTING GENERAL HYPOTHESES

      • REVISING GENERAL HYPOTHESES

    • HOW TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING

• INCREASING THE IMPACT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

  • THE TITLE AND ABSTRACT

  • NARRATIVE WRITING

  • SPOKEN COMMUNICATION

SOME ACTIVITIES FOR A FRAMEWORK FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

SOME EXAMPLES OF CLASS ACTIVITIES

PREQUEL: STATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODS

"BOOK" VERSION: STATISTICAL RESEARCH METHODS (using spreadsheets) AND REASONED WRITING

Reasoned Writing / A Framework for Scientific Papers

A free website for scientific writing.

© 2018, Devin Jindrich

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