Topic:

Scientific Journal Writing

Topics include:

1. What to do before you write

2. Know the styles and format

3. Writing the manuscript-----how to prepare

        Title page including authors, affiliation, and contact information (one page)
        Abstract and key words (one page)
        Introduction
        Materials and methods
        Results
        Discussion
        Conclusion
        Acknowledgment
        References
        Figure captions
        Figure (one figure one page)
        Table (one table one page)

4. Editing and proof reading

5. Cover letter and submitting

6. After submission

7. Common writing problems

Global organization of ideas
Sentence flow
Grammar
Precise word use

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About the speaker

        Dr. Zhang Jundong graduated from the Chemistry Department of Brown in 1993, went to the Department of Biology in MIT for postdoctoral study, and currently works in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. He published 12 papers in JBC, JOC, J. of bacteriology, etc. and awarded grants from NIH, NSF and NCI. He reviewed papers for journals.  In recent years he revised many manuscripts of Chinese professors, taught ¡°scientific journal writing¡± in universities in China and wrote a book on this topic.

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A message from the speaker

To have an acceptable level of writing skill is crucial for success in academic or industrial research and employment. These writing skills do not come naturally, they have to be learned. I struggled with my own English writing in my student years like most of my fellow Chinese students.  Fortunately, my postdoctoral advisor is a fluent English writer. He provided the much needed help. He was a journal editor and wrote a popular text book. I learned a great deal about English writing through his example and by his personal revision.  My writing improved step by step through a series of manuscript and grants writings, both at MIT and later at work. 

In the past few years, with the great emphasis on publication of research in English journals, many of my friends in China sought my help with their English manuscripts.  I started to revise manuscripts for them and teach Scientific Journal Writing in universities.  The response is very positive. Along the way, I and they learned more about how to prepare and write a manuscript for publication. After revising manuscripts written by Chinese scientists, I realized there are many non-standard writings (Chinese English) common to our Chinese-speaking people due to the differences in the ways of how the language is written between Chinese and English. Based on my own writing and manuscript revising experience, I wrote a booklet on ¡°Scientific Journal English Writing¡± specifically towards Chinese-speaking readers focusing on the use of key words and phrases and organization of a sentence.

I realized there is a need among Chinese students and I can offer some help. I will share the skills I learned in the years with you and I hope this short talk will help to improve or point the way onto how to improve your scientific journal writing skills.

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