Successful Medical and Scientific Writing

Programm

27. August 2021: von 09:00 - 13:00 Uhr
3. und 10. September 2021:
von 09:00 - 12:00 Uhr

Part I - 27.08.2021: Good medical & scientific writing - the basics

Planning a scientific document

• Resources and contributors
• The target audience
• Key messages based on expected outcomes
• Setting the scene
• How to present data
• Guidelines and conventions:where to look for guidance

The key aspects of professional writing in the biomedical setting

• "Healthy" ratio of active vs. passive verbs
• Limiting the number of prepositions
• Simple tenses applied properly
• Avoiding confusion resulting from nonparallel statements
• Limiting modifiers and other "decorative" words and expressions
• Sound and abundant punctuation

Standards and style

• Consistent spelling (American English versus British English)
• Shortened word forms (abbreviations, acronyms, suspensions, etc.)
• Expressing numbers in scientific texts
• Using capital letters
• Syntax and subject-verb agreement
• Dangling participles
• Use and misuse of 'respectively'

Part II - 03.09.2021: Abstracts and posters

Importance of the scientific abstract

• The purpose of abstracts
• Descriptive versus informative abstracts
• Structured vs. unstructured abstracts
• The "house style" of scientific journals

Structuring scientific texts

• Getting the 'story' out
• Using IMRAD
• The required information for readers
• Avoiding redundancies and jargon

Appropriate use of visuals

• Choosing the appropriate data display
• Elements of table types and design
• Graphs, plots, charts, and diagrams
• Design and sensible use of flowcharts

Characteristics of scientific posters

• What is an informative poster?
• Which facts are necessary?
• Importance of formats and layout

Part III - 10.09.2021: Quality control of documents

General aspects

• How perfect do documents have to be?
• Quality levels for different documents
• The 4 'Cs' (consistency, completeness, correctness, and compliance)
• When time is limited... - prioritization

Ethical writing

• Prejudice and semantic labeling
• Plagiarism

Programm

27. August 2021: von 09:00 - 13:00 Uhr
3. und 10. September 2021:
von 09:00 - 12:00 Uhr

Part I - 27.08.2021: Good medical & scientific writing - the basics

Planning a scientific document

• Resources and contributors
• The target audience
• Key messages based on expected outcomes
• Setting the scene
• How to present data
• Guidelines and conventions:where to look for guidance

The key aspects of professional writing in the biomedical setting

• "Healthy" ratio of active vs. passive verbs
• Limiting the number of prepositions
• Simple tenses applied properly
• Avoiding confusion resulting from nonparallel statements
• Limiting modifiers and other "decorative" words and expressions
• Sound and abundant punctuation

Standards and style

• Consistent spelling (American English versus British English)
• Shortened word forms (abbreviations, acronyms, suspensions, etc.)
• Expressing numbers in scientific texts
• Using capital letters
• Syntax and subject-verb agreement
• Dangling participles
• Use and misuse of 'respectively'

Part II - 03.09.2021: Abstracts and posters

Importance of the scientific abstract

• The purpose of abstracts
• Descriptive versus informative abstracts
• Structured vs. unstructured abstracts
• The "house style" of scientific journals

...