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Category Archives: Writing
The scandal of the Research Works Act and for-huge-profit publishers like Elsevier
Review can be broken down into two general categories, first, the work done by professionals that evaluate papers, along with the editors who choose who evaluates, then make the final decision, and, second, the entities that choose the editors and provide the software for the reviewing process. The first category is generally performed by academic professionals who do not get extra pay for editorial and reviewing work, so we can say it is paid for by their universities and their research grants, whoever is paying their salaries. Continue reading
Use low magnification for writing, high for editing
But once you are happy with the structure, once you think your piece says what you want it to say, communicates what you want it to communicate, then you need to look at the details. … Once that is done, I want to polish every sentence, so I change the magnification of my Word document and let every error shriek. 
At this size, there are things I would change. Continue reading
What to call a manuscript file – begin with your own last name
After all, I read hundreds of drafts of papers a year from my own lab group and classes, and review for others another hundred or so. … When I return the file to you, I will put my initials at the very beginning, so you will know this is the draft of the paper that I read. Continue reading
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Why writing is so hard – all those paths not taken
What you want to tell could be viewed a fragile net, with many interconnections, but at some point you have to pick it up at a single place and shake. … I could also talk about Whitefish Point in Lake Superior where in June two years ago we saw so many bluejays still flying north, loose groups disappearing into the fog over the lake. Continue reading
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Why is it so hard to write a perfect scientific abstract?
I think a better title would be: Male house wrens increase provisioning of babies from eggs that indicate more female investment, as indicated by egg color. … This study supports the generality of the hypothesis of egg color as a sexually selected signal by demonstrating for the first time that males of a species with brown eggs also respond to egg color. Continue reading
Posted in Scientific meetings, Writing
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