How to Write a Scientific Paper – Online Course
The aim of the course is to help participants write well-written and well-structured scientific papers, thereby increasing the chances of their acceptance for publication. To this end, the course focuses on improving participants’ academic English and analysing what to do in each section of a typical scientific paper. The course is taught by a native English speaker who has a PhD from Copenhagen University.
Course structure
The course comprises 6 teaching modules of 2.5 hours. Each module focuses on an aspect of academic English that typically causes non-native writers problems and deals with one of the sections of a typical IMRAD scientific paper, e.g., the introduction to identify what scientists should do and not do in the specific section, how it is usually structured and what information should be included. Each module has a strong focus on group work.
The course is designed to help participants develop an existing draft paper as they can use the content of the classes to improve its individual sections, thereby bringing the paper closer to submission to a suitable journal.
During the course, 4 assignments must be submitted. The first 3 are to improve an existing introduction, methods and result section of a paper based on what has been learnt in the respective lessons. For each of these assignments, the students receive constructive feedback from their fellow course participants. The final assignment, which is to improve a draft discussion section, is sent to the course tutor, who provides 2 hours of detailed feedback on the language.
Note: Course participants are not expected to complete a scientific paper by the end of the course, and it is possible to attend the course despite not having a current work-in-progress paper as alternative beneficial assignments can be set.
Participants who attend at least 5 of the 6 classes, submit all the written tasks and participate actively in class by giving constructive written feedback and comments to fellow students will receive 2.5 ECTS points if the course has been approved by their PhD School.
Course content
- Introduction to the IMRAD structure for scientific papers
- Identify the functions of a typical Introduction section
- Identify the functions of a typical Methods section
- Identify the functions of a typical Results section
- Identify the functions of a typical Discussion section
- How to write an Abstract and a good title
- What is good academic writing style?
- Readability statistics in Word
- The Paramedic Method for editing texts
- An overview of the main punctuation rules in English, especially commas
- Subject/verb agreement
- Parallelism
- Hedging and how to write cautiously
- Using linking words to increase text cohesion and enhance readability
- The passive – when to use the passive in academic writing. How to form the passive.
How much does it cost?
The price is DKK 22,000 plus DKK 1,000 per participant for the 2-hour individual feedback from the course instructor excluding VAT. The price includes the Oxford Online Placement Test for all participants and all in-class course material.
How to sign up for the course
To register for the course or for more information, please contact Finn Steffens of AIS Sprog on 61 40 67 03 or by email: ais@ais-sprog.dk.