Welcome! Use this guide for help on writing in science and biology; search for books, ebooks, articles, news, and tools. Current UCB faculty, students, staff and patrons in the library have access to licensed resources. Use Bioscience Top Ten List or "Where do I start?" for more tools. Contact us if you have difficulty finding or accessing library resources. Use Recommend a title for purchases. Visit the Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library web site for more resources.
How scientific progress occurs: incrementalism and the life sciences by In this provocative work, the historian Elof Carlson explores how new fields of the life sciences emerge. Some scientists describe new theories, experiments, discoveries, or the use of new technology as paradigm shifts. Others call them scientific revolutions. The idea of paradigm shifts was introduced in 1962 by Thomas Kuhn, using as an example the emergence of the Copernican view that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the known universe. Carlson, however, argues by contrast the history of the life sciences is not an unbroken sequence of paradigm shifts but instead rather messy, with lots of contending ideas. What scientists believe to be true is not arrived at by consensus but by the weight of experiments and their results. Most of the time new tools lead to new theories, a process Carlson calls "incrementalism", an evolving human enterprise that depends on new technologies for generating new data and scientific progress.
How to Write a Good Scientific Paper by 
Searching the Grey Literature by Searching the Grey Literature is for librarians interested in learning more about grey literature. If you have ever been asked for a grey literature search but didn't know where to start, this book will help you craft your search successfully. If you are an expert searcher but find that your library patrons are unfamiliar with the vast body of grey literature, this book may be a useful teaching aid. Those that are both new arrivals and established professionals in the field of librarianship will learn much about grey literature from reading this book, and hopefully acquire new search skills and knowledge. Although a wide range of different types of librarians or information professionals may find the content of this book useful, those working in the areas of health or social science will benefit the most from the book's content. Searching the Grey Literature discuss different aspects of grey literature, including an introduction to grey literature, the value of grey literature, search sources for grey literature and how to conduct needs assessment before beginning a grey literature search. Search techniques for identifying grey literature documents, selecting and evaluating grey literature search sources and best searching practices are also discussed in detail.
A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology by Covers reading technical literature and writing scientific papers, to preparing lab reports and making oral presentations of scientific findings. Since scientific communication requires unique competencies on the computer (for example, producing Greek letters and mathematical symbols), almost half of the handbook is devoted familiarizing students with helpful features in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint--features that are essential to professional quality scientific communication.
Writing in Biology by At once sophisticated and practical, Writing in Biology: A Brief Guide advises students on composing research articles, literature reviews, oral presentations, and other key biology genres. The book gives careful attention to both the governing priciples of audience, purpose, and argument, andthe ground rules for style, visual design, and sourcing. Writing in Biology: A Brief Guide is a part of a series of brief, discipline-specific writing guides from Oxford University Press designed for today's writing-intensive college courses. The series is edited by Thomas Deans (University of Connecticut) and Mya Poe (Northeastern University).
Writing in the Environmental Sciences by As an environmental scientist, you are used to writing scientific articles, but how confident do you feel writing policy or regulatory documents? Do you feel you have the necessary writing skills to influence policy and inform the public? This refreshingly clear guide provides environmental scientists and conservation professionals with an effective writing process that can be applied in a range of financial, political, or organizational contexts. Baker outlines a replicable seven-step writing formula based on practical experience that acknowledges the complexities inherent in the worlds of endangered species, habitat conservation, and recovery planning. Using the formula, scientists will be able to communicate confidently and successfully with a multitude of audiences. Baker's guide is written for scientists, not professional writers. In it, best practices abound. Practical examples, strategies, and diagrams guide the reader at every step, and selected resources are provided for further reference.
Writing the Doctoral Dissertation by Here is the first book every prospective doctoral candidate should read. This new edition has been updated to account for recent advances in digital technology and the realities of today's academic world, it presents solid advice on-- Selecting an advisor and a dissertation committee Selecting a dissertation topic Investigating existing knowledge on the topic Making a dissertation proposal Budgeting and scheduling time for research and writing Working with the advisor and dissertation committee Managing dissertation activities Defending and publishing the dissertation.Grant Applications
Laboratory Notebooks / electronic notebooks
Laboratory Reports
Oral Presentations
Peer review for grant applications
Peer review for manuscripts
Progress reports
Research Articles
Review Articles
Scientific Posters
Ten Simple (Empirical) Rules for Writing Science
Citation: Weinberger CJ, Evans JA, Allesina S (2015). PLoS Comput Biol 11(4): e1004205. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004205
http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004205
A Student's Guide to Writing in the Life Sciences Harvard Writing Project, Harvard University.
