Writing Development Centre nclwdc Writing Development Centre Explore the possibilities Todays session Why do you want to write for a lay audience What do you want to write ID: 636723
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Science Writing for a Lay Audience
Writing Development Centre
@
ncl_wdc
Writing Development Centre
Explore the possibilitiesSlide2Slide3
Today’s session
Why do you want to write for a lay audience?
What do you want to write?What audience do you want to write for? What questions do
you have about writing for a lay audience?Slide4
Motivations: to what extent do you agree?
I want to communicate what I do to as wide an audience as possible
Academic writing can be a barrier to appreciating science. It needs to be made as clear as possible for a lay audience. The general public needs to be better educated about science and scientific research
Sometimes it’s necessary to ‘dumb academic research down’ a little so the general public can understand it.We researchers have much to share with the public – we have a duty to tell them what we knowDeveloping a public profile and demonstrating public engagement will help my careerSlide5
The Impact Agenda
Your agenda?
The general public’s agenda?Slide6
The Food Chain
Academic scientific peer reviewed publishing
Stakeholder reports
Popular science books/blogs/magazinesQuality press (broadsheets, national news channels
)Textbooks and educational materialsBlogs and other social mediaTabloids, ‘in brief’ news sites
Online clickbait, listiclesSlide7
The History of Science communication
Scientific Literacy
– the public are ignorant. They should have a basic understanding of science. Scientists must remediate this deficit! (>1980)Public Understanding of Science
– The public should be more interested in science. Scientists must ensure that education is improved so that the public can better participate in society and appreciate science (>2000s)Public Engagement with Science – Science communication shouldn’t be top-down and one-way – this is presumptuous and arrogant. Science should be a conversation, a two way dialogue (current) Slide8
What characterises academic writing
?
Academic science writing is…..
…? …? …? …? …?
Clear
LogicalPreciseObjectiveSimpleFormal UnbiasedAccurateCautiousConciseSlide9
Lay perceptions of academic writing
“The institutional practice of mystery” (
Lillis, 1999)
“an intimidating and impenetrable fog”
(W
atterson 1993)Slide10
Avoiding Jargon
“A plain English summary is a brief summary that has been written for members of the public, rather than researchers or professionals.
It should be written clearly and simply, without jargon and with an explanation of any technical terms that have to be included.” – INVOLVEJargon is simply precise technical language which is used in an inappropriate context, in which the audience does not share the common and professional language the terms belong to.Slide11
Assuming knowledge and purpose
How much knowledge does your reader
really need to understand the research and its significance?
“If in doubt, assume the reader knows nothing. However, never make the mistake of assuming that the reader is stupid.
The classic error in journalism is to overestimate what the reader knows and underestimate the reader's intelligence.”
Tim Radford’s
Manifesto for the Simple Scribe: The 25 commandments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/jan/19/manifesto-simple-scribe-commandments-journalistsSlide12
Who is your intended audience?
Who exactly is your intended audience?
How varied an audience are they?What’s important to them?What would they find valuable/useful/interesting?
What would they do with it?What willingness or vested interest might they have, to put the effort in?What’s their knowledge level in this area?
What do you want to write about?Slide13
Abstract in PNAS
Stabilization of vaccines and antibiotics in silk and eliminating the cold chain
Sensitive biological compounds, such as vaccines and antibiotics, traditionally require a time-dependent “cold chain” to maximize therapeutic activity. This flawed process results in billions of dollars worth of viable drug loss during shipping and storage, and severely limits distribution to developing nations with limited infrastructure. To address these major limitations, we demonstrate selfstanding
silk protein biomaterial matrices capable of stabilizing labile vaccines and antibiotics, even at temperatures up to 60 °C over more than 6 months. Initial insight into the mechanistic basis for these findings is provided. Importantly, these findings suggest a transformative approach to the cold chain to revolutionize the way many labile therapeutic drugs are stored and utilized throughout the world.Zhang
et al. (2012) PNAS. Published online before print July 9, 2012doi: 10.1073/pnas.1206210109Slide14
Finding the story
Thinking about your own identified audience:What aspects in this abstract which might appeal to them and why?
What might they want from this information or to do with this information?Is there anything else in the press release you’d include?Slide15
What makes a good opening?Slide16
Naming Practices : an examination of Titles
Searchability
ScanabilityFunctionality Comprehensibility InterestSlide17
The research paper: Diagram of structure
Introduction and literature review
Methods
Results
Discussion and
ConclusionsSlide18
The news report: Diagram of structure
The ‘inverted pyramid’ model
Most important/attention-grabbing information
Elaboration and detail
Least important information? Return to why it’s interesting/important?Slide19
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The role of structure
The
Crime Novel
The Police
Report
January 18, 2012Slide20
What’s the response you’re looking for?
Wow!
Isn’t science/nature amazing/weird? Yay! Plucky researchers strike a blow against
disease!Huh! So that’s why....now we understand.
Ew! Bet you’re glad this isn’t you!
Hey! Did you know…?Well! Who’d have thought…?Hm. That doesn’t sound good. Aw… That’s sad/cute/heartwarmingSlide21
Using imagery to make a bridge to the reader’s experience
Simile Metaphor Extended metaphor
SymbolismCliché
“research is like a journey”
“research is a journey”
“research is a journey. As we travel, we may find we do not arrive at the destination we anticipated, or by the paths we planned”
We cannot know the destination of the Journey
Common metaphors Slide22
The uses of metaphor: the spices in your dish
Metaphors can enable you to make a strong connection with the shared experience between you and your audience
It can create a strong ‘visual’ or concrete impression, which helps to explain the more abstract aspects of researchIt makes your writing more engaging and interestingSlide23
Metaphor: leaving a sour taste
You need to be sure that both you and your audience share the same common understanding of the metaphor
Extended metaphors can break down as your meaning is twisted to fit the metaphor Mixed metaphors are confusingToo much metaphor can seem overly poetical and make the text too abstractSlide24
Voices – scientist, writer, reader
Scientist: Quotations from the scientists can change the pace, add a ‘human’ element, give a sense of the excitement of research
Reader: Using questions and implying shared reactions can include the voice of the readerWriter: do you want your own voice to reflect that of the scientist or that of the reader’s perspective?
When to use I, we, you, they…when to keep
it impersonalSlide25
Style: everything we always told you not to do!
You
can use contractions! (isn’t, don’t etc)You can use phrasal verbs! (to make better = to improve, to think about = to consider)You
can use imprecise and (slightly) exaggerated language! (it’s really interesting, there are lots of)You can use emotive language! (fascinating, scary, thrilled)Slide26
Informal Style
It can be difficult to undo the formal academic habits that have been trained into you…Write longhand with pen and paper or use an informal font
Record yourself talking about it and base a draft on that Read it aloud or ask someone else toSlide27
Formatting
Snappy title (may will also be URL)
Conversational, personal tone (‘your voice’)‘Shorth’ – 300 min - 600 words (1000 MAX and RARELY depending on audience)Scannable – no large blocks of dense text – subheadings, bullet points, short paragraphs
Hypertext links instead of footnotes and references?Multimedia – embed images, video, sound, slides, documents….Slide28
Popular accounts
What features can you find in the two versions for lay audiences?How well do they achieve their aims?
What might improve them?How might a version for your own audience be different?Slide29
Blog in npr
(multimedia news organisation and radio programme producer in the US)
Why Silk May Be Added To Vaccines Somedayby Jessica Stoller-Conrad, July 09, 2012
Silk is in neckties, scarves and some fancy underwear and pajamas. Before too long, it might just help keep people from getting sick with measles or polio. Vaccines play an important role in health, but can be tricky to transport to the far corners of the world. Many vaccines and some other drugs require constant refrigeration — from the factories where they're made to the places where they're ultimately injected into people.
That's where silk comes in. Researchers from Tufts University recently discovered that proteins in silk could help protect some vaccines and drugs from heat damage, eliminating the need for this so-called cold chain, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
. Chemicals in vaccines and some antibiotics given by injection must stay in the right folded shape to work properly. When exposed to heat or moisture those folds can unfold, and the drugs or vaccines can no longer challenge the bacteria or viruses they were designed to battle, says Dr David Kaplan, a bioengineering professor at Tufts University and lead author on the study. Silk proteins stabilize the medicines and act to "pin the structure in place," Kaplan says. With the addition of these silk supports, the vaccine (against measles, mumps and rubella) and two antibiotics were able to retain their potency at temperatures over 100 degrees for two weeks or more. Without silk stabilizers, heat that high saps their effectiveness in less than a day. Though this finding could help clinics in the U.S. eliminate the need for costly refrigeration facilities, the biggest impact of this discovery could be global.
"The cold chain is a severe limitation to the distribution of therapeutics. Not only in the U.S., but in developing nations where the cold chain is difficult to maintain, or may not even be present," Kaplan tells Shots.
Silk is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for some medical uses, but Kaplan's concept is far from becoming a pharmaceutical reality.
However, using silk to reduce the need for a cold chain got Kaplan and his team brainstorming.
"Think of a Band-Aid with small little spikes. When you put it on the skin, it penetrates the skin just through the outside layer so it doesn't hurt," says Kaplan. "You can envision making these Band-Aids with vaccines and other drugs in there during the manufacturing, and distribute them without worrying about temperature exposure. And then when you're ready to use it, you just put it on your skin.“
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/07/09/156503977/why-silk-may-someday-be-added-to-vaccinesSlide30
Article in New Scientist
Silky scheme for vaccine storage without refrigeration
09 July 2012 by Debora Mackenzie, Magazine issue 2873 Silkworms may provide a novel way to store vaccines. Preventable infections kill millions of children in poor countries, partly because reliable refrigeration for vaccines isn't always available.
Vaccines are refrigerated to slow the rate at which the biological molecules they contain gradually degrade, largely due to contact with water. Fibroin, a protein in silk, forms stable sheets that contain tiny pockets lined with molecules that repel water. You can trap a biological molecule within these pockets by dissolving it with fibroin in water, then drying it to form a film. Tucked away in a pocket, the molecule is protected.
David Kaplan and colleagues at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, made such films with the live measles, mumps and rubella viruses in the MMR vaccine. The films kept the viruses undamaged for six months, even powdered and at temperatures of 45 °C, when regular freeze-dried vaccines degraded rapidly.
Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206210109http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22032-silky-scheme-for-vaccine-storage-without-refrigeration.htmlSlide31Slide32Slide33
Routes to Writing for a Lay Audience
Broadcast media (newspapers, popular science books, magazines)
Social media (blogging, etc)Scientific Writing competitionsPublic engagement and outreach (teaching materials for schools)Slide34
The Writing Development CentreLevel 2, Robinson Library
Our team offers:
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One-to-one tutorials
on study skills and all stages and types of academic writing
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A programme of workshops
on aspects of study and academic writing
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Online resources
You can book appointments and workshops with us online:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/
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