WIAS course High-Impact Writing in Science

Course schedule

Dates Start time End time Location Coordinator registrations
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17-20 June 2019 Wageningen Campus, t.b.d. WIAS 14 / 20 Registration ended at 10/06/2019

Course description

Fee: WIAS PhDs with an approved TSP: €100 (fee is 75% subsidised by WIAS). All other participants: €400 pp

Credit points: 1.3 ECTS

Target Group: The workshop is aimed at graduate research students and post-docs who have some experience in writing scientific papers and might have taken an introductory course on scientific writing. This workshop is most useful to researchers who plan to submit grant proposals or hope to publish their research in a high-impact journal. The course is useful for scientists across all disciplines.

Group Size: 15-20 participants

Course duration: 4 full days (9am to 5pm)

Language English (Dutch possible if desired)

Self-study hours: 1 hour per day

Name instructor:  Dr. Ulrike Müller, Associate Professor, California State University Fresno

Venue: Participants receive a message about the course location before the start date

Workshop format: The course will be structured like a workshop with short lectures punctuating group and individual tasks, such as preparing, editing and rewriting a draft, and group discussions. You will do some online fact finding and work through online material, both in and outside of class. Be prepared to talk about your research in class and to write a short scientific article concerning your research.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:

  •  break your scientific research down into its core arguments
  •  build a logical narrative from those core arguments
  •  identify and eliminate non-essential facts and concepts from a narrative
  •  restructure & formulate sentences to increase their clarity and enhance their functioning within a narrative
  •  effectively use and provide peer feedback to quickly develop a rough draft into a final manuscript
  •  write and edit a manuscript within a team

Programme:

Day 1

09:00

Building writing teams – name your project

 

10:00

Basic writing rules

 

10:15

First paragraphs of high-impact papers

 

10:45  COFFEE/TEA

 

11:00

First paragraphs, continued

 

12:00

High impact: most cited | downloaded | core paper

 

12:30  LUNCH

 

13:30

High-impact papers – speed dating your reader

 

14:45 COFFEE/TEA

 

15:00

Structuring high-impact papers: Outlining

 

15:15

Deconstructing a Science paper

 

16:00

The core of your paper - constructing your story

 

Deliverables Day 1:

Main messages of manuscript

1st Draft of take-home messages

Bring for Day 2:

Data from your research

Literature list for your manuscript or project

Day 2

09:00

High-impact data – visual presentation

 

09:30

A picture tells 1000 words – Traffic accidents

 

10:45 COFFEE/TEA

 

11:00

Design rules for scientific figures

 

11:50

Making figures for your paper

 

12:30  LUNCH

 

13:30

Your literature list makes a high impact

 

13:45

Analyzing your reference list

 

14:00

Outlining your paper

 

14:05

Making an outline for a published paper

 

14:45  COFFEE/TEA

 

15:00

Outlining your paper

 

16:00

Checking that you get your message across

 

Deliverables Day 2:

Result figures for your manuscript

Messages aligned with data

Bring for Day 3:

Your abstract (from conference or manuscript)

Literature list for your manuscript or project

       

 

 

Day 3

 

09:00

From outline to introduction

09:10

Writing an introduction

10:45  COFFEE/TEA

 

11:00

Editing – some basic rules

11:10

Editing & receiving feedback on your writing

12:00

Let’s edit your introduction

12:30 LUNCH

 

13:30

How to write an abstract

13:45

Writing an abstract

14:45 COFFEE/TEA

 

15:00

Writing as a non-native speaker

15:20

Writing as a non-native speaker

16:00

Making a model introduction

16:30

Structuring your introduction

Deliverables Day 3:

Draft of your introduction

Draft of your abstract

 

Bring for Day 4:

Bring the most recent version of your abstract & manuscript

 

       

 

 

Day 4

 

09:00

Writing a discussion

09:10

Making a model discussion

09:50

Outline & write your discussion

10:45

 

11:00

What gets your paper rejected?

11:40

Assemble your draft manuscript

12:30

 

13:30

What reviewers and editors want

13:45

Peer review of draft manuscripts

14:45

 

15:00

Cooling your jets – receiving reviews

15:40

Cover letter & submission process

16:00

Course evaluation & open discussion

17:00

The end

 

Deliverables Day 4:

Draft of your discussion

Peer review of your draft