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A letter to a student (on scientific writing/revision)
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Background:
John is a student (or a junior scientist), whose manuscript was sent to me for English editing by his "boss." As usual, I threw in free comments and suggestions. In this case, I suggested him to split the paper into two. End of my Round 1 of editing.
After some consideration, John agreed with me and sent me a shortened version. I edited it again, after having gotten the "go ahead" from his "boss." Again, I made suggestions for him to revise.
A day later, John asked me for "help," again...
Dear John,
To revise a paper takes time. I am a good writer, but I need a lot of time to write and even more time to revise a manuscript. The key to good writing is revision, revision, and revision.
Please ask yourself these questions:
1) What is new about this paper? (So, you need to know what has been published on this topic.)
2) Are the results important/useful enough to be publish in a journal?
3) Have I told a good story? (Note: A story has a story line and follows a logic; so is a scientific paper.)
I want you to work hard on the paper yourself. Then, ask (your boss) to read it, and let him decide if I should do Round 3 of editing.
Zuojun
John is a student (or a junior scientist), whose manuscript was sent to me for English editing by his "boss." As usual, I threw in free comments and suggestions. In this case, I suggested him to split the paper into two. End of my Round 1 of editing.
After some consideration, John agreed with me and sent me a shortened version. I edited it again, after having gotten the "go ahead" from his "boss." Again, I made suggestions for him to revise.
A day later, John asked me for "help," again...
Dear John,
To revise a paper takes time. I am a good writer, but I need a lot of time to write and even more time to revise a manuscript. The key to good writing is revision, revision, and revision.
Please ask yourself these questions:
1) What is new about this paper? (So, you need to know what has been published on this topic.)
2) Are the results important/useful enough to be publish in a journal?
3) Have I told a good story? (Note: A story has a story line and follows a logic; so is a scientific paper.)
I want you to work hard on the paper yourself. Then, ask (your boss) to read it, and let him decide if I should do Round 3 of editing.
Zuojun
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-306792-484555.html
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