The Writing Centre

Resources

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Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (Book by Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb)
The Science of Scientific Writing (Article by George Gopen and Judith Swan)
Why Academics Stink at Writing (Article by Steven Pinker)
Scientific Writing and English (Article by P Balaram)
Stylish Resources for Stylish Writers (Website by Helen Sword)
The Single Reason Why People Can’t Write, According to Harvard Psychologist (Review of Steven Pinker’s book The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century)
Science’s Syntax Sin Tax (Book by Adam Ruben)
The Needless Complexity of Academic Writing (Articleby Victoria Clayton
It’s Not Just You: Science Papers are Getting Harder to Read (Article by Philip Ball
As a Nonnative Speaker, I Struggled to Write Scientific Papers in English. Here’s How I Learned (Article by Yunhe Tong)
Sin and Syntax (Book by Constance Hale)
On Writing Well (Book by William Zinser)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Book by Lynne Truss)
The Punctuation Mark Worth Ten Million Dollars by Mary Norris

The Scientist’s Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively Throughout Your Scientific Career (Book by Stephen Heard
The Top 100 Papers (Article by Richard Van Noorden, Brendan Maher & Regina Nuzzo)
How to Prepare a Scientific Poster (Article by Elizabeth Pain)
Scientific Writing Made Easy: Undergraduate Writing (Article by Sheela Turbek et al)

Sell yourself and your science in a compelling personal statement(Article by Andy Tay)

From Sputnik to Twitter, The History of Science Communication (Article by Rehaneh Maktoufi)
A Journey of Science Communication in India (Article by Manoj Patairiya)

A Note to Beginning Science Writers (Article by Carl Zimmer)
9 Tips to Communicating Science to People Who Are Not Scientists (Article by Marshall Shepherd)
Great Minds in Modern Science Writing Don’t All Think Alike (Review by Jenny Williams of The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, an anthology compiled by Richard Dawkins)
‘I was Hooked for Life’ (Article on science writers on books that inspired them)
Reflections on Writing, Science, and Life (Interview with Jared Diamond by Claire Panosian Dunavan)
This View of Writing (Interview with Stephen Jay Gould by Jared Haynes)

Oxford Graded Readers Level Test

NOTE:

This list is work in progress and is by no means exhaustive
The selection reflects our own biases
The resources are primarily in English and aimed at improving scientific writing (and writing in general) in English. While we acknowledge the urgent and important task of communicating science in vernacular languages, English has become the language of science for historical reasons. Therefore, for us to succeed in communicating research effectively, it is crucial that the skill is mastered in English

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