A Scientific Approach to Scientific Writing

This guide provides a framework, starting from simple statements, for writing papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals. It also describes how to address referees’ comments, approaches for composing other types of scientific communications, and key linguistic aspects of scientific writing.

• Sees-editing Ltd, Weston-super-mare, United Kingdom

  John Blackwell

• Sayer-Martin Ltd, Aberaeron, United Kingdom

  Jan Martin

John Blackwell has a PhD in plant physiology, and has done post-doctoral work in both the UK and Sweden. Since then, he has worked in publishing for International Media Ltd. (now part of Agra Informa), and for 15 years he has been Director of Sees-editing Ltd., a company specializing in editing papers written in English by non-native speakers. In these capacities he has written, re-written or edited more than 3,000 papers, theses, reports and texts on diverse topics on behalf of hundreds of clients in more than 30 countries.

Jan Martin has a PhD in applied ecology and was previously Director of Lifelong Learning in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She has also worked, freelance, for various publishers including the Taylor & Francis publishing group and (for the last ca. 12 years) Sees-editing Ltd, and hence has written, re-written and edited more than 1,000 papers on a wide variety of topics.