Writing Science Quotes

“First figure out what you don’t need to say; then, don’t say it.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Also remember, you are a scientist—it is not your job to be right. It is your job to be thoughtful, careful, and analytical; it is your job to challenge your ideas and to try to falsify your hypotheses; it is your job to be open and honest about the uncertainties in your data and conclusions. But if you are doing cutting-edge work, you are not always going to be right.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Few data sets don’t provide the opportunity to develop new insights. Conversely, few data sets are so imbued with novelty that you can’t use them to tell a boring and uninsightful story.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“I think people use fuzzy verbs when they are afraid that if they make strong statements, someone may challenge them or they may be wrong. If people feel challenged, you have engaged their interest, and that is good. Challenging proposals sometimes get funded; boring ones never do. Also remember, you are a scientist — it is not your job to be right. It is your job to be thoughtful, careful, and analytical; it is your job to challenge your ideas and to try to falsify your hypotheses; it is your job to be open and honest about the uncertainties in your data and conclusions. But if you are doing cutting-edge work, you are not always going to be right. You may have some aspects of the system right but others wrong; your piece of the system may be counterbalanced by others; you may even have misinterpreted your data. As long as you did it with honesty, integrity, and intellect, you did right, even if you weren’t right.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“The pain of an embarrassing review lasts a few days, the pain of an embarrassing paper lasts a lifetime.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“A simple idea, therefore, is one that finds the core of the problem. It takes no special talent to see the complex in the complex. Cutting through the clutter to see the simple in the complex is what distinguishes great scientists from the merely competent.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Remember—getting published is not the ultimate goal; getting cited is.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“If you don’t have a question, you are not doing good science. If readers can’t tell what it is, you are not writing good science.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Answering an old question in a new system won’t make the science novel. Answering an old question using new technology also won’t make the science novel. Even answering an old question in a new system with new technology won’t make the science novel. Such work merely fills in the information base. Leading journals look for more than that; they look for papers that provide new knowledge and understanding. When you develop the courage and ability to ask new questions and take the risks inherent in trying to answer them, you will be prepared to do cutting-edge science. When you push beyond producing information to producing understanding, you will be doing cutting-edge science.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Science writing that isn’t credible is science fiction.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“A story without a resolution, such as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, falls into the “Theater of the Absurd.” A science paper without a resolution falls into the reject bin.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“A balloon is simple, but you notice more when you get hit in the head by a brick.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“The role of scientists is to collect data and transform them into understanding. Their role as authors is to present that understanding.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“We don’t have to become science popularizers like Stephen Jay Gould or Carl Sagan, we just have to become better storytellers. Doing so will make us more effective with each other, with our professional translators (science journalists like Kolbert), with policy makers, and with the public.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“With others, toxicity comes from their specific combination; carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen can produce fresh and”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“You might not save the world with your writing, but you might fund your graduate students.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“afraid that if they make strong statements, someone may challenge them or they may be wrong. If people feel challenged, you have engaged their interest, and that is good. Challenging proposals sometimes get funded; boring ones never do.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“Also, with a p value of 0.07, the probability that the effect was due to the experimental treatment is still greater than 90 percent.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“You are not just presenting your results, you are telling a story. You are, of course, free to write papers that simply present experiments and data; but journals are equally free to reject them.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded

“We review proposals because we owe it to the agencies that fund our work. We review proposals on airplanes when we would rather read a novel, watch a movie, or sleep. Patient? No. A proposal must convince reviewers that the topic identified in the opening is important and then compel them with the excitement of the questions posed in the challenge. If it fails to do this, it is dead.”
― Joshua Schimel, Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded