Communication Skills for Biosciences

✍ Scribed by Maureen Dawson, Brian Dawson, Joyce Overfield

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 186
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This text is comprehensive, user-friendly handbook that will guide students through the full range of written and spoken communication skills that are demanded by today's biosciences courses. The book also offers a valuable refresher for postgraduate students who wish to review or expand their proficiency in these areas. This book will provide the student with practical advice on how best to communicate scientific material to different audiences including their peers, their tutors and to non-scientists.

Key Features:

• Highly accessible, confidence-building, student-friendly guide
• Provides comprehensive coverage of the complete range of presentation skills needed by students
• Covers essay writing, practical reports, dissertations, projects and presenting in individual, group and poster presentation settings
• Offers advice on how to avoid common errors including plagiarism using 'what not to do' boxes throughout the text
• Includes practical advice on how best to communicate scientific material to different audiences e.g. undergraduates, tutors and non-scientists

✦ Table of Contents

Communication Skills for Biosciences......Page 2
Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 14
Acknowledgements......Page 16
Why are communication skills important for scientists?......Page 18
Scientific writing: a little bit of history......Page 20
Scientific language......Page 22
Basic rules for writing (scientific) English......Page 23
Punctuation......Page 29
Commonly confused words......Page 34
Commonly misspelled words......Page 37
UK and American English......Page 38
Further reading......Page 39
What is scientific literature?......Page 40
Where to start......Page 45
Peer review......Page 46
Why use scientific literature for your assignments?......Page 47
Reading the literature......Page 48
Using material from the Internet......Page 59
Plagiarism......Page 60
Referencing conventions......Page 61
The Harvard style of referencing......Page 62
Quotations and how to cite and reference them......Page 64
Examples of citations and references......Page 65
References......Page 76
Further reading......Page 77
The purpose of assignments......Page 78
Why write an essay?......Page 79
Preparation......Page 80
The sentence......Page 86
General points of style......Page 88
Plagiarism......Page 92
Examination essays......Page 94
Further reading......Page 97
Introduction......Page 100
Some general points......Page 101
What to do before the practical session......Page 102
During the practical session......Page 103
How should it be written?......Page 104
Other forms of report......Page 112
Further reading......Page 113
Introduction......Page 114
How to begin......Page 115
Writing the report......Page 118
Dissertation-based projects......Page 125
Ethical issues to consider when reporting your project work......Page 127
And finally …......Page 128
Further reading......Page 129
Why use posters?......Page 130
When to use a poster format......Page 131
Designing a poster......Page 132
Printing your poster......Page 137
Examples of posters......Page 138
Further reading......Page 141
Introduction......Page 142
Rules to follow and pitfalls to avoid......Page 143
Presentations with a group of participants......Page 147
Summary: a quick guide to oral presentations......Page 153
Further reading......Page 154
Introduction......Page 156
The curriculum vitae......Page 158
Covering letters......Page 161
Application forms......Page 164
How to write a good personal statement......Page 167
Interviews......Page 168
Some terms......Page 176
Further reading......Page 177
Index......Page 178