\documentclass[10pt]{article}

\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{CJKutf8} 
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage[section]{placeins}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{breakcites}
\usepackage{lineno}
\usepackage{hyphenat}





\PassOptionsToPackage{hyphens}{url}
\usepackage[colorlinks = true,
            linkcolor = blue,
            urlcolor  = blue,
            citecolor = blue,
            anchorcolor = blue]{hyperref}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\makeatletter
\patchcmd\@combinedblfloats{\box\@outputbox}{\unvbox\@outputbox}{}{%
  \errmessage{\noexpand\@combinedblfloats could not be patched}%
}%
\makeatother


\usepackage[round]{natbib}
\let\cite\citep




\renewenvironment{abstract}
  {{\bfseries\noindent{\abstractname}\par\nobreak}\footnotesize}
  {\bigskip}

\titlespacing{\section}{0pt}{*3}{*1}
\titlespacing{\subsection}{0pt}{*2}{*0.5}
\titlespacing{\subsubsection}{0pt}{*1.5}{0pt}


\usepackage{authblk}


\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[space]{grffile}
\usepackage{latexsym}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{tabulary}
\usepackage{booktabs,array,multirow}
\usepackage{amsfonts,amsmath,amssymb}
\providecommand\citet{\cite}
\providecommand\citep{\cite}
\providecommand\citealt{\cite}
% You can conditionalize code for latexml or normal latex using this.
\newif\iflatexml\latexmlfalse
\providecommand{\tightlist}{\setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}}%

\AtBeginDocument{\DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.PDF,.eps,.EPS,.png,.PNG,.tif,.TIF,.jpg,.JPG,.jpeg,.JPEG}}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}










\begin{document}
\begin{CJK}{UTF8}{gbsn}

\title{Scientific Writing Should Be More Scientific}



\author[1]{Josh Nicholson}%
\author[1]{Alberto Pepe}%
\affil[1]{Authorea}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{April 25, 2026}


\begingroup
\let\center\flushleft
\let\endcenter\endflushleft
\maketitle
\endgroup








\sloppy


Scientific writing is an important part of research dissemination.
Researchers and policy makers turn to scientific articles. It influences
policy decisions and experiment design. It can make or break
multi-million dollar decisions. We would expect undergraduate and
graduate schools to teach scientific writing. They don't. Instead, it is
``taught'' through apprenticeship. Many scientists learn to write their
first article with an adviser. As a result, poor writing is passed.
Training is not standardized, so articles are becoming hard to read
\cite{Plaven-Sigray119370}.

\par\null\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.00\columnwidth]{figures/Screen-Shot-2017-04-11-at-2.20.14-PM/Screen-Shot-2017-04-11-at-2.20.14-PM}
\caption{{Graphs from~\protect\cite{Plaven-Sigray119370} made available
under~\href{https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/}{CC-BY-NC
4.0 International license}.
{\label{888113}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\par\null

\subsection*{Analyzing Scientific
Writing}

{\label{537517}}

Word choice can impact which findings disseminate in a discipline.
Indeed, it determines whether an article is discovered, and if
discovered, whether it will be read. For example, if you write your
article with a short, positively framed title (i.e. a click-bait title)
then your chances of having it be seen across social media increases.

\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/title-lenght/title-lenght}
\caption{{Comparison between article title length and altmetic score, a proxy for
attention received across social media.
{\label{927155}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\par\null

Societal changes and journal guidelines drive the evolution of
scientific writing. For instance, take this comparison of two articles
on the same topic in different decades. The changes over time are
obvious (see below). Today, the impact of the Internet has been to cause
article lengths to shorten, not lengthen. ~

\par\null

From \cite{Morata_1977}

\begin{quote}
``However, this is explicable if we assume that wingless is a member of
a new class of homeotic mutations which affect cooperative decisions
taken by {[}wing imaginal{]} discs as a whole rather than decisions
taken individually by each cell. This interpretation is supported by the
analysis of penetrance of wingless. We found that, unlike the other
homeotic mutants mentioned above, the expression of wingless is all or
none, so that, when expressed, all of the cells of the duplicated notum
are transformed. We never find cases of partial transformation in which
some cells are transformed into notum and others remain wing. Since the
probability of one disc being transformed does not affect the
probability of any of the others, the decision whether to differentiate
a normal wing or a duplicated notum is taken by each disc independently.
Thus, it seems that the wingless mutation is a defect in a decision made
by groups of cells.'' Now12: Expression of dpp in the VM responds to Wg
signalling. We show that wg and dTcf mutations eliminate BE reporter
gene expression in PS3 and slightly reduce it in PS7. A similar result
was reported for Dpp protein in an arm mutant background. Our result is
surprising because Drosophila embryos have a large amount of maternal
embryonic dTcf RNA. We were not expecting the null dTcf phenotype to be
similar to that of wg, which is expressed only zygotically. We conclude
that Wg signalling is required for activation of dpp in PS3 and assists
in the activation in PS7. We also suggest that the maternal contribution
of dTcf may not play a role in this activation.''
\end{quote}

From~\cite{Yang_2000}

\begin{quote}
``Expression of dpp in the VM responds to Wg signalling. We show that wg
and dTcf mutations eliminate BE reporter gene expression in PS3 and
slightly reduce it in PS7. A similar result was reported for Dpp protein
in an arm mutant background. Our result is surprising because Drosophila
embryos have a large amount of maternal embryonic dTcf RNA. We were not
expecting the null dTcf phenotype to be similar to that of wg, which is
expressed only zygotically. We conclude that Wg signalling is required
for activation of dpp in PS3 and assists in the activation in PS7. We
also suggest that the maternal contribution of dTcf may not play a role
in this activation.''
\end{quote}

Unfortunately, manuscripts today are more verbose and laden with
acronyms. They also contain more words associated with hype and spin
\cite{Vinkers_2015} (see Figure {\ref{238985}}). ~This
hyperbole comes at the cost of accuracy.

\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.84\columnwidth]{figures/F2.large/F2.large}
\caption{{Graphs from \protect\cite{Vinkers_2015} made available under a~Creative Commons
Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license.
{\label{238985}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\section*{How can Authorea help scientific
writing?}

{\label{503227}}

At Authorea, we do not have the solution for improving scientific
writing. But we do foster a community that provides direct feedback.
Readers can become critics and collaborators. We offer editing with
plugins, like
\href{https://intercom.help/authorea/write/using-grammarly-with-authorea}{Grammarly},
which corrects grammar and spelling. International writers can write in
their native language and let the browser translate for them.

\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.00\columnwidth]{figures/typo1/typo1}
\caption{{Correcting typos on Authorea is easy.
{\label{862588}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\selectlanguage{english}
\FloatBarrier
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{bibliography/converted_to_latex.bib%
}

\end{CJK}\end{document}

