Science writing and science communication is an essential tool in the scientific community. Mainstream media love to post catchy and sometimes oversimplified science-based articles, think CRISPr and GMOS! This is sometimes really useful for getting the news out there to the general public, but the article needs to be unbiased and explanatory. And maybe that does not make for a good headline or horror movie plot, but unbiased science is not pure science and may do more harm than good.
Scientific journals like Nature, Cell, and Genetics (and hundreds more) are organisations that publish scientific papers. Journals receive papers that explain the research project, how they did the research, and what they found. The journals then send the papers out to experts in the field to review, and they can send it back to be revised or just plain thrown out! This helps ensure that what is being published is good science and not just rubbish! There are some infamous stories about papers being retracted once other professionals have read it and found holes in the research. Take, for example, the widely used but discredited article that implied that vaccines cause autism. The paper was retracted, and the researcher lost his medical license, but sadly, the damage was already done.
I am currently writing up my research project on my honour's project (remember all that dung I was working with). And let me tell you that science writing is definitely a skill! I thought it would be okay because I am generally good at writing and explaining myself, but never underestimate how difficult it is to write a discussion! Writing is an ongoing lesson, and I am already learning so much, and hopefully, I will be a published author in the coming months!
Comments