Scientific Writing, 2 credits
Vetenskapligt skrivande
Course information
Language of instruction: English
Course period: First week of December 2025
Campus teaching or online teaching: Campus teaching
Recommended prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites. Ideally, students have started working on the first draft of a manuscript or have a manuscript from their master’s thesis to work on and edit during the course. If not, students can work on developing the skeleton of the first paper in their PhD thesis.
Learning outcomes
- Learn how to effectively write all parts of a research article by understanding the intended structure of an article, including the abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions sections.
- Learn how to develop clear and effective storylines.
- Learn how to peer-review other papers and how the publication system works, including how to submit a manuscript, how decisions are made by editors, and how to respond to reviewer comments.
- Learn how to write the introduction (kappa) of a PhD thesis
- Develop skills that contribute to clear and strong writing styles by comparing examples of good and bad writing.
- Develop skills that contribute to making clear figures and tables by comparing examples of good and bad results sections.
- Develop transferable writing skills that can be used for report writing and popular science outside of academia.
- Learn how to effectively provide constructive feedback to others in the role of being a co-author.
- Learn how bibliometrics are calculated.
Learning outcomes for doctoral degree
This course focuses on developing written and oral communication skills that are an asset for transferring the knowledge and understanding arising from PhD work to others in academia, as well as outside academia. This course gives PhD students a strong set of core writing skills, including tricks and tips, to give them a head start and confidence in communicating their research to peers at the international level. The course specializes in the writing styles associated with the different natural sciences and technology sub-disciplines. Students will learn how to target a range of journals spanning from specialist and generalist journals and how to write popular science articles for the public.
Course contents
We will discuss all aspects of scientific writing, including the format and content of the scientific paper, the publishing system, how to submit a paper, the variety of journals to submit to, authorship, the peer-review system, how to review a paper, how to respond to reviewer comments, editorship, bibliometrics, and the doctoral thesis.
Instruction
The course includes a combination of lectures, group work, writing exercises, class discussions, and guest speakers. Many of the lectures are interactive, and students are encouraged to ask questions and share their thoughts throughout lectures.
Assessment
Students are expected to submit in-class exercises, participate in group activities, attend all lectures, and contribute to class discussions
Course examiner
Dolly Kothawala, dolly.kothawala@ebc.uu.se
Department with main responsibility
Department of Ecology and Genetics (IEG)
Contact person
Dolly Kothawala, dolly.kothawala@ebc.uu.se
Application
Submit the application: Registration for PhD course in Scientific Writing via Kurt
Submit the application not later than: November 15, 2025