Course Material Week #1:

Introduction to Scientific Writing

Course: Scientific Writing
(Penulisan Ilmiah)
Computer Science Study Program
Faculty of Computer Science
University of Indonesia, 2010

List of Contents

I. Session Overview
II. What is science?
II. What is scientific writing?
III. Characteristics of scientific writing
IV. Kinds of Writing
V. Why study scientific writing?
VI. Review questions
Scientific Writing 2010

I. Session Overview
Learn about the meaning of science,
scientific, and scientific writing, and their
relationship.
Elaborate characteristics of scientific
writing.
Provide examples of scientific writing
output.
Discuss the objective of studying scientific
writing.
Scientific Writing 2003

II. What is Science

Science is a system for accumulating reliable knowledge
(Zobel, 2004).
The process of science begins with speculation, observation,
and a growing understanding of some idea or phenomenon.

Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") is,

in its broadest sense, any systematic knowledge that is
capable of resulting in a correct prediction or reliable
outcome (Wikipedia, 2010).
In this sense, science may refer to a highly skilled technique,
technology, or practice

Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based

on scientific method, and to the organized body of
knowledge gained through such research (Wikipedia, 2010)
Scientific Writing 2010

Science, Scientific, and Non-Scientific

Scientific - relating to, or employing the
methodology of science (http://www.thefreedictionary.com).
Scientific - conforming with the principles or
methods used in science (http://www.thefreedictionary.com).
Use of Scientific
Scientific approach
Scienctific journal
Scientific classification, etc.

Non-scientific: not using scientific methods to

collect information and form opinions
The report is based on non-scientific data.
Scientific Writing 2010

III. What is Scientific Writing

Writing is the representation of language in a
textual medium through the use of a set of
signs or symbols (known as a writing system)
(Wikipedia, 2010).
Writing is an extension of human language
across time and space

Scientific writing is writing about science.

Scientific writing translates something highly
technical to a language that is understood by a
lay man requires a high degree of skill.
Scientific Writing 2010

Reasons to Write Scientifically

(Source: Scientific Writing, Tropical Biology Association 2007

It gives the scientific community a chance to find out about

your work.
That way, people are more likely to be able to build on it rather
than reinvent the wheel and duplicate the research.
It is a way of paying back those who fund you.

It improves your writing and analytical skills.

You will attract useful comments and input that you may
not have thought of.
This will help your ideas progress and improve your future work
(research).

It gets you and your work known in the wider scientific

and conservation community.
Good for your career.
Good for your organization.
Scientific Writing 2010

Output of Scientific Writing: Scientific

Publication
Scientific paper
Journal article
Article in a conference or workshop
proceedings

Book
Thesis, Dissertation
Technical report or manuscript
Research report
Scientific Writing 2010

III. Characteristics of Scientific Writing

Its based on research.
It presents new ideas, new thoughts, new
insights.
It demonstrates the correctness of those new
ideas, thoughts, insights, etc.
It follows certain logical thinking.
It expresses a clear idea, not ambiguous.
Its well structured.
Scientific Writing 2003

Skills in Scientific Writing

(Source: Scientific Writing, Tropical Biology Association 2007)

Be Accurate
Science is a precise discipline. Your descriptions or results
may be used by others who need to know they are
reliable.

Be Brief
Use only as many words as you need remove or replace
words that are repeated or do not add anything useful.

Be Clear
You will not be there to explain to the reader what you
mean. If you have to read a sentence again in order to
understand it, rewrite it. Better still, give your work to
others to read to see if it makes sense to them.
Scientific Writing 2010

IV. Kinds of Writing

Scientific writing: writing about science
Popular writing: writing about popular issue
(opinion) that most likely appears in a
magazine or a news paper
Business writing: writing about business in
order to report, inform, influence, persuade,
etc., others
Technical writing: writing about technology
so that the users can use it.
Etc.
Scientific Writing 2010

Scientific writing is the king of

writings
If you can write scientific document,
you can write any kinds of document.
But not necessarily vice versa.

Examples of Title on Scientific Publication

Book: M.Wooldridge. An Introduction to Multiagent Systems.
John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester,England, 2002.
Journal Article: H. Alani, S. Kim, D. Millard, M. Weal,W. Hall,
P. Lewis, and N. Shadbot, Automatic ontology based knowledge
extraction from web documents. IEEE Intelligent Systems,
18(1):1421, 2003.
Proceeding Article: U. Shah, T. Finin, A. Joshi, R.S. Cost, and
J. Mayfield. Information Retrieval on the Semantic Web. In 10th
International Conference on information and Knowledge
Management. ACM Press, 2003.
Dissertation: Implementing knowledge management to

support executive decision-making in a joint military

environment: Key enablers and obstacles, by Ward,
Thomas E. Ph.D. Capella University.
Scientific Writing 2010

V. The Objective of Scientific Writing

To understand and utilize scientific
information in both your personal life and
your work.
To advance the knowledge of your work
(your research).
To provides some insights not only into
particular scientific findings but also into
the general nature of science as a human
activity.
Scientific Writing 2010

IV. Review Questions

Discuss the relationship among science,
scientific, and scientific writing?
What are the output of scientific writing?
How scientific writing differs that another
kinds of writing?
Give examples of scientific publication and
non-scientific publication?
What are the objective of scientific writing?
Scientific Writing 2003

Beberapa Contoh Judul Tulisan

Ilmiah
Pengoptimalan Pemanfaatan Pararel Port/Printer
Port Pada Komputer Pribadi
Perbandingan Antara Quick Sort dan Proxmap Sort
Scheduling Pada Central Processing Unit
Komunikasi Data Pada Jaringan Komputer
Perbandingan Sorted dan Unsorted
Defragmentation
Pemampatan Data Dengan Beberapa Struktur
Pohon
Scientific Writing 2003

Latihan
Tentukan apakah judul-2 berikut ini merupakan judul-2
dari publikasi ilmiah (scientific publication) atau bukan
(iya/bukan).
Efektivitas penerapan teknik kluster XYZ dalam klasifikasi
penutup lahan (iya/bukan).
Pemecahan masalah TIK ini memerlukan investasi yang besar
(iya/bukan).
Ketertarikan seorang mahasiswa terhadap ilmu-ilmu terapan
(iya/bukan).
Sistem temu kembali informasi berbasis konsep ganda (iya/bukan).
Pembelajaran jarak jauh menggunakan pendekatan Learning
Object Recommender (iya/bukan).
Penggunaan TIK dapat meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan
(iya/bukan).
Scientific Writing 2010