Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Introduction
This writing seemeth to me … not much better than the noise
or sound which musicians make while they are in tuning their
instruments.
Francis Bacon
The Advancement of Learning
No tale is so good that it can't be spoiled in the telling.
Proverb
Writing plays many roles in science. We use it to record events and clarify our
thinking. We use it to communicate to our colleagues, as we explain concepts and
discuss our work. And we use it to add to scientific knowledge, by contributing to
topics, journals, and conference proceedings.
Unfortunately, many researchers do not write well. Bacon's quote given above was
made four hundred years ago, yet applies to much science writing today. Perhaps we
should not always expect researchers to communicate well; surely the skills required
for science and writing are different. But are they? The best science is based on
straightforward, logical thinking, and it isn't rich, artistic sentences that we expect in
a research paper—we expect readability. A scientist who can conceive of and explore
interesting ideas in a rigorous way should be able to use much the same skills to solve
the problem of how to explain and present those ideas to other people.
However, many researchers undervalue the importance of clarity, and underesti-
mate the effort required to produce a high-quality piece of writing. Some researchers
seem content to write badly, and perhaps haven't considered the impact of poor writ-
ing on their readers, and thus on their own careers. A research paper can remain
relevant for years or even decades and, if published in a major journal or conference,
may be read by thousands of students and researchers. Everyone whose work is
affected by a poorly written paper will suffer: ambiguity leads to misunderstanding;
omissions frustrate; complexity makes readers struggle to reconstruct the author's
intention.
Effort used to understand the structure of a paper or the syntax of its sentences is
effort not used to understand its content. And, as the proverb tells us, no tale is so
good that it can't be spoiled in the telling. Irrespective of the importance and validity
of a paper, it cannot be convincing if it is difficult to understand. The more important
