Page 185 - How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 8th Edition 8th Edition

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and bureaucratic mumblespeak: ugly-sounding, difficult to understand, and clumsy. Those who use it often do so
because they prefer pretentious, abstract words to simple, concrete ones."

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The trouble with jargon is that it is a special language, the meaning of which is known only to a specialized "in"
group. Science should be universal, and therefore every scientific paper should be written in a universal language.

Perhaps Theodore Roosevelt had a more jingoistic purpose in mind when he composed the following sentence in a
letter read at the All-American Festival, New York, 5 January 1919, but his thought exactly fits scientific writing: "We
have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our
people out as Americans, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."

Because I believe strongly that the temple of science should not be a polyglot boarding house, I believe that every
scientist should avoid jargon. Avoid it not sometimes; avoid it all the time.

Of course, you will have to use specialized terminology on occasion. If such terminology is readily understandable to
practitioners and students in the field, there is no problem. If the terminology is not recognizable to any portion of
your potential audience, you should (1) use simpler terminology or (2) carefully define the esoteric terms (jargon) that
you are using. In short, you should not write for the half-dozen or so people who are doing exactly your kind of work.
You should write for the hundreds of people whose work is only slightly related to yours but who may want or need
to know some particular aspect of your work.

Mottoes to Live By

Here are a few important concepts that all readers of this book should master. They are, however, expressed in typical
scientific jargon. With a little effort you can probably translate these sentences into simple English:

1. As a case in point, other authorities have proposed that slumbering canines are best left in a recumbent position.

2. An incredibly insatiable desire to understand that which was going on led to the demise of this particular Felis
catus.

3. There is a large body of experimental evidence which clearly indicates that members of the genus Mus tend to
engage in recreational activity while the feline is remote from the locale.

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4. From time immemorial, it has been known that the ingestion of an "apple" (i.e., the pome fruit of any tree of the
genus Malus, said fruit being usually round in shape and red, yellow, or greenish in color) on a diurnal basis will
with absolute certainty keep a primary member of the health care establishment absent from one's local
environment.

5. Even with the most sophisticated experimental protocol, it is exceedingly unlikely that the capacity to perform
novel feats of legerdemain can be instilled in a superannuated canine.

6. A sedimentary conglomerate in motion down a declivity gains no addition of mossy material.

7. The resultant experimental data indicate that there is no utility in belaboring a deceased equine.

If you had trouble with any of the above, here are the jargon-free translations:

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