Recommended reading

Books

  • Bernoff, Josh (2016). Writing without bullshit. HarperBusiness.
  • [book on business writing but also useful for academic writers who want to write more clearly and to the point]

  • Elbow, Peter (1981). Writing with power. Oxford University Press.
  • [useful ideas for the writing process from the godfather of freewriting]

  • Glasman-Deal, Hilary (2010). Science research writing for non-native speakers of English. Imperial College Press.
  • [on writing research articles; combines well with the following book]

  • Silvia, Paul J. (2015). Write it up: Practical strategies for writing and publishing journal articles. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14470-000.
  • [on writing research articles]

  • Silvia, Paul J. (2007). How to write a lot : a practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC:American Psychological Association.
  • Strunk W. Jr. & White E.B. (1918/1999). The Elements of Style. Freely available online.
  • [must-read for everyone — basic rules of language usage and text composition]

Articles

  • Plaxco, K. W. (2010). The art of writing science. Protein Science, 19(12), 2261-2266.
  • [general overview, best-practice example for paragraph structure]

  • Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990). The science of scientific writing. American Scientist, 78(6), 550-558.
  • [on sentence structure]