Cohesion and Clarity
12- 7
Writing Linear Manuscripts
As previously stated, the principles of linear writing apply to paragraphs, sections of a paper, and the entire paper.
Tips for Linear Manuscript Writing
The following are tips for writing a manuscript in a linear style:
▪
State your hypothesis early and clearly.
▪ Include only the information that contributes to or supports the hypothesis statement or purpose statement, and tie the discussion and conclusion directly to that statement. ▪ Connect ideas in adjacent paragraphs.
Each tip is discussed in detail below.
√ State your hypothesis early and clearly.
Your hypothesis or purpose statement corresponds to your paper as the topic sentence does to a paragraph: it alerts readers to the main idea and helps keep them (and you!) focused. Guidelines for writing the hypothesis or purpose statement are presented in the chapters “Preliminary Steps in Writing a Scientific Manuscript” and “Writing the Introduction Section.” Refer to these chapters for details. √ Include only the information that contributes to or supports the hypothesis statement or purpose statement, and tie the discussion and conclusion directly to that statement. The information in your paper should be limited to what is necessary to make the point, that is, to support your hypothesis statement, and to the experiments that form a linear and logical thought process. If you keep this principle of limiting in mind, your discussion and conclusion will naturally tie in to your hypothesis statement.
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