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AM Seminars
Communicating Science: Writing for Technical
and Lay Audiences
* The Primary Endorser
SOT Annual Meeting
Charlotte, North Carolina
Tuesday, March 27
Chairperson(s): Julia Kimbell, CIIT Centers for Health Research,
Research Triangle Park, NC and Claude McGowan, Johnson & Johnson, Skillman,
NJ.
Endorsed by:
Animals in Research Committee
Career Resource and Development Committee*
Education Committee
Risk Assessment Specialty Section
Research in toxicology often produces results that are significant for regulators
and the general public as well as scientists. In addition to technical reports,
written material is needed for information resources such as Web sites, press
releases, prospectus blurbs, and package inserts, making written communication
skills essential for toxicologists. One key to the success of a scientific document
is the scientist' style which should structure the content in a logical and
persuasive fashion, include informative and persuasive illustrations, and express
ideas in clear, connected sentences. Getting research published in a good journal
is a fundamental requirement for all scientists. A good scientific paper should
be clearly focused from title to discussion, provide adequate information regarding
how experiments were carried out and make it easy for any scientist to understand
the significance of the work. Yet bridging the gap between technical publication
and other public media can be difficult. The lay media often have a tough time
digesting complex scientific jargon. Scientists, fearing their message will
be lost in the translation, may be reluctant to share their research. These
barriers prevent interesting and important science developments from making
the news. Exploring how the media evaluate science news helps break down these
barriers and encourages scientists to accurately translate their message to
a lay audience. Discussion among the participants in this session will address
practical questions regarding how one translates scientific jargon into a form
that non-professionals can appreciate, why non-professionals should care about
the latest advances in toxicology, and how toxicologists can clarify messages
for the larger public.
- Communicating Science: Writing for Technical and Lay Audiences, Julia Kimbell, CIIT Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, NC and Claude McGowan, Johnson & Johnson, Skillman, NJ.
- Essentials of Style in Scientific Writing,
Michael Alley, Penn State University, University Park, PA.
- An Editorial Perspective on Good Scientific
Writing, James P. Kehrer, Editor, Toxicology Letters,
Dean, College of Pharmacy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
- Communicating Science to the Public, Helen Chickering, NBC News Channel, Chapel Hill, NC.
- Challenges in Communicating Science from the EPA, Cynthia Yu-Robinson, U.S. EPA, Durham, NC.
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