Quoting poetry in a science paper does not add to its research, but as the Wellcome Trust book prize reveals, our dry format benefits from well-written ways to gain wider readership
The manuscript is the currency of science. It is the point of conclusion, the quantitative, accepted measure of creative output, and the primary source of scientific knowledge. It is the initial package in which scientific knowledge is first presented to the world. It is the researcher’s darling, their pay dirt, and their greatest frustration.
Five months ago I had written my latest manuscript with my PhD supervisor. Although my thesis had offered me the glorious leg room of 60,000 words to somehow develop my tangential thoughts, I soon found myself taking on the unasked-for role of the ruthless editor, highlighting the most unambiguous aspects of my writing, but accepting the price this came with – I was exorcising the joy of discovery, and the individuality, from my work.
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