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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Writing in the Sciences by Stanford University

4.9
stars
8,318 ratings

About the Course

This course teaches scientists to become more effective writers, using practical examples and exercises. Topics include: principles of good writing, tricks for writing faster and with less anxiety, the format of a scientific manuscript, peer review, grant writing, ethical issues in scientific publication, and writing for general audiences....

Top reviews

IA

Aug 25, 2020

A very helpful course. My writing has improved significantly in these 8 weeks. I highly recommend this course to everyone. Thank you Dr. Kristin Sainani and Coursera for bringing this course together.

AA

Jan 11, 2023

The best course I attain in Coursera. I struggled a lot to write my first manuscript and it took a lot of time. This course is beneficial for all scientific students. I highly recommended this course.

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151 - 175 of 2,766 Reviews for Writing in the Sciences

By Roshini N

•

Jul 23, 2023

Well conceived and well developed course.Thank you for the comprehensive range of topics covered in this 8- week course.

One aspect which I feel could be added was - how to refer to past research. This is one aspect on which many fall short. I would like to define the aspect of cross- referencing when you have been unable to get hold of an original reference, but one that cannot be ignored.

I would however like to highlight that three interviews were difficult to follow- the preparation and projection conditions fell short on lighting conditions and audio too was not clear.

By Ahmed S

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Jun 12, 2021

This is my first time doing any online course in Coursera. And getting a certificate from Stanford is like a dream come true. I am truly honored to get this opportunity. The course is well organized, clear and easy to understand. I enjoyed my time during the course. I had a hard time doing the homework. But it was worth it. I hope this course will help me improve my scientific writings in future. I think Dr.Kristin Sainani is a great teacher. She is funny, casual, polite and creates a friendly environment that made my learning enjoyable. I wish her every success in life.

By Alex K

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Mar 7, 2021

The course provides succinct and very well elaborated concepts of writing in general and - with a lot of illustrating examples - specifics of scientific writing. My peers and advisor saw my writing improved greatly after the first two monhts of the course. Additionally, I was able to better contribute to several publications after the course, by communicating my ideas properly.

As we are moving towards globalization and strive for more collaborations, "speaking science" both for other scientists and for non-scientific audience is crucial. This course teaches this skill.

By Farheen M

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Aug 20, 2021

The course was engaging and Dr. Kristin Sainani was an enthusiastic teacher - no, let me rephrase that - Dr. Kristin Sainani was one of the best teachers I have had the pleasure to learn from in my entire life as a student. I highly recommend this course. One thing to consider is that most examples are from medical literature. I wanted to be as engaged as possible, but as a Psychology student, I had difficulty reading and editing prompts in the examples. Nevertheless, I was able to maintain interest in the material as I got to get insights during the editing process.

By Mamiko T

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Aug 4, 2020

Dr. Kristin Sainani has a talent for teaching things in a bite-size and makes it fun to learn. Her ability to organize materials and how she talks in an uplifting tone also helped a great deal to finish this course. I am a non-scientist (I am a translator who deals with research papers a lot) so, I was a little bit nervous if I could even finish the course. It was challenging but packed with very useful information. Now I can edit/translate research paper written by non-native English speakers much more confidently and in a shorter amount of time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

By Juzer K

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Oct 21, 2020

This is an excellent course for anyone ranging from beginners to people who need a refresher in good writing practices. The examples are relatable and engaging (I've shared the Watson and Crick paper with so many people as an example of good writing), and the quizzes/assignments are challenging enough. On a holistic level, I felt that this should be a standard requirement for all scientists, since scientific literature is becoming more and more inaccessible (due to poor communication)--giving way to pseudoscience purely because it is better written and accessible.

By Kha T V

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Jan 9, 2022

It is a rewarding course. It not only helps me understand more about how to write a scienticfic article but also other useful other types of writing, such as personal statement, LoR, ...I had chances to practice the knowledge which I have learned with real excerpts. It is really helpful. A really worthy lesson I have learned is that writing an article is for all the audiences from differerent backgrounds, not for only scientific community. So, make it easy to understand! Thanks Dr. Kristin Sainani and Standford University for offering this high-qualified course!

By George M

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Aug 30, 2021

Writing in the Sciences reviewed writing practices I already use, but this course highlighted better ways of reducing clutter in my writing, improving verb usage, and demystifying scientific jargon into everyday explanations I use when communicating science writing. I really gained a thorough understanding of using punctuation - the dash and semicolon - and offsetting in parenthesis (a technique I use all too well) to emphasize without loss of surrounding conceptual context. I bet you really didn't like "conceptual context" and I will cut it on my next draft.

By Rupa S

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Dec 17, 2022

Thank you very much for providing such a detailed informative course on scientific writing. I am thrilled to have completed the writing in the sciences online course. It has been an incredibly valuable experience that has helped me develop my skills in scientific writing and communication. I feel much more confident in my ability to clearly and effectively communicate my research findings and ideas to a scientific audience. I am grateful for the opportunity to have taken this course and for the guidance and support of the instructors. Thank you once again.

By Administration G N

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Dec 14, 2022

you’ve been so much more than a teacher for us. You’ve been our mentor, our support and our guide. Thank you for everything you have done for us!

 

 

I know your job is stressful and the hours are long, but you are always kind and understanding. I am grateful to have been taught by such an admirable person.

 

 

I challenge anybody in the whole world to find a better teacher than you. You’ve set a great example for all of us to follow, you’ve inspired us to be better people and to always strive to do our personal best. Thank you for being such an amazing teacher!

By Zachary N

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Jul 5, 2021

Although I've written several manuscripts, a thesis, and WAY too many clinical notes, this course was 100% worth my while. There's an outstanding focus on critically reviewing and editing, and in particular on clarity and brevity, that I think anyone interested in anything from manuscript preparation to science journalism can benefit from. The 30-35 hours spent here will pay you back in orders of magnitude if you do any significant future wrtiting in the sciences (or, frankly, writing in general, since much of the course material is broadly applicable).

By Jenna A

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Aug 13, 2020

This is an amazing course! I am a college Senior and I found this to be a comprehensive course, full of relevant and helpful information and exercises to make me a better writer. I learned that writing in science is a skill of its own, different than writing a book or essay for English class. Dr. Kristin Sainani is a wonderful instructor, everything about her teaching style and breadth of information is excellent. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in becoming a scientific researcher, or looking to edit scientific journals. Great job!

By Mahi M R

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Oct 12, 2020

Thanks to coursera for providing me this opportunity, that has significantly improved my writing skills and knowledge of journalism in Sciences. A special thanks to the charismatic instructor, Dr. Kristin Sainani, who has articulated each session in an excellent and enthusiastic manner, making this course a wonderful learning experience. Every topic, video, assignment, homework, of the course was unique, informative and interesting, adding great value to the course content and with Dr. Kristin Sainani as the instructor - it was a top-notch course.

By Sergey S

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Aug 29, 2020

In the beginning of the course editing was hard for me. My internal scientist was speaking in stiff lifeless sentences which he picked up from all the books and papers that I have read.

Now I see that engaging science writing is not only possible, but necessary. If you produce a result you are proud of (and why produce different ones?), you should put your best effort into sharing it with your scientific community. I hope all the lessons from the course will help me with writing further articles and will help my colleagues with understanding them!

By Dr. S S M

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Sep 9, 2021

Not just did I find this course useful and chockful of informative gems from the expert instructor, but I also thoroughly enjoyed every module, quiz and writing assignment. It kept me involved and interested till the very end. The information contained here has unfortunately never been taught to us as research students and I am really grateful to Coursera and Dr. Kristin Sainani for making something so valuable. I consider the time that I spent on this course very well worth it indeed and subscribing to Coursera Plus has paid off wonderfully.

By Vasanti K

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Oct 1, 2020

I am passionate about science and about writing. The course title attracted me and I am happy I enrolled for the course. I am a retired Professor with 42 years of teaching and writing science. The learnings from this course have enriched my writing style especially for writing science for common (non-science-domain) people and to popularize science. Dr Kristin Sainanii is wonderful writer, editor and teacher. With a tongue in chek, she will ask to cut the clutter and use action words.

I am looking forward to enroll in such innovative courses.

By ARYA A V

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Jun 19, 2020

What an experience it has been!!

A big thank you to Stanford University and Kristin Sainani for this endeavour which helped researchers in across various disciplines. It gave me a different take on reading and understanding manuscripts, along with the very useful tips on writing effectively. The demo edits and peer reviews have helped me tremendously. It convinced me that a scientific piece need not be abstract and boring. Kristin showed elegantly showed us that keeping it simple and real is the key to communicate any idea across any platform.

By gina a i

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Feb 5, 2024

This course succeeded in training me to be able to convey ideas in writing that is not complicated and easy to understand. The professor guided us to be able to explain ideas that were previously difficult to digest into short and useful sentences. Not only that, the exercises provided in the course also present very interesting recent cases and convey the latest technology which is explained in an interesting way. By taking this course we feel like we are attending a very interesting lecture every time, not boring and full of challenges.

By Barbara A

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Jun 23, 2022

In my opinion, this was an extremely valuable course. As an author of several peer reviewed papers, I was surprised to find there was still a LOT I could learn and take away from this course. The Instructer was extremely engaging and knowledgeable. She took a course material that might have seemed "dry" and make it lively and exciting to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed taking this course, and I feel that my overall writing style has heavily benefited from her suggestions and examples.

Thanks so much for offering this course to the world!

By Rod T

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Feb 26, 2018

I completed the course over a month ago, and I am struck by how often I recall and use things I learned. Writing in the Sciences lays a broad foundation for science writers and subject matter experts alike. Young scientists will find many helpful hints and tips, and even experienced editors will find nuggets to squirrel away. The instructor owns a strong background in science as well as in writing/editing, and her expertise and experience lend a unique perspective to the material. I give Writing in the Sciences my highest recommendation.

By Rafaela C P

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Jun 3, 2020

This course is extremely helpful and very well organised. Dr. Kristin Sainani does an outstanding job in explaining how to write effectively. The polls, exercises, and essays are a great complement that help you to practice what you have learned, giving a new meaning to each lesson. As the themes of each week are broad, this is a course for anyone, at any career stage (from tips on how to be a better writer up to how to write scientific manuscripts and grants!). Definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to improve scientific writing.

By Nour B

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Apr 26, 2023

I thoroughly enjoyed this course!

Dr. Kristin is such an amazing writer, teacher, and lecturer (and probably scientist as well). She really flared up my passion for scientific writing again. I was never bored or dull during her lectures; she always spoke in a great tone and was never monotonous.

I've learnt very simple yet effective tips that really helped me improve my writing on the spot. Bonus point: The course if full of examples of super interesting scientific articles and I had a great time working on my writing through those!

By Jillian

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Jan 31, 2020

Great course! I do recommend updating the social media section (5.6, I believe). There are some inaccurate facts (ex. twitter's character count) and one MAJOR issue wasn't addressed: social media blow back. How can one survive if a tweet about the development of a coronavirus vaccine is brigaded by anti-vaxxers, for example? How to avoid getting drug down into unproductive debates? Also, maybe a quick reminder that "the internet is forever" so never ever post anything you wouldn't want a future employer to see. Choose words wisely.

By Lelebrigitar M

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Feb 8, 2024

Learning how to write is an ongoing process however, with the right tools (such as this course) one can rise to any writing occassion. The bonus of choosing your own pace makes it easy for one to pace themselves accordingly. I would suggest this course to anyone who wants to improve their writing skills for better job prospects or just for personal growth. Content creation is on the rise and scientific/ medical content writers are in demand now more than ever. Take a chance on yourself this year and learn how to write.

By Astrid P M C

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Jan 9, 2019

I was a little bit sceptical of taking a writing course on line. I had no idea whatsoever how a writing course could be run on line - I am satisfied and happy about the course in general. The course brings the essential tools to improve the writing. It helped me to be more aware of the mistakes I commonly do during my writing. I found quite interesting that it involves the different scenarios : a scientific manuscript, a book for general audience, social media and networks. I definitely will be recommending the course.