Title of module: Scientific Writing (0.25 FCE)
Instructor: Professor Cosima Porteus
Date(s) Module Offered: Offered Summer 2026 – 6 classes, from early May through June
Schedule: Fridays (3-hour class), in person at UTSC
Duration of Module: 6 weeks
Enrollment limitations: 12
Description of the module:
Students taking the course must have a data set that has been analyzed and already graphed. Students will take this data set and will produce a first draft of a manuscript with guidance from the course instructor and following Joshua Schimmel’s “Writing Science” book. The purpose is to learn about how to structure a manuscript, improving sentence and paragraph structure, and learn how to make a compelling story. Students will be assigned weekly writing exercises that reinforce the writing skills covered during class. These exercises will build towards a first draft of a manuscript. Students will also provide weekly peer feedback to other students and discuss papers from the primary literature to see how concepts discussed in class are used by other scientists. The final assignment is a draft of their manuscript that uses the elements discussed in class and will be evaluated on how well they use these in their own scientific writing.
Evaluation:
Weekly Assignments: 6 x 6% each
Peer review: 6 x 2% each
In-class participation during discussions: 6 x 2% each
Final draft: 40%
Pre-requisites for module:
Students taking the course must have a data set that has been analyzed (statistical analysis completed) and ideally already graphed.
Reading materials:
Joshua Schimmel “writing Science: How to write paper that get cited and proposals that get funded” plus required readings that will be provided ahead of the first day of class.
Website: Quercus
Last updated on July 28th, 2025