Time and Location

Spring 2021: Mondays, 3:00pm – 6:00pm, Psych 129

Description and Goals

This Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Professional Development course focuses on the following theme: effective writing techniques for scientific publications. We will discuss the structure and organization of empirical research papers, how to write effectively and persuasively, how to create clear and engaging figures, and how to convincingly respond to peer reviews. Each class involves the following format: for the first hour, we will discuss the assigned topic for the week. The last two hours of class will be an active workshop, where we will all critique each other’s outlines and manuscripts, and engage in exercises to improve writing style. By the end of this course, you should have a full manuscript of your own project for a target journal, and near-final figures.

Over the course of this quarter, students will:

• Cultivate strategies for improving writing clarity, brevity, and creativity

• Develop data presentation skills to assist figure creation in manuscripts

• Create their own submission-ready scientific manuscript

• Understand reviewer feedback on manuscripts and how to effectively respond to it