Writing manuscripts is central to the advance of scientific knowledge. For an early career
aspiring scientist writing first author manuscripts is an opportunity to develop critical
skills and to credential their expertise. Writing manuscripts however is difficult doubly so
for scientists who use English as a second language. Many science students intentionally avoid
a writing-intensive curriculum. Careful thorough reviews of draft manuscripts are difficult to
secure and experienced scientific supervisors face more demands on their time than they have
time available. Weak draft manuscripts discourage supervising scientists investing the time to
coach revisions. It is easier for experienced scientists to ignore the request or to simply
rewrite the article. Early career scientists are motivated to address these barriers but
specific advice is difficult to find and much of this advice is behind a pay wall. This
essential open access text presents writing lessons organized as common errors providing
students and early-career researchers with an efficient way to learn and mentors with a
quick-reference guide to reviewing. Error descriptions include specific examples drawn from
real-world experiences of other early-career writers and suggestions for how to successfully
address and avoid these in the future. Versions of this book have been used by Stanford
University UC Davis Johns Hopkins and numerous international institutions and organizations
for over a decade.
