Argumentation in Scientific Writing

Course description
Scientists have to be able to present their arguments in a precise and convincing way. However, when writing their papers, many scientists rely on intuition rather than on concrete methods. This course provides participants with all the techniques they need to know in order to state their arguments precisely, correctly and convincingly. The course starts with the basic concepts of reasoning and logic: validity and soundness of arguments, deductive and inductive reasoning, common types of logical inferences. From these basics, we derive useful techniques for argumentation in scientific texts. Throughout the course participants get the chance to apply the acquired skills directly to their own work, to get feedback on already existing manuscripts and to produce new texts on their research topics.

Contents
• basic concepts of logic
• deductive vs. inductive arguments
• basic argument-patterns
• tips for stating arguments in texts
• revising participants’ manuscripts
• reconstructing arguments from the text

Objectives
The participants...
• state their arguments in a precise and logically coherent way
• quickly identify strengths and weaknesses in arguments
• write accessible texts

Methods
The course is interactive throughout. It includes extensive exercises that aim at the application of the acquired skills to the participants’ work. Participants can bring existing manuscripts to the course and get the chance to edit them with the help of feedback from other participants and the trainer.

Materials
• Extensive script including recommended further reading
• Exercise sheets