Science and Humanities Papers the Differences

How Scientific Manuscripts and English Research Papers Differ

Oct 24, 2009 Kirsti A. Dyer

Science, medical and research papers differ from humanities or English papers in several key ways. Papers differ in types, purpose of writing and writing styles.

There are several key differences between a science, medical or research-based paper and a humanities, liberal arts or more traditional English paper. Knowing these differences can make it easier for the author or student-author to write the correct type and style of paper.

Three main ways that the science manuscript differs from a humanities paper are in the type of paper being written, purpose of writing the paper and the style of writing the paper.

What is a Science Paper?

Professor Gary Dillard from the Department of Biology at Western Kentucky University offers a succinct definition of the scientific paper at part of an undated treatise for one of his biology courses, "The scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results."

The Department of Biology at George Mason University offers a slightly longer, more detailed definition of the scientific paper in their undated online, "Guide to Writing in the Biological Sciences," "A well-written scientific paper explains the scientist's motivation for doing an experiment, the experimental design and execution, and the meaning of the results. Scientific papers are written in a style that is exceedingly clear and concise."

What is a Humanities or English Paper?

Professor Ben Slote from the Department of English at Allegheny College offers his views on the English Paper in "Writing a Formalist 'English Paper'" from 2000. He writes that "English papers are almost always arguments, or more precisely, interpretive arguments, in which you attempt to convince your readers that the claims you are making about the text in question are valid." In the short (often 4-6 page) interpretive essay the writer writer focuses on writing "interesting and persuasive claims about some literary text."

Differences Between the Purpose of Science Papers and Humanities Papers

The Dartmouth Writing Program offers some general advise for non-majors in helping them understand writing science and humanities papers. In this online article on "Writing in the Sciences" from 2004, Karen Gocsik describes the purpose of writing a science paper as the search for the truth, to find one correct answer to a problem.

Furthermore, scientists and researchers write for two reasons, the first to inform the community of new discoveries and the second to help the scientific community to arrive at a consensus about the truth. Published science papers measure and describe various observations and phenomena. Science papers follow a more rigid format and are written in a particular style. Gocsik notes about science writing that "It is not important when writing a scientific paper to be eloquent. It is absolutely important, however, that you be clear."

On the other hand, in a related online article on "Writing in the Humanities" from Dartmouth Writing Program also by Karen Gocsik, she describes the purpose of humanities is to find an answer, not a single correct answer as in science. In the humanities the focus of the paper is on the interpretation of texts, not on the interpretation of hard evidence.

Paragraphs and sentences are usually longer and more eloquent with long, complex thoughts that use parallel structures. Papers may include imagery and metaphors. Voice is active, not passive. The form of the paper is dictated by the content, not the other way around. Gocsik notes about humanities writing that "they will be anything BUT scientific in their style."

Differences Between Scientific and English Papers Writing Styles

In a humanities or liberal arts paper the author is asked to write in the MLA (Modern Language Association) style. MLA Style papers are 4-6 page essays written with very few sections. Sometimes the essays are divided into a several sections with headings.

The writing styles in the sciences vary by the type of science. Social sciences and some other sciences authors use the APA (American Psychological Association) style. Many of the biomedical and science manuscripts follow the URM (Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts) style of formatting papers and are written according to the American Medical Association Manual of Style.

For more on writing scientific papers see, "How to Write a Scientific Research Paper." In addition science papers often have many different required sections breaking the paper up into distinct parts; these are discussed further in "Identifying Parts of a Scientific Research Paper." Finally for a more in depth review of the different types of styles read, MLA, APA or URM? Different Research Paper Styles.

Writing a Science Paper or Humanities Paper

For students facing an assignment to write a science paper or a humanities paper, knowing how these two types of papers differ in the type of research done, the purpose of writing and the style of writing can make completing the assignment easier.

Science instructors interested in incorporating writing scientific papers as part of their curriculum may want to view the presentation on "Introducing Scientific Journal Writing in the Undergraduate Setting."

The copyright of the article Science and Humanities Papers the Differences in Academic Writing is owned by Kirsti A. Dyer. Permission to republish Science and Humanities Papers the Differences in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.