You're right. Perhaps the concise yet complete reporting is the art more than the science. Indeed, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".[da Vinci] ;)
Not exactly what you meant, but did you know that certain mathematical journals (and surely others) have dedicated poetry sections in every issue? If I find an example, I will post later!
This study had several limitations. Time was not fixed but moved forward. We only budgeted for 1 month of 25% analyst support. We tried to investigate the study's limitations, but this limited our study's investigation. There was not enough coffee on campus after 3pm.
I will end it here (this was circulating on Twitter last week) with my main takeaway from the workshop: we should prioritizing our writing (and writing time) more! So... go write :) And come hear Bill's words of wisdom next time he comes to Berlin to give a course (hopefully again soon!)
A few suggestions from Bill on beating perfection paralysis & moving past writer's block. We also talked a lot about procrastination and how it's better to go for a head-clearing or idea generating walk than spending break time on social media/emails. It was tough, but I resisted during our breaks!
Third: perfection paralysis = low productivity. I know this one firsthand. We often get in our own way of making forward progress in drafting manuscripts by being too picky. What do to about it?
Second: most important body part for writing? Your butt! (or feet if you use a standing desk). You have to show up for it to happen... this goes hand-in-hand with his advice to write 15 min. every day.
First: the litany of limitations. Bill suggests avoiding "Our study had many limitations" entirely and instead weaving the limitations into a seamless discussion (together with existing literature, own findings). Not possible? Instead of list, give each lim. a paragraph with enough relevant context!
Alt: Stephen Colbert quickly pages through a seemingly endless list
Scientists are writers. This week at #ChariteBerlin@billmiller-epi.bsky.social#ScientificWriting#EpiSky Sharing a few of my favorite moments ⤵️ (with permission)
It was such a pleasure to exchange with so many interesting researchers during the #CausalIntroCourse#Episky folks in person!
