Editorial Don Gayton

摘要

O ne of the great challenges of writing—and editing—a scientific paper is finding the right balance between methods and results. These two elements are the inter- twined Yin and Yang of communicating science. Each depends on the other. An overly brief and sketchy methods section throws doubt on the validity of the results. At the other extreme, too much technical detail and discipline-specific jargon in the methods section will drive readers away before they get to the results. Certainly other parts of an article are important, but methods and results stand at the very core of the document. They must each be carefully weighted with reference to each other, so the article finds the sweet spot between detail and readability. I wish there was a magic formula for achieving this balance, but the world of science and science writing is far too complex for a cookbook formula to be of any use.