Scientific paper
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 clear and concise. Their purpose is to inform an audience of other scientists about an important issue and to document the particular approach they used to investigate that issue.
Please do not think that good English is not critical in science writing. In fact, scientists try to be so concise that their English should be better than that of workers in other disciplines! If English is not your first language, then proofreading by a native-speaker might be helpful. The Writing Center offers free assistance in English as a Second Language.
If you have read scientific papers, you will have noticed that a standard format is frequently used. This format allows a researcher to present information clearly and concisely. For this class, you should prepare your paper in the accepted standard fashion. You will learn shortcuts and various deviations from this format with experience.
The following sections should be included in your paper: (1) Introduction (2) Methods (3) Discussion (4) Results (5) Reference.
Other sections can be included as necessary. It is important to understand the differences between sections and to put information in the appropriate location. Students frequently begin discussing their results in the Results section or present some of their results in the Discussion section.
Reading scientific papers (such as the articles you will use as your references for the Introduction and Discussion) will give you good ideas and guidance as well. After all, these are peer-reviewed and published scientific papers, and they can serve as useful models for your own writing.
Remember to pay attention to issues of plagiarism. One useful way to avoid making errors in this regard is to read a section from your source, then restate in writing what you remember of the main points. You would then cite the source of that information in the text.
Meetings
Business people spend quite a lot of time in meetings, and meetings come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from formal committee to informal one-to-one meetings.
There are several reasons why meetings are held: 1) Reaching decisions in a meeting means that all the participants can feel more committed to the decision. 2) More information is available. 3) Different and unexpected ideas can be contributed. 4) Meetings can lead to more imaginative and informed decisions - often more courageous decisions than one person might feel brave enough to make.
Some of the drawbacks of meetings are: 1) More time is required than if one person made the decisions. 2) There's more talk (and this is sometimes irrelevant and repetitive). 3) There's more group pressure.
The larger the meeting, the longer it may take to reach a decision.
The way a committee operates often depends on the chairperson. An effective chairperson should be flexible. In some committee meetings the members have to take a vote before a decision can be made. Other meetings may require a consensus of the members: everyone agrees with the decision - or at least no one disagrees.
Most meetings have an agenda. For a formal meeting this document is usually circulated in advance to all participants. For an informal meeting, the agenda may be simply a list of the points that have to be dealt with. The purpose of an agenda is to speed up the meeting and keep everyone to the point. Often the agenda shows not only topics but meeting's function regarding each topic.
Minutes are a formal record of a meeting. One person is usually in charge of writing the minutes. The purpose is to make sure everyone knows what decisions were taken, to remind people about important action points and deadlines, etc. Minutes usually report details of the time, date and subject of the meeting, a list of the people who attended, a list of points that were discussed, important new information, a record of decisions, actions to be taken and who is responsible for each action, the deadline for completing each action, and the date of the next meeting.