I became a journalist after I left college.I decided to compewte in my field biology,so I began to research a subject in the public library.

I began with two basic books:The Writer's Style Manual published by the New york Times, and a book on technical indexing.

I purchased two packs of library cards and headed for the main reference library in my area.

I had to look up a general subject and then by finding the appropiate Thesuareses, I listed books that pertained to the subject I was researching.

Finally I traveled to the main university library and entered the engineering, biology and chemistry libraries. I hads listed references in the bibliographies of the books that I first found,and I began to search for the scientific articles in journals.

The dates of the journal issues were sometimes very old, and I tried to find the first paper that had been published in the field I was writing.

After many days of searching and an expensive trip or three to the main city public library,I had found the first article.It had been published in 1909. It amazed me that such an article would exist.

The final leg of my journal was to pick a subject that was not as broad as the one I chose.Instead I wanted to concentrate on a subject that was parttially discussed or new in the literature.

Finally my search took me to Bioabstracts, or a list of every single abstract of every article written in biology in the last one hundred years.

The subject I chose was very narrow, so the number of papers written on it were limited.

My index card box was brimming with articles written from the early 1900's up until the present, on a rarely discussed subject in biology.

I sorted the index cards by subject and began an outline.The outline was simply a step by step listing of subjects and subheadings leading to a general argument supporting or denying the truth behind the theory I was investigating.

Eventually after culling down my card list,I had a very good collection of ten cards regarding the research and results of the research involved in the area I was looking at.

The writing came in the end.I typed my first copy of the manuscript which became a cumbersome paper over twenty pages long.I sat doown and edited it.Finally after seven copies typed I had my final draft.It was approximately ten pages long. I submitted my paper to many journals ,and that task was the most exhausting of all of my writing endeavor. One rejection letter came after another.Sometimes editors would have comments. I would take them seriously and retype my paper or even rearrange paragraphs.

Eventually the paper was acceptted by a scientific journal. I had never been more excited in my life. I began the project in 1980 and it was puiblished in 1983.It took me three years to publish a paper, but I had gained a real love for writing ever since.

I became a member of the scientific society that published my paper, and even started a career in the field I hhad researched.

Since my first paper I have published nine scientific articles related to my research and understanding of the field I entered.I was tols that it was highly unusual for a scientist to normally publish only one paper.

My writing aqlso extended to the praqctice of publishing in Op-Ed sectionsw of local newspapers.I was able to comment and influe3nce the development a growth of my field enormously in my state aqnd increased awareness of its importance amongst aqcademics. In the end,my career as a research scientist began as aq journalist. It led to a very satisfactory and productive career.

Learn more about this author, jf.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Citizen journalism and the opportunities offered to freelance writers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!