BSc in Nutritional Science

Student Handbook

Page 26

Standards for an Acceptable Paper

Policy

The purpose of any paper is to communicate ideas and information effectively. It follows

that an acceptable paper should have something significant to say and should say it clearly,

accurately and convincingly. It is the policy that required papers will follow the outlined

format.

THE FUNCTION OF WRITING IN NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE

In the professional sequence of the BSc in Nutritional Science, you will acquire knowledge and

develop skills in these main areas: scientific basis of human nutrition, medical nutrition therapy,

community nutrition, and food chain. In addition, you will develop some "umbrella skills” that will

help improve your professional perfomance.

Among the umbrella skills is reporting and writing. As a nutritionist, you may write for many

different audiences. Depending on your area of practice your writing may be very technical or very

simple, but regardless of setting, write you will!

Professional writing ranges from notes - a brief but important form of communication between you

and other healthcare team members -, communication to the community, including a wide age

range, proposals, scientific reports, memos, procedure manuals, policies, laboratory reports, to

research publications in professional journals. Nutritionists also communicate with each other via

commentaries, newsletters and trade journals.

Writing for the public involves translating technical information and language into a "news you can

use" format. You may find yourself writing for newspapers or magazines, preparing brochures for

industry clients, writing food labels, or scripting events like National Nutrition Month.

In all cases, the materials must be correct, concise, and useful, so you need to know how to target

various literacy levels, different learning styles, and possibly even different languages.

Assignments and exercises in every course in the curriculum are intended to increase your written

(or verbal) communication skills, in addition to helping you learn specific course content.

Remember, you cannot not communicate. Inattention to spelling and grammar rules, failure to use

appropriate language for the audience, and inability to connect concepts logically, all communicate

something that detracts from your intended message. So pay attention to how you write something,

not just to what you write. In addition to making you and your message more credible to others,

time spent in writing well will clarify ideas, concepts, and principles in your own mind. The

audience you influence most just might be you!

Procedure

When a definite assignment has been given, the paper should conform exactly to that assignment.