CLARITY! More than anything else, if you're writing about science, you have to be clear who your audience is, and then understand that your readers may not have the background/insights you do. At least this is true anytime your audience is non-scientists.

I've been writing about healthcare/medicine for over 20 years, interviewing all types of doctors, nurses, et al...but also the IT pros, HR departments and others. I frequently have to "translate" the information into language that non-medical experts can understand. Even when your audience is highly educated, they may not understand "techno-speak". A hospital administrator trying to determine which software offers the best patient billing options may need something with relatively easy comparisons laid out, not because they're uneducated, but rather because this is not their main area of expertise. (Or because they can't waste time reading a complex review.)

The challenge is understanding what truly makes your message clear. I have a special expertise in writing for the consumer market, and out of curiosity I once attended an American Medical Writers Association class on patient education. The teacher, from the Cleveland Clinic, discussed a handout or brochure he'd written for the patients at the hospital's low-income clinic. He was very proud of it, but I could quickly see it was not written at the probable educational level of those patients. Translating "gastrointestinal dyspepsia" to "acid reflux" for this market is still not likely to be clear; you have to say "heartburn".

So sometimes you can talk science at a 12th grade level, other times bring it to 10th grade, other times maybe sixth grade. Think of explaining global warming to 3rd graders instead of high school students; it's a real challenge..and a whole skill unto itself.

May sound obvious, but it's something I often don't see truly grasped.

Thanks! -- Wendy Meyeroff