Writing an Op-Ed Opinions and Editorials

Ask yourself...

• Is the general public going to understand your research?
• Do you explain your terms or use simple diction?
• Are your sources relevant?
• Do you include too much data?
• What is more important, the source or the information?

Sources might include:

• Statistics
• Interviews
• Observations
• Studies
• Stories (sparingly)

Streamline your research like you would in an informed conversation

Summarize

Physicists first faced the reality of dualities in the early 20th century when light turned out to be neither a wave nor a particle but both. Clearly waves and particles are irreconcilable opposites. A wave is a smooth spreading influence; a particle is discreet, detached. But if you set up an experiment to find out if light is a wave, the answer you get is yes. If you ask instead if light is a particle, the answer is also yes.

Too much data

According to Harvard Law Review, 53% of all readers of Science Magazine are between the ages of 25 and 45. Of these, 85% admit to only reading its quippy comics. The magazine's efforts to combat this resulted in a 2 year campaign costing $100,000 that increased Op-Ed articles by 71% and decreased its comics by 20%. Its 80,000 readers are only 23% content with the magazine's changes.