Logica e pragmatica della comunicazione scientifica: Alcuni aspetti da non sottovalutare.

This paper will deal with the written scientific communication of a research, in its two main forms, that is, as a poster and as a paper. Although researchers are often aware, at least in principle, of how a research has to be reported (e.g., according to the indications and the norms, suggested by manuals such as the APA one, related to the “substance”, the structure, and the form of a communication), not infrequently one can observe that the actual application of such theoretical norms is poor, if not altogether lacking. As a consequence, the communicative logic and pragmatics of many communications (independently of the potential degree of goodness of the reported research in se, or of the adequacy of the used measures and method, topics that I will not discuss here) are either lacking in many ways, or actually totally deficient. In this paper I shall discuss, using illustrative examples at least to some extent, a few of the most common ‘errors’ that many of us do when writing. Such errors are often due, I believe, to the fact that we underestimate the importance of certain aspects of communication – starting with whom we quote, how, and why, continuing with the use of abbreviations and acronyms, the usage and the definition of tables and figures, and related titles and legend, and so forth. In other words, the paper discusses, as it were, small details, but often, as it happens in fashion, it is details that make the difference!