[General principles for scientific reading and writing]. / Principios generales en escritura y lectura científica.

OBJECTIVE: To present an introduction to scientific writing and reading. METHODS/RESULTS: To analyse the most frequently used different formats of scientific-technical documents as reported by UNESCO (1983) including Scientific journals, books, monographs, presentations to congresses, technical reports, yearbooks and bulletins. We describe the main characteristics of each one. CONCLUSIONS: To emphasize the importance of written communication, in its different formats, in health sciences, for health care professionals formation and information.