6 rows · 1/12/ · Yet, often, young doctors do not have much training, if any, in the art of writing a scientific Cited by: 3 We describe here the basic steps to follow in writing a scientific article. We outline the main sections that an average article should contain; the elements that should appear in these sections, and some pointers for making the overall result attractive and acceptable for publication. Previous article. in Cited by: 3 How to write a scientific article Successful production of a written product for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal requires substantial effort. Such an effort can be maximized by following a few simple suggestions when composing/creating the product for submission. By following some suggested guidelines and avoiding c Cited by: 74
How to Write a Scientific Review Article - Enago Academy
Librarian Community. Open Science. Research Intelligence. Research Community. Your Career. However, in response to your feedback, we worked with him to update this post so it reflects our practices. For example, since it was published, we have worked extensively with researchers to writing a scientific article visibility of non-English language research — July 10, Update: In response to your feedback, we have reinstated the original text so you can see how it was revised.
In this monthly series, Dr. Angel Borja draws on his extensive background as an author, reviewer and editor to give advice on preparing the manuscript author's viewwriting a scientific article, the evaluation process reviewer's view and what there is to hate or love in a paper editor's view. This article is the second in the series. The first article was: " Six things to do before writing your manuscript, writing a scientific article. Learn more about publishing at Elsevier.
When you organize your manuscript, the first thing to consider is that the order of sections will be very different than the order of items on you checklist. The article text follows the IMRAD formatwhich responds to the questions below:. The main text is followed by the Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References and Supporting Materials.
Next, I'll review each step in more detail. But before you set out to write a paper, there are two important things you should do that will set the groundwork for the entire process. Finally, keep in mind that each publisher has its own style guidelines and preferences, so always consult the publisher's Guide for Writing a scientific article. Remember that "a figure is worth a thousand words.
Your data are the driving force of the paper, so your illustrations are critical! How do you decide between presenting your data as tables or figures? Whatever your choice is, no illustrations should duplicate the information described elsewhere in the manuscript. If you are using photographs, each must have a scale marker, or scale bar, of professional quality in one corner. In photographs and figures, use color only when necessary when submitting to a print publication.
If different line styles can clarify the meaning, never use colors or other thrilling effects or you will be charged with expensive fees. Of course, this does not apply to online journals. For many journals, you can submit duplicate figures: one in color for the online version of the journal and pdfs, and another in black and white for the hardcopy journal Figure 4.
Another common problem is the misuse of lines and histograms. Lines joining data only can be used when presenting time series or consecutive samples data e. However, when there is no connection between samples or there is not a gradient, you must use histograms Figure 5. Sometimes, fonts are too small for the journal. You must take this into account, or they may be illegible to readers Figure 6. This section responds to the question of how the problem was studied. If your paper is proposing a new method, you need to include detailed information so a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment, writing a scientific article.
However, do not repeat the details of established methods; use References and Supporting Materials to indicate the previously published procedures. Broad summaries or key references are sufficient. Reviewers will criticize incomplete or incorrect methods descriptions and may recommend rejection, writing a scientific article, because this section is critical in the process of reproducing your investigation.
In this way, all chemicals must be identified. Do not use proprietary, unidentifiable compounds. Present proper control writing a scientific article and statistics used, again to make the experiment of investigation repeatable.
List the methods in the same order they will appear in the Results section, in the logical order in which you did the research:. Again, look at the journal's Guide for Authors, but an ideal length for a manuscript is 25 to 40 pages, double spaced, including essential data only. Here are some writing a scientific article guidelines:.
This section responds to the question "What have you found? The results should be essential for discussion. However, remember that most journals offer the possibility of adding Supporting Materials, so use them freely for data of secondary importance. In this way, do not attempt to "hide" data in the hope writing a scientific article saving it for a later paper. You may lose evidence to reinforce your conclusion. If data are too abundant, you can use those supplementary materials.
Use sub-headings to keep results of the same type together, which is easier to review and read. Number these sub-sections for the convenience of internal cross-referencing, but always taking into account the publisher's Guide for Authors. For the data, decide on a logical order that tells a clear story and makes it and easy to understand. Generally, writing a scientific article, this will be in the same order as presented in the methods section.
An important issue is that you must not include references in this section; you are presenting your results, so you cannot refer to others here. If you refer to others, is because you are discussing your results, and this must be included in the Discussion section.
Here you must respond to what the results mean. Probably it is the easiest section to write, but the hardest section to get right.
This is because it is the most important section of your article. Here you get the chance to sell your data. Take into account that a huge numbers of manuscripts are rejected because the Discussion is weak. You need to make the Discussion corresponding to the Results, but do not reiterate the results. Here you need to compare the published results by your colleagues with yours using some of the references included in the Introduction. Never ignore work in disagreement with yours, writing a scientific article, in turn, you must confront it and convince the reader that you are correct or better.
Avoid unspecific expressions such as "higher temperature", "at a lower rate", "highly significant". Quantitative descriptions are always preferred 35ºC, 0. Avoid sudden introduction of new terms or ideas; you must present everything in the introduction, writing a scientific article, to be confronted with your results here.
Speculations on possible interpretations are allowed, writing a scientific article these should be rooted in fact, rather than imagination. To achieve good interpretations think about:. Revision of Results and Discussion is not just paper work.
You may do further experiments, derivations, or simulations. Sometimes you cannot clarify your idea in words because some critical items have not been studied substantially. This section shows how the work advances the field from the present state of knowledge. In some journals, it's a separate section; in others, it's the last paragraph of the Discussion section. Whatever the case, without a clear conclusion section, reviewers and readers will find it difficult to judge your work and whether it merits publication in the journal.
A common error in writing a scientific article section is repeating the abstract, or just listing experimental results. Trivial statements of your results are unacceptable in this section. You should provide a clear scientific justification for your work in this section, and indicate uses and extensions if appropriate. Moreover, you can suggest future experiments and point out those that are underway. You can propose present global and specific conclusions, in relation to the objectives included in the introduction.
Editors like to see that you have provided a perspective consistent with the nature of the journal. You need to introduce the main scientific publications on which your work is based, writing a scientific article, citing a couple of original and important works, including recent review articles. However, editors hate improper citations of too many references irrelevant to the work, or inappropriate judgments on your own achievements. They will think you have no sense of purpose.
The abstract tells prospective readers what you did and what the important findings in your research were. Together with the title, it's the advertisement of your article. Make it interesting and easily understood without reading the whole article. Avoid using jargon, uncommon abbreviations and references.
You must be accurate, using the words that convey the precise meaning of your research. The abstract provides a short description of the perspective and purpose of your paper. It gives key results but minimizes experimental details. However, the abstracts must be keep as brief as possible. Just check the 'Guide for authors' of the journal, but normally they have less than words.
Here's a good example on a short abstract. In an abstract, writing a scientific article two whats are essential. Here's an example from an article I co-authored in Ecological Indicators :. The title must explain what the paper is broadly about. It is your first and probably only opportunity to attract the reader's attention.
In this way, remember that the first readers are the Editor and the referees.
How to Write a Paper in a Weekend (By Prof. Pete Carr)
, time: 11:3911 steps to structuring a science paper editors will take seriously
Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other scientists about the results of their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly, logical manner. This doesn't necessarily reflect the order in which you did or thought about the work 1/3/ · Writing good abstracts is not an art, but a learned skill. Developing such a skill takes practice. Here is an exercise to help you develop this skill. Pick a scientific article in your field. Read the paper with the abstract covered. Then try to write an abstract based on your reading. Compare your abstract to We describe here the basic steps to follow in writing a scientific article. We outline the main sections that an average article should contain; the elements that should appear in these sections, and some pointers for making the overall result attractive and acceptable for publication. Previous article. in Cited by: 3
No comments:
Post a Comment