How to Write the Materials and Methods Section of a Scientific Paper

1. PURPOSE OF THE SECTION In the first section of the paper, the introduction, you should have stated the methodology employed in the study. If necessary, you also defended the reasons for your choice of a particular method over competing methods. Now, in “Materials and Methods” (also designated in some cases by other names,

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How to Write the Results of a Scientific Paper

1. CONTENT OF THE RESULTS So now we come to the core of the paper, the data. This part of the paper is called the results section. Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn’t start the results section by describ­ing methods that you inadvertently omitted from the materials and methods section. There are usually two

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How to Write the Discussion of a Scientific Paper

1. DISCUSSION AND VERBIAGE The discussion (which some journals term a comment, especially for short papers) is harder to define than the other sections. Thus, it is usually the hard­est section to write. And, whether you know it or not, many papers are rejected by journal editors because of a faulty discussion, even though

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How to State the Acknowledgments of a Scientific Paper

1. INGREDIENTS OF THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The main text of a scientific paper is usually followed by two additional sections, namely, the acknowledgments and the references. As to the acknowledgments, two possible ingredients require consideration. First, you should acknowledge any significant technical help that you received from any individual, whether in your laboratory or elsewhere.

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How to Cite the References of a Scientific Paper

1. RULES TO FOLLOW There are two rules to follow in the references section, just as in the acknow­ledgments section. First, list only significant published references. References to unpublished data, abstracts, theses, and other secondary materials should not clutter up the references or literature-cited section. If such a reference seems essential, you may add

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How to Design Effective Tables in Scientific Paper

1. WHEN TO USE TABLES Before proceeding to the “how to” of tables, let us first examine the question of “whether to.” As a rule, do not construct a table unless repetitive data must be presented. There are two reasons for this general rule. First, it is simply not good science to regurgitate reams

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How to Prepare Effective Graphs in Scientific Paper

1. WHEN NOT TO USE GRAPHS In the previous chapter, we discussed certain types of data that should not be tabulated. They should not be turned into graphs either. Basically, graphs are pictorial tables. The point is this. Certain types of data, particularly the sparse type or the type that is monotonously repetitive, do

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How to Prepare Effective Photographs in Scientific Paper

1. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MICROGRAPHS If your paper is to be illustrated with one or more photographs, there are several factors to keep in mind. The most important factor to worry about, however, is a proper apprecia­tion of the value of the photographs for the story you are presenting. The value can range from essentially

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Rights and Permissions versus the Scientific Paper

1. WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? Before you submit your paper to a journal, you should be aware of two items regarding copyright. First, if your paper includes illustrations or other materi­als that have been published elsewhere, you will need permission to republish them unless you hold the copyright. Second, you may need to transfer the

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How to Submit the Manuscript to academic journals

1. CHECKING YOUR MANUSCRIPT Before submitting your manuscript, review the instructions to authors from the journal. If the journal provides a manuscript-submission checklist, remem­ber to use it. Make sure you have followed all instructions. If a manuscript deviates substantially from what is required, it may be returned for correction of the problems before it

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The Review Process (How to Deal with Editors) of Scientific Paper

1. FUNCTIONS OF EDITORS, MANAGING EDITORS, AND MANUSCRIPT EDITORS Editors and managing editors have impossible jobs. What makes their work impossible is the attitude of authors. This attitude was well expressed by Earl H. Wood of the Mayo Clinic in his contribution to a panel on the subject “What the Author Expects from the

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The Publishing Process (How to Deal with Proofs)— and After Publication of Scientific Paper

1. THE COPYEDITING AND PROOFING PROCESSES The following is a brief description of the process that your manuscript fol­lows after it has been accepted for publication. The manuscript usually goes through a copyediting procedure during which errors in spelling and grammar are corrected. In addition, the copy editor will standardize all abbreviations, units of

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How to Write a Review Paper

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF A REVIEW PAPER A review paper is not an original publication in the usual sense, though it can be valuable scholarship. On occasion, a review will contain new data (from the author’s own laboratory) that have not yet appeared in a primary journal. How­ever, the purpose of a review paper is

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How to Write Opinion (Letters to the Editor, Editorials, and Book Reviews)

1. WRITING INFORMED OPINION As you become known in your field, editors of journals and other publications may invite you to write pieces expressing your professional judgment. In particular, you may be asked to write editorials and book reviews. Chances to write the latter also may arise earlier in your career. And whatever your

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How to Write a Book Chapter or a Book

1. HOW TO WRITE A BOOK CHAPTER Congratulations! You have been invited to write a chapter in a multiauthored book. Here is one more sign that you have attained visibility in your field. Enjoy the compliment, and accept the invitation if you have the time to prepare the chapter well and submit it promptly.

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How to Write for the Public

1. WHY WRITE FOR GENERAL READERSHIPS? Preparing papers and proposals for peers to read can entail plenty of writing. Why might you write for nonscientists also? Sometimes your academic program or job includes doing some writing for lay readerships. For example, requirements for a graduate degree can include writing a nontechnical summary of your

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How to Present a Paper Orally

1. HOW TO GET TO PRESENT A PAPER The first step in presenting a paper is to obtain a chance to do so. Sometimes, you might receive an unsolicited invitation. For major conferences, however, you normally must take the initiative by submitting an abstract of the paper that you hope to present. Those organi

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How to Prepare a Poster

1. POPULARITY OF POSTERS In recent decades, posters presenting research have become ever more com­mon at national and international meetings. Sessions featuring such posters originated—apparently in the late 1960s through mid-1970s (Waquet 2008)— as follows: As attendance at meetings increased, and as pressure mounted on program committees to schedule more and more papers for

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How to Write a Conference Report

1. DEFINITION A conference report can be one of many kinds. However, let us make a few assumptions and, from these, try to devise a picture of what a more-or-less typical conference report should look like. It all starts, of course, when you are invited to participate in a conference (congress, symposium, workshop, panel

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Use and Misuse of English in your publications

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE Earlier chapters of this book outlined the various components that could and perhaps should go into a scientific paper. Perhaps, with this outline, the paper won’t quite write itself. But if this outline, this table of organization, is followed, the writing might be much easier than otherwise. Of course, you

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