Writing and publishing a scientific paper

Writing and publishing journal articles are essential aspects of a successful scientific career. Unfortunately, many scientists find the process of communicating about their work intimidating and confusing. Now in its eighth edition, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper teaches how to apply clear focus, good organization, and simple, straightforward language to write papers as well as communicate effectively in many other scientifically related applications.

By providing practical, readable, and sometimes humorous guidance, this book enables researchers to gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in communicating about their work. The authors not only guide readers in the craft of scientific writing—broken down into the separate tasks of writing the respective sections of a scientific paper and then publishing the paper—but also address important related psychological, ethical, logistical, and cultural considerations in communicating about science.

Chapter topics include composing (and requesting) recommendation letters, writing grant proposals, providing peer review, editing one’s own work, preparing oral presentations and poster presentations, and working with the popular media. This is an essential resource for researchers—both native and non-native users of English—with limited experience writing scientific papers, such as graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty members.

Main contentsSee more from basic to advanced

Approaching a Writing Project

1. ESTABLISHING THE MINDSET The thought of preparing a piece of scientific writing can intimidate even the best writers. However, establishing a suitable mindset and

Historical Perspectives IMRAD organization of scientific papers

1. THE EARLY HISTORY Human beings have been able to communicate for thousands of years. Yet scientific communication as we know it today is relatively

What Is Scientific Writing?

1. THE SCOPE OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING The term scientific writing commonly denotes the reporting of original research in journals, through scientific papers in standard format.

How to Prepare the Abstract of a Scientific Paper

1. DEFINITION An abstract should be viewed as a miniature version of the paper. The abstract should provide a brief summary of each of the

How to List the Authors and Addresses in your Scientific Paper

1. THE ORDER OF THE NAMES “If you have co-authors, problems about authorship can range from the trivial to the catastrophic” (O’Connor 1991, p. 10).

How to Prepare the Title of a Scientific Paper

1. IMPORTANCE OF THE TITLE In preparing a title for a paper, you would do well to remember one salient fact: This title will be

Where to Submit Your Manuscript to academic journals

1. WHY DECIDE EARLY, WHY DECIDE WELL Too often, authors write scientific papers and then consider where to publish them. The decision, however, is best

Ethics in Scientific Publishing

1. ETHICS AS A FOUNDATION Before writing a scientific paper and submitting it to a journal—and indeed, before embarking on your research—you should know the

What Is and how organize a Scientific Paper?

1. DEFINITION OF A SCIENTIFIC PAPER A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results. That short definition must be qualified,

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

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.

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,

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

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

How to Write the Introduction of a Scientific Paper

1. GUIDELINES Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, we come to the paper itself. Some experienced writers prepare their title and

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Writing Clearly across Cultures and Media in publications

1. READABLE WRITING Earlier chapters have presented principles of writing readably: structuring sentences simply, using proper syntax, deleting needless words, condensing wordy phrases, using words

How and When to Use Abbreviations in your publications

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Many experienced editors loathe abbreviations. Some editors would prefer that they not be used at all, except for standard units of measurement

Avoiding Jargon in your publications

1. DEFINITION OF JARGON According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), definitions ofjargon include the following: (1) “confused unintelligible language”; (2) “the technical terminology or

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

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

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

How to Work with the Media in your publications

1. BEFORE THE INTERVIEW Your scientific paper will be published soon, and a news release about it has attracted reporters. Or an earthquake, epidemic, or

How to Write a Recommendation Letter—and How to Ask for One

Even as graduate assistants, those in the sciences often are asked to write recommendation letters for undergraduate students. Later, scientists also receive requests for recommendation

How to Prepare Grant Proposals and Progress Reports

1. PREPARING A GRANT PROPOSAL Scientific research costs money. Typically, the needed money comes as grants from government agencies, private foundations, or other sources. Thus,

How to Prepare a Curriculum Vitae, Cover Letter, and Personal Statement

1. WHAT’S A CV? WHAT’S IT GOOD FOR? Whereas those in business write resumes, we in the sciences generally prepare curricula vitae (CVs). Both a

How to Write a Thesis

1. PURPOSE OF THE THESIS A Ph.D. thesis in the sciences is supposed to present the candidate’s original research. Its purpose is to prove that

How to Write Science in English as a Foreign Language in publications

1. ENGLISH AS THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE English is currently the international language of science. By no means does this demand that every scientific

How to Seek a Scientific-Communication Career

1. CAREER OPTIONS IN SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION Some of us in science find the communication aspect so well suited to our interests and abilities that we

How to Edit Your Own Work

1. PREPARING TO EDIT YOUR WORK If you have reached this point in the book, or if you turned immediately to it, you probably know

How to Provide Peer Review of scientific publications

1. RESPONDING TO A REQUEST FOR PEER REVIEW Once you have become an author, you may receive invitations to be a peer reviewer—in other words,

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Source: Gastel Barbara, Day Robert A. (2016), How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, Greenwood; 8th edition.

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