Writing Scientific Paper

What is meant by writing scientific paper, scientific writing or science

writing?
When you write about scientific topics to specialists in a particular scientific field, we call that
scientific writing. (When you write to non-specialists about scientific topics, we call that science
writing.) Robert Day (1983) defines a scientific paper as “a written and published report
describing original research results.

The scientific paper has developed over the past three centuries into a tool to communicate the
results of scientific inquiry. The main audience for scientific papers is extremely specialized. The
purpose of these papers is twofold: to present information so that it is easy to retrieve, and to
present enough information that the reader can duplicate the scientific study. A standard format
with six main parts helps readers to find expected information and analysis:

 Title--subject and what aspect of the subject is studied.

 Abstract--summary of paper or it is a mini-version of the paper (Rober, 1998): The main
reason for the study, the primary results, the main conclusions. . Abstract should be
short but give the overall idea: what was done, what was found and what are the
main conclusions
 Introduction--why the study was undertaken
 Methods and Materials--how the study was undertaken
 Results--what was found
 Discussion--why these results could be significant (what the reasons might be for the
patterns found or not found)

There are many ways to approach the writing of a scientific paper, and no one way is right. Many
people, however, find that drafting chunks in this order works best: Results, Discussion,
Introduction, Materials & Methods, Abstract, and, finally, Title.

DETAILS ON FORMAT FOR THE PAPER

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.  This format is explained in detail as below:
TITLE

This provides the first impression to the reader, so selecting the most appropriate title requires
some thought. The title influences whether a reader is interested in reading a paper. It should
include all essential words in the right order such that the topic of the paper is accurately and
fully conveyed (e.g. clearly related to the purpose of the study) (Rudestam and Newton, 1992).
Avoid long titles (the recommended length is 10 - 12 words) and those which begin with
redundant words such as “A study of…”

1. Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of the paper, but not so technical
that only specialists will understand. The title should be appropriate for the intended
audience.
2. The title usually describes the subject matter of the article: Effect of Smoking on
Academic Performance"
3. Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more effective: Students Who Smoke Get
Lower Grades"

AUTHORS

1. The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the first author of a
research paper.

2. For published articles, other people who made substantial contributions to the work are also
listed as authors. Ask your mentor's permission before including his/her name as co-author.

ABSTRACT

1. An abstract, or summary, is published together with a research article, giving the reader a
"preview" of what's to come. Such abstracts may also be published separately in bibliographical
sources, such as Biological Abstracts. They allow other scientists to quickly scan the large
scientific literature, and decide which articles they want to read in depth. The abstract should be
a little less technical than the article itself; you don't want to dissuade your potential audience
from reading your paper.

2. Your abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which summarizes the purpose,
methods, results and conclusions of the paper. An informative abstract extracts everything
relevant from the paper, such as research objectives addressed, methods employed in solving the
problems, results obtained and conclusions drawn. Such abstracts may serve as a highly
aggregated substitute for the full paper.

3. It is not easy to include all this information in just a few words. Start by writing a summary
that includes whatever you think is important, and then gradually prune it down to size by
removing unnecessary words, while still retaining the necessary concepts.
4. Don't use abbreviations or citations in the abstract. It should be able to stand alone without any
footnotes.

INTRODUCTION

What question did you ask in your experiment? Why is it interesting? The introduction
summarizes the relevant literature so that the reader will understand why you were interested in
the question you asked. One to four paragraphs should be enough. End with a sentence
explaining the specific question you asked in this experiment. The introduction serves the
purpose of leading the reader from a general subject area to a particular field of research

MATERIALS AND METHODS

1. How did you answer this question? There should be enough information here to allow another
scientist to repeat your experiment. Look at other papers that have been published in your field to
get some idea of what is included in this section.

2. If you had a complicated protocol, it may helpful to include a diagram, table or flowchart to
explain the methods you used.

3. Do not put results in this section. You may, however, include preliminary results that were
used to design the main experiment that you are reporting on. ("In a preliminary study, I
observed the owls for one week, and found that 73 % of their locomotor activity occurred during
the night, and so I conducted all subsequent experiments between 11 pm and 6 am.")

4. Mention relevant ethical considerations. If you used human subjects, did they consent to
participate. If you used animals, what measures did you take to minimize pain?

RESULTS

1. This is where you present the results you've gotten. Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but
also summarize your main findings in the text. Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why
something happened; that goes in the Discussion.

2. You don't necessarily have to include all the data you've gotten during the semester. This isn't
a diary.

3. Use appropriate methods of showing data. Don't try to manipulate the data to make it look like
you did more than you actually did.

"The drug cured 1/3 of the infected mice, another 1/3 were not affected, and the third mouse got
away."
TABLES AND GRAPHS

1. If you present your data in a table or graph, include a title describing what's in the table
("Enzyme activity at various temperatures", not "My results".) For graphs, you should also label
the x and y axes.

2. Don't use a table or graph just to be "fancy". If you can summarize the information in one
sentence, then a table or graph is not necessary.

DISCUSSION

1. Highlight the most significant results, but don't just repeat what you've written in the Results
section. How do these results relate to the original question? Do the data support your
hypothesis? Are your results consistent with what other investigators have reported? If your
results were unexpected, try to explain why. Is there another way to interpret your results? What
further research would be necessary to answer the questions raised by your results? How do y
our results fit into the big picture?

2. End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion, emphasizing why it is relevant.

Conclusions

are often the most difficult part to write, and many writers feel they have nothing left to say after
having written the paper. However, you need to keep in mind that most readers read the abstract
and conclusion first. A conclusion is where you summarize the paper’s findings and generalize
their importance, discuss ambiguous data, and recommend further research. An effective
conclusion should provide closure for a Explain why your study is important to the reader. You
should instill in the reader a sense of relevance. Prove to the reader, and the scientific
community, that your findings are worthy of note. This means setting your paper in the context
of previous work. The implications of your findings should be discussed within a realistic
framework. Leaving the reader feeling satisfied that the concepts have been fully explained.
Conclusion should be concise.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This section is optional. You can thank those who either helped with the experiments, or made
other important contributions, such as discussing the protocol, commenting on the manuscript, or
buying you pizza.

REFERENCES (LITERATURE CITED)

There are several possible ways to organize this section. Here is one commonly used way:
1. In the text, cite the literature in the appropriate places:

Scarlet (1990) thought that the gene was present only in yeast, but it has since been identified in
the platypus (Indigo and Mauve, 1994) and wombat (Magenta, et al., 1995).

2. In the References section list citations in alphabetical order.

Indigo, A. C., and Mauve, B. E. 1994. Queer place for qwerty: gene isolation from the platypus.
Science 275, 1213-1214.

Magenta, S. T., Sepia, X., and Turquoise, U. 1995. Wombat genetics. In: Widiculous Wombats,
Violet, Q., ed. New York: Columbia University Press. p 123-145.

Scarlet, S.L. 1990. Isolation of qwerty gene from S. cerevisae. Journal of Unusual Results 36,
26-31.

EDIT YOUR PAPER!!!

"In my writing, I average about ten pages a day. Unfortunately, they're all the same page."

Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing

A major part of any writing assignment consists of re-writing.

Write accurately

1. Scientific writing must be accurate. Although writing instructors may tell you not to use
the same word twice in a sentence, it's okay for scientific writing, which must be
accurate. (A student who tried not to repeat the word "hamster" produced this confusing
sentence: "When I put the hamster in a cage with the other animals, the little mammals
began to play.")
2. Make sure you say what you mean.

Instead of: The rats were injected with the drug. (sounds like a syringe was filled
with drug and ground-up rats and both were injected together)
Write: I injected the drug into the rat.

3. Be careful with commonly confused words:

Temperature has an effect on the reaction.

Temperature affects the reaction.

I used solutions in various concentrations. (The solutions were 5 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml, and 15
mg/ml)
I used solutions in varying concentrations. (The concentrations I used changed; sometimes they
were 5 mg/ml, other times they were 15 mg/ml.)

 Less food (can't count numbers of food)

Fewer animals (can count numbers of animals)

A large amount of food (can't count them)

A large number of animals (can count them)

The erythrocytes, which are in the blood, contain hemoglobin.

The erythrocytes that are in the blood contain hemoglobin. (Wrong. This sentence implies that
there are erythrocytes elsewhere that don't contain hemoglobin.)

Write clearly

1. Write at a level that's appropriate for your audience.

"Like a pigeon, something to admire as long as it isn't over your head." Anonymous

 2. Use the active voice. It's clearer and more concise than the passive voice.

 Instead of: An increased appetite was manifested by the rats and an increase in body weight was
measured.
Write: The rats ate more and gained weight.

 3. Use the first person.

 Instead of: It is thought

Write: I think

 Instead of: The samples were analyzed

Write: I analyzed the samples

 4. Avoid dangling participles.

 "After incubating at 30 degrees C, we examined the petri plates." (You must've been pretty
warm in there.)

 Write succinctly

 1. Use verbs instead of abstract nouns

 Instead of: take into consideration

Write: consider

 2. Use strong verbs instead of "to be"

 Instead of: The enzyme was found to be the active agent in catalyzing...
Write: The enzyme catalyzed...

 3. Use short words.

"I would never use a long word where a short one would answer the purpose. I know
there are professors in this country who 'ligate' arteries. Other surgeons tie them, and
it stops the bleeding just as well."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr .
Instead of: Write:

possess have
sufficient enough
utilize use
demonstrate show
assistance help
terminate end

4. Use concise terms.

 Instead of: Write:

prior to before
due to the fact that because
in a considerable number of often
cases
the vast majority of most
during the time that when
in close proximity to near
it has long been known that I'm too lazy to look up the
reference

5. Use short sentences. A sentence made of more than 40 words should probably be rewritten as
two sentences.

 "The conjunction 'and' commonly serves to indicate that the writer's mind still functions even
when no signs of the phenomenon are noticeable." Rudolf Virchow, 1928

  

Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation ( see below for details)

1. Use a spellchecker, but be aware that they don't catch all mistakes.

 "When we consider the animal as a hole,..." Student's paper

 2. Your spellchecker may not recognize scientific terms. For the correct spelling, try Biotech's
Life Science Dictionary or one of the technical dictionaries on the reference shelf in the Biology
or Health Sciences libraries.

 3. Don't, use, unnecessary, commas.

4. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

6. Elements of Style for Writing

Scientific Journal Articles
6.1. Language
Why is language important?
.
.
It is important to take seriously the presentation of your manuscript, especially the language you
use to communicate results. Clarity in writing reflects on clarity in thought. Science is far more
than mere fact recording. Written communication is key to transmitting knowledge and rendering
an impact on the field.

Without clear and proper language, readers will not grasp the full message or impact of your
work. Even though the findings you report might be cutting edge, poor language quality,
including errors in grammar, spelling or language usage, could delay publication or lead to
outright rejection of the paper.
.
Use proper English throughout the entire manuscript, and do not forget the captions
and headings in figures, charts, graphs, and photos.

5.2. Basic rules of manuscript language

Manuscript language should be:

➞Accurate
➞Concise
➞Clear
➞Objective
Prevent spelling errors by using a spellchecker in English. Additionally, other common
language errors involve:
■
Tenses
■
Grammar
■
Sentences
■
Paragraphs
You should always read the journal's Guide for Authors to check for any additional language
specifications.

Manuscript language: tenses

Take care to use the proper tenses when describing your work and findings. Being consistent
and correct in your use of tenses makes your paper easier to understand.

Use the present tense for known facts and hypotheses, for example, " the average life of a honey
bee IS 6 weeks...

Use the past tense for describing experiments that have been conducted and the results of
these experiments, for example "The average life span of bees in our contained environment
WAS 8 weeks.?
Avoid shifting tense within a unit of text: paragraph, sub-section or section.

. Manuscript language: grammar

Use active voice and short sentences
.
The passive voice can be used in the Methods section of a paper but otherwise, the active voice
will usually shorten sentences and make them more dynamic and interesting for the reader. Use
the active phrase "we found that... " freely, which is a quick signal to the reader that you are
describing one of your results. This expression is also much more concise and to the point than
writing in the passive voice, as in, for example, "it has been found that there had been..

.
Avoid contractions such as "it's", "isn't", or "weren't" which are not often used in professional
writing.
■
Avoid abbreviations/acronyms except for very well-known ones.
■
Avoid acronyms as replacement for citations.
■
Avoid acronyms in the abstract and conclusion.

Eliminate Redundant Words or phrase

due to the fact that ➞ because or since

■
immediately apparent ➞ apparent
■
in the case that ➞ in case
and also ➞ and
■
in order to determine ➞to determine
■
to try and determine ➞ to determine

Manuscript language: sentences

Write direct and short sentences

To write a successful manuscript, first be aware of the sentence structure you use
.
The average length of sentences in scientific writing is only about 12-17 words.
Sentences should be constructed in short, factual bursts. Long and complicated sentences
tend to confuse readers.

 Avoid making multiple statements in one sentence

Convey only a single idea per sentence. Link sentences together within a paragraph to
provide a clear story-line.

 Keep related Words together

Closely place the subject and verb to allow the reader to understand what the subject is
doing.

 Pay attention to the order in which you write a sentence

The "stress position" within a sentence contains new information to be emphasized. The
"topical position" contains "old" information leading up to the point of emphasis. The topical
position comes before the stress position.

Avoid "This ocean basin was warmer during 2012 than any period found in the observational
database, based on our analysis of recent ship-based measurements."

Write "Based on our analysis of recent ship-based measurements, this ocean basin was
warmer during 2012 than any period found in the observational database."

Put statement in a positive form

Positive: "He usually came late."

■
Negative: "He is not very often on time."

Manuscript Language Paragraph

  Have one paragraph for each distinct topic.
 Begin a paragraph with a topic sentence, and end in conformity with the beginning.
 Avoid a succession of loose sentences.
 Parallel structures are simpler to parse as a reader.
 Retain consistent tenses within each paragraph.
 Provide a logical transition from one paragraph to another to render a clear flow, thus
guiding the reader from one topic to another.
 Paragraphs are similarly constructed to sentences, bringing the reader from the "familiar"
at the start to new ideas towards the end.
 Fill logical holes empathizing with a smart reader who genuinely wants to understand the
flow of ideas.

Classic errors to avoid

 Too many successive proposition

Avoid: . "We ran a model simulation of the ocean for research into

the evolution of the thermocline. "

Write: " We ran an ocean model simulation to conduct research

Into thermocline evolution"

.
Avoid expression of believes

Avoid: "We believe this model result to be true"

.
Write: "We show through our analysis that this model result is consistent with the empirical
evidence".

 Communication of science is not about conveying belief. Rather, it is about logically

developing lines of evidence that lead one to a hypothesis, theory, or conclusion based on
the evidence.
 References

Derntl, M. 2014. Basics of research paper writing and publishing Int. J. Technology Enhanced
Learning, 6 ( 2):105-123.

Griffies, S. M. and Perrie, W. A. (2013). Elements of Style for Writing Scientific Journal Articles
Princeton, NJ, USA, 12pp.

Hengl, T. and Gould, M., 2002. Rules of thumb for writing research articles. Web:
http://www.itc.nl/personal/hengl/RT/ Acessesd on 24/08/2016

Robert, A. D .1998.. How to write, and publish specific scientific paper, 5 th edition. Oryx press,
Canada, 145pp.
Robert S. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 4th edition, Oryx Press, Phoenix,
1994.