Why Write a Scientific Paper?

Scientists are expected to share their research findings with the world by writing and publishing scientific research papers. A scientific paper is a tool to communicate research results and provide useful information for other scientists to conduct future studies. It is the most common method of communication between researchers besides conferences.

Writing a scientific article and then submitting it to a journal for publication might be challenging, time-consuming, and stressful not only for beginners but also for experienced researchers. Nevertheless, sharing the results of your research with the scientific community, and getting feedback on them can be very exciting.

 

Scientific Paper Format

Each journal provides specific formatting guidelines for authors but most of the papers follow the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) structure. It would be easier to read the guidelines of your target journal before you start writing otherwise you would need to tailor it after.

Most of the scientific papers include the following sections:

• Title

The title gives readers the first impression of your paper, so it has to be specific, concise, descriptive, and reflect the goal of your research.

• Abstract

The abstract is the most important part, a brief description of your study, and that’s why it should be written after your paper is complete. Most readers as well as journal editors will read only the abstract and they should be able to understand why and how you conducted this study, what you found out and why it is important. The abstract should be short and reflect all the parts of your paper. A good title and a well written abstract will attract readers to read the full paper and help researchers find important information.

• Introduction

The introduction provides background information on the field of your study and previous studies with citations on the same topic. In the introduction you have to state the main purpose of your study, the problem to be solved and propose a hypothesis to test with your experiments.

• Materials and Methods

This section describes how your hypothesis was tested, specific techniques, experimental design, data collection and analysis. Materials and methods should be clear and provide all the details of your experiments and methodologies so other researchers can reproduce them. Make sure you mentioned from which companies you purchased any reagents for your experiments.

• Results

In this section, you can present your study’s findings and data from statistical analysis using graphs, charts, tables, and figures. It’s very important that the captions of your tables and figures are well constructed and explain the data presented. Many researchers first read the abstract and check the figures and graphs before start reading the whole paper.

• Discussion

Many scientific writers find the discussion part the most difficult to write. In this section, you can analyze and interpret your findings, highlight the most significant results and compare them to previous studies.

• Conclusion

The conclusion should highlight the most important data and explain how your research contributes to knowledge in the field. Here you might mention your next steps in the research field and also suggest future experiments.

• Acknowledgments

In this section, you give credit to people who helped you with the study and the institute that funded your research.

• References

The references section includes a listing of all the literature cited in your paper. Keep your references organized with a reference management software like EndNote, Zotero, RefWorks and Mendeley. It’s important to follow the reference format for the journal you are submitting your paper.

 

Useful Tips for Writing Scientific Papers

Many papers fail to communicate research work properly and they get rejected from journals. A high-quality paper has more chances to get published in a high impact factor journal. This means that more people will be able to consult your paper. For this reason, many researchers are also considering open access publishing.

Before you start

• Discuss your results with your colleagues or professors
• Organize your notes and literature
• Create a useful outline and a time schedule
• Pick the right journal that fits to your field of research
• Prepare your tables and figures

Writing

• Start writing while still performing experiments
• Your writing should be clear, accurate and concise
• Start writing the methods first and then the results and discussion
• The abstract and title are usually written last
• Avoid long sentences and complicated words
• Use headings and bullets
• Always keep in mind that something that is obvious to you might not be for the reader. You have spent time looking at your results compared to the reader that sees it for the first time

Editing

• Check your grammar and spelling
• If you are a non-native English speaker, consider getting feedback from a native speaker
• Follow the guidelines of your target journal
• Always cite your resources, use simple language and avoid plagiarism
• Review the abstract and consider the title very carefully

Before submitting your paper

• Read aloud your final manuscript several times
• Get feedback from your colleagues and friends
• Make sure that all your co-authors agree with the final manuscript before submitting it to the journal

 

Once you have successfully completed your manuscript you will be ready to submit it to your target journal. Good Luck!