Writing Scientific Papers

Clarity – Work is unambiguous and free of extraneous detail or conjecture Simplicity – Language and sentence and paragraph structure are easy to understand and follow without losing authority or scientific credibility Accuracy – Data, Tables and Figures, and References and Citations are represented honestly and verifiably New authors are, no doubt, familiar with the structure of a scientific research paper – there is a standard in academic publishing.

However, writing within that structure requires a deeper understanding of the role of each section.

The Title page gives information about: The title of the paper should indicate exactly what the paper is about.

The reader should know not only the general topic but also the aspect of the topic contained in the paper.

Each section of the research article will require re-reading and editing.

It is likely that writers will grow weary of their article before it is ready to be handed to a professor or submitted to a journal.However, the existence of the Conclusion is very journal-specific.Independent of the hourglass, the Abstract provides a summary of the article or report and the Title serves as the heading of the paper.This is both discouraging to the reader and potentially off-putting to a journal editor.It is possible to write simple, informative sentences without sounding choppy or unsophisticated.Shorter paragraphs and sentences allow the reader to grasp concepts more easily.No one wants to go back and re-read a sentence or paragraph several times, just to grasp what the author is trying to say.Whether writing for a university lecture or for journal submission, the academic world is no longer segmented into isolated cultures and nationalities.Even if a university classroom is filled with students with the same cultural and national background, they are being trained to move into the global community of scientists.The following was discussed in an online resource from Bates College.The goal of any piece of writing is to communicate the author’s message.