How to Write a Scientific Paper

Paper Format Standard: Review paper: Abstract Introduction Materials & Methods Results Discussion References Review paper: Abstract (mostly) Introduction Subheadings Conclusion References

Journal Article Summary THESE ARE PRIMARY SOURCES What were their aims? Pay attention to abstract It will guide you through the paper Pick out main points and methods used What were their main conclusions? Did they miss anything?

Abstract Overview of entire paper Summarize: Concise what you did how you did it results conclusions Concise

Introduction Background information Summarize previous studies Cite all appropriate references Outline question/problem to be addressed

Materials & Methods What you did How you did it Enough information for someone else to repeat your experiments Falsifiability

Results What you found Often use tables and figures graphs graphical representations of results Should be easily understandable Should address every point from the methods, if not more

Discussion The real meat of the paper Put your results in light of other studies How does your study conflict or support other studies? Big picture Problems encountered Future directions

General Writing Style Don’t be too personal Use evidence (or lack) I think that ... They say this, but I don’t believe it ... Use evidence (or lack) Our data show that ... They say this, but their evidence is, at best, sketchy ...

General Writing Style Be clear and concise! Who is your audience? Say what you need to say, then quit Who is your audience? No word contractions e.g., don’t, won’t, can’t Avoid colloquialisms Shows bad English, and we have enough of that already

References Journal-style referencing is best Refer to handout Posted online Reference EVERY article that you cite and use (and cite every reference in the text)