How to wrote good Diane Srivastava, Zool 502

Workshop structure Part 1: Structuring your manuscript Part 2: The nitty-gritty of writing

Abstract: Paper at a glance What’s the main research question? Why is this research question important? What is(are) the hypothesis(es) being tested? What is the key result?

Abstract: Paper at a glance EXERCISE: Read the abstract of your paper, and write one sentence answering each of these four questions. (If you are unable to answer the questions from the abstract alone, you may quickly skim the Introduction or figures for the information).

Main research question: This may not be the research question you started with. It is the biggest (most impact, most interesting) question you could possibly answer with your results.

Main research question: POOR: We examined the effect of habitat size on the number of prey species and also on the number of detritivore species. GOOD: We tested the theoretical prediction that predator diversity is more sensitive to habitat size than is prey diversity.

Main research question: EXERCISE: Mary set up an experiment to examine the effects of herbivory on plant growth. She exclosed some plants from herbivory, and left others exposed. She also measured available soil nitrogen in each experimental plot using resin membranes, on the advice of her supervisor. She noticed that plant growth was moderately affected by herbivory, but more strongly correlated with estimates of available soil nitrogen. What’s the BEST story she could tell?

Hypotheses The pseudo-hypothesis The thin-air hypothesis The non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis The uni-directional (one-tailed) hypothesis The bi-directional (multiple) hypothesis The hierarchical hypothesis

Hypotheses EXERCISE: Categorize the hypothesis(es) in your research paper. Is the hypothesis well-justified? Can you –without looking at the results- sketch out a possible scenario for data that supports or rejects the hypothesis/es? Could you think of other hypotheses that could have been tested instead of or in addition to those mentioned?

The Introduction Your introduction should answer the question “Why is this research question important?”. Introductions should be funnel-shaped, starting by a broad summary of the general research area and ending up by a narrow focus on the particular question answered by your study.

Introduction formats I use GAP ANALYSIS One of the key questions in ecology/evolution is…. But it is still unclear why/how….. This study will address this missing piece by… We hypothesize that… COMBINING DISCIPLINES Two important areas of ecological/evolutionary theory are… However, there has been little consideration of their combined effect This study integrates the two theories by… We hypothesize that…

The Introduction EXERCISE: Does your paper’s Introduction follow a funnel shape? Does your paper’s Introduction follow one of the formats described? If not, can you invent a new type of “Introduction format” to describe your paper’s Introduction?

The Nitty Gritty of Writing! Rule #1: Be concise. Example: “In most ecological experiments, increases in the species richness of terrestrial plants tend to lead to increased aboveground primary production as measured by annual rates of biomass accrual.” VS “Experimental increases in plant richness have generally resulted in higher primary productivity” EXERCISE: Find two sentences in your paper that seem unduly long or complex, and rewrite them.

Rule #2: Be clear. Signpost. What are you going to talk about, in which order? What is this paper about? Organize. Use headings. Use examples to explain abstract ideas. EXERCISE: What tricks have the authors of your paper used to improve clarity?

Rule # 3: Don’t be boring Instead of saying: “Figure 3 shows the relationship between water pH and chlorophyll content”, rephrase to say something definitive about the pattern. “Acidic lakes tended to have lower chlorophyll content (Fig. 3)”.

Active vs. Passive voice “The data showed a negative correlation between plant growth and herbivory (Fig 1).” VS “Herbivory reduced plant growth (Fig 1).”

Active vs. Passive voice “The plants were thinned manually to the desired density” VS “We thinned the plants by hand to the desired density” Does your paper use active or passive voice? Or alternate?

Reporting results It is useful to not only say if there is a significant difference between two things, but also give some idea of magnitude. E.g. “Polar bears have almost twice the body mass of grizzly bears (t-test, n=60, p<0.001). Be honest. Sometimes things are marginally non-significant (0.10>p>0.05). State the result as such.

Topic sentences EXERCISE: To understand how topic sentences work, read the topic sentences of the Introduction of your paper to your neighbour. Can your neighbour get the gist of the Introduction?

Topic sentences The “topic sentence” introduces the topic of the paragraph. Each paragraph can only make one point. You can therefore estimate how many points you can make in any section of your paper! Structure your section first in topic sentences, before writing the full paragraphs.