How To Write A Good Scientific Paper

Many scientists and engineers consider themselves poor writers or find the writing process difficult. The good news is that you do not have to be a talented writer to produce a good scientific paper, but you do have to be a careful writer. In particular, writing for a peer-reviewed scientific or engineering journal requires learning and executing a specific formula for presenting scientific work. This book is all about teaching the style and conventions of writing for a peer-reviewed scientific journal. From structure to style, titles to tables, abstracts to author lists, this book gives practical advice about the process of writing a paper and getting it published.

"The only book about scholarly communication that his reviewer has ever wanted to read from cover to cover". -- ARBA "Day's style is light and witty; ' his examples memorable, funny, and instructive; and through it all is a canny wisdom". -- Society for Scholarly Publishing "An outstanding book, one to be on the shelf of every scientific writer. Not that it will stay on the shelf much. Countless anecdotes and unexpected touches of wit and humor will keep the reader from putting the book away..". -- Issues in Writing

Guide on writing and submitting a scientific paper for graduates to professionals.

This second edition of How to Write and Illustrate a Scientific Paper will help both first-time writers and more experienced authors, in all biological and medical disciplines, to present their results effectively. Whilst retaining the easy-to-read and well-structured approach of the previous edition, it has been broadened to include comprehensive advice on writing compilation theses for doctoral degrees, and a detailed description of preparing case reports. Illustrations, particularly graphs, are discussed in detail, with poor examples redrawn for comparison. The reader is offered advice on how to present the paper, where and how to submit the manuscript, and finally, how to correct the proofs. Examples of both good and bad writing, selected from actual journal articles, illustrate the author's advice - which has been developed through his extensive teaching experience - in this accessible and informative guide.

This book covers all essential aspects of writing scientific research articles, presenting eighteen carefully selected titles that offer essential, “must-know” content on how to write high-quality articles. The book also addresses other, rarely discussed areas of scientific writing including dealing with rejected manuscripts, the reviewer’s perspective as to what they expect in a scientific article, plagiarism, copyright issues, and ethical standards in publishing scientific papers. Simplicity is the book’s hallmark, and it aims to provide an accessible, comprehensive and essential resource for those seeking guidance on how to publish their research work. The importance of publishing research work cannot be overemphasized. However, a major limitation in publishing work in a scientific journal is the lack of information on or experience with scientific writing and publishing. Young faculty and trainees who are starting their research career are in need of a comprehensive guide that provides all essential components of scientific writing and aids them in getting their research work published.

What if writing scientific papers was faster, easier, and a bit less painful? This book provides a step-by-step, top-down approach that makes it easier to turn your hard-won results into research papers that your fellow scientists want to read and cite. "I just wrote a (rough) first draft of a paper during a 3-hour flight, and if it wasn't for these teachings, this would have taken me days (if not weeks)!" -Talayeh Aledavood, James S. McDonnell Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Helsinki The book's systematic approach builds on what I've learned through coauthoring close to 100 research papers with students. You'll learn how to outline your paper from top to down, how to develop your story, and how to think about what to write before you write it. You'll also learn how to deal with many issues that writers of science commonly face, from the fear of the blank page to dealing with critical reviews. Here's what you get: A complete step-by-step plan for writing a scientific paper, from choosing which results to include to wrapping up the paper in the Discussion section Concrete, actionable, and practical advice, from a paragraph-level template for the Introduction to guidance on preparing plots and figures Lots of writing tips, from placing signposts in your text to shortening and straightening your sentences This book has been written for the PhD student who is aiming to write a journal article on her research results, but it should also be useful to any scientist who has ever found writing difficult. Whatever the stage of your career, if you'd like to learn how to write research papers systematically and efficiently, this is the book for you! The book includes PART I: STORY 1. How To Choose The Key Point Of Your Paper 2. How To Choose The Supporting Results 3. How To Write The Abstract 4. How To Choose The Title PART II: OUTLINE 5. The Power Of Outlining 6. How To Write The Introduction, Part I: Structure 7. How To Write The Introduction, Part II: A Four-Paragraph Template 8. How To Write The Introduction, Part III: The Lede 9. How To Write The Materials And Methods 10. How To Write The Results, Part I: Figures 11. How To Write The Results, Part II: Text 12. How To Write The Discussion PART III: WORDS 13. How Does Your Reader Read? 14. How To Write Your First Draft 15. How To Edit Your First Draft 16. Tips For Revising Content And Structure 17. Tips For Editing Sentences PART IV: IT'S NOT OVER YET 18. How To Write The Cover Letter 19. How To Deal With Reviews About the author I am a professor of computational science and an experienced academic with around 100 published papers. My research is interdisciplinary, to say the least: I have studied the social fabric of smartphone users, the genetic structure of ant supercolonies, the connectome of the human brain, networks of public transport, and the molecular biology of the human immune system, to name a few. So one could say that I have a broad range of scientific interests (or that I simply cannot choose). But that's exactly the way I like it!

What is a scientific paper? How to prepare the title; How to list the authors; How to list the addresses; How to prepare the abstract; How to write the introduction; How to write the materials and methods sectios; How to write the results; How to write the discussion; How to state the acknowledgments; How to cite the literature; How to design effective tables; How to prepare effective illustrations; How to type the manuscript; Where and how to submit the manuscript; The review process (how to deal with editors); The publishing process (how to deal with printers); The electronic manuscript; How to order and use reprints; How to write a review paper; How to write a conference report; How to write a book review; How to write a thesis; How to present a paper orally; Ethics, rights, and permissions; Use and misure of english; Avoiding jargon; How and when to use abbreviation; A personalized summary.