HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC PAPER Walter A. Zin, MD, DSc

HOW TO WRITE A
SCIENTIFIC PAPER
Walter A. Zin, MD, DSc
Laboratory of Respiration Physiology
Carlos Chagas Filho Institute of Biophysics
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
What is a Scientific Paper ?
A scientific paper is a written
and published report describing
original research results
Writing a Research Paper
• No single best way
• Varies from paper to paper
• Wait till data analyzed
• Background reading
- not too extensive
- make notes; make notes of notes
- write down sentences or parts of
them
- not during “writing time”
Whom Writing For?
• To please yourself?
• Referees - to persuade the toughest one
• Journal
- Choose before writing
- General vs. subespecialty journal
Whom Writing For?
Strategies to choose the journal:
• Where many of the papers cited were published?
• Where do cited scientists publish their work?
• Read the avertising statements of journals
• Read the “scope” paragraph in the “I for A”
• Read the table of contents of potential journals
• Examine several articles in potential journals
Sequence
• Fix realistic schedule (moderate)
- Decision is final
- Adherence foresees a good outcome
• Figures, tracings, tables
• Methods and Results
• Discussion and Introduction
• Abstract and Title
Structure
• A good article has a definite structure, makes
its point, and does not was space and time
• The most difficult part in writing a scientific
paper is planning its structure
Structure
• Biggest problems come first
• A scaffold of headings and subheadings
• IMRAD: each on a separate sheet
- In the first draft: random order, telegraphic
style
- Afterwards: the ideas must be numbered
and an order generated
Subheadings
• Signposts to reader
• Every paragraph in early drafts
• Final version: never over single
paragraph
• Hierarchy of sub-subs
- Max of 3 for typographical distinction
Writing Tools
• Dictionary, well-thumbed
• Thesaurus
• Synonyms, shades of meaning
• Check every word
• Pencil, pen, computer
• Paper bin
Methods Section
• Enough information for an experienced
investigator to repeat your work
• Avoid tiresome detail
• Cut-and-paste from previous work of
the author(s), not somebody else’s
• It is the first section of the paper in
which subheadings should be used
Results Section
• Refer to data (Fig. X, Table Y)
• Don’t repeat numbers in Tables
• Can state numbers from Figures if
precision is required
• A lot of numbers, make Table
Introduction
2-3 paragraphs, <450 words
• First paragraph
- Introduce broad area
• Second paragraph
- Explicit rationale
• Last paragraph
- Hypothesis
Discussion Section
• First paragraph
- State major findings
- Paraphrase abstract
• Last paragraph
- “In summary…” (2-3 sentences)
- “In conclusion…” (biggest mensage,
return to Intro, avoid speculation,
avoid “need more work”
Discussion Section
• Middle paragraphs
- Base each on a major result
• Always focus on your results
• Never discuss prior work without
reference to your work
• Refer Tables and Figures
Abstract
• Précis writing
• Informative, not descriptive
• Some numbers, but not in excess
• Determines if paper will be read
• Is distributed freely in databases
Title
• Max info in least words
• <12 words
• <100 characters
• The title is a label
• Should almost never contain abbreviations
• Question: easier to understand, more
impact
• State results
Figures
• Do before writing
• Redraw, redraw, prune clutter
• Least non-data-ink
• Max 4 lines, all solid
• No caption
• Reduce to 1 column in journal
- Reduced xerox copy to check out
- Original should be <3x final
Figures
• Axes
- Minimize tick marks
- Don’t number each tick
• Lettering
- Uniform, lower case
- Minimize, avoid bold
- After reduction, 2-3 mm high
• Legend
- Gives message
Tables
• Single unit, understood without text
• Prune, prune: columns, lines
• Exceed 1 sheet: redraw
• Avoid narrow/broad; rotate all 90o
• No added vertical/horizontal lines
• If small: move data to text
Of Writing
• At assigned time: write (not read)
• Don’t wait for the muses
• A craft, not an art: practice
• Ideas come while writing
• Read good writers, especially non-medical
Momentum
• Fix a schedule
• Monitor progress
• Write by a biological clock
• One page a week: torture
• Skip trouble spots
• Writer’s block: unacceptable
Concentration
• Need stretch of several hours
• When time is short: prepare,
revise
• Avoid distractions: phone, beeper
• Location
- Very boring area
- Nothing to distract
First Draft
• Write as quickly as possible
• As if thinking out loud
• Get everything down
• Ignore spelling, grammar, style
• Skip troublesome words
• Correct and rewrite only when the
whole text is on paper
• Do not split the manuscript among the
co-authors
Good Writing
• Content, accuracy
• Clarity
• Precision
• Logic
• Order of presentation
Clarity
• Clear
• Exact
- Ambiguity, inconsistency
- Wooly words
• Concise
- Least words
- Short words
- One word vs many
Simplify
a majority of = most
at the present time = now
give rise to = cause
in some cases = sometimes
is defined as = is
it is believed that = I think
on the basis of = by
pooled together = pooled
subsequent to = after
with the result that = so that
Use and Misuse of English
• Tense
- Previously published work: present tense
- Your own work: past tense
• Voice
- Active more precise and less wordy than passive
- Name the agent, even “I” or “we”
• Singulars and plurals
Use and Misuse of English
• Punctuation
• Hyphens
• Pile-ups of nouns or phrases
• Numbers
Bad Writing
• Words don’t do justice to your
ideas
•If multiple mistakes in spelling
and syntax, reviewer suspects
similar sloppiness in the lab
Style
• Clear, orderly presentation
• Reads comfortably
• Science vs literature
Writing
• Reshape, refine, tighten up
• Juggle words, change sentences around
• Strengthen transition between sentences
• Check narrative flow
• After several drafts ask for a second
opinion
Writing: Clutter
• All first drafs have too many words
• Successive drafts: prune vigorously
• Strip every sentence
• Look for excessive adverbs, adjectives
• Writing improves in proportion to
deletion of unnecessary words
Writing:
Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Liked by authors, hated by readers
• Reading should not require a glossary
• Unwieldy word occurring > 10 times
Writing: Sentences
• Only one idea in a sentence
• Keep short: <20 words
• Vary length
• Long sentences: greater risk
of grammatical error
Writing: Paragraph
• The unit of thought in a group of sentences
• Subheading over each one in early drafts
• Not too long solid block of printing (<125
words)
• Long paragraph: bad
Writing: Narrative Flow
• Telling a story
• Reader follows from start to end
• Writing is sequential: logic is the glue
• Sentences hold hands
• Smooth transitions
• Every step is inevitable
Rewriting
• Secret of writing is rewriting
• Secret of rewriting is re-thinking
Typing
• Clean
• Wide margins (2.5 cm)
• On one side of the sheet only
• Adherence to the style of the journal
• Proofread, proofread, proofread
Authorship
• Decided as early as possible
• Should include persons who:
- Can defend the intellectual content, including
data and conclusions
- Must be willing to concede publicly any errors
- In the case of fraud be willing to state publicly
the nature and extent, and account for its
occurrence
Authorship: Criteria
• All the following criteria should be met:
- Generate at least part of the intellectual
content (conception or design, data
analysis and interpretation)
- Drafting, reviewing or revising critically for
important intellectual content
- Final approval of the version to be published
Authorship: Order
• Some journals use the alphabetical order
• Most of them assume an order based on each
author’s importance to the study
- The first author is primarily responsible for
collecting and analyzing data, and writing
- The last one, an established investigator,
assumes the overall responsibility for the study
- The middle authors are listed according to their
order of importance to the study
Authorship: Responsibilities
The authors must comply with the following rules when
submitting the manuscript for publication:
• The manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere and the
research will not be submitted elsewhere until a final decision
has been made by the journal
• The manuscript is a trustful, original work without fabrication, fraud
or plagiarism
• The authors have made an important scientific contribution and are
familiar with the primary data
• The authors have read the manuscript and take responsibility for
its content, and understand that if the paper, or part of it, is
found to be faulty or fraudulent, they share responsibility
Authorship: Conflict of Interest
• All funding sources supporting the work and all
institutional or corporate affiliations of the
authors must be acknowledged
• The authors must certify that they have no
commercial association that might pose a
conflict of interest in connection with the
submitted paper
Benefits of Writing
• Benefit greater to author than reader
• Invaluable mental discipline
• Enhances clear thinking
• Making a subject intelligible to others
means you understand it
• Improve your reading skills
• Satisfies a creative instinct