WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE

Components of a paper

Title

Abstract

Introduction

Experimental

Results & Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments & References

Titles

Titles Never use a colon (or hyphen) unless the paper is part of a multi-part series. Ex:

“Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: I. Carbon deposition from methane .”

“Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: II. Carbon deposition from propylene ”

“The structure of CVD carbon: the effect of deposition temperature” should be:

“The effect of deposition temperature on the structure of CVD carbon”

“To improve mechanical properties……”- Which one? Tensile? Bending? Bursting?

- For what applications?

- Better for one application may be the opposite for another.

“CNT solution in organic acids”- All? Which did you investigate? Formic- or acetic acid.

Titles

- Full names of all authors according to order

of involvement in the work

Names & Affiliations

- Affiliations of all authors i.e. which

Institution/Organization you belong to.

Abstract

Simply tell the reader two things:

1.What was done.

2.Important results obtained.

Do not:

1.Provide history or narrative.

2.Speculate -possible uses, etc.

3.Include data that is not in the manuscript.

Introduction with references

A brief history of the subject . Most

Introductions are unnecessarily long

A minimum of 30%, and as many as 70+% of

all references are usually cited in the Introduction

A reference is something you may wish to refer

to for further information.

Experimental

This section has two purposes:

To convince readers that the work has been

done systematically and thoroughly using

appropriate equipment

To allow readers to repeat the experiments if

they wish to check (doubtful) results, prepare the

same materials etc.

This section contains ALL information needed for

another person to repeat the experiment:

Sample preparation: Techniques with delivery

rate, time, temperatures, heating rates etc.

Sources of materials: Origin, purity, particle size,

mol. weight etc.

Analytical & measurement techniques

Experimental

Results

A paper is centered around the Results

First get them organized. What to include?

Any photographs?

How will I present them -Figures and/or tables?

Do I need to combine results with discussion?

Figures & Tables

Make sure whether each one is important

Do not duplicate data in figures and tables.

Which shows the data more clearly?

Discussion

If possible separate from the ResultsBut sometimes results must be discussed in order to logically point to the next stage in the experiment. In this case combine Results and DiscussionCompare your results with those of others. References are really important here. Be careful to show where your work has advanced the subjectTry to lead naturally to the Conclusion

Conclusion

This is NOT the same as a summary like the

Abstract. Authors often do mistake in

distinguishing ‘Abstract’ and ‘Conclusion’.

Conclusion only highlights the major outcome.

NEVER make conclusions that cannot be justified

or are not mentioned in the main text.

Making PowerPoint Slides

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

Tips to be Covered

Outlines Slide Structure Fonts Colour Background Graphs Spelling and Grammar Conclusions Questions

Outline

Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your

presentation (like previous slide)

Follow the order of your outline for the rest of

the presentation

Slide Structure – Good

Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation

Write in point form, not complete sentences

Include 4-5 points per slide

Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases

only

Slide Structure - Bad

This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

Slide Structure – Good

Show one point at a time:

– Will help audience concentrate on what you are

saying

– Will prevent audience from reading ahead

– Will help you keep your presentation focused

Slide Structure - Bad

Do not use distracting animation

Do not go overboard with the animation

Be consistent with the animation that you use

Slide Structure - Bad

Distracting animation

100℃

100℃

Extrusion temp. ： 100 ℃Spinneret 　 ： 0.5 mmAir gap ： 15 mmInjection speed ： 4.0 m/minWinding speed 　 ： 35~70 m/min (depending on the coagulant)　

Dry-jet Wet SpinningDry-jet Wet Spinning

Air gap

Water wash

Consistent animation

PVA/chitin composite films

0 5 10 15 201200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

Ten

sile

str

engt

h (M

Pa)

Whisker content (wt%)

30 MPa400 MPa

PVA/chitin composite drawn fibers

Consistent animation

Fonts - Good

Use at least an 18-point font

Use different size fonts for main points and

secondary points– this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point,

and the title font is 36-point

Use a standard font like Times New Roman or

Arial

Fonts - Bad

If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written

CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ

Don’t use a complicated font

Colour - Good

Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background– Ex: blue font on white background

Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure– Ex: light blue title and dark blue text

Use colour to emphasize a point– But only use this occasionally

Colour - Bad

Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read

Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.

Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary– Using a different colour for secondary points is also

unnecessary Trying to be creative can also be bad

Background - Good

Use backgrounds such as this one that are

attractive but simple

Use backgrounds which are light

Use the same background consistently

throughout your presentation

Background – Bad

Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

Always be consistent with the background that you use

Graphs - Good

Use graphs rather than just charts and words– Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain

than is raw data

– Trends are easier to visualize in graph form

Always title your graphs

Table - Bad

Expressing Table Data in Graph

Stress-strain behavior of PVA/SWCNT fibres

0 2 4 6 8 10 120.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

SWCNT 1.0%SWCNT 0.7%

SWCNT 0.5%

SWCNT 0.3%

Neat PVA

Str

ess

(GP

a)

Strain (%)

Sample Tensile strength

(GPa)

Young’s modulus

(GPa)

Elongation%

Toughness (J/g)

Neat PVA 1.65 30 10.0 67

SWNT 0.3% 2.17 40 10.5 91

SWNT 0.5% 2.42 46 10.3 105

SWNT 0.7% 2.25 48 8.0 74

SWNT 1.0% 2.20 52 7.0 62

Graph & Table together

Graphs - Good

Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue Balls

Red Balls

Graphs - Bad

20.4

27.4

90

20.4

30.6

38.6

34.631.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue Balls

Red Balls

Minor gridlines are unnecessary Font is too small Colours are illogical Title is missing Shading is distracting

Spelling and Grammar

Proof your slides for:– speling mistakes– the use of of repeated words– grammatical errors you might have make

If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!

Conclusion

Use an effective and strong closing– Your audience is likely to remember your last words

Use a conclusion slide to:– Summarize the main points of your presentation– Suggest future avenues of research

Giving thanks and Questions??

End your presentation with thanks, Ex:

“Thank you for your kind attention”, or

“Thank you for listening” Thanks may be followed by a simple question

slide to:– Invite your audience to ask questions– Provide a visual aid during question period– Avoid ending a presentation abruptly