writing a scientific research paper espol dr. jan feyen 30 march 2012
TRANSCRIPT
Writing a scientific research paper
ESPOLDr. Jan Feyen
30 March 2012
Content
Outline of seminar1. Paper format 11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps2. Title 12. Discussion3. Authors 13. Conclusions4. Affiliation 14. Acknowledgements5. Abstract 15. Citing references in text6. Keywords 16. References7. Introduction 17. Journal abbreviations8. Literature search 18. Citing Internet references9. Materials and methods 19. Editing your paper10. Results
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1. Paper format
TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. MATERIALS AND METHODS3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
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TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. MATERIALS AND METHODS3. RESULTS4. DISCUSSION5. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
1. Paper format
TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. MATERIALS AND METHODS3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
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TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. METHODS
2.1. Study population2.2. Intervention program2.3. Definitions and measurements2.4. Statistical analysis
3. RESULTS4. DISCUSSION5. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
1. Paper format
TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. MATERIALS AND METHODS3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
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TitleAuthors, affiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Research question1.2. Justification and use of results1.3. Literature review1.4. Hypotheses1.5. General objectives1.6. Specific objectives
PROPOSAL FORMAT
1. Paper format
TitleAffiliationABSTRACT1. INTRODUCTION2. MATERIALS AND METHODS3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4. CONCLUSIONSAcknowledgementsReferences
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2. MATERIALS AND METHODS2.1. Type of study2.2. Population and sample2.3. Intervention/experiment2.4. Statistical analysis
3. RESULTS4. DISCUSSION5. DISSEMINATION6. PROJECT TEAM7. COST ESTIMATE
PROPO
SAL FORM
AT
1. Paper format
Difusión de los resultados
Articulo científico
Intr
oduc
ción
Materiales y métodos
Resultados
Discusión
Conclusiones
Pregunta(s) / una o más hipótesis
Formulación del problema
Nuevo conocimiento
Análisis de resultados
Interpretación y conclusiones
Diseño de investigación
Análisis de la literatura
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2. Title
• Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of the paper, but not so technical that only specialists will understand.
• The title should be appropriate for the intended audience.• The title should be short, avoiding the inclusion of details.• Use generic titles• The title usually describes the subject matter of the article:
Effect of Smoking on Academic Performance • Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more
effective: Students Who Smoke Get Lower Grades
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3. Authors
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the first author of a research paper.
• Other people who made substantial contributions to the work are also listed as authors.
• Ask your supervisor's permission before including his/her name as co-author.
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4. Affiliation
• Claudia Muster1 , Bob Smith2, Richard F. Barrett3*
1 Ion Beam Physics, Paul Scherrer Institute, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland2 University College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada3 Computer Science and Mathematics Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
* Corresponding author: [email protected]
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5. Abstract
• The abstract should be a little less technical than the article itself; you don't want to dissuade your potential audience from reading your paper.
• The abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the paper.
• It is not easy to include all this information in just a few words. Start by writing a summary that includes whatever you think is important, and then gradually prune it down to size by removing unnecessary words, while still retaining the necessary concepts.
• Don't use abbreviations or citations in the abstract. It should be able to stand alone without any footnotes.
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5. Abstract
Para la literatura urbana post-estructuralista, las ciudades aparecen como paisajes fracturados en enclaves protegidos y excluyentes, los cuales colonizan y reemplazan los lugares locales. Consecuentemente, se considera que los enclaves turísticos facilitan el control autoritario del espacio urbano, modificando el consumo y reemplazando y suprimiendo la cultura local con "ambientes Disney“. Este artículo plantea que si bien dentro de los enclaves turísticos se intenta -y generalmente se alcanza- un régimen no democrático, directivo y autoritario, incluso en estos espacios el control social no es total; el análisis que aquí se propone respecto de los espacios turísticos revela que la fractura de los espacios de las metrópolis postmodernas puede crear diversidad y diferencia, más que monotonía y uniformidad. Se concluye que, para los visitantes de las ciudades, la distopia urbana predicha por los post-estructuralistas no ha sido aún materializada.
Total number of words: 138
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Pristine soils of the high Andes mountain region, either under forest or páramo, are very fragile. Changing the land cover by deforestation, aforestation, grazing and farming makes the soils very susceptible to landslides. Additionally land use change affects the soil quality. The research, of which the results are presented in this paper, analyzed the chemical and physical properties of the top and subsoil of pristine soils covered by rainforest, high mountain forest and páramo, and pristine soils subject to recent deforestation, grazing and crop farming. The study was conducted at various locations in the southern Andes region of Ecuador at 2500 m above sea level. The survey enabled deriving chemical and physical indices for measuring the degree of soil degradation. Results revealed that Histosols are more susceptible than Andosols, and whereas the observed physical degradation is mainly limited to the topsoil, chemical alterations were also detected in the deeper horizons. Total number of words: 148
6. Keywords
• Title paper: Economic growth and human development– Keywords: Human development, economic growth, income
distribution, poverty, health, education
• Title paper: Heavy metal contaminations in a soil–rice system: Identification of spatial dependence in relation to soil properties of paddy fields– Keywords: Contamination, geostatistics, heavy metals, soil–rice
system, spatial relationship
• Title paper: Sources of China’s economic growth 1952–1999: incorporating human capital accumulation– Keywords: China, economic growth, human capital, reform
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7. Introduction
• What question did you ask in your experiment? • Why is it interesting? • The introduction summarizes the relevant literature (please
include a sufficient number of references of recent date; e.g. the last decade) so that the reader will understand why you were interested in the question you asked.
• End with the formulation of the hypotheses which you want to approve/disapprove.
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7. Introduction
• End of the introduction: …………………….. The objective of our study was two-fold: (1) to characterize the implementation of the OBPP in the seven schools, and (2) to compare schools with (N 7) and without (N 3) the OBPP to determine if the program was effective with regard to: (a) reducing student reported victimization (primary outcome), (b) improving student attitudes toward bullying and perceptions of others’ readiness to intervene (key program targets), and (c) improving the general school experience beyond bullying.
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8. Literature search
• Conocimiento de la idioma inglés
• Identificación de la literatura relevante, leer y analizar artículos
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8. Literature search
• Lo que se necesita?– Conocer las bases de datos.– Palabras clave.– Una arquitectura y conexión a Internet y sistema de
servidor por la transferencia de datos de alto capacidad.– Suscripción a bases digitales de revistas.– Contactar el autor correspondiente.– Tener amigos con acceso a bases de datos en el país /
extranjero cuando la institución se carece de suscripciones o licencias.
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• UCuenca– Bases Datos Generales
– Bases Datos Agropecuarias
– Bases Datos Salud
8. Literature search
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Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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– Encuentra artículos • con todas las palabras• con la frase exacta• con al menos una de las palabras• sin las palabras• donde las palabras aparezcan
– Author Return articles written by e.g., "PJ Hayes" or McCarthy
– Publication Return articles published in e.g., J Biol Chem or Nature
– Date Return articles published between e.g., 1996 - 2001
8. Literature search
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• SCIRUS for scientific information (http://www.scirus.com)
8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
388 pages
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8. Literature search
RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 75 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics.
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
• ISI-Web of Knowledge (http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/)
• Acceso a revistas específico(necesite login & contraseña)
– Water Resources Research (WRR) (http://www.agu.org/journals/wr/)
– Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ) (http://vzj.scijournals.org/)– Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ) (
http://soil.scijournals.org/)
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8. Literature search
• Open access journals• Science Journal Publication (http://www.sjpub.org/)
– Science Journal of Medicine and Clinical Trials, Agricultural Research, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Physics, Mathematics & Statistics, Pure & Applied Chemistry, Environmental Engineering Research, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Civil Engineering & Architecture, Chemical Engineering Research, Economics, Business Management, Psychology, Sociology & Anthropology (17 journals).
• Scientific Research Publishing (http://www.scirp.org) − SCIRP is an academic publisher of open access journals. It also
publishes academic books and conference proceedings. SCIRP currently has more than 150 open access journals in the areas of science, technology, and medicine JWARP.
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8. Literature search
• Open access journals• SCIRP - Journal of Water Research & Protection (JWARP). Open
access journal, international, peer-reviewed journal publishing articles related to water research and protection (http://www.scirp.org/Journal/jwarp/)
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Open access to 7449 journals, 3582 journals searchable at article level, and 745680 articles (http://www.doaj.org/)
• Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development (JARD). Open access journal, international, peer-reviewed journal publishing an overview of aquaculture research & development (http://omicsonline.org/jardhome.php)
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8. Literature search
• OMICS Publishing group (http://omicsonline.org/)
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8. Literature search
• OMICS Publishing group: E-mail alert
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8. Literature search
• Open Access Journals Search Engine (OAJSE). – An Open Access E-Journal Portal of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open
University (India) (http://oajse.com/index.html)
• Bentham Open Access (BENTHAM OPEN) – Publish over 230 peer-reviewed open access journals. These free-to-
view online journals cover all major disciplines of science, technology, medicine and social sciences (http://benthamscience.com/open/)
• Wiley Open Access – Publishes authoritative peer reviewed open access journals across
many research disciplines. (Brain and Behavior, Cancer Medicine, ChemistryOpen, Ecology and Evolution, Food and Energy Security, MicrobiologyOpen, Journal of the American Heart Association) (http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/view/index.html)
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8. Literature search
• MDPI is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access journals (http://www.mdpi.com/) 73 journals, among them a journal on: Agriculture, Agronomy, Applied Sciences, Atmosphere, Biology, Forest, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Geosciences, Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks, Membranes, Remote Sensing, Water
• MDPI delivers 1.5 million webpage views and over 130'000 full-text downloads per month.
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8. Literature search
• MDPI: E-mail alert
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8. Literature search
• Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted articles.• Journal of WATER: 300 CHF (± $330) for processing, and 250
CHF (± $275) for English edition.• E-mail alerts: http://www.mdpi.com/user/subscriptions/
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9. Materials and methods
1. How did you answer this question? There should be enough information here to allow another scientist to repeat your experiment. Look at other papers that have been published in your field to get some idea of what is included in this section.
2. If you had a complicated protocol, it may helpful to include a diagram, table or flowchart to explain the methods you used.
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9. Materials and methods
3. Do not put results in this section. You may, however, include preliminary results that were used to design the main experiment that you are reporting on. ("In a preliminary study, I observed the owls for one week, and found that 73 % of their locomotor activity occurred during the night, and so I conducted all subsequent experiments between 11 pm and 6 am.")
4. Mention relevant ethical considerations. If you used human subjects, did they consent to participate. If you used animals, what measures did you take to minimize pain?
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10. Results
1. This is where you present the results you've gotten. Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your main findings in the text. Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something happened; t hat goes in the Discussion.
2. You don't necessarily have to include all the data you've gotten. Make a selection of the most relevant results.
3. Use appropriate methods of showing data. Don't try to manipulate the data to make it look like you did more than you actually did.
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
Persist
encia
Exigi
r eficie
ncia y
calidad
Cumplimien
to
Búsqued
a de o
portunidad
es e i
niciativa
Fijar
metas y
visió
n de futuro
Planificac
ión sistem
ática
y seg
uimien
to
Autoconfian
za y c
ontrol in
terno
Correr r
iesgo
s calc
ulados
Búsqued
a de i
nformaci
ón
Persuasi
ón y red
es de a
poyo0
102030405060
6051.5 46.5 45.5
40
20.5 16.5 13.54 1.5
Factores Clave de Éxito de un Em-prendedor
Factores
Porc
enta
je (%
)
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Ele
ctric
al c
ondu
ctiv
ity (
mS
cm
-1)
D istance from sw am p lim it in km
0 1 5432
Shrim p farm ing zone R estric tivezone
Agricu ltura lzone
Coastal transition zone
6/17/07 8/6/07 9/25/07 11/14/07 1/3/08 2/22/08
Date
0
2
4
6
8
10
Su
bsur
face
flo
w (
l s-1
)
10
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6
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2
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Rain
fall (m
m 1
5 min
-1)
6/17/07 8/6/07 9/25/07 11/14/07 1/3/08 2/22/08
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
3800
3600
3400
3200
TQA-2 Sub-Basin limit
TQA-2
4200
4000
4200
4000
3800
Janamayu
4400
TP-1
4400
CU-1
Laguna Taquiña
Cochabamba basin
Cochabamba city
0 1 2 Km.
N
Cochabamba
BOLIVIA Taquiña Basin
Linkupata
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12. Discussion
1. Highlight the most significant results, but don't just repeat what you've written in the Results section. How do these results relate to the original question? Do the data support your hypothesis? Are your results consistent with what other investigators have reported? If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Is there another way to interpret your results? What further research would be necessary to answer the questions raised by your results? How do y our results fit into the big picture?
2. End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion, emphasizing why it is relevant.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to apply:– Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy
brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.
– Synthesize, don't summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper's main points, but don't simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.
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13. Conclusions
– Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper.
– Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to avoid:– Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as "in
conclusion," "in summary," or "in closing." Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing.
– Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.– Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.– Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive
changes.– Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character
with the rest of an analytical paper.– Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the
body of the paper.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to avoid: – Sometimes writers will state the thesis for the very first time in
the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy if you don't want to give everything away too early in your paper. You may think it would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the dark until the end and then "wow" him with your main idea, as in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
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14. Acknowledgements
• This section is optional. You can thank those who either helped with the experiments, or made other important contributions, such as discussing the protocol, commenting on the manuscript, or buying you pizza.
• Example: We thank Vinod Thomas for the encouragement, Aart Kraay, two anonymous referees, and the editor of the journal for comments, and Ashok M. Dhareshwar for significant input and advice. The views expressed here are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank.
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15. Citing references in text
• Examples– (Ivanov , 2004) or Ivanov (2004)– (Killeen and Abrajano, 2008; ……) or Killeen and Abrajano (2008);
…… – (Wagener et al., 2008; ……) or Wagener et al. (2008); ……
• Gibbons (1998) states that genetic studies of human and chimpanzee genomes have shown that at least 98.5% of the DNA sequences are the same.
• Genetic studies of human and chimpanzee genomes have shown that at least 98.5% of the DNA sequences are the same (Gibbons 1998).
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15. Citing references in text
• Varki et al. (1998) found that human cells are missing a particular form of sialic acid that is found in all other mammals studied thus far, including the great apes.
• Human cells lack a particular form of sialic acid that is found in all other mammals studied thus far, including the great apes (Varki et al., 1998).
• Human cells lack a particular form of sialic acid that is found in all other mammals studied thus far, including the great apes. (Varki et al., 1998; online accessed on 29 September 2011).
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15. Citing references in text
• Citing References in Scientific Research Papers– http://tim.thorpeallen.net/Courses/Reference/Citations.html
• Guide to Scientific Referencing– http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Handouts/r
eferences.html
• How to Cite Sources in Scientific Writing– http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/mcvay/B100/how_to_cit
e_sources_in_scientifi.htm
• Etc.
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16. References
• The basic elements to include in a citation for a published print source are: author(s) of the document, year, title of the document, title of the book if different from the document, name of editor or author of the book, place of publication, publisher, and page numbers.
• Please check author guidelines of the journal!
• Sleep, N.H., 2009. Stagnant lid convection and carbonate metasomatism of the deep continental lithosphere. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q11010, doi:10.1029/2009GC002702.
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16. References
Allport, G.W., 1962 o 1977. La naturaleza del prejuicio. Editorial Eudeba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, xxx págs.
Arteta, G., D. Oleas, 2006. Migración internacional: Caso del Ecuador. Investigación realizada para la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), xxx págs .
Benedictis, G., G. Calfat, 2010. Migration and school attendance: Can remittances compensate for distance to school? San Fernando, Azuay, Ecuador, xxx págs.
Brigham, 1971.Casal, S., 2006. Los estereotipos y los prejuicios: cambios de actitud en el aula de
L2. Estudios de Llingüística Inglesa Aplicada (ELIA), 6, 135-149.Cea D’Ancona, M., 2002. La medición de las actitudes ante la inmigración:
Evaluación de los indicadores de «Racismo». RIES, 99, 87-111 .Cronbach, L.J., 1951. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.
Psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334.
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16. References
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17. Journal title abbreviations
ISI Journal Title Abbreviations http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/~mark/ISIabbr/A_abrvjt.html
Science & Engineering Journal Abbreviationshttp://scieng.library.ubc.ca/coden/
Caltech University Libraryhttp://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/
Biological Journals & Abbreviationshttp://home.ncifcrf.gov/research/bja/
Indexed Journals in Medicinehttp://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/serials/journals/index.cfm
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18. Citing Internet references
• The basic elements to include in a citation for an online source are: author of the document, title of the document, title of the web site, author or producer of the web site, url, date (if given) and date accessed. Various style formats such as Chicago, MLA and APA put these elements in different order using different conventions. See the following web sites for further information and examples.
• Journal articles on Internet:– Author's Last Name, First Initial, Year of publication, Article title, Title of
journal [medium designator], Volume(issue), Pages, Available from, Location, date updated, date cited.
• Web Page Entry elements:– Author's Last Name First Initial, Year, Title of web page [online], Available
from: Protocol, Address, and Path. Accessed, Date of Visit.
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18. Citing Internet References
• Web Sites – Monash University > Learning Support >
Language and Learning Online >QuickRefs: http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/22-referencing-internet.xml
– Citing Electronic Information in History Papers:[http://history.memphis.edu/mcrouse/elcite.html]
– Research and Documentation Online:[http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/]
– Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement:[http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/]
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19. Edit your paper
1. Scientific writing must be accurate. Although writing instructors may tell you not to use the same word twice in a sentence, it's okay for scientific writing, which must be accurate. (A student who tried not to repeat the word "hamster" produced this confusing sentence: "When I put the hamster in a cage with the other animals, the little mammals began to play.")
2. Make sure you say what you mean.
3. Be careful with commonly confused words:– Temperature has an effect on the reaction.
Temperature affects the reaction.
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19. Edit your paper
4. Use verbs instead of abstract nounsInstead of: take into considerationWrite: consider
5. Use strong verbs instead of "to be"Instead of: The enzyme was found to be the active agent in catalyzing...Write: The enzyme catalyzed...
6. Use short words7. Use concise words8. Avoid needless repetitions in the text
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19. Edit your paper
9. Express ideas/thoughts with the minimum number of words 10. A paragraph is more than just a sentence11. The content of successive paragraphs should be logically
linked12. A paper is well written if someone with a different
background by reading your manuscript grasps the “why”, “where”, “how”, “what”
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Day, R.A., 2005. Cómo escribir y publicar trabajos científicos. 3a Ed. en español. Organización Panamericana de la Salud, Publicación Científica y Técnica No. 598, 261 págs. En: http://new.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2010/9275315981_reduce.pdf . Acceso el 31 de enero de 2012.