writing (and reading) a scientific paper · writing (and reading) a scientific paper 15 january...
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WRITING (AND READING) A SCIENTIFIC PAPER
15 January 2014D. M. Sorger (North Carolina State University)
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HOW TO WRITE (AND READ) A SCIENTIFIC PAPER
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Writing (and Reading) a Scientific Paper
• Scientific writing vs. “regular” writing
• How a scientific paper is organized
• How to build a good paragraph
• EXERCISE
• Writing tips & Common mistakes
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Scientific writing vs. “regular” writing
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Scientific writing vs. “regular” writing
• What is the purpose? – to inform!
• Simple & clear
• Organization: IMRAD
• Writing with the reader in mind!
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How a scientific paper is organized
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Organization & Formatting
• Different journals want different things
• Author’s responsibility to follow instructions
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Instructions for authors
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Material & Methods at end
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short & sexy
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TITLE
• Descriptive, what is the paper about
• Avoid abbreviations or too technical terms
• Include common but also scientific name of your organism (include order and family if appropriate)
• Funny titles better for posters, not so much papers
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TITL
E
present main results
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TITL
E
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ABSTRACT
• brief description of the content of the paper
• Rationale: 1-2 intro sentences
• What was done: brief description of methods
• What was found: explain results
• What it means: main conclusions
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AB
STR
AC
T
Rationale/Intro
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AB
STR
AC
T
What was done/Methods
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AB
STR
AC
T
What was found/Results
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AB
STR
AC
T
Main conclusions/Discussion
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KEYWORDS
• Search terms
• Think about what makes sense (imagine you are searching for this article in a database)
• Not too many
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KEY
WO
RD
S
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INTRODUCTION
• Hourglass method: start broad, end broad
• First paragraph
– First sentence: bigger picture (many references)
• 2nd-nth paragraph
– background information (what has been done so far, what the reader needs to know about system, why the organism you used is a good model organism, etc.)
• Last paragraph
– explain hypothesis, predictions, what you did and end the paragraph by making a reference to the bigger picture ( first sentence)
• Tense: Present tense
– Past research: Past tense
– Predictions: Future tense
– Hypotheses: Present tense 21
INTRODUCTION
• For instance, 5 paragraphs:
1. Broad to narrow paragraph (overall thesis)
2. Background 1
3. Background 2
4. Background 1*2 (link previous paragraphs)
5. Hypotheses & Methods
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
1st paragraph: Introduce the topic – FIRST SENTENCE
Set the stage with a bold statement and use lots of citations to back it upThink: WHY should we care?
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
1st paragraph: Introduce the topic
What is known in the field
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
1st paragraph: Introduce the topic
Confounding factors of past studies, introduce the gap
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
2nd – nth paragraph: Getting more specific
more background
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
Last paragraph: Introduce your work
Hypotheses, predictions, describe what you did
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INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
Last paragraph: Introduce your work – LAST SENTENCE
Relate back to bigger picture (first sentence of first paragraph)
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METHODS
• Be precise, someone else needs to be able to repeat what you have done
• Make sure reader knows motivation for each procedure you used
• Justify your sampling design (use references)
• This section can be divided into subheadings
• Tense: Past tense
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MET
HO
DS
Subheadings
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MET
HO
DS
Step back and think if someone could repeat exactly what you did with this information
Which statistical tests were done, which programs were used
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RESULTS
• First sentence: summarize general pattern and exceptions
• Good general description of results, refer to tables (but don’t repeat all information from table)
• Use subheadings (if it makes sense, same ones used for methods)
• Tense: Past tense
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RES
ULT
S
First sentence: summary results
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Subheadings
RES
ULT
S
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DISCUSSION
• First sentence: summarize results (positive sentence!)
• Relate to your hypotheses & predictions
• Relate to previous research (references you used in intro) – bring in new papers if they relate to your results
• Be critical: mention limitations & pitfalls
• Last sentence: next steps, future work (even if you don’t plan on doing this, what would you recommend)
• Tense: Past tense
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DIS
CU
SSIO
N
First sentence: summarize results
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DIS
CU
SSIO
N
Compare findings to previous studies
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DIS
CU
SSIO
N
Mention limitations and pitfalls
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DIS
CU
SSIO
N
Last sentence: next steps, future work
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Authors are never included in acknowledgements (even if they are your mentors)
• Don’t forget permit-giving institutions and funding sources
• Don’t be greedy!
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AC
KN
OW
LED
GEM
ENTS
Funding sources
Permit-giving institutions & places where research was conducted
People who proofread or gave comments, also reviewers
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REFERENCES
• Formatting matters!!!! – journal can decline your paper if it’s not formatted correctly
• Look up references in other papers in the journal if you come across something tricky
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REF
EREN
CES
Global Change Biology
Nature
PLOS One
PNAS
The American Naturalist
Myrmecological News
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FIGURES & TABLES
• Refer to tables and figures in the text but don’t repeat entire information
• When submitting a paper to a journal these will be on the last page, all together, in order of appearance in text (legend at top)
• Tense: Present tense
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FIG
UR
ES &
TA
BLE
S
Summary statement and reference to table
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APPENDIX
• Or “Supporting online material”
• More information, detailed data tables like species lists, etc.
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AP
PEN
DIXDetails on genetics
Detailed species classifications
Species lists
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How to build a good paragraph
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How to build a good paragraph
• First and last sentence of each paragraph should make you understand
• First sentence: thesis sentence
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Thesis sentence prepares the reader for what’s coming
BU
ILD
A P
AR
AG
RA
PH
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EXCERCISE: Let’s put it into practice
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Your turn
• Write the….
– First sentence of the introduction
– First sentence of the discussion
– Last sentence of the discussion
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Porter, S. D., and D. A. Savignano (1990), Ecology 71: 2095-2106.
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What Porter & Savignano did…
• They measured ant abundance and diversity in fire ant infested vs. uninfested sites.
• They found that fire ant infested sites had lower ant species richness.
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First sentence of introduction
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First sentence of introduction
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First sentence of discussion
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First sentence of discussion
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Last sentence of discussion
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Last sentence of discussion
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Writing tips & Common mistakes
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Some basic tips
• Use active voice
• Avoid -ing-words (they weaken your statements)
• Reduce wordiness
– Use definite, specific, concrete language
– Omit needless words
– Keep related words together
• Use references appropriately
• Use appropriate tenses
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Grammar, spelling and an overall check
• Use the grammar check but don’t rely on it!
• Read your paper out loud at least once before you turn it in!
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LITE
RA
TUR
E
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