Writing a Research Journal Paper
Planning the Paper
1. Write the paper based on kernel of knowledge that has been produced
a. Until you can articulate what this kernel is you cannot write the paper!!
2. Work out objective and motivations
a. Objectives: Are you writing a letter to Science, a research paper to Cell, a review article to the trade journal MRS Bulletin, an article in Farmers Weekly?
i. This determines who the readers are
ii. Acts as a guide to technical content
b. Motivations: Is the paper about designing a piece of equipment, a critique of someone else’s work, presentation of original research, a review article, e.t.c.
i. Determines how you treat the subject matter for readers
3. Consolidate data sources
a. Notebooks
b. Progress reports
c. Literature
4. Construct an outline
a. Why?
i. Allows you to organize your thoughts: writing sections piece-meal and combining them into a paper later leads to a fragmented document
ii. Allows you to figure out a sensible arrangement of information irrespective of what actually happened in the laboratory
iii. With many authors: facilitates organization and reduces rewrites
b. How?
i. Start by listing major points
ii. Fill in subtopics
iii. Important that you determine relative importance of different portions of paper and emphasize the strongest technical aspects of the paper
Once you have a working outline, before you start writing:
1. Set up good descriptive headings
2. Prepare figures, tables
a. Where possible use schematics, pictures, graphs and tables rather than words. Select carefully:
i. Don’t put in figures that are of minimal interest/importance
ii. Use Tables when absolute numbers are important
iii. Use Graphs when trends are important
iv. Never present a figure before you mention it in the text
v. Never present a figure you don’t mention in the text
2. Writing the Paper
Remember to
1. Concentrate on your strong sections
a. Results that didn’t yield interesting/important new information should be de-emphasized
b. In journal articles you get no credit for amount of work done (effort)
i. Don’t go for the sympathy vote, concentrate on your best/most interesting data
c. Look to conclusions to get perspective
2. Concentrate on the key ideas that you are trying to get across
3. In journal articles the “process of proof” is emphasized
a. Make sure that you present enough data/results to substantuate claims and arguments that you make
4. Be concise:
o Express ideas in least number of words
o Only give necessary detail
When writing:
1. The key is : Are the conclusions you are drawing reasonable based on the evidence you are presenting?
2. Avoid personal (unsubstantiated) beliefs: be objective
3. Everything must flow together logically: a good idea is to write “stream-of-concience” mode, and edit/ trim later
Specific sections of the paper:
2.1 Choosing a Title
1. Don’t be cute
2. Be short, but descriptive: e.g. “Creep”, is too short but “Diffusional creep in hot pressed Nb/Nb5Si3 microlaminates at 1000C in the low stress regime” is too long
2.2. Authorship
1. Typically the first author did most of the work, and wrote the paper
2. In my field, the last author typically headed up the research group and paid for the work
3. An author must have made a significant contribution to the work
a. Be generous (but be first)
2.3. Writing an abstract:
1. This is the most read part of your paper
2. Must be self contained and unambiguous
3. Keep as short as possible
4. The idea of an abstract is that it is a mini version of the paper
a. Written by stripping away peripheral information and exposing the hard core of your contribution
5. Required elements
a. Statement of problem
b. Explanation of approach
c. Principal result
6. Be careful to exclude statements not substantiated in the paper
7. Style used: so-called “Indicative-informative”: Gives both general information about work and gives specific information about principal findings
8. Language and technical content is ultimately determined by your audience
9. Abstract is used by search engines for finding you paper, i.e. must contain key phrases and words
2.4. Introduction
1. Purpose of introduction is to supply enough information to allow reader to understand and evaluate results of present study without having to refer to previous publications on topic
2. Structure of introduction:
a. Start with general statement of problem area (orient reader)
i. State Nature and Scope of problem investigated
b. Literature review
i. The idea of the literature review is to:
1. Organize a picture of the state of knowledge in research area
2. Give the reader a better understanding of the project and how it fits into the overall picture
c. Rational for project
d. Scope of Manuscript
e. State method of investigation
f. Indication of technical content that follows
g. State major result and principal conclusions
General comments about writing an introduction
o Introduction typically read independent of Abstract
o In Journal articles you need to emphasize the relationship of your work to that of others
o Interested in what you have contributed in framework of existing literature
o Assumed background of audience is very important
o How much background do your readers really need?
o Too much background is perceived as patronizing,
o Too little background is confusing
2.5. Methodology
o Detail experimental design and provide enough detail so that competent worker can reproduce your results (cornerstone of science)
o “Name names” of products and equipment used(?)
o If new protocol, describe in detail, if not else reference
o Details about samples
2.6. Results
o Identify your major findings
o Interpret these thoughtfully in the discussion section
o Structure Used:
o Overall description of experiments (big picture)
o Present the data
§ Present representative data rather than all of it
· Discrimination is the key
§ Use tables, avoid many descriptions
§ Don’t drone on about uninteresting results, mention them
o Make results section short and punchy by avoiding redundancy:
§ Don’t repeat in text what is shown in figures and tables, rather touch on highlights
§ Only present enough results to support your conclusions
§ Discuss and summarize only important results
§ Pay attention to level of detail
· Determined by type of paper and purpose of manuscript e.g. a paper on the design of a piece of equipment has different emphasis to a letter to Science
2.7. Discussion
o The discussion section is the heart of the paper
o Discussion section is essentially a thoughtful interpretation of the results
o Purpose: show relationships among observed facts
o Factual Relationships
§ Because of what we saw…..
o Significance of results:
§ So what?
o Show how results and interpretations agree (or contradict) previously published work
o Present a hypothesis explaining your results, do not recapitulate the results section
o Point out how results support hypotheses, as well as exceptions
o Discuss theoretical and practical implications of your results
o Avoid presenting new results in discussion
o State conclusions clearly and summarize evidence for each conclusion
o End with short summary or conclusion regarding significance of work
2.8. Conclusions
o Both summarize and discuss the significance of your results
o Should be written in such a way that they:
o Explain the net result of your work in a readable form
o Serves as a candid critique of your work by including both the good the bad
o Give directions for future work
o Give the paper a strong closing
o Differ from abstract in that they are more complete
2.11. Acknowledgements
o Acknowledge
o People than made a technical contribution
o People who contributed ideas
o Your sponsors (N.B.)
2.10. References
· When do you reference?
o When information needed to support your point is given elsewhere
o Acknowledge the work of others
o You claim support for your arguments form other published research
· Don’t mess up details of reference (it ruins the citations index)
Other things that you need to know:
· Camera-ready
· Pick a journal
· What happens to papers submitted to journals
o Sent out for review
§ Almost always get comments
§ Given chance to make corrections and return to editors
§ Everybody gets rejected sometimes
o Get galley proofs
§ Return within 48 hours
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