Expert Tips for Crafting a Successful Scientific Research Paper

How to Write a Scientific How to Write a Scientific Research Research By Asst. Prof. Dr. Raouf Mahmood Raouf 1

What is Your Reason to Publish? What is Your Reason to Publish? It is unethical to conduct a study and not report the findings You have some results that are worth reporting You want to progress scientific thought or improve health outcomes. You want your work to reach a broad audience. Your path record will improve You will add credibility to your and your team s reputation. You will improve your chance of promotion You are more likely to obtain research grants 2

Basic Arrangement of Scientific Writing Basic Arrangement of Scientific Writing Thought Having some valuable results and ideas to publish. You need some new results to publish and you need to be able to understand them correctly. Structure Getting the right contents & languages in the right place. Style Choosing the fewest and most appropriate words and using the rules of good grammar. 3

Title Title All words in the title should be chosen with care. Too short a title is not helpful to the potential reader. However too long a title can sometimes be even less meaningful. Remember a title is not an abstract. Also a title is not a sentence. 4

Title Goals Title Goals Fewest possible words that describe the contents of the paper. Avoid waste words like "Studies on", or "Investigations on Use specific terms rather than general. Watch your word order and grammar. Avoid abbreviations and jargon 5

Title Cheque List Title Cheque List The title should be clear and informative, and should reflect the aim and approach of the work. The title should be as specific as possible while still describing the full range of the work. Does the title, seen in isolation, give a full yet concise and specific indication of the work reported? Do not mention results or conclusions in the title. Avoid: overly clever or punny titles that will not fare well with search engines or international audiences; titles that are too short to be descriptive or too long to be read; jargon, acronyms, or trademarked terms. 6

Abstract Abstract Techniques to write an abstract Do the abstract last. Reread the article looking specifically for the main parts: Purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations. Edit your draft by correcting organization, improving transitions, dropping unnecessary information and words, and adding important information you left out. 7

Abstract(Goal Abstract(Goal) ) The classic abstract is usually a "Informative" abstract. This kind of abstract communicates compressed information and include the purpose, methods, and scope of the article. They are usually short (250 words or less) and allow the reader to decide whether they want to read the article. The goal is to transfer: 1. What was done? 2. Why was it done? 3. How was it done? 4. What was found? 5. What is the significance of the findings? 8

Abstract Checklist Abstract Checklist The abstract should be a brief (250 words or less), standalone summary of the paper, with 1 2 sentences on each of these topics: Background: What issues led to this work? What is the situation that makes this work interesting or important? Aim: What were the goals of this work? What gap is being filled? Approach: What went into trying to achieve the aims (e.g., experimental method, simulation approach, theoretical approach, combinations of these, etc.)? What was actually done? Results: What were the main results of the study (including numbers, if appropriate)? Conclusions: What were the main conclusions? Why are the results important? Where will they lead? 9

Abstract Checklist Abstract Checklist (Contd.. .) (Contd.. .) The abstract should be written for the audience of this journal: do not assume too much or too little background with the topic. Ensure that all of the information found in the abstract also can be found in the body of the paper. Ensure that the important information of the paper is found in the abstract. Avoid: using the first paragraph of the introduction as an abstract; citations in the abstract; acronyms; referring to figures or tables from the body of the paper; use of the first person.use of words like new or novel, orphrases like in this paper, we report, or will be discussed. 10

Introduction Introduction Describe briefly and clearly why you are writing the paper. The introduction supplies sufficient background information for the reader to understand and evaluate the experiment you did. It also supplies a basis for the study. Goals: Present the problem and the proposed solution. Presents nature and scope of the problem investigated. Reviews the related literature to orient the reader. States the method of the experiment. State the principle results of the experiment. 11

Introduction Checklist Introduction Checklist Indicate the field of the work, why this field is important, and what has already been done (with proper citations). Indicate a gap, raise a research question, or challenge prior work in this territory. Outline the purpose and announce the present research, clearly indicating what is novel and why it is significant. Avoid: repeating the abstract; providing unnecessary background information; amplifying the importance of the work; claiming novelty without a proper literature search. 12

Method (Materials, Theory, Design, Modelling, Method (Materials, Theory, Design, Modelling, etc.) etc.) The purpose is to provide enough detail that a competent worker could repeat the experiment. Many of your readers will skip this section because they already know from the Introduction the general methods you used. However careful writing of this section because for your results to be of scientific worth they must be reproducible. Otherwise your paper does not represent good science. 13

Methods Goals Methods Goals Exact technical specifications and quantities and source or method of preparation Describe equipment used and provide illustrations where relevant. Chronological presentation (but related methods described together). Questions about "how" and "how much" are answered for the reader and not left for them to puzzle over. Discuss statistical methods only if unusual or advanced. When a large number of components are used prepare tables for the benefit of the reader. 14

Methods Checklist Methods Checklist Describe how the results were made with enough detail so that an independent researcher (working in the same field) could repeat the results sufficiently to allow validation of the conclusions. Can the reader evaluate internal validity (conclusions are supported by the results presented)? Has the chosen method been justified? Are data analysis and statistical approaches justified, with assumptions and biases considered? Avoid: including results in the Method section; including irrelevant details; treating the method as a chronological history of events; unneeded references to commercial products. 15

Results Results This is the essential of the paper. Don't start the results sections with methods you left out of the Materials and Methods section. You need to give an overall description of the experiments and present the data you found. 16

Results Goals: Results Goals: Factual statements supported by evidence. Short and sweet without additional words. Present representative data rather than endlessly repetitive data. Discuss variables only if they had an effect (positive or negative). Use meaningful statistics. Avoid repetition. If it is in the tables or captions you may not need to repeat it. 17

Results Checklist Results Checklist Present the results of the paper, in logical order, using tables and graphs as necessary. Explain the results and show how they help to answer the research questions posed in the Introduction. Evidence does not explain itself; the results must be presented and then explained. Avoid: presenting results that are never discussed; presenting results in chronological order rather than logical order; ignoring results that do not support the conclusions. 18

Additional Tips for Results Sections Additional Tips for Results Sections Number tables and figures separately beginning with 1 (i.e. Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, etc.). Do not attempt to evaluate the results in this section. Report only what you found. Explanations should appear in a legend or caption written on the same page as the figure or table. You must refer in the text to each figure or table you include in your paper. Only use a figure (graph) when the data provide themselves to a good visual image. Avoid using figures that show too many variables or trends at once, because they can be hard to understand. 19

Discussion Discussion This is usually the hardest section to write. You are trying to bring out the true meaning of your data without being too long. Evidence does not explain itself; the results must be presented and then explained. Discuss any problems or shortcomings encountered during the course of the work. 20

Discussion Discussion Goals Goals Present principles, relationships and generalizations shown by the results Point out exceptions or lack of correlations. Define why you think this is so. Show how your results agree or disagree with previously published works Discuss the theoretical effects of your work as well as practical applications State your conclusions clearly. Summarize your evidence for each conclusion. Discuss the significance of the results. 21

Discussion Discussion Goals Goals Avoid: presenting results that are never discussed. presenting discussion that does not relate to any of the results. Ignoring results that do not support the conclusions. Illustrating conclusions from results without logical arguments to back them up. Using words to hide your facts or reasoning. Do not repeat your results, this is a discussion. 22

Figures & Tables Figures & Tables No more than six tables or figures. Use Table 1 for sample features. Put most important findings in a figure. 23

Graphs & Figures Graphs & Figures Show your most important findings as graphs and figures. Let your graphs & figures not take up much more space than reporting the data would. Symbols, abbreviations, hatching, line types, and bars. Very clear and explained in detail. Legend should be comprehensive so that the figure can be fully understood without recourse to reading explanatory text What is useful in oral presentations, may not be useful in published journal articles. 24

Tables Tables Tables are best instruments for presenting numerical data. Should not be too large. If data require many rows or columns (Consider dividing the table into two). Keep tables as simple and orderly as possible. Row and column headings should be brief but sufficiently explanatory. Standard abbreviations of units of measurements should be added in parentheses. 25

CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS Provide a very brief summary of the Results and Discussion. Highlight the effects of the findings Provide the most general titles that can be supported by the evidence. Provide a future perspective on the work. Avoid: repeating the abstract; background information from the Introduction; introducing new evidence or new arguments not found in the Results and Discussion; failing to statement all of the research questions set out in the Introduction. 26

Literature Cited Literature Cited This is the last section of the paper. Here you should: provide a list of all the published work you cited in the text of the paper. Cite only 20 35 references. Quote only published journal articles or books. Use one of citation programmes like: (EndNote, BibTex, Refworks, Mendeley, etc.). 27

Send your paper to a journal Send your paper to a journal Deciding a Journal Match your paper with the personality and scope of the journal. Match your subject with the journal s target audience. Consider the impact factor and citation index of the journal. Find up the journal prestige, the probability of acceptance and the likely time until publication. Be strong and, if rejected, select another journal. 28

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