How to write a scientific paper

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How to write a scientific paper

Nicolas Fressengeas

To cite this version:

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

N. Fressengeas

Laboratoire Mat´

eriaux Optiques, Photonique et Syst`

emes

Unit´

e de Recherche commune `

a l’Universit´

e de Lorraine et `

a CentraleSup´

elec

Download this from http://arche.univ-lorraine.fr under

CC-BY-SA Creative Commons licence

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Learn how to write scientific papers in under 4 minutes

How to Write a Paper in a Weekend (By Prof. Pete Carr)

Judy Swan, Scientific Writing: Beyond Tips and Tricks

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Nicolae Al. Pop

ISSN 2071-789X

REVIEW

360 Nicolae Al. Pop,

Bucharest University of Economic

Studies,

Bucharest, Romania,

E-mail:

nicolae_al_pop@yahoo.com

A REFERENCE WORK

ON THE SCIENCE AND ART

OF WRITING A SCIENTIFIC PAPER

1 DOI:

10.14254/2071-789X.2016/9-4/23

Introduction

Motto:

„Some think but do not write, others write without thinking;

many think after they write, few write after they think“

Theofil Simenschy

In the modern world, marked by hyper-competition,

globalization and a great explosion of the means of

information and communication among people, dissemination

of scientific research findings takes on a particular

significance. It is closely connected with the access to

information and its speed of propagation, making the current

transmission system look strikingly different from the one of

the previous century.

According to Stiglitz, the marketplace of ideas with all

its imperfections does not guarantee, at least in the short term,

that the best ideas will prevail (Stiglitz, 2010, p. 426).

Identification of the most effective ways and means of making

the most of the scientific research results depends not only on

the mechanisms for conveying information but also on

securing the paternity of problem-solving solutions. Equally

important is the way in which the process of communicating

the research results is conducted. The holistic approach to

communication (Kotler and Keller, 2012, p. 58) interprets this

process as the integration of all means and tools whereby the “product” – in this case, research

findings – is brought to the attention of all its potential beneficiaries. In order for the user to get

the most of scientific research, its concept, writing and dissemination must be entirely

accomplished in a systemic manner. This calls for an interdisciplinary approach in which

natural, technical and social sciences work together (Homburg and Krohmer, 2009, p. 195). As

the abovementioned process is cybernetically-oriented, the reverse connection between

1

_{Vasile Dinu, Gheorghe Săvoiu, Dan-Cristian Dabija (2016), Conceiving, writing and publishing a scientific}

paper, A.S.E. Publishing House, Bucharest, 402 p.

Pop, N. Al. (2016), A Reference Work on the Science and Art of Writing a

Scientific Paper, Economics and Sociology, Vol. 9, No 4, pp. 360-364. DOI:

10.14254/2071-789X.2016/9-4/23

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Part I

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I Tools for scientific writing

1 A scientific paper

Papers share the same structure

References, so important references

2 Separation of content and presentation

A concept to ease and enhance writing

L

A

_{TEX, a scientific writing tool}

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

I Tools for scientific writing

1 A scientific paper

Papers share the same structure

References, so important references

2 Separation of content and presentation

A concept to ease and enhance writing

L

A

_{TEX, a scientific writing tool}

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

I Tools for scientific writing

1 A scientific paper

Papers share the same structure

References, so important references

2 Separation of content and presentation

A concept to ease and enhance writing

L

A

_{TEX, a scientific writing tool}

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The process of publishing a scientific paper

Choose the right journal

Get inspired by your university policy

Choose a journal that is read by your targeted audience

Choose Open Access journal

I

Pay never more 1000$ and target far below

I

If you cannot : publish in free paywalled access journals AND

in open archives such as http://hal.univ-lorraine.fr

Read the editorial guidelines

Write and publish

Write your paper

this class

Send it to journal

Wait for reviewing

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

The process of publishing a scientific paper

Choose the right journal

Get inspired by your university policy

Choose a journal that is read by your targeted audience

Choose Open Access journal

I

Pay never more 1000$ and target far below

I

If you cannot : publish in free paywalled access journals AND

in open archives such as http://hal.univ-lorraine.fr

Read the editorial guidelines

Write and publish

Write your paper

this class

Send it to journal

Wait for reviewing

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The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

A good title will pop up in web

searches

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

F.Ecarnot*,M.-F.Seronde,R.Chopard,F.Schiele,N.Meneveau EA3920,DepartmentofCardiology,UniversityHospitalJean-Minjoz,3,BoulevardFleming,25000Besanc¸on,France

1.Background

Everyresearcherhasbeenfacetofacewithablankpageatsome stageoftheircareer,wonderingwheretostartandwhattowrite first.Describingone’sresearchworkinaformatthatis comprehensibletoothers,andacceptableforpublicationisno easytask.Whenyouinvestalotoftime,energyandoftenmoneyin yourresearch,youbecomeintimatelyandemotionallyinvolved. Naturally,youareconvincedofthevalueofyourresearch,andof itsimportanceforthescientificcommunity.However,the subjectivitythatgoeshandinhandwithdeepinvolvementcan makeitdifficulttotakeastepback,andthinkclearlyabouthow besttopresenttheresearchinaclearandunderstandablefashion, sothatothers–likely,nonexpertsinyourfield–canalso appreciatetheinterestofyourfindings.

Eventoday,theoldadage‘‘publishorperish’’remainsvalid. Manyyoungresearchersfindthemselvesunderpressureto producescientificpublications,inordertoenhancetheircareer prospects,ortosubstantiaterequestsforfunding,ortojustify previousfundingallocations,orasarequirementforuniversity qualificationssuchasaMastersdegreeordoctoralthesis.Yet, often,youngdoctorsdonothavemuchtraining,ifany,intheartof writingascientificarticle.Forclinicians,inparticular,theclinical workloadcanbesuchthatresearchandscientificwritingareseen tobesecondaryactivitiesthatarenotanimmediatepriority,andto

whichonlysmallamountsoftimecanbedevotedonanirregular basis.However,thecompetitionisalreadyquiteﬁerceamongstall thegoodqualitypapersthataresubmittedtojournals,anditis thereforeofparamountimportancetogetthebasicsright,inorder foryourpapertohaveachanceofsucceeding.Don’tyouthinkthat yourworkdeservestobejudgedonitsscientiﬁcmerit,ratherthan berejectedforpoorqualitywritingandmessyandconfusing presentationofthedata?

Withthisinmind,wepresenthereastep-by-stepguideto writingascientificarticle,whichisnotspecifictothedisciplineof geriatrics/gerontology,butrather,maybeappliedtothevast majorityofmedicaldisciplines.Wewillstartbyoutliningthemain sectionsofthearticle,andwillthendescribeingreaterdetailthe mainelementsthatshouldfeatureineachsection.Finally,wewill alsogiveafewpointersfortheabstractandthetitleofthearticle. Thisguideaimstohelpyoungresearcherswithlittleexperienceof writingtocreateagoodqualityfirstdraftoftheirwork,whichcan thenbecirculatedtotheirco-authorsandseniormentorsfor furtherrefinement,withtheultimateaimofachievingpublication inascientificjournal.Itisundoubtedlynotexhaustive,andmany excellentresourcescanbefoundintheexistingliterature[1–7]

andonline[8].

2.Gettingstarted:thingstodobeforeyouwriteaword Acertainamountofpreparatoryworkneedstobedonebefore youeverwriteawordofyourarticle.Thisbackgroundworkshould generallyalreadyhavebeenaccomplishedbythetimeyouareat thewritingstage,becauseitalsoservesasbackgroundtothe researchprojectyouarewritingabout.Allthetimeyouinvestin preparingtheprotocolforyourprojectisanadvanceonthewriting

EuropeanGeriatricMedicine6(2015)573–579

ARTICLEINFO Articlehistory: Received22June2015 Accepted18August2015 Availableonline19September2015 Keywords: Scientiﬁcpublications Writing Research Article ABSTRACT

Manyyoungresearchersfinditextremelydifficulttowritescientificarticles,andfewreceivespecific trainingintheartofpresentingtheirresearchworkinwrittenformat.Yet,publicationisoftenvitalfor careeradvancement,toobtainfunding,toobtainacademicqualifications,orforallthesereasons.We describeherethebasicstepstofollowinwritingascientificarticle.Weoutlinethemainsectionsthatan averagearticleshouldcontain;theelementsthatshouldappearinthesesections,andsomepointersfor makingtheoverallresultattractiveandacceptableforpublication.

ß2015ElsevierMassonSASandEuropeanUnionGeriatricMedicineSociety.Allrightsreserved.

* Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+33381668539;fax:+33381668582. E-mailaddresses:ﬁona.ecarnot@univ-fcomte.fr(F.Ecarnot),

mfseronde@chu-besancon.fr(M.-F.Seronde),rchopard@chu-besancon.fr

(R.Chopard),francois.schiele@univ-fcomte.fr(F.Schiele),

nicolas.meneveau@univ-fcomte.fr(N.Meneveau).

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

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The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

Get the author order wrong and

make enemies

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

Institutions are touchy on

affiliations

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

Keywords index your paper on a

worldwide basis: get them right

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

Dates ! Who was the first ? How

long was it reviewed ? Date of

publication ?

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

(20)

ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

The abstract is an ultra short

summary of the paper emphasizing

new findings

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

(21)

ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

How you can be contacted for

further information

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

(22)

ENLIGHT Z T ME

The first page of a scientific paper

Informative short title

Ordered author list

Affiliations

Keywords

Article history

Abstract

Contact information

Article reference

journal, volume & page number ;

Digital Object Identifier. . .

Researchpaper

Writing

a

scientiﬁc

article:

A

step-by-step

guide

for

beginners

1.Background

andonline[8].

Availableonlineat

ScienceDirect

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The paper body

Sections, subsections, figures & tables

Introductory section

Sections and subsections

Self-consistent figures

Self-consistent tables

The introductory section sets the

paper background. It can, or not,

have a title.

ofthearticlethatwillcomeoutofyourproject.Thus,youprobably alreadyperformedanextensiveliteraturereviewtoestablishthe currentstateofknowledgeonthetopic,andensuretheoriginality ofyourresearchwhendevelopingtheprotocol,andthiscanserve foryourpaper.Itishelpful,whenyouarereviewingtheliterature, totakenotesofimportantpointsorphrasesthatyouintendto includeinyourarticle,withtherelevantreferences.Asoftware programformanagingreferences(eitherfreeversionsor commerciallyavailableproducts)canbehelpfulformanaging thelargevolumeofreferencesthatyouarelikelytowadethrough beforesiftingoutthemostimportantpoints.

Usually,youwillalsohavethefinalresultsofthestatistical analysisofyourdata.Thiswillformthebasisofyourresults section.Someofthegraphicalrepresentationsofyourresultswill serveasfiguresforthearticle,soitishelpfultohighlightthemost importantfindingsasyoureadthroughtheresultssothatyoudo notforgetanythingimportant.

Beforestartingtowrite,youshouldidentifythetargetjournalin whichyouintendtosubmityourresearch.Thiswillhave consequencesfortheformatting,butmoreimportantly,forthe orientationofyourwritingstyle,sincethewritingmustbe appropriateforthetypeofreaderyouaretargeting.Forexample, areyoutargetingaspecialistjournal,wherereadersareexpected tobeexpertsinyourﬁeld,orageneralmedicinejournal,where readersmaybeexpertsfromotherdisciplines?Thiswillhave implicationsfortheamountandtypeofinformationthatyoumust include.Inaddition,theeditorialpolicyofthetargetjournalshould alsobetakenintoaccount.Forinstance,inagivenareaofexpertise, somejournalsfavourpapersreportingbasicresearch,whereas otherjournalsgiveprecedencetomoreclinicalwork.Thechoiceof thetargetjournaldependsonarangeoffactors,whicharebeyond thescopeofthisarticle.However,attheveryleast,youshould checkthatyourpaperfallswithinthescopeofthejournalyouhave chosen.

3.Whatarethemainsectionsofascientiﬁcarticle? Thevastmajorityofscientiﬁcjournalsfollowtheso-called ‘‘IMRAD’’format,i.e.introduction,methods,resultsanddiscussion. Naturally,therearesomeexceptionstothisrule,andyoushould alwayschecktheinstructionsforauthorsofthejournalwhereyou plantosubmityourpapertoensurethatthisisindeedthe recommendedformat.Forthepurposesofthisguide,wewillonly discusstheIMRADformat,asitisthemostwidelyused.

Yourarticleshouldthuscontain(inthisorder)anintroduction, amethodssection,aresultssectionandadiscussion.Addedtothis willbetheabstract,whichismoreorlessasummaryofthesemain sections,andofcourse,thetitle.Attheend,theremustbealistof bibliographicreferences,thetables,andthelegendstoanyﬁgures. Finally,theremayalsobesomeotheroptionalsections,suchas acknowledgements,conﬂictsofinterestorauthors’contributions.

Below,wewilldiscusseachofthesesectionsindetail,outliningthe mainpointstokeepinmindwhenwritingthem. 3.1.Theintroductionsection

Theintroductionisofprimeimportanceingrabbingthe reader’sattention(Table1).Inparticularduringthereview process,theintroductionmustgetthereviewer‘‘hooked’’,wanting toreadmore,andthinkingtothemselves,‘‘HowcomeInever thoughtofthis?’’.Inthissection,youwillthusexplainwhyyou undertookyourstudy,whatyouaimedtoachievewithit,andhow thisconstitutesausefuladditiontotheexistingbodyofevidence onthistopic.

Inconcreteterms,youshouldstartbyexplainingbriefly,using appropriatereferences,whatisalreadyknownaboutthissubject. Youshouldthennarrowthefielddownsomewhatandidentifythe areaswherethereisstillsomeuncertainty,citing,where appropriate,anyprevious(andpossiblyconflicting)data.This willlogicallyleadtoadescriptionofanexplicitgapinthe knowledgethatyourstudyhopestofill.Thisisanessential elementinjustifyingtheutilityofyourwork.Havingnow explainedhowyourstudyisgoingtocontributesomethingnew anduseful,youshouldclearlystateyourworkinghypothesis, followedbyyourobjective(s),andverybriefly,thestrategy implementedtoachievethesegoals(Table1).

Inthebackground,thereasonsthatpromptedyoutoundertake yourresearchshouldbecleartothereader,andjustifiedbythe stateofscientificknowledgewithappropriatereferences.Itisnot necessarytociteeveryarticleintheliteratureonthetopic;a carefulselectionofthemostpertinentpublicationsissufficient. Similarly,itisnotnecessarytostateuniversaltruthsthatmay seemoversimplisticoreminentlyobvious.Yetyoushouldtryto achieveasuitablebalancebetweenrelevantbackground informa-tion,andexcessivedetail.Inthisregard,youshouldkeepinmind thetargetaudienceyouareaimingfor.Thiswilldependonthe profileofthereadershipofthejournalinwhichyouintendto submityourresearch,asmentionedabove.Ifyouaretargetinga specialtyjournal,thenyourbackgroundcanbemoredetailedand technicalthanifyouareaddressinganaudienceofnon-specialists inyourfield.

Theintroductionshouldlogicallyflowtowardsthe identifica-tionofthegapinknowledgethatyouhopetofill.Thisisyour opportunitytostatetheaddedvalueofyourstudy,orthenew informationthatyourstudywillyield.Willyourresultschange clinicalpractice?Willtheyhelpthescientificcommunityatlarge tomovetowardsconsensusonapreviouslycontroversialtopicby providinghardevidenceinonedirectionortheother?Thisisyour chancetomakeasalespitchforyourarticle,intheappropriate terms,ofcourse.

Asfaraspossible,trytoavoiddivergingfromthesubjectat hand.Everysentenceshouldserveapurpose.Manyjournalshavea limitonthelengthoftheintroduction,withamaximumnumberof

Table1

OutlineofthemainfeaturesoftheIntroductionsection,withexamples.

Feature Example

Backgrounddescribingwhatisknownonthesubject Percutaneouscoronaryinterventionisthecornerstoneoftherapyforacutecoronary syndromes,butmaybeassociatedwithprocedure-relatedcomplications Whatisnotknown?Whatelementsarestillsubject

tocontroversy?Whatistheexactgapinthe knowledgethatyourstudyhopestoﬁll?Cite anyexistingdata,especiallyconﬂictingdata thatindicateuncertainty

Itremainsunknownwhether... Todate,ithasnotbeenproven... Nostudytodatehasinvestigatedtheeffectof... Therearefewdatatoquantify... Theeffectof...on...remainsunclear Objective(workinghypothesis)

Citetheexactparameteryouplantomeasure Citethetypeofpatientpopulationorclinicalcontext Citeanysecondaryobjectives

Wehypothesizedthattheadministrationof...wouldreduce/increase...inthecontextof... Weaimedtoidentify/assess/evaluate/investigate... Throughaprospective,single-/multicentre,observational/interventional...study F.Ecarnotetal./EuropeanGeriatricMedicine6(2015)573–579 574

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ENLIGHT Z T ME

The paper body

Sections, subsections, figures & tables

Introductory section

Sections and subsections

Self-consistent figures

Self-consistent tables

Sections are compulsory, except in

letters. Subsections are not.