Scientific Writing

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Scientific Writing

• Dana J. Lawrence, DC

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Why do scientists write?

• To win fame
• To get promotions
• To extend knowledge
• But
• The primary reason is that communication is
  essential if science is to progress

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Three Sets of Preliminary Questions

• First, are you studies designed to answer the
  question you are asking?
• Second, do your experiments meet accepted ethical
  standards?
• Third, have you arranged to record the details of
  your work as it proceeds?

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Main Steps for Preparing Research for Publication

• Assess Work
• Choose journal (get Instructions and read them)
• Write working title and main headings
• Construct outline
• Get necessary permissions
• Choose and design tables and figures

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Main Steps for Preparing Research for Publication
(Cont.)

• Write first draft and present preliminary paper
• Bury draft for a short while
• Prepare reference list
• Revise structure
• Revise style
• Have colleagues review and revise again
• Prepare final version of paper

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Deciding Whether and When to Write

• Is your work really worth writing about?
• A paper worth publishing records significant
  experimental, theoretical or observational
  extensions of knowledge, or advances in the
  application of known principles. (OConnor and
  Woodford 1975)

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Deciding Whether and When to Write (Cont.)

• Ask if your tentative conclusions are clearly
  related to the question you set out to answer.

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What Kind of Paper

• Long paper with detailed discussion?
• Short communication for rapid publication?
• Do not slice paper into several smaller papers
  (salami publication)
• Multiple papers from one research study arises
  from large-scale studies taking many years or
  which fall into discrete parts

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Who are the ReadersWhat is the Journal

• It is important to keep who the reader is in mind
• Knowing the audience will help you choose the
  correct journal

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Question 1

• Which journals do the people you hope to reach
  prefer to read?

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Question 2

• Which journals print papers of the kind and
  length you propose to write?

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Question 3

• Which are the well established journals in your
  field?

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Question 4

• Which journals are of high scientific quality but
  have moderately low rejection rates (say 30 of
  submissions or less)?

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Question 5

• Which journals are covered by the main
  abstracting and title-listing services, or
  indexing agencies?

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Question 6

• Which journals have editors who are highly
  regarded in their fields of science and provide
  prompt, fair and helpful reviewing?

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Question 7

• Which journals are published often enough to give
  your paper a chance of appearing within 6weeks to
  9 months of acceptance (depending on whether the
  journal is a rapid results journals or one with a
  slower publication schedule)?

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Question 8

• Which journals require authors to be members of
  the society which owns or sponsors the journal?

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Question 9

• Which journals have page charges or submission
  charges?

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Question 10

• Which journals print high quality photographs
  (ie, electron micrographs) and which accept color
  photographs, if these are essential to your work?

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Question 11

• Which journals provide offprints or reprints,
  which provide them free of charge, how many do
  they provide, and what do extra copies cost (if
  offprints/reprints are important to you)?

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Question 12

• Which journals use a standard reference system
  that you can cope with easily?

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A Few Words on Instructions to Authors

• Read them!
• They are designed to promote swift and accurate
  publication and to save money.

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Summary of Session 1

• Answer preliminary questions about the direction,
  content and organization of your work
• Assess whether it is ripe for submission
• Decide whether to write a short or longer paper
• Decide who your readers are
• Get the Instructions and read them