David B. Hannaway

Professor of Crop Science& Forage Program Director

Oregon State University

Lecture materials adapted from: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper5th Edition by Robert A. DayISBN10: 1573561657

Fulbright Guest Lecture:Writing and Publishing

English-language Journal Papers

2012-2013 Fulbright Program ‘Distinguished Chair China’

Purpose…..

To summarize information from Robert A. Day’s book “How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper” that will “help scientists and students …. to prepare manuscripts that will have a high probability of being accepted for publication and of being completely understood when they are published.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Outline

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Sections (continued)

Why is it necessary? How to write the Results

How to prepare the Title How to write the Discussion

How to list the Authors How to cite the Literature

How to prepare the Abstract Summary

How to prepare the Introduction Selected References

How to write the Materials & Methods section

Why is it necessary ? The goal of scientific research is publication. Scientists are measured, and become known

(or remain unknown), by their publications. A scientific experiment, no matter how

spectacular the results, is not completed until the results are published.

A scientist must not only “do” science, but must also “write” science.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? A scientific paper is a written and published

report describing original research results. It must be written in a certain way and it must

be published in a certain way. A “valid publication” is a research report

published in a primary journal. Abstracts, theses, conference reports, etc. do

not meet the test of a valid publication. Nor do government report literature or

conference literature.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? (cont.) A scientific publication is

i. the first publication of original research results,

ii. in a form whereby peers of the author can repeat the experiments and test the conclusions, and

iii. in a journal or other source document readily available within the scientific community (restated from the CBE Style Manual).

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? (cont.) It has specific Organization and sections

Distinctive and clearly evident component parts.

Each scientific paper should have, in proper order: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.

“Good organization is the key to good writing.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? (cont.) Organization (continued)

What was the problem? Introduction How did you study the problem? Materials

and Methods What did you find? Results What do these findings mean? Discussion

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? (cont.) It has specific Language

A scientific paper is not “literature.” “Grandiloquence has no place in scientific

writing.” Proper use of English is essential. The best English is that which gives the

sense in the fewest short words.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

What is a scientific paper? (cont.) It has specific Language (continued)

“The Ph.D. in science can make journal editors quite happy with plain, unadorned, eighth-grade level composition.” (BioScience)

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Title The title will be read by thousands of people. Few will read the entire paper. What is a good title? “the fewest possible

words that adequately describe the contents of the paper.”

Few titles are too short, many are too long. Delete “waste words”: studies on,

investigations on, observations on.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Title (cont.) What about: “Action of Antibiotics on

Bacteria” ? Is this a good title? How would you change it?

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Title (cont.) What about: “Action of Antibiotics on

Bacteria” ? Did the study test the effect of all

antibiotics on all kinds of bacteria? If not, is the title meaningful?

If only one or a few were tested, they should be listed.

If many, use a group name.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Title (cont.) What about: “Action of Antibiotics on

Bacteria” ? “Action of Streptomycin on Mycobacterium

tuberculosis” “Action of Various Antifungal Antibiotics on

Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Better !

How to prepare the Title (cont.)

• What about: “Action of Streptomycin on Mycobacterium tuberculosis” ? Change “Action of” to more specific

language ….. “Inhibition of Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Streptomycin.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Even Better ! (specific and clear)

How to prepare the Title (cont.) The importance of syntax (word order). Most of the grammatical errors in titles are

due to faulty word order. “Isolation of antigens from monkeys using

complement-fixation techniques.” (What’s wrong with that title? Were the monkeys the ones using the lab techniques?)

Do not use abbreviations or jargon in titles.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Title (cont.) Avoid subtitles or hanging titles. (Example:

“Studies on Bacteria. IV. Cell Wall of Staphylococcus aureus.”)

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to list the Authors Sometimes this can be easy, sometimes not. Issues of protocol and of promotion and

tenure may be important. No generally agreed upon rules or

conventions. In the past, the last position was reserved for

the head of the laboratory (prestigious position).

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to list the Authors (cont.) Now, the first, second, and third authors are

important. “Should” be in the order of the contribution to

the work. Include all who contribute “substantially” to

the work.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Abstract A well-prepared abstract enables readers to

identify the basic content of a paper and quickly and accurately determine its relevance.

The abstract should be a short description of the problem and its solution; not more than 250 words.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to prepare the Abstract (cont.) The abstract should : (i) state the principal

objectives and scope of the study, (ii) describe the methodology employed, (iii) summarize the results, and (iv) state the principal conclusions.

The abstract should never give any information or conclusion that is not stated in the paper.

References must not be cited.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Introduction Begin writing the paper while the work is still

in progress (often the title and abstract are written last).

Start the writing while the experimental apparatus and materials are still available.

Write up the work while co-authors are still available for consultation.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Introduction (cont.) A good introduction should: (i) present first

and with all possible clarity, the nature and scope of the problem, (ii) review the pertinent literature to orient the reader, (iii) state the method of the investigation and why it was chosen, (iv) state the principal results.

The introduction must gain the reader’s attention (why you chose that subject and why it’s important).

Cite previously published or related works.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Materials & Methods Section The Introduction stated the methodology

employed. The Materials and Methods section must give

the full details to allow a competent worker to repeat the experiments.

The cornerstone of the scientific method requires that your results, to be of scientific merit, must be reproducible.

Specific sources, qualities, and capabilities of reagents must be presented.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Precise descriptions of quantities used, measurements required, and temperatures observed must be given.

The usual order of presentation is chronological.

Pertinent references should be provided.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Materials & Methods Section (continued)

How to write the Results The purpose of the results section is two-fold:

1) To give an overall description of the experiments, providing the “big picture”, and

2) To provide the data resulting from application of the methods described earlier.

Present representative data, not endlessly repetitive data (“The fool collects facts; the wise person selects them”; John Wesley Powell, 1888).

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Results (cont.) It often is good to state what was not found

under the conditions of your experiments (“…absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”; Carl Sagan, 1977).

Present meaningful statistics and avoid redundancy.

Results section should be short and without verbiage [e.g. Nocillin inhibited the growth of N. gonorrhoeae (Table 1)].

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Discussion The Discussion section should show the

relationship among observed facts: 1) Present the principles, relationships, and

generalizations shown by the results.2) Point out any exceptions or lack of

correlation and define any unsettled points.3) Show how your results and interpretations

agree with or disagree with previously published works.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to write the Discussion (cont.)4) Discuss any theoretical implications or

practical applications of the results.5) Reaffirm the major conclusions or findings.6) Summarize the evidence for each

conclusion.7) End with a short summary of the

significance of the work.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to cite the Literature The paper should cite only significant,

published references. Other resources, if considered essential,

should be used parenthetically or as a footnote in the text.

Check all parts of every reference against the original publication.

Never cite references from other works. Obtain and study carefully every citation used

in a publication.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

How to cite the Literature (cont.) Far more mistakes occur in the Literature

Cited section of the paper than elsewhere in papers.

Write out references in full (on 3X5 cards or electronically), then use the needed information for the journal being targeted.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

SummaryWhy Is It Necessary?

The goal of scientific research is publication.

What Is a Scientific Paper? A scientific paper is a written and published

report describing original research results.How to Prepare the Title

What is a good title? “the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Summary (continued)How to List the Authors

In order of importance to the experiments.How to Prepare the Abstract

Short description of the problem and its solution; not more than 250 words.

How to Prepare the Introductioni. Present the problem (nature and scope)ii. Review the pertinent literatureiii. State the method of the investigationiv. State the principal results

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Summary (continued)How to write the Materials and Methods

Section Give the full details to allow a competent

worker to repeat the experiments. Give specific sources, qualities, and

capabilities of reagents. Provide precise descriptions of quantities

used, measurements required, and temperatures observed.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Summary (continued)How to write the Results

The Results section should: 1) Give an overall description of the

experiments, providing the “big picture.”2) Provide the data resulting from

application of the methods described earlier.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Summary (continued)How to Write the Discussion

The Discussion section should: 1) Show the relationship among observed

facts.2) Present the principles, relationships, and

generalizations shown by the results.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Summary (continued)How to Cite the Literature

List only significant, published references. Check, recheck, and recheck every

reference against the original publication.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Selected References

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Day, Robert A. and Barbara Gastel. 2006. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6th Edition. ISBN10: 0313330409.

Day, Robert A. 1998. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 5th Edition ISBN10: 1573561657.

Gary Dillard. The Scientific Paper. http://bioweb.wku.edu/courses/Biol398/Paper/paperText.html