 Your colleagues think you are ready to

write a paper,
 And your lab mates tease you about your
“slow” writing progress.
 Yet days pass, and you cannot force
yourself to sit down to write.
 You have not written anything for a while
(lab reports do not count), and you feel
you have lost your stamina.
 In today’s topic, we will discuss the
issues related to the writing process
of a scientific paper.
 Specifically, will focus on the:
 best approaches to start a scientific
paper,
 tips for writing each section,
 and the best revision strategies.
 Schedule your writing time:
 Starting the process is the most difficult
part,
 Unless you have a rigid writing schedule.
 Writing is hard.
 It is a very difficult process of intense
concentration and brain work.
 “It is a generative activity requiring
motivation, and it is an intellectual
activity requiring cognitive processes and
memory”. (Hayes J R. 1996)

 Choose from 1- to 2-hour blocks in your

daily work schedule and consider them as
non-cancellable appointments.
 Start with an outline:
 The best strategy is to start with an outline.
 This outline will be similar to a template for
your paper.
 Initially, the outline will form a structure for
your paper;
 it will help generate ideas and formulate
hypotheses.
 “. . . start with a blank piece of
paper, and write down, in any order,
all important ideas that occur to you
concerning the paper”
 Outline — Level 1

 What is the topic of my paper?

 Why is this topic important?
 How could i formulate my
hypothesis?
 What are my results (include
visuals)?
 What is my major finding?
 add context and structure.
 Here you will group all your ideas into
sections:
 Introduction,
 Methods,
 Results,
 and Discussion/Conclusion.
 This step will help add coherence to your
work and sift your ideas.
 Outline — Level 2
 Introduction

 1. Why is your research important?

 2. What is known about the topic?
 3. What are your hypotheses?
 4. What are your objectives?
Materials and Methods

 1.What materials did you use?

 2. Who were the subjects of your
study?
 3. What was the design of your
research?
 4. What procedure did you follow?
Results

 1. What are your most significant results?

 2. What are your supporting results?

 Discussion and Conclusions

 1. What are the studies major findings?
 2. What is the significance/implication of
The results
 Now that you have expanded your
outline,
 you are ready for the next step:
 Discussing the ideas for your paper
with your colleagues and mentor.
Continue with drafts:
 After you get enough feedback and
decide on the journal you will
submit to,
 The process of real writing begins.
 Copy your outline into a separate
file and expand on each of the
points,
 adding data and elaborating on the
details.
 Do not slow down to choose a better word
or better phrase;
 do not halt to improve your sentence
structure.
 Pour your ideas into the paper and leave
revision and editing for later.
 As Paul Silvia explains,
“Revising while you generate text is like
drinking decaffeinated coffee in the early
morning: noble idea, wrong time”
 Starting
with Materials and
Methods:
 Ifyou still struggle with starting a paper,
 then write the Materials and Methods
section first.
 Since you have all your notes, it should
not be problematic for you to describe
the experimental design and procedures.
 The purpose of this section is to allow
other researchers to evaluate and repeat
your work.
 Writing Materials and Methods sections is
a meticulous and time consuming task
requiring extreme accuracy and clarity.
 This is why when you complete your
draft, you should ask for as much
feedback from your colleagues as
possible.
 Numerous readers of this section will help
you identify the missing links and improve
the technical style of this section.
Writing Results Section:
 Ifpeople are interested in your
paper, they are interested in your
results.
 That is why it is vital to use all your
writing skills to objectively present
your key findings in an orderly and
logical sequence using illustrative
materials and text.
 Your Results should be organized into
different segments or subsections,
 where each one presents the
 purpose of the experiment,
 your experimental approach,
 data including text and visuals (tables,
figures, schematics, and formulas),
 and data commentary.
 Itshould be clear by now that we do
not let the data speak for
themselves in research reports;
 in summarizing our results, we
interpret them for the reader”
 In addition, your text should not
include irrelevant and peripheral
information.
 Now it is time for your Introduction:
 The best way to structure your
introduction is to follow the three-
move approach.
 Moves in Research Paper
Introductions
 Move 1. establish a research territory
 a. Show that the general research area is
important, central, interesting, and
problematic in some way;
 b. introduce and review items of previous
research in the area.
 Move 2. Find a niche
 a. indicate a gap in the previous research, or
extend previous knowledge in some way.
 Move 3. Occupy the niche
 a. outline purposes or state the nature of
the present research;
 b. List research questions or hypotheses;
 c. Announce principle findings;
 d. State the value of the present
research;
 e. indicate the structure of the research
paper.
 These moves are traffic signs that lead
the reader through the road of your ideas.
 Each move plays an important role in your
paper and should be presented with deep
thought and care.
 When you establish the territory, you
place your research in context and
highlight the importance of your research
topic.
 By finding the niche, you outline the
scope of your research problem and enter
the scientific dialogue.

 The final move, “occupying the niche,” is

where you explain your research in a
nutshell

 and highlight your paper’s significance.

 The Introduction should not be long.
 Indeed, for most journals, this is a
very brief
 section of about 250 to 600 words,
 but it might be the most difficult
section due to its importance.
Discussion:

 Since every paper has its unique results

and findings,
 the Discussion section differs in its length,
shape, and structure.
 However, some general principles of
writing this section still exist.
 The purpose of the Discussion section is to
place your findings in the research context,

 and “to explain the meaning of the findings

and why they are important

 Discussion section, you zoom out from the

summary of your findings to the research
context.
 The goal of the research context move
is to show

 how your findings fit into the general

picture of the current research

 and how you contribute to the existing

knowledge on the topic.
 This is also the place to discuss
 any discrepancies and unexpected findings
 that may otherwise distort the general
picture of your paper.
 Moreover, outlining the scope of your
research by showing the
 limitations,
 weaknesses,
 and assumptions
 is essential and adds modesty to your image
as a scientist.
 However, make sure that you do not
end your paper with the problems
that override your findings.
 Try to suggest feasible explanations
and solutions.
 If your submission does not require a
separate Conclusion section,
 then adding another paragraph about
the “take-home message” is a must.
 This should be a general statement
adding its scientific implications,
practical application, or advice.
 Rule 1: Create regular time blocks for
writing as appointments in your calendar
and keep these appointments.
 Rule 2: Create a detailed outline and
discuss it with your mentor and peers.
 Rule 3: Be meticulous and accurate in
describing the Materials and Methods. Do
not change the point of view within one
paragraph.
 Rule 4: Be clear, concise, and objective
in describing your Results.
 Rule 5: Interest your reader in the
Introduction section by signaling all its
elements and stating the novelty of the
work.
 Rule 6: Present the principles,
relationships, and generalizations in a
concise and convincing tone.