Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
LENA-OptoSense Group
https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/mib/lena/nachwuchsgruppen/optosense/index.html
1,800 Scientists
20,000 Students (BS: 250.000 citizens)
Member of
Short introduction
Structuring your scientific paper
Drafting your scientific paper
Suggestions for writing good scientific paper
Fast and
careless
or
careful and
slow?
Scientific papers are for sharing your own original research work
with other scientists or for reviewing the research conducted by
others.
They are critical to the evolution of modern science, in which the
work of one scientist builds upon that of others.
To reach their goal, papers must:
aim to inform, not impress.
be highly readable — that is, clear, accurate, and concise.
The Introduction section clarifies the motivation for the work presented
and prepares readers for the structure of the paper.
The Materials and Methods section provides sufficient detail for other
scientists to reproduce the experiments presented in the paper. In some
journals, this information is placed in an appendix, because it is not
what most readers want to know first.
The Results and Discussion sections present and discuss the
research results, respectively. They are often usefully combined into
one section, however, because readers can seldom make sense of
results alone without accompanying interpretation — they need to be
told what the results mean.
The Conclusion section presents the outcome of the work by
interpreting the findings at a higher level of abstraction than the
Discussion and by relating these findings to the motivation stated in the
Introduction.
clarify
This paper clarifies the role of soils in . . .
describe This paper describes the mechanism by which . . .
detail This paper details the algorithm used for . . .
discuss This paper discusses the influence of acidity on . . .
explain This paper explains how the new encoding scheme . . .
offer This paper offers four recommendations for . . .
present This paper presents the results of . . .
proposes This paper proposes a set of guidelines for . . .
provide This paper provides the complete framework and . . .
report This paper reports on our progress so far . . .
summarize This paper summarizes our results for 27 patients with . . .
Instead of Write
Work reported
Jankowsky reported a similar growth rate . . .
In 2009, Chu published an alternative method to . . .
Irarrázaval observed the opposite behavior in . . .
Observations
The mice in Group A developed, on average, twice as much . . .
The number of defects increased sharply . . .
The conversion rate was close to 95% . . .
Atemporal facts
This paper presents the results of . . .
Section 3.1 explains the difference between . . .
Behbood's 1969 paper provides a framework for . . .
Note the difference in scope between a statement in the past tense and the
same statement in the present tense:
"The temperature increased linearly over time" refers to a specific
experiment,
"The temperature increases linearly over time" generalizes the
experimental observation, suggesting that the temperature always
increases linearly over time in such circumstances.
In complex sentences, you may have to combine two different tenses.
Example: "In 1905, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light is
constant . . . . "
In this sentence, postulated refers to something that happened in the past
(in 1905) and is therefore in the past tense, whereas is expresses a
general truth and is in the present tense.
To choose between active and passive voice, consider above all what you
are discussing (your topic) and place it in the subject position.
For example, should you write "The preprocessor sorts the two arrays" or
"The two arrays are sorted by the preprocessor"?
If you are discussing the preprocessor, the first sentence is the better option. In
contrast, if you are discussing the arrays, the second sentence is better.
If you are unsure what you are discussing, consider the surrounding sentences:
Are they about the preprocessor or the two arrays?
You must adopt the style and level of writing that is appropriate for your
audience. Study them as they are manifested in a selection of highly
regarded papers and in the "Instructions for Authors" for key journals.
Ever! Most people's first drafts are terrible. "Good writing is rewriting,"
and you should make a serious effort at editing, rewriting, and fine-
tuning before you give the manuscript to anyone else to read. If you
need to put a piece of writing away for a few days before you can
approach it dispassionately enough to rework it, do so.
When you first start a writing project, make an outline of the major
headings. List the key ideas to be covered under each heading.
Organize your thinking logic and the logic of your arguments at this
level, not when you are trying to write complete, grammatical, and
elegant sentences.
Be careful in using "might," "may," and "would" (as in "this might indicate
that..."). They are frequently used as ways of weaseling out of making a
clear statement.
Captions should not merely name a table or figure, they should explain
how to read it.
A caption (figure or table heading) should contain sufficient information
so that a reader can understand a table or figure, in most cases, without
reference to the text. Very simple tables and figures may require only a
title for clarity, and exceptionally complex ones may require reference to
the text for explanation.
Do not leave caption writing to the end of the project; write captions
when you organize your Results section and it will help you write the
text.
Confusing and disjointed Results sections often arise because the writer
does not have a clear idea of the story she/he intends to tell. When
preparing to write your results, decide on the elements of the story you
wish to tell, then choose the subset of text, figures, and tables that most
effectively and concisely coveys your message. Organize this subset of
tables and figures in a logical sequence; then write your story around
them.
Writing and analysis for any given paper is often an iterative process.
Writing the results section of a paper is often the best way to discover
the analyses and figures that still need to be done.
Papers written so well that they 'flow and resonate' are much more likely
to influence your readers than the equivalent message presented in a
form that is merely clear. When you find a paper that succeeds in this,
study carefully how the authors constructed their augments and used
language; try to identify what makes the paper work so well.
You need not learn how to use all the more exotic features of your word
processor (LaTex), but learn the options that are available and how to
find out the details when you need them. Minimally, be familiar with
basic requirements for document formatting and basic operating system
requirements. The same comments apply to the use of statistical
packages, graphics programs, and spreadsheets.
It may be clear from an editor's comments that they did not understand
the point you were making. If so, that is a clear indication that you need
to improve your writing. Also, an editor, no matter who they might be,
has invested their time to help improve the quality of your
writing. Respect their investment.