如何写好英文科技论文How-to-write-a-scientific-paper

Soyouwanttowriteandpublishascientificpaper,oranacademicpaper.

Andyouwanttopublishitinapeer-reviewedjournal.

I'mgoingtotalkyouthroughtheprocessofhowtowritethatpaper.

Andwhatitisthatgoesintothevarioussectionsofthepaper.

Sobasicallypapershavegotanumberofsections.

There’sthetitleandtheabstract.There’stheintroductionandbackground.There’sthemethods,results,discussionandconclusions.

I'mgoingtotalktoyouaboutwhatgoesintoeachofthosesections.

Let’sstartbytalkingaboutthetitlenow.

Thetitleneedstobeabout15wordsorless.Notalotofspace.

Yougottogettothepointquitequickly.

Thethingsthatyouwanttoincludeinthetitlearefirstlythepurpose,whatisthequestionthatyouaddressed.

Secondlythescope,whataretheedgesofthisthing,ifyouaddressedaparticularpopulationgroup.

Saythatifitincludedaparticulartimeframe.

Saythatsomeofthetimeyouwanttoincludethemethodsthatyouused,soifitwasacohortstudyforexample.Youmightwanttoincludethatinthetitle.

Thisisallinformationthatisusefultothereaderiftheytryingtomakeadecisionwhetherornotthey'regoingtoreadyourpaper.

Thingstoavoid!

Don’tputinacronyms.

Don’tuseabbreviations.

Don’teveruseexclamationmarks.

Keepitniceandprofessionalandyou'llhaveagreattitle.

Nextlet'stalkabouttheabstract.

Nowtheabstractisusuallyabout300words.

Againit'snotalotofspace.Youwanttobeconcise.

Therearedifferenttypesofabstract.

WhatI'mgoingtotalktoyouaboutisonethat'scalledtheinformativeabstract.

That’sthemostcommontypeofaprojectanditfollowsacertainformat.

Andwe'rejustgoingtogetintothat.

Ofcourseyou'regonnaincludethepurposeofthepaper.

Andyou'regonnahaveanoverviewofthemethods.

Andthemainfindings,theconclusionsandtherecommendations.

Importantlyyou'renotgoingtohaveanydiscussion.

Soyou'renotgoingtocritiqueorevaluatethework.

You’renotgoingtoincludeanysubjectiveinterpretation.

Nospeculation.Noreferencestootherworksorotherpublications.

You’regoingtokeepitniceandfactual.

You’regonnawriteinthepasthintsbecausethisisreportingonastudythat'salreadybeencompleted.

Andyou'regonnadothewholethingatabout300words.

Nowlet'stalkabouttheintroductioninbackground.

Whenyouwritetheintroductioninbackground,whatyouwanttogetoutofthisisyouwantthereadertokeepreading.

Todothat,whatyouwanttodoisprovidecontextinotherwordswithreferencetoexistingliterature.

You’regoingtotellthemwhatweknowandwhatwedon'tknowinthisparticularsubjectarea.Andinthecontextofwhatwedon'tknow,you'regoingtointroduceyourresearchquestion,thepurposeofyourstudy,thequestionthatyou'regoingtoanswer.

Andwhentheyreadthat,they'regoingtowanttocarryonreading.

Nextwe'regoingtotalkaboutthemethods,theresults,thediscussionandconclusions.

Let’stalkaboutthemethods.

Ifyouwantyourresearchtobetakenseriously,youneedthereadertounderstandexactlyhowitisthatyouundertooktheresearchanddrewtheconclusionsthatyoudid.

Infact,youneedthemethodstobeinsomuchdetailthatiftheywantedtorepeatthestudythemselvestogeneratethesameconclusionsandresultsthatyoudid.

Nowwhatyourmethodssectionlookslikedependslargelyonthetypeofresearchthatyou'veundertaken.

Somethodsectionsinqualitativeresearchlookverydifferenttomethodsearchsectionsinquantitativeresearch.

WhatI'mgoingtobetalkingabouthereappliesmostlytoquantitativeresearch,butthebasicprinciplesapplytoanypaper.

Here’swhatmustbeincluded.

Youneedtostateyourstudyquestionorhypothesisright.

Youneedtoincludeyourstudydesign,sowasitacohortstudy?Wasitacasecontrolstudy?

Isthissecondarydataanalysis?Wasthiscontentanalysisofintervieweddata?etc.

Nextyouwanttotalkaboutyourdata.

Didyoucollectthedatayourself?

Ifsohow,whattooldidyouuse.

Hasthereliabilityandthevalidityofthistoolbeenestablished?

Howdidyouidentifyrelevantvariables?

Ifthiswasroutinelycollecteddata,likeHospitaldataorcensusdataorifyouaccesstheavailabledatafromexistingsurveysorongoingstudies,howdidyouaccessit?Howisitstored?Wasitanonymizedorde-identified?Didyouhavepermissiontoaccessit?

Describethedatainmoredetail.

Inotherwords,ifit'ssampledata,whatwasthesamplesize?Howdidyoudecideonthatsizeanddescribethevariablesofinterest,thenumberofobservations?

Ifappropriate,howyouanalyzethedata?Whatsoftwaredidyouuse?Whatstatisticaltestsdidyouapply?Whatassumptionsdidyoumake?Highlightanymethodologicallimitationsanddescribehowitisthatyouaddressthem.

Andifit'sappropriate,statethatyou'requitedifficultprovableforyourstudynow.

Let’stalkabouttheresults.

EverythingaboutyourpaperrevolvesaroundtheresultsandforthatreasonI'mgonnasuggestthatyouwritetheresultsfirst,especiallyifyou'reworkingwithco-authors.

Soyoumayhavecollaborators.Youmaybeworkingwiththestatistician.Youmayhaveasupervisingauthor.

Whatyouwanttodoisyouwanttodrafttheresultsandthetablesandthetextoftheresults.

Youwanttocirculatethatandyouwanttogetagreementontheresultsbeforeyouwritetherestofthepaper.

Andthereasonistheresultscanchange.Inotherwords,peoplemightsuggestthatyouincludecertainaspectsofthestudyorremovecertainotheraspectsofthestudy.

Ifyou'vewrittentheentirepaper,everythingelsehastochangeiftheresultschangebecauseeverythingrevolvesaroundtheresults.

Sogetthatfinalized.Getitagreed.Getitironclad.Getthatsignedoffbeforeyouwriteanythingelse.

Nowyoustartwritingyourwriteinalogicalmannerandmakeexplicitreferencetoanyofthetablesandfiguresincluded.

Youwanttoplacethetablesandfiguresascloseaspossibletothefirsttimethatthey'rereferredtointhetext.

Don’tdiscusstheresults.Don’tprovideexplanations.Don’tprovideanyspeculation.Don’tinterpretthem.Don’texplainthem.Don’thypothesize.

Keeptheresultsniceandfactual.

Nowdon'tignoreanynegativefindings.Includeanynegativeresults,butdon'ttrytoexplainthem.Notatthispoint.That’sforthediscussion.

Thediscussion.

Thisisbyfarmyfavoritepartofanypaper.

Becauseinthediscussion,you'renotonlygoingtoreiterateyourfindings,butyou'regoingtoexplainthemandinterpretthemandhypothesizeandspeculate.

Thisiswhereyoubringyourthoughtsandideasintothepaper.

You’regonnastartyourdiscussionoffbyreiteratingyourresearchquestion.

Andgivenyourfindings,statewhatyoubelievetheanswertothatquestionis.

Nowrememberdon'tintroduceanynewdataoranynewresultsinthediscussion.

Thediscussionhastoreflectontheresultsthathavealreadybeenpresentedinyourpaper.

Youneedtoexplainaninterpreterresultinthecontextoftheliteraturethatyouidentifiedintheintroduction,inbackground.

Inotherwords,areyourfindingsconsistentwithwhatotherpeoplehadsaid,anddoesyourdatafilloneofthegapsinknowledgethatyouidentified.

Soyouwanttoshowhowyourworkhasaddedsomethingtothebodyofknowledgeandunderstandingonthetopic.

Youalsowanttoreflectontheimplicationsofyourfindings,maybeintermsofpracticalapplicationsorpublicpolicy.

Andofcourseyouwanttoacknowledgethelimitationsofyourstudyandyouwanttodiscussthoselimitationsandtheimplicationsofthoselimitationstoyourresults.

Andthemoreyoudothatthemoreyoudemonstratethatyouunderst