Preview

Writing a Scientific Research Article

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2670 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Writing a Scientific Research Article
WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE
FORMAT FOR THE PAPER
Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other scientists about the results of their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly, logical manner. This doesn 't necessarily reflect the order in which you did or thought about the work. This format is:
TITLE
1. Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of the paper, but not so technical that only specialists will understand. The title should be appropriate for the intended audience. 2. The title usually describes the subject matter of the article: Effect of Smoking on Academic Performance" 3. Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more effective: Students Who Smoke Get Lower Grades"
AUTHORS
1. The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the first author of a research paper.
2. For published articles, other people who made substantial contributions to the work are also listed as authors. Ask your mentor 's permission before including his/her name as co-author.
ABSTRACT
1. An abstract, or summary, is published together with a research article, giving the reader a "preview" of what 's to come. Such abstracts may also be published separately in bibliographical sources, such as Biologic al Abstracts. They allow other scientists to quickly scan the large scientific literature, and decide which articles they want to read in depth. The abstract should be a little less technical than the article itself; you don 't want to dissuade your potent ial audience from reading your paper.
2. Your abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the paper.
3. It is not easy to include all this information in just a few words. Start by writing a summary that includes whatever you think is important, and then gradually prune it



References: Indigo, A. C., and Mauve, B. E. 1994. Queer place for qwerty: gene isolation from the platypus. Science 275, 1213-1214. Magenta, S. T., Sepia, X., and Turquoise, U. 1995. Wombat genetics. In: Widiculous Wombats, Violet, Q., ed. New York: Columbia University Press. p 123-145. Scarlet, S.L. 1990. Isolation of qwerty gene from S. cerevisae. Journal of Unusual Results 36, 26-31.  "The conjunction 'and ' commonly serves to indicate that the writer 's mind still functions even when no signs of the phenomenon are noticeable." Rudolf Virchow, 1928    Harrison W. Ambrose, III & Katharine Peckham Ambrose, A Handbook of Biological Investigation, 4th edition, Hunter Textbooks Inc, Winston-Salem, 1987 Particularly useful if you need to use statistics to analyze your data Robert S. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 4th edition, Oryx Press, Phoenix, 1994. William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. Macmillan, New York, 1987. Several copies available in Columbia libraries.  Strunk 's first edition is available on-line.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hickman, M. And Thain, M. (2004). The penguin dictionary of biology, London: Penguin books. Page 622.…

    • 1729 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    a. Summarize comprehensively your selected article. Include in your summary brief discussions about the following:…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    APA FSB Style Standards

    • 1461 Words
    • 8 Pages

     Page numbers are Arabic numerals in the upper right corner of each page, ½ inch from the…

    • 1461 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gold Fish Lab Report

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cited: White, M. E. and F. M. Campo. 2008. Investigations in Biology, 4th Ed. The McGraw-Hill Co. Inc., New York, NY, USA.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    2. An Abstract on its own page (an Abstract is no more than a paragraph of no more than 120 words that concisely outlines the important parts of your writing. I believe the word Abstract strikes fear in the hearts of even the best writers. We read them all the time. An Abstract is on the back of every DVD you have ever purchased or rented. It gives you a concise summary of what the DVD is about. Or every time you read a menu, it too gives concise summaries of the main parts of an item on the menu.). Abstracts are not hard!…

    • 1258 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Possiblity1

    • 752 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Your abstract should be one paragraph and should not exceed 120 words. It is a summary of the most important elements of your paper. All numbers in the abstract, except those beginning a sentence, should be typed as digits rather than words. To count the number of words in this paragraph, select the paragraph, and on the Tools menu click Word Count.…

    • 752 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Apa Doc

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Doe, J., & Doe, K. (2001). Writing a successful paper in America. Publishers Quarterly Journal, 9(1), 100-109.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Goldfish Lab Report

    • 2322 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The abstract is a condensed version of the entire lab report (approximately 250 words). A reader uses the abstract to quickly understand the purpose, methods, results and significance of your research without reading the entire paper. Abstracts or papers published in scholarly journals are useful to you when you are conducting library research, because you can quickly determine whether the research report will be relevant to your topic. The material in the abstract is written in the same order as that within the paper, and has the same emphasis. An effective abstract should include a sentence or two summarizing the highlights from each of the sections: introduction (including purpose), methods, results, and discussion. To reflect the content (especially results and conclusions) of the paper accurately, the abstract should be written after the final draft of your paper is complete, although it is placed at the beginning of the paper. Begin the abstract with a brief, but specific, background statement to introduce your report. State your main purpose or objective and…

    • 2322 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Study 165 Points

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. The paper must have a title on a title page that provides a clear idea of what you are interested in studying. Do not use vague abstractions. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    6th Edition Standards

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Abstract is often optional for research papers. Students enrolled in courses at Strayer University should verify with the instructor if an Abstract is required for the paper. The Abstract should be written in block form, which means that the paragraph should not be indented. The Abstract should contain between 150 and 250 words and should not contain in-text citations or references. The Abstract provides a brief summary of the paper and usually contains words such as, “This paper will discuss…”, or “The purpose of this paper is to…” The Abstract should not…

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Myotonic Dystrophy

    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Your abstract should be one paragraph and should not exceed 120 words. It is a summary of the most important elements of your paper. All numbers in the abstract, except those beginning a sentence, should be typed as digits rather than words. To count the number of words in this paragraph, select the paragraph, and on the Tools menu click Word Count.…

    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Enzyme Formal Lab

    • 2542 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Biology. 6th ed. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2002. 96-101.…

    • 2542 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A scholarly article is not the same as a regular or editorial article. A scholarly article is written for a specific audience of experts in a certain field of study to share and improve the knowledge of those professionals. The first part is called the abstract, which gives a basic general explanation of what the article is going to be about, and this part uses a vocabulary that is familiar and easy to understand for most people. Next is the introduction or background, which in this part introduces you to the topic that the author does research on, and it also gives the reason or motivation while also giving some extra background information on the topic. The next part is the method. This part includes the information that shows how the author conducted his/her research. So basically it shows the method that the author used and gives extra information on materials and procedure. The next part is the results, which show any tables or graphs that the author came out with, so basically statistics. The next part is the conclusion, which explains the outcome and any implications that the author gives that would try and continue the research. The last part of the article is the references, which gives credit to any sources the author used for the research, and often this part can reach several pages long, depending on the length of the…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Neglect of the Elderly

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lester, J. D., Lester, J. D., Jr., Reinking, J. A., & von der Osten, R. (2010/2011). Strategies for writing successful research papers (Custom ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    From 150-200 words of short, direct and complete sentences, the abstract should be informative enough to serve as a substitute for reading the project itself. It states the rationale and the objectives of the research. Do not put citations or quotes in this section. Avoid beginning the abstract with “ This paper/document/thesis/study/project...…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics