How to Write a Complete and Coherent Scientific Paper

Format

Although scientific papers are always presented in the same format, they are rarely written in that order. The following includes suggestions on how to write your paper so that it will be complete and coherent. Read through it completely once to give you the overall picture, then follow it through paying more attention to the details. For more information, you may choose to visit http://urbiolabreports.wikidot.com/start. This site is designed to help you write clearly, as well as understand what is contained in each part of a scientific paper. (However, be aware that if this site differs from what is in your lab manual, you are to follow your lab manual.) Format Your paper should be no more than 5 double-spaced pages, not including visuals and references cited. Do not include a cover page or headers and footers, but do include page numbers. Use 11 pt. Arial font with normal (word default) margins. Results As you sit down to write, you should have at least three completed visual representations of data: one that summarizes the amount of cell differentiation, one that summarizes the number of cells, and one that shows the percent viability, all depending on the concentration of NGF. If you have not yet written the text portion that summarizes the trends, that would be the next step. Before you consider your Results section complete, it is very important that you make sure that you have fully addressed the purpose stated in your Introduction. Introduction and Discussion For your Introduction, you are allowed to use the Research Proposal you wrote, in whole or in part. Do incorporate the suggestions you received when you submitted it for assignment #1, and do remember to change the tense to past tense, because the final paper is written as if for publication. You may want to go back to the Introduction after you have finished all other sections of the paper to make sure that it does adequately introduce everything your paper discusses. For instance, if you find you need to discuss some aspect of cell cycle length for PC-12 Adh cells in your Discussion, you should have some background on cell cycle length in your Introduction, even though it may only be a sentence or two. If you put all the background in the Introduction, you can simply move on from that in the Discussion, keeping the Discussion shorter and more concise. New background material should never appear in the Discussion. As well, there is no need to “remind” your reader of anything you have already explained in the Introduction. Another common error is including or repeating results (e.g. “as Table 1 showed...”) in the Discussion section. Please note that the Discussion is weighted heavily for the final paper, because it is your chance to show that you understood the project and the theory behind it well, and that you were able to interpret your data properly and use your creativity to place it all within context, with clear and specific suggestions as to where it could go next! Materials and Methods, Abstract, Appendices No Materials and Methods, or Abstract, is required, and no appendices should be necessary. References The very last step should be to check that all references you used are included in your reference list, and everything in your References Cited section was cited in the text of your paper.