Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps

Description

This book shows scientists how to apply their analysis and synthesis skills to overcoming the challenge of how to write, as well as what to write, to maximise their chances of publishing in international scientific journals. The book uses analysis of the scientific article genre to provide clear processes for writing each section of a manuscript, starting with clear ‘story’ construction and packaging of results. Each learning step uses practical exercises to develop writing and data presentation skills based on reader analysis of well-written example papers. Strategies are presented for responding to referee comments, and for developing discipline-specific English language skills for manuscript writing and polishing. The book is designed for scientists who use English as a first or an additional language, and for individual scientists or mentors or a class setting. In response to reader requests, the new edition includes review articles and the full range of research article formats, as well as applying the book’s principles to writing funding applications. Web support for this book is available at www.writeresearch.com.au Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps Copyright Contents Preface to the second edition Preface to the first edition Section 1: A framework for success Chapter 1 How the book is organized, and why 1.1 Getting started with writing for international publication 1.2 Publishing in the international literature 1.3 What do you need to know to select your target journal? 1.4 Aims of this book 1.5 How the book is structured Chapter 2 Research article structures 2.1 Conventional article structures: AIMRaD (Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, and Discussion) and its variations Chapter 3 Reviewers’ criteria for evaluating manuscripts 3.1 Titles as content signposts Section 2: When and how to write each article section Chapter 4 Results as a “story”: the key driver of an article Chapter 5 Results: turning data into knowledge 5.1 Figure, table, or text? 5.2 Designing figures 5.3 Designing tables 5.4 Figure legends and table titles Chapter 6 Writing about results 6.1 Structure of Results sections 6.2 Functions of Results sentences 6.3 Verb tense in Results sections Chapter 7 The Methods section 7.1 Purpose of the Methods section 7.2 Organizing Methods sections 7.3 Use of passive and active verbs Chapter 8 The Introduction 8.1 Argument stages towards a compelling Introduction 8.2 Stage 1: Locating your project within an existing field of scientific research 8.3 Using references in Stages 2 and 3 8.4 Avoiding plagiarism when using others’ work 8.5 Indicating the gap or research niche 8.6 Stage 4: The statement of purpose or main activity 8.7 Stages 5 and 6: Highlighting benefit and mapping the article 8.8 Suggested process for drafting an Introduction 8.9 Editing for logical flow Chapter 9 The Discussion section 9.1 Important structural issues 9.2 Information elements to highlight the key messages 9.3 Negotiating the strength of claims Chapter 10 The title 10.1 Strategy 1: Provide as much relevant information as possible, but be concise 10.2 Strategy 2: Use keywords prominently 10.3 Strategy 3: Choose strategically: noun phrase, statement, or question? 10.4 Strategy 4: Avoid ambiguity in noun phrases Chapter 11 The Abstract 11.1 Why Abstracts are so important 11.2 Selecting additional keywords 11.3 Abstracts: typical information elements Chapter 12 Writing review articles 12.1 What editors want to publish 12.2 The “take-home message” of a review 12.3 The structure of review articles 12.4 Visual elements in review articles: tables, figures, and boxes 12.5 Checklist for review article manuscripts 12.6 Submission and revision of review articles Section 3: Getting your manuscript published Chapter 13 Submitting a manuscript 13.1 Five practices of successful authors 13.2 Understanding the peer-review process 13.3 Understanding the editor’s role 13.4 The contributor’s covering letter 13.5 Understanding the reviewer’s role 13.6 Understanding the editor’s role (continued) Chapter 14 How to respond to editors and reviewers 14.1 Rules of thumb 14.2 How to deal with manuscript rejection 14.3 How to deal with “conditional acceptance” or “revise and resubmit” Chapter 15 A process for preparing a manuscript 15.1 Initial preparation steps 15.2 Editing procedures 15.3 A pre-review checklist Section 4: Developing your writing and publication skills further Chapter 16 Skill-development strategies for groups and individuals 16.1 Journal clubs 16.2 Writing groups 16.3 Selecting feedback strategies for different purposes 16.4 Becoming a reviewer 16.5 Training for responding to reviewers Chapter 17 Developing discipline-specific English skills 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Error types and editor expectations of language use 17.3 Strategic (and acceptable!) language re-use: sentence templates 17.4 More about noun phrases 17.5 Concordancing: a tool for developing your discipline-specific English 17.6 Using the English articles (a/an, the) appropriately in science writing 17.7 Using “which” and “that” Chapter 18 Writing funding proposals 18.1 Introduction 18.2 A process for preparing and submitting a funding proposal 18.3 Easy mistakes to make Section 5: Provided example articles Chapter 19 PEA1: Kaiser et al. (2003) Chapter 20 PEA2: Britton-Simmons and Abbott (2008) Chapter 21 PEA3: Ganci et al. (2012) Answer pages Appendix: Measures of journal impact and quality A.1 Journal impact A.2 Using indices of journal quality References Index