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Scientific Writing

Guidelines for scientific writing covering selecting title, writing abstract, choosing keywords, paper structure, and methods for effective communication of research findings. Learn how to craft a clear introduction, detailed methods, results, and discussion sections, with concluding remarks. Proper referencing and acknowledgment steps are also outlined in this helpful guide.

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Scientific Writing

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  1. Scientific Writing Prof .C. V. Raghuveer. PhD Class 10th June 2013

  2. Scientific Writing • Most common way of communicating results of research. • Authors to keep in mind : • Objectivity, Clarity & Honesty • Instructions to authors available in journal • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors for Uniform Requirements, available on www. icmje.org

  3. Selecting a title • Title should describe contents of paper in fewest words. • Generally 10-12 words. • Avoid phrases like : “Observations on “ “A study of” etc • No abbreviations • Running title- (30-50 characters), printed on top/bottom of each page.

  4. Writing the Abstract & Key words • Abstract at the beginning of paper. • Structured or Unstructured. • Abstract includes: • Purpose of study. • Basic procedures/methods. • Selection of study participants/animals. • Observational/Analytical methods used. • Main findings with specific data & statistical significance. • Principal conclusions.

  5. Structured Abstract • Less than 250 words. • Includes sub-titles: • * Objectives. • * Type of study design. • * Materials & Methods. • * Results. • * Conclusions.

  6. Unstructured Abstract • * Less than 150 words. • Written in a paragraph format without sub-headings. • All Abstracts are written in past tense. • All Abstracts are self contained & stand alone. • No references to literature in any abstract. • No abbreviations / acronyms unless universally accepted.

  7. Keywords • Generally 3-10 keywords/short phrases. • Assist indexers in cross indexing. • Usually beneath the abstract. • MeSH words or PubMed words used as keywords.

  8. Structure of a Paper • I= Introduction: why did you start the study? • M=Methods: what did you do ? • R= Results: what did you find ? A= And • D=Discussion: what do the results mean ?

  9. Writing the Introduction • Tell the reader why the study was undertaken. • Make clear what question the research was designed to answer. • Raise readers’ interest. • Do not simply explain what can be found in a text book. • Make only pertinent references. • Include data/ conclusions from the work being reported

  10. Writing the Methods • Provide details of study design. • Organize under meaningful sub-headings. • No reference needed for established methods. • New/modified methods to be described with reasons for using them. • “Materials” used only inanimate objects.

  11. Writing the Methods (contd.) • Ethics: • Indicate that procedures followed as per ethical standards. • Patient’s name, hospital number not to be written. • Statistics: • Describe methods used. • Details about randomization. • Details about allocation to groups, blinding, loss for follow up etc

  12. Writing the Results. • Principles: • Objectives of study to be kept in mind. • Results only with relation to objectives. • Results to be presented in logical sequence in tables, illustrations, graphs etc. • Do not repeat numerical data in the text

  13. Writing the Results(contd.) • Tables: • To be included only if data can not be summarized in text or for inter-relationship. • To be readily understood without referring to text. • To be cited in text, numbered, titled. • Should have a logical structure. • Short/abbreviated headings for rows & columns. • Foot-note for non-standard abbreviations. • Columns from left to right &rows from top to bottom

  14. Writing the Results(contd.) • Illustrations: • Use for specific purpose e.g, as evidence in support of findings or argument. • Graphs for illustrating relationships. • Figures to be professionally drawn & photographed. • Photomicrographs to be glossy 5X7 or 8X10 in.

  15. Writing the Results (contd.) • Figures to be numbered consecutively. • On the back of figure name, fig no., top of fig. • Legends to be double spaced typed.

  16. Writing the Discussion • Six components of Discussion: • State principal findings. • Strengths & weaknesses of study. • Strengths & weaknesses in relation to other studies. • Implications of study. • Unanswered questions. • Limitations of your study & scope for more work

  17. Conclusions • Strong and clear conclusions. • Conclusions to be linked with goals of study & • Limited to boundaries of study. • Avoid wrong conclusions.

  18. Acknowledgements • Department Chair for General support. • Technicians for Technical support. • Written permission from those who are acknowledged.

  19. References • Citing in text. • Listing in the end. • Vancouver style. • Harvard style.

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