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Scientific Papers
Although scientific journals all have their own set of guidelines for contributors, the following
suggestions are general enough to be of use in the preparation of your lab write-ups as well as
the formulation of scientific reports and papers later in your career.

Title: This is one of the most important components of the paper. The title is the first (and
sometimes only) thing a reader interacts with, and has the difficult job of convincing them to
come read the whole paper. The title should be descriptive, giving an indication of what was
studied (e.g. DNA replication, social relationships) and the target of the study (e.g. an organism,
group, material). The wording should be chosen with care to give maximum information with
least number of words.

Do Do not
Be descriptive Use contractions
Be accurate Use abbreviations

Example title:
Preliminary clinical evaluation of a new antitumor agent, streptovitacin

Abstract: An abstract is a summary of the information in your paper, typically no longer than
250 words. After the title, the abstract is the most frequently read part of a scientific paper. The
abstract should contain:
i) the principal objectives and scope of the investigation,
ii) ii) the methodology used,
iii) iii) a summary of the results, and
iv) iv) the principal conclusions.
Because the abstract summarizes the whole document, it should be written last.

Introduction: A good introduction has the following:

i) nature and scope of the problem,
ii) ii) a review of pertinent literature,
iii) iii) method of investigation and why the particular methods were used, and
iv) iv) the principal hypotheses of the investigation.
Writing an introduction can be quite challenging, but an effective strategy for writing the
introduction is to write it after writing the methods, results, and discussion sections. Writing an
introduction for sections that do not yet exist can be challenging.

Methods and Materials: Methods sections are written in past tense because they are literally
documenting a past event. This section should include enough detail that a competent
researcher can repeat the experiment(s). The most important aspect of this goal is to recognize
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potential sources of variability, even if you do not think those factors had an effect. Variability
between products and equipment can affect results; therefore, product vendor information
should be supplied when products are mentioned so that a researcher can obtain the exact
same chemical or equipment that was used (e.g., Gas-exchange was performed on leaves with
an Li-6200 (Li-COR Inc., Lincoln NE, USA)).

Do Do not
Include potential sources of error or Include trivial details (e.g., Jon and I
variability walked across the room.)

Example: The samples were centrifuged in a TI-32 rotor (Beckman, Brea CA, USA). The rotors
and inserts were pre-cooled to 4°C for 24 hours to prevent heat damage to the samples during
centrifugation).

Results: This section is where you present the data. The results section should only include
data—discussion of what the data means should be reserved for the discussion section. The
data is typically presented either (1) directly in the text, (2) in tables, especially when you have
repetitive data with interacting factors, or (3) in figures, when data cannot be easily
summarized in a table. Statistics are often best included in a table. Negative results may also be
worth mentioning. This section should be written with a high degree of clarity.

Summarize data into tables and figures with the goal of communicating more effectively.

Do Do not
Place labels above tables Interpret data
Place labels below figures
Give tables and figures descriptive labels
Refer to figures and tables in text

Example table title:

Table 1. Leaf mass and number of leaves for double sunlight treatment group (DSTG)
between day 1 and day 14.

Discussion: The discussion section is where you recap your results and start digging into what it
all means and what to do with this new knowledge. You must discuss your results in the
context of the work and studies of others, discussing what others have found and how their
results relate to what you observed. When you reference others' work, you should mention
what the relevant finding was—in your own words—with an appropriate citation. In general,
direct quotes are not used in scientific research papers.

Example use of citation:

Although there are differences in absolute magnitude, the activity profile is similar
during the exponential and asymptotic phases, consistent with the observations of
Armanovsky and Salander (2008).

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Acknowledgements: This is a small section, which allows a researcher to acknowledge granting
agencies that supported the work financially and other contributions of a non-intellectual
nature.

Citations/References: Although citation and reference are used interchangeably, they refer to
different parts of a paper. A citation signals to the reader that the fact in the sentence came
from a source, and points them to the references section. The references section gives them
detailed information so that they can find the original source and read it for themselves.
Entries in the references section are almost always ordered alphabetically. Although there are
differences between style guides, entries typically include the author(s), year, article title,
journal, volume, issue, and pages.

Format for citations varies considerably from one journal/book to another. If you have not been
given a specific style to work with, you should identify the appropriate formatting standards for
the situation. Always be consistent in applying one formatting style to your document, without
mixing elements.

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The Discussion Section

Writing the Discussion section can be challenging, but it is also the most exciting component of
a scientific report. In the Discussion, the writer has the opportunity to be creative and to show
the logic and reasoning behind their conclusions.

General Comments for Writing the Discussion

At its core, the Discussion section is devoted to intellectual exploration of the research topic.
The original hypothesis and the results are explored and evaluated, and the conclusions from
this exploration are then applied to the topic in general.

Form
There is a certain symmetry between the Introduction and the Discussion. The Introduction
section starts from a general perspective then focuses down to a specific question. In contrast,
the Discussion starts at the specific question and works outwards, applying the new knowledge
to the big picture.

Introduction Intellectual Exploration

The intellectual exploration aspect of the discussion
section is composed of reasoning and inclusion of
pertinent information. Previous experiments, past
Hypothesis conclusions, and current theories must be re-
interpreted using the new data. This task is
accomplished by including references to others’ works
(e.g., “The mean relationship between tail length and
Discussion offspring survival is consistent with Jacobson and Larb’s
(2004) observation that greater tail allows individuals to
access normally inaccessible resources”)

Acknowledging Limitations
In exploring the new results, the limitations of the experiment must be explored as well. All
experiments have limitations, and these limitations must be defined (e.g,. Although we have
developed a new method for co-purifying protein x and protein y thereby establishing a link
between these proteins’ functions, the sequence and nature of their functional relationship
cannot be determined from samples prepared using this method.”). Pertinent limitations in
others’ results can also be identified as part of the discussion (e.g., “Jacobson and Larb’s (2004)
observations were limited to daylight observations, so they were unable to determine if
individuals were succumbing to starvation or predation.”).

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Persuasion
The Discussion section can be thought of as a collection of “arguments” based on the author’s
and other people’s results. Each paragraph should include a topic sentence and a concluding
sentence. Each assertion or topic sentence must be supported by what is already known about
the subject, as well as by your results.

Contribution
The Discussion is where you show what you have contributed. For experiments that are part of
a class, your contribution is to confirm and support existing theories or “facts.”

Language/Word Choice
A scientist’s language must reflect the scientific method; therefore, words, phrases, and
sentences should reflect a rigorous and objective search for information. Differences in
meaning can be subtle but are important:

Inappropriate Suitable
proves, proof (absolute language) supports, evidence, consistent, contradictory
almost, sort of, kind of (ambiguous language) similar, dissimilar, possible correlation

Prove, proof—these words have a type of closure that scientists dislike. One cannot necessarily
prove a theory without any chance of it being disproven in the future (when we will likely have
more accurate or specific measurement tools available), but one can certainly provide evidence
in support of a theory.

Sort of, almost—Ambiguous language should be avoided. Things can be similar or dissimilar,
but they cannot be sort of similar.

Strategy for writing the Discussion

List all of the points or arguments you want to make in the Discussion, and rank them. This list
should include:
1. A definite statement accepting or rejecting the hypothesis, a strong answer to the
research question, or an equivocal statement if more study is required.
2. Relevant information for interpreting the new data.
3. Limitations of the new data.
4. How the new information relates to previous experiments (i.e., is it consistent with
similar experiments?).
5. A statement of contribution to the body of knowledge

Try to end with some suggestions for the future. You don’t necessarily have to have a solution
to all problems—suggesting future areas to focus on for more research is still a suggestion.

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