Writing Scientific Research Articles Strategy and Steps

The new edition of the popular guide for novice and professional scientists alike, providing effective strategies and step-by-step advice for writing scientific papers for publication

For scientists writing a research article for submission to an international peer-reviewed journal, knowing how to write can be as important as knowing what to write. Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps provides systematic guidance on writing effective scientific papers with the greatest chance for publication. Using clear language, this highly practical guide shows scientists how to apply their analysis and synthesis skills to produce a compelling research article and increase their competence in written communication of science.

The third edition is fully revised to reflect changes in the review process and science journal publication. Incorporating current developments in technology and pedagogical practice, brand-new sections cover mapping and planning manuscripts, choosing results, systematic reviews, structured abstracts, and more. Updated material on referee criteria offers valuable insights on what journal editors and referees want to publish and why. Offering a hands-on approach to developing the academic writing skills of scientists in all disciplines and from all language backgrounds, Writing Scientific Research Articles

• provides a genre-based pedagogy and clear processes for writing each section of a manuscript across the full range of research article formats and funding applications
• presents tested strategies for responding to referee comments and developing discipline-specific language skills for manuscript writing and polishing
• pairs each learning step with updated practical exercises to develop writing and data presentation skills based on expert analysis of well-written papers, including provided example articles
• includes chapters on the difference between review papers and research papers, and on skill development using journal clubs and writing groups
• features a wealth of new information on topics including Open Access publishing, online reviews, and predatory conferences and journals

Designed for use by individuals as a self-study guide or by groups working with an instructor, Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps is a must-have guide for early-career researchers with limited writing experience, scientists for whom English is an additional language, upper-level undergraduates and graduate students writing for publication, and STEM and English language professionals involved in teaching manuscript writing and publication skills and mentoring students and colleagues.

Margaret Cargill is an applied linguist with over 25 years of experience as a research communication educator. Her research focuses on innovative collaborative methods for helping scientists develop high-level skills for communicating their research findings effectively. She has worked extensively in Australia, Europe, and Asia with scientists of many disciplines and language and cultural backgrounds.

Patrick O’Connor is a research ecologist, environmental economist, environmental consultant, and science educator. His work over the last 20 years has focused on the use of scientific principles in designing, monitoring, and evaluating environmental programs for governments and statutory authorities in Australia. His research interests and scientific publications span fields of ecosystem service economics, terrestrial ecology, and detection of change in plant and animal communities.

Preface to the third edition ix

Preface to the second edition xi

Preface to the first edition xiii

Section 1: A framework for success 1

1 How to use this book 3

1.1 Getting started with writing for international publication 3

1.2 Publishing in the international literature 4

1.3 Aims of the book 8

1.4 How the book is structured 9

1.5 How to use this book if you are. . . 10

2 Research article structures 13

2.1 Conventional article structures: AIMRaD and its variations 13

3 Reviewers’ criteria for evaluating manuscripts 19

3.1 Titles as content signposts 20

Section 2: When and how to write each article section 23

4 Results as a “story”: the key driver of an article 25

5 Results: turning data into knowledge 27

5.1 Designing figures 28

5.2 Designing tables 30

5.3 Figure legends and table titles 31

5.4 Supplementary material 33

5.5 Archiving data 34

6 Writing about results 35

6.1 Structure of Results sections 35

6.2 Functions of Results sentences 36

6.3 Verb tense in Results sections 36

7 The Methods section 39

7.1 Purpose of the Methods section 39

7.2 Organising Methods sections 40

7.3 Methods in supplementary material 41

7.4 Publishing methods papers 41

7.5 Use of passive and active verbs 41

8 The Introduction 47

8.1 Argument stages towards a compelling Introduction 47

8.2 Stage 1: Locating your project within an existing field of scientific research 50

8.3 Using references in Stages 2 and 3 51

8.4 Avoiding plagiarism when using others’ work 54

8.5 Stage 3: Indicating the gap or research niche 55

8.6 Stage 4: The statement of purpose or main activity 56

8.7 Stages 5 and 6: Highlighting benefit and mapping the article 57

8.8 Suggested process for drafting an Introduction 57

8.9 Editing for logical flow 58

9 The Discussion section 63

9.1 Important structural issues 63

9.2 Information elements to highlight the key messages 64

9.3 Negotiating the strength of claims 66

10 The title and keywords 69

10.1 Strategy 1: Provide as much relevant information as possible, but be concise 69

10.2 Strategy 2: Use carefully chosen keywords prominently 69

10.3 Strategy 3: Choose strategically – noun phrase, statement, or question? 70

10.4 Strategy 4: Avoid ambiguity in noun phrases 71

11 The Abstract and highlights 73

11.1 Why Abstracts are so important 73

11.2 Selecting additional keywords 73

11.3 Abstracts: typical information elements 73

11.4 Visual abstracts 75

11.5 “Highlights” and other significance or summary sections 75

12 Writing review articles 77

12.1 What editors want to publish 79

12.2 The “take‐home message” of a review 79

12.3 The structure of review articles 87

12.4 Visual elements in review articles: tables, figures, and boxes 89

12.5 Checklist for review article manuscripts 91

12.6 Systematic review articles 91

12.7 Submission and revision of review articles 93

Section 3: Getting your manuscript published 95

13 Submitting a manuscript 97

13.1 Five practices of successful authors 97

13.2 Understanding the peer‐review process 98

13.3 Understanding the editor’s role 99

13.4 The contributor’s covering letter 99

13.5 Understanding the reviewer’s role 101

13.6 Understanding the editor’s role (continued) 103

14 How to respond to peer reviews 105

14.1 Rules of thumb for responding to reviews 105

14.2 How to deal with manuscript rejection 106

14.3 How to deal with “conditional acceptance” or “revise and resubmit” 106

15 A process for preparing a manuscript 115

15.1 Manuscript mapping 116

15.2 Editing procedures 117

15.3 A pre‐review checklist 120

Section 4: Developing your writing and publication skills further 121

16 Skill‐development strategies for groups and individuals 123

16.1 Journal clubs 123

16.2 Writing groups 124

16.3 Selecting feedback strategies for different purposes 124

16.4 Becoming a reviewer 126

16.5 Training for responding to reviewers 127

17 Developing discipline‐specific English skills 129

17.1 Editor expectations of language use 129

17.2 Strategic (and acceptable!) language re‐use: sentence templates 130

17.3 More about noun phrases 133

17.4 Concordancing: a tool for developing your discipline‐specific English 134

17.5 Using the English articles (a/an, the) appropriately in science writing 138

17.6 Using “which” and “that” 141

18 Writing funding proposals 143

18.1 A process for preparing and submitting a funding proposal 144

18.2 Easy mistakes to make 147

Section 5: Provided example articles 149

19 PEA1: Kaiser et al. (2003) 151

20 PEA2: Britton-Simmons & Abbott (2008) 165

21 PEA3: Ganci et al. (2012) 177

Answer pages 191

Appendix: Measures of journal impact and quality 221

A.1 Journal impact 221

A.2 Using indices of journal quality 222

References 225

Index 229

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