10. How to write a scientific paper#
Here are the steps I take for writing an academic paper.
Conduct literature review to find out any knowledge gap and questions
Conduct the experiements analyze results
Put key figures in a slide to telll a story (storyboarding)
Once the story is complete, write the manuscript.
Start from key sentences in your introduction. Start paragraph with key sentence, then support the argument with 3~5 sentences. Similary, do this for results and discussion.
Methods and results are often easy to write. Leave this when you are not in yourself. Write introduction/discussion when you are at your best moment (early in the morning, no distraction).
Re-read the manuscript when it is done.
10.1. Abstract#
A good abstract follows the scheme below:
Describe the broad problem you are solving (1 sentence)
Introduce the broader field
What is the problem?
Provide context needed to understand your study (1 sentence)
What is missing in the literature (or the knowledge gap)? Why that matters?
A successful context distinguishes your study from others.
State the content of your study by describing your approach to fill the gap (1 sentence)
“Here, we investigated…using xx approach”
Summarise your key results (2~3 sentences).
What did you find?
What is the main conclusion?
State the broad perspective or significance of the study (1 sentence).
What is the broad impact/implication of the study?
Highlight the important implications