Insight from Paul Rothemund
Paul Rothemund: Professor at Caltech,
father of DNA Origami
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Bill,
You also might point out to the class that for
journals like Science and Nature, abstracts
and text are often highly edited and that what
emerges often has little to do with what the
authors originally sent! (And are often much
improved.)
All the best,
-Paul
Oct. 3, 2010
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Experimental Section (i.e., Methods &
Materials, Model) of a Journal Article
Bill Knowlton1,2
1Department
of Materials Science & Engineering
of Electrical Engineering
Boise State University
2Department
MSE 478/578 Scientific Communication in Materials Science &
Engineering
2
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II. Experimental (Materials & Methods):
Purpose: describe experiments, experimental design, approach,
methodology
Do so in enough detail so it can be repeated by another
May need to defend your approach
Tense: past
Describe:
Materials synthesis – be precise – similar to “cookbook” style
Method of preparation
Amounts/quantities used in synthesis (i.e., reactants)
Resulting amounts (i.e., products) - mass, volume, thickness
Name chemicals using generic or chemical names - Avoid trade names
Physical constants pertinent to experiment – e.g., density, optical, electrical,
magnetic, mechanical
Devices – type, size, materials within
Processing (i.e., kinetics): time, temperature, treatments, etc.
Characterization, Measurements: all parameters varied and those that
the instrument can vary but remained constant
Instrumentation used: Company & instrument & consumables
Analysis: How the data will be analyzed; How data will be tied together
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Model used
Simulation approaches
Statistics – verify simulations & models, data analysis, error analysis, etc.
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II. Experimental (Materials & Methods):
Tables & Figures, Flowcharts & Diagrams: (Must be of value)
Tables & Figures: Can present properties of materials, physical constants,
etc.
Flowcharts & Diagrams: Characterization methods and processing steps,
instrumentation, etc.
Reference use:
For a method well known to readers, only the literature reference is
needed.
For a method with which readers may not be familiar, include a
description and then reference the literature.
Other Insight:
Beware of syntax! “After standing in boiling water for an hour, examine
the flask”
Rule: "Enough information must be given so that the experiment could be
reproduced by a competent colleague"[1]
Provide sufficient information that allow readers to judge the
appropriateness of the experimental methods
Scientific method requires that your results be reproducible, so you must
provide the basis for your experiments to be reproducible
Supplemental materials – some journals allow this method of including
extra Experimental approaches, data, analysis, etc.
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2
References for this overview:
[1] Day, R. “How to write and publish a
scientific paper”, 5th ed. (Orynx Press,
1998)
[2] Eschew Obfuscation: Advice on Writing
Clearly, Larry J. Forney, Dept. of Biological
Sciences, Professor Trish Hartzell, PhD.
Department of Microbiology, Molecular
Biology, and Biochemistry, University of
Idaho, Moscow, ID; presented at the 2008
INBRE Conference, Boise, ID
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In-Class Exercise – Part 1 (20 minutes)
Assignment 6 (Part II):
1. Read the Experimental Section of 2 of your
most influential journal articles
2. Create a list of “Likes” & “Dislikes”
3. Create an outline of your Experimental Section
4. Write a rough draft
5. Re-read favorite Experimental Section and
“Likes” & “Dislikes”
6. Read your experimental section again and
create a list of the “Likes” & “Dislikes”
7. Rewrite your experimental section to minimize
the “Likes” & “Dislikes”
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3
In-Class Exercise – Part 2 (10 minutes)
Pair up (2-3 people) in teams
Go over example Experimental or Materials
& Methods sections you found from your
most applicable (to your study):
Regular Journal and …
Letter Journal articles
Look for similarities and differences in:
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Regular Journal article -VS- Letter Journal
article
How they (Regular Journal article & Letter
Journal article) outlined their Experimental or
Materials & Methods sections versus how we
outlined the abstract in class
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Tenses:
Tenses:[3]
Present tense:
For the general case and statements on what is
currently known.
E.g., statements that are: general knowledge,
widely accepted, and those that can be
referenced in the present tense.
Past tense:
Experimental results
Observations that were made during your
study
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4