An Outline of how you should prepare your Outline for a paper. Do the Outline, and redraft it and get
another person to review it before you start to write sentences.
Michael Moore – Woods Hole Oceanographic Insitution
Title - Really think about what you are writing about and try and condense it all into this one phrase.
Authors: I tend to be inclusive. It builds future willingness to collaborate and recognizes usually unsung
heroes.
Abstract: Write it at the end. Do an intense précis of the paper. It will write itself once the body of the
paper is drafted. Simply pluck out the key words from the text once it has been assimilated and string
them into good prose.
Introduction - Open with a statement about the topic. Then go on to a series of key sentences about
what we know so far, then go on to say what we don't know. Then you tell us what you are going to tell
us. Simple.
Methods - Just list out the different components to what it took to do the work. Materials, data
collection tools and techniques, machines, supplies, analytical methods, software etc. In drafting the
outline, sort the order of this so that it makes logical sense. Do this before you start to string words into
sentences. Dont talk about numbers of fish, or hours spent watching or whatever - them's results.
Results - start by accumulating the images and the tables (data about the subjects etc) that you think
you need to include. Then sort them into a logical sequence. Then start jotting down bullets of findings
and sort them into logical sequences. Thus you will accumulate an outline. Keep Tables in Excel. Far
easier to format than moving to Word. Often points that belong in the discussion creep in to the results.
Don’t let this happen. Push them into a resource pile for use in the discussion.
Discussion - Summarize what you found, in the first sentence. Then write a series of sentences
summarizing the different topic areas that need to be discussed for the rest of the first paragraph. Sort
these into a logical flow. Each of these sentences will then be the header for subsequent paragraphs.
Then once all those paragraphs have run their course you write a concluding paragraph and it's all done!
General points: NEVER write words for the sake of writing a longer paper. Make it all as brief but
complete as it can be. Look at every sentence to see if it can be said in fewer words. Avoid repetition in
different sections. Never discuss findings till you get to the discussion. Think about where what you
want to say belongs. Should it be in the intro, methods, results or discussion, put it there as a bullet and
then sort it till it all flows.
Citations. DO IT THIS WAY. When you find a paper that you might want to cite, file a pdf of it in a single
papers folder. The filename of the pdf starts with a unique number. The first filename is 00001_Jones
Dive_paper.pdf or whatever, the next is 00002_Smith_Seal_kinetics.pdf or whatever. They just need to
sort numerically. Download the citation from the web listing into EndNote. This is much safer than hand
typing it in. Insert the filename for the pdf into a suitable EndNote field (such as Call Number) for that
record. THEN immediately embed the EndNote citation into the draft paper outline with a few words
that you think you might want to include in the paper about the citation. In this way you are already
building the citation list from the get go. You can move, copy, delete them as need be, but doing it this
way you only have to handle the source once. And you keep track of it. It is easy to go back and read
more of it, and you don't end up with a draft paper with this (REF) that (REF) (REF) (REF) this and that
where at the end you have to start all over again trying to find that paper you should have filed in the
first place. Don't rely on simply linking the file location to the endnote URL field. The folder will migrate
from one to another computer and then you have lost the link. You can always find a file number you
know to look for. Likewise dont rely on the internet address for a paper. When the time comes to go get
it again you will be at sea. Build one EndNote biblio file for all your work. That way you always have
those papers at your fingertips. Use it to catalog your personal e-reprint collection. Use the Notes field
as a research tool.
READ THIS PLEASE
http://www-stat.wharton.upenn.edu/~buja/sci.html