Checklist Revision in stages Dr. Martina Michalikova ― WritingScientist.com Checklist — Revision in stages Content Is the main message clear and comprehensible? Does the title reflect the content? Are details focused, supporting the main storyline? Is all relevant information included? Are the references complete? Macrostructure Does the macrostructure correspond to journal requirements? Is the storyline apparent and easy to follow? Does every section fulfill its function? Microstructure Is the text easy to read & follow? Are the paragraphs well structured? Are there connections between paragraphs? Are the sentences well structured? Are there connections between sentences? Language & Stylistics Is the language clear? Is the language concise? Is the language precise? Does the language fit the audience & the purpose of writing? Is the passive voice used only when necessary? Are the abbreviations necessary, and written out at their first occurrence? Grammar & Spelling Is grammar, spelling & punctuation correct? See the following pages for details on each point. Find out how & why to use this checklist in the accompanying article: writingscientist.com/revisions1 Dr. Martina Michalikova — WritingScientist.com Checklist — Revision in stages Content Is the main message clear and comprehensible? The main massage of the manuscript should be clearly stated in the Abstract, at the beginning of the Discussion, and eventually also at the end of the Introduction. Ideally, ask for feedback from someone who is from your field but not directly involved with the project. Does the title reflect the content? Do you deliver in the text what you promise in the title? Are details focused, supporting the main message? Ideally, remove all details that do not support the main storyline. If you think that some peripheral findings might be interesting to some of your readers, you can place them in supplemental materials, in a footnote, or at the end of the Results section where you introduce them as peripheral findings. Is all relevant information included? Do you introduce all concepts relevant for your study? Do you explain all data shown in the figures & tables? Do you discuss connections to other studies, limitations, and implications? Are the references complete? Are all of your claims (that are not basic textbook knowledge or that are not supported by your results) supported by published literature? Now is also a good time to read those missing articles & accommodate the information properly in your text. Macrostructure Does the macrostructure correspond to journal requirements? There is a standard structure of original research articles: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials&Methods, Results, Discussion. However, many journals use different variations of this standard. Thus, check the requirements of your target journal & adapt your sections accordingly. Is the storyline apparent and easy to follow? Your results should be ordered such that they “tell a story”. Nowadays, in the fast-paced world, it is not recommended to create a story with a classical “dramatic” arc, where the main result—the highlight of your study—is built up with extended trials & reasoning. Instead, bring your main result first when your readers are still well-focused and eager to learn something new. In general, move from central to peripheral and establish a point first before elaborating on it with more details. 1 Dr. Martina Michalikova ― WritingScientist.com Checklist — Revision in stages Does every section fulfill its function? –› Title informs about the content of the article and motivates to read & remember the article. –› Abstract provides an overview of the study, including information on background/motivation, methods, results, and significance/implications. –› Introduction describes the context of your study—WHY did you do it—and convinces the reader that your project is relevant. –› Materials & Methods section describes what you did and convinces the reader that your approach was adequate. –› Results section describes what you have found and explains what it means. –› Discussion emphasizes the main findings and creates connections with previous work and ongoing discourse. Microstructure Is the text easy to read & follow? Read your text out loud to find problems with flow: these are places where your reading stops for a split of second seemingly on its own. Mark these places as you read & fix the problems with tips provided below. Are the paragraphs well structured? Do the paragraphs follow the Context-Content-Conclusion structure? Find more info & examples in this blog post: https://writingscientist.com/paragraphs1 Are the sentences well structured? Is there a single thought per sentence? Aren’t the sentences too long? For problematic sentences, check their structure: place at the beginning of the sentence the topic of the sentence, it provides context for the sentence & link to the previous sentence. Place at the end of the sentence new information you want to emphasize. For more info on sentence structure, check out https://writingscientist.com/sentence-structure. Are there connections between paragraphs? Check flow between paragraphs by reading the first sentence of each paragraph. Do these “topic sentences” tell the main story of your article? Are there connections between sentences? Improve the flow between sentences by repeating one or few words from the previous sentence, using parallel sentence structure, pro-form, and linking words and phrases. 2 Dr. Martina Michalikova ― WritingScientist.com Checklist — Revision in stages Language & Stylistics Is the language clear? Use common words instead of jargon whenever possible. Always follow demonstrative pronouns (“this”, “that”, “these”, “those”) with a noun. Avoid strings of nouns (e.g. “greenhouse effect control”). Reduce nominalizations—use verbs to express actions (“analyze” instead of “perform an analysis”). Is the language concise? Remove redundant & unnecessary words. Eliminate forms of the verb “to be”—use action verbs instead. Eliminate double negatives and filler words (that, of…) Is the language precise? Use precise words, especially for quantifications. Synonyms often have slightly different meanings (e.g.: show vs. demonstrate vs. indicate)—choose the one that fits best to your intended meaning. For more info, see https://writingscientist.com/write-precisely. Does the language fit the audience & the purpose of writing? Here, it is best to ask for (peer-)feedback. Alternatively, let your manuscript rest for a few days or weeks, and read some articles from the target journal (where you want to publish your manuscript). Then read again your manuscript with fresh eyes: you should be able to catch a possible misfit in the tone of your writing. Is the passive voice used only when necessary? Active voice is preferable: it is more engaging & easier to understand. Passive voice is especially dangerous when it obscures the action performer. On the other hand, passive voice is appropriate when the action performer is clear, unknown, or irrelevant. Are the abbreviations necessary, and written out at their first occurrence? Non-standard abbreviations make your text hard to read. If you use an abbreviation only once or twice, you can as well write the term out. Grammar & Spelling Is grammar, spelling & punctuation correct? Keep the proof-reading for the very end, when the manuscript has been thoroughly revised, and approved by all co-authors. Reference the book Elements of style for advice on some common issues. 3 Dr. Martina Michalikova ― WritingScientist.com
