Paper writing memo.
I.
Identify the Major Take Home Message of the Paper
(One sentence  should be the major point that will be cited from this paper)
II.
Prepare the figures. Paper structure and outline might (and most likely will)
change during writing and figures will help you define the structure.
a. General notes: Figures must be very clear and readable when scaled to small size in
the journal. Graphic must be of high resolution. For picture quality and size please follow
the journal’s instructions, however, generally, the resolution should be not less than 150
dpi at submission. Some journals request high-resolution images for production when
and if your paper is accepted. The overall rule is that images are clear when you do size
manipulations with them and don’t appear pixelated. Most journals ask for figures in
JPEG, TIFF, ESP and other standard formats. In figures with multiple panels label
panels a, b, c … (or A, B, C, and keep it consistent throughout the paper – location with
respect to figure panels, size, font, etc.), and arrange in a layout that minimizes white
space and has the figure centered on the page and panels properly aligned. Note: word
is a very poor choice to use to arrange different panels in figures. If you are not familiar
with Adobe products (Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign, all are available on shared
workstation in the lab) PowerPoint is good alternative. The figure should give you
esthetic pleasure to look at (regardless of the results it is showing).
b. Formatting individual graphs/images: BE CONSISTENT.
Fonts: keep fonts and size the same throughout all figures. Graphs/panels of the same
size must have same font size that will be readable when the figure is sized smaller.
Axis, graph lines and marks: avoid thin lines, graph axis, connecting lines and marks
should be well visible. Connecting lines and marks must be easily distinguishable
between each other. Keep same markings, connecting line style and color for the same
groups the same on different figures. This will allow you to combine and compare panels
in one figure, make simpler figure legends and will make the reading of the figures
significantly simpler. Keep graphs for the same type of experiment (cytotoxicity, survival,
particle size, etc) in the same style, especially if you mean to compare them (try keep
axis scales the same, position legends in the same place, etc.) (Note: Graphpad prism
allows you to simply make graphs consistent with “magic wand” tool. We have it, as well
as OriginPro available on our shared workstation for data analysis. Overall, the choice of
data analysis software is absolutely up to you, but I strongly encourage you to graduate
from Excel to Origin or Graphpad, that have stronger statistics and curve fitting tools and
are better for preparing graphs for papers or reports).
Statistics: indicate the comparison groups and level of difference significance where
appropriate. Note: standard * level of significance notation (should be mentioned in
figure legends): * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, and so on.
Figure legends must be on one hand very simple, and on the other hand provide
enough information that the reader will be able to understand the figure without reading
the paper. The minimum necessary information about the experimental conditions
(treatment/incubation times, drug administration schedule/dose, group size, statistics
and significance value, etc.) should also be included in the figure and figure legend with
all the details described in materials and methods section.
Do the Following for Each Figure
1. Describe results of figure in simple terms (bullet points are fine) (“Results”)
2. Describe why the result is important (1 or 2 sentences or bullet points)
(“Discussion”)
3. Describe how the result relates to the major take home message (1 or 2
sentences or bullet points) (“Discussion”)
4. Describe how this result relates to other published work (“Discussion”)
Note on 2-4 in this section: Oftentimes it will be necessary to describe results
from more than one figure taken together with regards to #2-importance, #3relation to take home message, and #4-relation to other work. This is done in the
discussion (or Results and Discussion, if combined), but it is good to make notes
on these points directly on your figure pages at this stage.
III.
Identify Major Take Home Messages of Paper based on your figures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

How was the result obtained?
Methods: After the figures are prepared write detailed description of experimental
procedures. The section shouldn’t contain all the protocol’s little details as in your lab
notebook, but provide enough information that experienced researcher can easily
reproduce your results. Generally, the materials and methods section follows “from in
vitro to in vivo” logic, similar to the whole paper
 What information exactly does each figure provide?
Results (if separate from discussion) section should clearly describe what exactly was
observed in each experiment.
 Why is that information important?
Discussion: please, do not confuse discussion and results and do not repeat the results
section here. Discuss the novelty and importance of your findings, how does this
information add to our scientific knowledge, put it in perspective compared to other
published work. (Discussion)
Use your new information to modify the take home messages, if appropriate.
IV.
What are the most important results? (Abstract)
V.
Write an introduction that motivates the study that you have completed
Like with figures, be consistent with your writing. Use same terminology in all parts of the
paper. When using abbreviations, make sure the term is abbreviated the first time it is
introduced and later in paper use only the abbreviated version. Use reference
management software (like Endnote) to put references as you write. Carefully check that
all figures and tables are appropriately referenced in the text.