Writing a scientific research paper
ESPOL
Dr. Jan Feyen
30 March 2012
Content
Outline of seminar
1. Paper format
11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
2. Title
12. Discussion
3. Authors
13. Conclusions
4. Affiliation
14. Acknowledgements
5. Abstract
15. Citing references in text
6. Keywords
16. References
7. Introduction
17. Journal abbreviations
8. Literature search
18. Citing Internet references
9. Materials and methods
19. Editing your paper
10. Results
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1. Paper format
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS
4. DISCUSSION
5. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
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1. Paper format
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. METHODS
2.1. Study population
2.2. Intervention program
2.3. Definitions and measurements
2.4. Statistical analysis
3. RESULTS
4. DISCUSSION
5. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
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1. Paper format
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
Title
Authors, affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Research question
1.2. Justification and use of results
1.3. Literature review
1.4. Hypotheses
1.5. General objectives
1.6. Specific objectives
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1. Paper format
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
2.1. Type of study
2.2. Population and sample
2.3. Intervention/experiment
2.4. Statistical analysis
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
DISSEMINATION
PROJECT TEAM
COST ESTIMATE
PROPOSAL FORMAT
Title
Affiliation
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
References
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1. Paper format
Difusión de
los resultados
Formulación
del problema
Interpretación y
conclusiones
Análisis de
resultados
Resultados
Discusión
Conclusiones
Nuevo
conocimiento
Materiales y
métodos
Introducción
Articulo
científico
Análisis de la
literatura
Pregunta(s) / una
o más hipótesis
Diseño de
investigación
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2. Title
• Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of
the paper, but not so technical that only specialists will
understand.
• The title should be appropriate for the intended audience.
• The title should be short, avoiding the inclusion of details.
• Use generic titles
• The title usually describes the subject matter of the article:
Effect of Smoking on Academic Performance
• Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more
effective: Students Who Smoke Get Lower Grades
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3. Authors
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally
listed as the first author of a research paper.
• Other people who made substantial contributions to the work
are also listed as authors.
• Ask your supervisor's permission before including his/her
name as co-author.
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4. Affiliation
• Claudia Muster1 , Bob Smith2, Richard F. Barrett3*
1
Ion Beam Physics, Paul Scherrer Institute, ETH Zurich, 8093
Zurich, Switzerland
2 University College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
3 Computer Science and Mathematics Division Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
* Corresponding author: reports@adonis.osti.gov
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5. Abstract
• The abstract should be a little less technical than the article itself;
you don't want to dissuade your potential audience from reading
your paper.
• The abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which
summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the
paper.
• It is not easy to include all this information in just a few words. Start
by writing a summary that includes whatever you think is
important, and then gradually prune it down to size by removing
unnecessary words, while still retaining the necessary concepts.
• Don't use abbreviations or citations in the abstract. It should be
able to stand alone without any footnotes.
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5. Abstract
soils urbana
of the high
Andes mountain las
region,
either
under forest
ParaPristine
la literatura
post-estructuralista,
ciudades
aparecen
comoorpaisajes
páramo,en
are
very fragile.
Changing
the land cover
by deforestation,
fracturados
enclaves
protegidos
y excluyentes,
los cuales
colonizan y reemplazan
aforestation,
and farming makes
the soilsque
verylos
susceptible
to
los lugares
locales.grazing
Consecuentemente,
se considera
enclaves turísticos
landslides.
Additionally
change
affects
the soil quality.
The research,
facilitan
el control
autoritarioland
del use
espacio
urbano,
modificando
el consumo
y
of which the
results are presented
thiscon
paper,
analyzedDisney“.
the chemical
and
reemplazando
y suprimiendo
la cultura in
local
"ambientes
Este artículo
physical
of the
topenclaves
and subsoil
of pristine
soils covered
by
plantea
que siproperties
bien dentro
de los
turísticos
se intenta
-y generalmente
se
rainforest,
high mountain
forest and
páramo,
and pristine
soils subject
alcanzaun régimen
no democrático,
directivo
y autoritario,
incluso
en estostoespacios
recentsocial
deforestation,
grazing
and crop
farming.
The study
was conducted
at
el control
no es total;
el análisis
que aquí
se propone
respecto
de los espacios
various
locations
the southern
region
ofmetrópolis
Ecuador at postmodernas
2500 m above puede
turísticos
revela
que lainfractura
de los Andes
espacios
de las
level. The
survey enabled
deriving
chemical
and physical Se
indices
for que,
crearsea
diversidad
y diferencia,
más que
monotonía
y uniformidad.
concluye
thede
degree
of soil degradation.
Resultspredicha
revealedpor
thatlosHistosols
parameasuring
los visitantes
las ciudades,
la distopia urbana
post- are
more susceptible
thanaún
Andosols,
and whereas the observed physical
estructuralistas
no ha sido
materializada.
degradation is mainly limited to the topsoil, chemical alterations were also
detected in the deeper horizons.
Total number of words: 138
Total number of words: 148
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6. Keywords
• Title paper: Economic growth and human development
– Keywords: Human development, economic growth, income
distribution, poverty, health, education
• Title paper: Heavy metal contaminations in a soil–rice system:
Identification of spatial dependence in relation to soil
properties of paddy fields
– Keywords: Contamination, geostatistics, heavy metals, soil–rice
system, spatial relationship
• Title paper: Sources of China’s economic growth 1952–1999:
incorporating human capital accumulation
– Keywords: China, economic growth, human capital, reform
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7. Introduction
• What question did you ask in your experiment?
• Why is it interesting?
• The introduction summarizes the relevant literature (please
include a sufficient number of references of recent date; e.g.
the last decade) so that the reader will understand why you
were interested in the question you asked.
• End with the formulation of the hypotheses which you want
to approve/disapprove.
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7. Introduction
• End of the introduction: …………………….. The objective of our
study was two-fold: (1) to characterize the implementation of
the OBPP in the seven schools, and (2) to compare schools
with (N 7) and without (N 3) the OBPP to determine if the
program was effective with regard to: (a) reducing student
reported victimization (primary outcome), (b) improving
student attitudes toward bullying and perceptions of others’
readiness to intervene (key program targets), and (c)
improving the general school experience beyond bullying.
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8. Literature search
• Conocimiento de la idioma inglés
• Identificación de la literatura relevante, leer y
analizar artículos
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8. Literature search
• Lo que se necesita?
– Conocer las bases de datos.
– Palabras clave.
– Una arquitectura y conexión a Internet y sistema de
servidor por la transferencia de datos de alto capacidad.
– Suscripción a bases digitales de revistas.
– Contactar el autor correspondiente.
– Tener amigos con acceso a bases de datos en el país /
extranjero cuando la institución se carece de suscripciones
o licencias.
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8. Literature search
• UCuenca
– Bases Datos Generales
– Bases Datos Agropecuarias
– Bases Datos Salud
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Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
– Encuentra artículos
•
•
•
•
•
con todas las palabras
con la frase exacta
con al menos una de las palabras
sin las palabras
donde las palabras aparezcan
– Author Return articles written by e.g., "PJ
Hayes" or McCarthy
– Publication Return articles published in e.g.,
J Biol Chem or Nature
– Date Return articles published between e.g.,
1996 - 2001
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8. Literature search
• SCIRUS for scientific information
(http://www.scirus.com)
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
Networked Digital Library of
Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
388 pages
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8. Literature search
RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) is a
collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 75
countries to enhance the dissemination of research
in economics.
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8. Literature search
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8. Literature search
• ISI-Web of Knowledge
(http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/)
• Acceso a revistas específico
(necesite login & contraseña)
– Water Resources Research (WRR)
(http://www.agu.org/journals/wr/)
– Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ) (http://vzj.scijournals.org/)
– Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ)
(http://soil.scijournals.org/)
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8. Literature search
• Open access journals
• Science Journal Publication (http://www.sjpub.org/)
– Science Journal of Medicine and Clinical Trials, Agricultural Research,
Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Physics, Mathematics &
Statistics, Pure & Applied Chemistry, Environmental Engineering
Research, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Civil Engineering &
Architecture, Chemical Engineering Research, Economics, Business
Management, Psychology, Sociology & Anthropology (17 journals).
• Scientific Research Publishing (http://www.scirp.org)
− SCIRP is an academic publisher of open access journals. It also
publishes academic books and conference proceedings. SCIRP
currently has more than 150 open access journals in the areas of
science, technology, and medicine  JWARP.
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8. Literature search
• Open access journals
• SCIRP - Journal of Water Research & Protection (JWARP). Open access
journal, international, peer-reviewed journal publishing articles related to
water research and protection (http://www.scirp.org/Journal/jwarp/)
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Open access to 7449
journals, 3582 journals searchable at article level, and 745680 articles
(http://www.doaj.org/)
• Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development (JARD). Open access
journal, international, peer-reviewed journal publishing an overview of
aquaculture research & development (http://omicsonline.org/jardhome.php)
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8. Literature search
• OMICS Publishing group (http://omicsonline.org/)
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8. Literature search
• OMICS Publishing group: E-mail alert
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8. Literature search
• Open Access Journals Search Engine (OAJSE).
– An Open Access E-Journal Portal of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open
University (India) (http://oajse.com/index.html)
• Bentham Open Access (BENTHAM OPEN)
– Publish over 230 peer-reviewed open access journals. These free-toview online journals cover all major disciplines of science, technology,
medicine and social sciences (http://benthamscience.com/open/)
• Wiley Open Access
– Publishes authoritative peer reviewed open access journals across
many research disciplines. (Brain and Behavior, Cancer Medicine,
ChemistryOpen, Ecology and Evolution, Food and Energy Security,
MicrobiologyOpen, Journal of the American Heart Association)
(http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/view/index.html)
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8. Literature search
• MDPI is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access journals
(http://www.mdpi.com/)  73 journals, among them a
journal on: Agriculture, Agronomy, Applied Sciences,
Atmosphere, Biology, Forest, ISPRS International Journal of
Geo-Information, Geosciences, Journal of Sensor and Actuator
Networks, Membranes, Remote Sensing, Water
• MDPI delivers 1.5 million webpage views and over 130'000
full-text downloads per month.
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8. Literature search
• MDPI (http://www.mdpi.com/)
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8. Literature search
• MDPI: E-mail alert
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8. Literature search
• Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted articles.
• Journal of WATER: 300 CHF (± $330) for processing, and 250
CHF (± $275) for English edition.
• E-mail alerts: http://www.mdpi.com/user/subscriptions/
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9. Materials and methods
1. How did you answer this question? There should be enough
information here to allow another scientist to repeat your
experiment. Look at other papers that have been published
in your field to get some idea of what is included in this
section.
2. If you had a complicated protocol, it may helpful to include a
diagram, table or flowchart to explain the methods you
used.
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9. Materials and methods
3. Do not put results in this section. You may, however, include
preliminary results that were used to design the main
experiment that you are reporting on. ("In a preliminary
study, I observed the owls for one week, and found that 73 %
of their locomotor activity occurred during the night, and so I
conducted all subsequent experiments between 11 pm and 6
am.")
4. Mention relevant ethical considerations. If you used human
subjects, did they consent to participate. If you used animals,
what measures did you take to minimize pain?
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10. Results
1. This is where you present the results you've gotten. Use
graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your
main findings in the text. Do NOT discuss the results or
speculate as to why something happened; t hat goes in the
Discussion.
2. You don't necessarily have to include all the data you've
gotten. Make a selection of the most relevant results.
3. Use appropriate methods of showing data. Don't try to
manipulate the data to make it look like you did more than
you actually did.
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
Factores Clave de Éxito de un Emprendedor
60
Porcentaje (%)
60
50
51.5
46.5 45.5
40
40
30
20
20.5
16.5
13.5
4
10
1.5
0
Factores
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
Coastal transition zone
0
8
2
6
4
4
6
2
8
0
10
6/17/07 8/6/07 9/25/07 11/14/07 1/3/08 2/22/08
Date
60
Electrical conductivity (mS cm-1)
10
Rainfall (mm 15 min-1)
Subsurface flow (l s-1)
6/17/07 8/6/07 9/25/07 11/14/07 1/3/08 2/22/08
Restrictive
zone
Shrimp farming zone
Agricultural
zone
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
Distance from swamp limit in km
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
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11. Tables, graphs, photos, maps
BOLIVIA
Taquiña
Basin
N
Cochabamba
4400
4200
Laguna
Taquiña
4400
Cochabamba basin
4000
TP-1
Linkupata
4200
3800
Cochabamba city
TQA-2
Sub-Basin limit
4000
3600
3800
Janamayu
3400
0
1
2 Km.
CU-1
3200
TQA-2
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12. Discussion
1. Highlight the most significant results, but don't just repeat
what you've written in the Results section. How do these
results relate to the original question? Do the data support
your hypothesis? Are your results consistent with what other
investigators have reported? If your results were
unexpected, try to explain why. Is there another way to
interpret your results? What further research would be
necessary to answer the questions raised by your results?
How do y our results fit into the big picture?
2. End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion,
emphasizing why it is relevant.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to apply:
– Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy
brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by
describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as
proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding.
You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key
words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the
introduction.
– Synthesize, don't summarize: Include a brief summary of the
paper's main points, but don't simply repeat things that were in
your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made
and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all
together.
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13. Conclusions
– Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or
reading you did for your paper.
– Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper
examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil
Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil
Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer
Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or
on later feminists.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to avoid:
– Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as "in
conclusion," "in summary," or "in closing." Although these
phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and
trite in writing.
– Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
– Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.
– Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any
substantive changes.
– Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of
character with the rest of an analytical paper.
– Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in
the body of the paper.
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13. Conclusions
• Strategies to avoid:
– Sometimes writers will state the thesis for the very first time in
the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy if you
don't want to give everything away too early in your paper. You
may think it would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the
dark until the end and then "wow" him with your main idea, as
in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
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14. Acknowledgements
• This section is optional. You can thank those who either
helped with the experiments, or made other important
contributions, such as discussing the protocol, commenting on
the manuscript, or buying you pizza.
• Example: We thank Vinod Thomas for the encouragement,
Aart Kraay, two anonymous referees, and the editor of the
journal for comments, and Ashok M. Dhareshwar for
significant input and advice. The views expressed here are
entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to
the World Bank.
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15. Citing references in text
• Examples
– (Ivanov , 2004) or Ivanov (2004)
– (Killeen and Abrajano, 2008; ……) or Killeen and Abrajano
(2008); ……
– (Wagener et al., 2008; ……) or Wagener et al. (2008); ……
• Gibbons (1998) states that genetic studies of human and
chimpanzee genomes have shown that at least 98.5% of the
DNA sequences are the same.
• Genetic studies of human and chimpanzee genomes have
shown that at least 98.5% of the DNA sequences are the same
(Gibbons 1998).
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15. Citing references in text
• Varki et al. (1998) found that human cells are missing a
particular form of sialic acid that is found in all other
mammals studied thus far, including the great apes.
• Human cells lack a particular form of sialic acid that is found in
all other mammals studied thus far, including the great apes
(Varki et al., 1998).
• Human cells lack a particular form of sialic acid that is found in
all other mammals studied thus far, including the great apes.
(Varki et al., 1998; online accessed on 29 September 2011).
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15. Citing references in text
• Citing References in Scientific Research Papers
– http://tim.thorpeallen.net/Courses/Reference/Citations.html
• Guide to Scientific Referencing
– http://www.physics.ohiostate.edu/~wilkins/writing/Handouts/references.html
• How to Cite Sources in Scientific Writing
– http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/mcvay/B100/how_to_cit
e_sources_in_scientifi.htm
• Etc.
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16. References
• The basic elements to include in a citation for a
published print source are: author(s) of the document,
year, title of the document, title of the book if different
from the document, name of editor or author of the
book, place of publication, publisher, and page
numbers.
• Please check author guidelines of the journal!
• Sleep, N.H., 2009. Stagnant lid convection and carbonate
metasomatism of the deep continental lithosphere. Geochem.
Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q11010, doi:10.1029/2009GC002702.
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16. References
Allport, G.W., 1962 o 1977. La naturaleza del prejuicio. Editorial Eudeba,
Buenos Aires, Argentina, xxx págs.
Arteta, G., D. Oleas, 2006. Migración internacional: Caso del Ecuador.
Investigación realizada para la Comisión Económica para América
Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), xxx págs .
Benedictis, G., G. Calfat, 2010. Migration and school attendance: Can
remittances compensate for distance to school? San Fernando, Azuay,
Ecuador, xxx págs.
Brigham, 1971.
Casal, S., 2006. Los estereotipos y los prejuicios: cambios de actitud en el
aula de L2. Estudios de Llingüística Inglesa Aplicada (ELIA), 6, 135-149.
Cea D’Ancona, M., 2002. La medición de las actitudes ante la inmigración:
Evaluación de los indicadores de «Racismo». RIES, 99, 87-111 .
Cronbach, L.J., 1951. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.
Psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334.
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16. References
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17. Journal title abbreviations
 ISI Journal Title Abbreviations
http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/~mark/ISIabbr/A_abrvjt.html
 Science & Engineering Journal Abbreviations
http://scieng.library.ubc.ca/coden/
 Caltech University Library
http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/
 Biological Journals & Abbreviations
http://home.ncifcrf.gov/research/bja/
 Indexed Journals in Medicine
http://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/serials/journals/index.cfm
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18. Citing Internet references
• The basic elements to include in a citation for an online
source are: author of the document, title of the document,
title of the web site, author or producer of the web site, url,
date (if given) and date accessed. Various style formats such
as Chicago, MLA and APA put these elements in different
order using different conventions. See the following web sites
for further information and examples.
• Journal articles on Internet:
– Author's Last Name, First Initial, Year of publication, Article title, Title
of journal [medium designator], Volume(issue), Pages, Available from,
Location, date updated, date cited.
• Web Page Entry elements:
– Author's Last Name First Initial, Year, Title of web page [online],
Available from: Protocol, Address, and Path. Accessed, Date of Visit.
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18. Citing Internet References
• Web Sites
– Monash University > Learning Support > Language and Learning
Online >QuickRefs:
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/22referencing-internet.xml
– Citing Electronic Information in History Papers:
[http://history.memphis.edu/mcrouse/elcite.html]
– Research and Documentation Online:
[http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/]
– Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement:
[http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/]
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19. Edit your paper
1. Scientific writing must be accurate. Although writing instructors
may tell you not to use the same word twice in a sentence, it's
okay for scientific writing, which must be accurate. (A student who
tried not to repeat the word "hamster" produced this confusing
sentence: "When I put the hamster in a cage with the other
animals, the little mammals began to play.")
2. Make sure you say what you mean.
3. Be careful with commonly confused words:
– Temperature has an effect on the reaction.
Temperature affects the reaction.
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19. Edit your paper
4. Use verbs instead of abstract nouns
Instead of: take into consideration
Write: consider
5. Use strong verbs instead of "to be"
Instead of: The enzyme was found to be the active agent in
catalyzing...
Write: The enzyme catalyzed...
6. Use short words
7. Use concise words
8. Avoid needless repetitions in the text
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19. Edit your paper
9. Express ideas/thoughts with the minimum number of words
10. A paragraph is more than just a sentence
11. The content of successive paragraphs should be logically
linked
12. A paper is well written if someone with a different
background by reading your manuscript grasps the “why”,
“where”, “how”, “what”
Day, R.A., 2005. Cómo escribir y publicar trabajos científicos. 3a Ed. en español.
Organización Panamericana de la Salud, Publicación Científica y Técnica No. 598, 261
págs. En: http://new.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2010/9275315981_reduce.pdf .
Acceso el 31 de enero de 2012.
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