The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper
Why a Scientific Format?
It is a means of effic代写留学生作业iently communicating scientific findings to the broad community of scientists in a uniform manner.
This format allows the paper to be read at several different levels
Experimental process Section of Paper
What did I do in a nutshell? Abstract
What is the problem? Introduction
&nbs代写英国留学生作业p;How did I solve the problem? Materials and Methods
What did I find out? Results
What does it mean? Discussion
Who helped me out? Acknowledgments (optional)
Whose work did澳洲留学生作业 I refer to? Literature Cited
Extra Information Appendices (optional)
Main Section Headings: Each main section of the paper begins with a heading which should be capitalized, centered at the beginning of the section, and 留学生作业格式double spaced from the lines above and below. Do not underline the section heading OR put a colon at the end.
Title, Authors' Names, and Institutional Affiliations
Function: Your paper should begin with a Title that succinctly describes the contents of the paper. Use descriptive words that you would associate strongly with the content of your paper
Format:
The title should be centered at the top of page 1 (DO NOT use a title page - it is a waste of paper for our purposes); the title is NOT underlined or italicized.
The authors' names (primary author first) and institutional affiliation are double-spaced from and centered below the title. When more than two authors, the names are separated by commas except for the last one which is separated from the previous name by the word "and".
ABSTRACT
Function: An abstract summarizes, in one paragraph (usually), the major aspects of the entire paper in the following prescribed sequence:
the question(s) you investigated (or purpose), (from Introduction)
the experimental design and methods used, (from Methods)
the major findings including key quantitative results, or trends (from Results)
a brief summary of your interpretations and conclusions. (from Discussion)
2. Style: The Abstract is ONLY text. Use the active voice when possible, but much of it may require passive constructions. Write your Abstract using concise, but complete, sentences, and get to the point quickly. Use past tense. Maximum length should be 200-300 words, usually in a single paragraph.
The Abstract SHOULD NOT contain:
lengthy background information,
references to other literature,
elliptical (i.e., ending with ...) or incomplete sentences,
abbreviations or terms that may be confusing to readers,
any sort of illustration, figure, or table, or references to them.
INTRODUCTION
1. Function: The function of the Introduction is to:
establish the context of the work being reported. This is accomplished by discussing the relevant primary research literature (with citations) and summarizing our current understanding of the problem you are investigating;
state the purpose of the work in the form of the hypothesis, question, or problem you investigated; and,
briefly explain your rationale and approach and, whenever possible, the possible outcomes your study can reveal.
2. Style: Use the active voice as much as possible. Some use of first person is okay, but do not overdo it. Organize the information to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the Introduction, then work toward the more specific topical information, finally arriving at your statement of purpose and rationale and, whenever possible, the possible outcomes your study can reveal.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
1. Function: In this section you explain clearly how you carried out your study in the following general structure and organization (details follow below):
where and with what the study was carried out (if location is important factors);
report the methodology (not details of each procedure that employed the same methodology);
the protocol for collecting data, i.e., how the experimental procedures were carried out. If well documented procedures were used, report the procedure by name, perhaps with reference, and that's all.
Style:
It is awkward or impossible to use active voice when documenting methods, which would focus the reader's attention on the investigator rather than the work. Therefore when writing up the methods most authors use third person passive voice.
Use normal prose in this and in every other section of the paper - avoid informal lists, and use complete sentences.
What to avoid
Materials and methods are not a set of instructions.
Omit all explanatory information and background - save it for the discussion.
Omit information that is irrelevant.
RESULTS
1. Function: The function of the Results section is to objectively present your key results, without interpretation, in an orderly and logical sequence using both illustrative materials (Tables and Figures) and text. Important negative results should be reported, too. Authors usually write the text of the results section based upon the sequence of Tables and Figures.
Things to consider as you write your Results section:
What are the key results? Key results depend on your questions, they might include obvious trends, important differences, similarities, correlations, maximums, minimums, etc.
Organize the results section based on the sequence of Table and Figures you'll include. Prepare the Tables and Figures as soon as all the data are analyzed and arrange them in the sequence that best presents your findings in a logical way.
Tables and Figures are assigned numbers separately and in the sequence that you will refer to them from the text.
The first Table you refer to is Table 1, the next Table 2 and so forth.
Similarly, the first Figure is Figure 1, the next Figure 2, etc.
Each Table or Figure must include a brief description of the results being presented and other necessary information in a legend.
Table legends go above the Table; tables are read from top to bottom.
Figure legends go below the figure; figures are usually viewed from bottom to top.
When referring to a Figure from the text, "Figure" is abbreviated as Fig.,e.g., Fig. 1. Table is never abbreviated, e.g., Table 1.
The text should guide the reader through your results stressing the key results. A major function of the text is to provide clarifying information. You must refer to each Table and/or Figure individually and in sequence, and clearly indicate for the reader the key results that each conveys.
2. Style: Write the text of the Results section concisely and objectively. The passive voice will likely dominate here, but use the active voice as much as possible. Use the past tense. Avoid repetitive paragraph structures. Do not interpret the data here. The transition into interpretive language can be a slippery slope.
What to avoid:
Do not reiterate each value from a Figure or Table - only the key result that each conveys.
Do not present the same data in both a Table and Figure - this is considered redundant and a waste of space and energy. Decide which format best shows the data and go with it.
each figure must be numbered consecutively and complete with caption
each table must be numbered consecutively and complete with heading
Table is never abbreviated, e.g., Table 1, whereas Figure is abbreviated as Fig.,e.g., Fig. 1.
DISCUSSION
1. Function: The function of the Discussion is to interpret your results in light of what was already known about the subject of the investigation, and to explain our new understanding of the problem after taking your results into consideration. The Discussion will always connect to the Introduction by way of the question(s) or hypotheses you posed and the literature you cited, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the Introduction. Instead, it tells how your study has moved us forward from the place you left us at the end of the Introduction.
Fundamental questions to answer here include:
Do your results provide answers to your testable hypotheses? If so, how do you interpret your findings?
Do your findings agree with what others have shown? If not, do they suggest an alternative explanation or perhaps a unseen design flaw in your experiment (or theirs?)
Given your conclusions, what is our new understanding of the problem you investigated and outlined in the Introduction?
If warranted, what would be the next step in your study, e.g., what experiments would you do next?
Style: Use the active voice whenever possible in this section. Watch out for wordy phrases; be concise and make your points clearly. Use of the first person is okay, but too much use of the first person may actually distract the reader from the main points.
What to avoid:
Do not introduce new results in the Discussion
CONCLUSION
To summarize what did you do in present work and conclusions you can draw from the studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (included as needed)
If, in your experiment, you received any significant help in thinking up, designing, or carrying out the work, or received materials from someone who did you a favor by supplying them, you must acknowledge their assistance and the service or material provided. Authors always acknowledge outside reviewers of their drafts and any sources of funding that supported the research. Although usual style requirements (e.g., 1st person, objectivity) are relaxed somewhat here, Acknowledgments are always brief and never flowery.
LITERATURE CITED
The Literature Cited section gives a listing of the references that you actually cited in the body of your paper.
NOTE: Do not label this section "Bibliography". A bibliography contains references that you may have read but have not specifically cited in the text. Bibliography sections are found in books and other literary writing, but not scientific journal-style papers.
APPENDICES
Function: An Appendix contains information that is non-essential to understanding of the paper, but may present information that further clarifies a point without burdening the body of the presentation. An appendix is an optional part of the paper, and is only rarely found in published papers.
Headings: Each Appendix should be identified by a Roman numeral in sequence, e.g., Appendix I, Appendix II, etc. Each appendix should contain different material.