Writing effective scientific research articles

Hina Khatri

Hoogenboom, Barbara. How to write a scientific article. The International Journal of Sports
Physical Therapy 7.5 (2012): 512-517. Web. 18 March 2015.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474301/pdf/ijspt-07-512.pdf
The ability to write accurate and informative scientific articles is one that develops with
practice. This article highlights the important aspects of any scientific article, including what
should be included and what should not be included. One of the main goals of any scientific
article is to present the information, whether it is about an experiment or case study, in a way that
even if the reader is not familiar with the topic, they will be able to understand the basic protocol
and results. As with any form of technical communication, proper spelling, grammar,
punctuation and word choice is encouraged and based on the audience. Also, plagiarism should
be avoided at all costs. The researcher should know that prior to writing their article, that if any
ideas are not theirs, they must cite the source of the idea. For this reason, a proper works cited
page should the included at the end of the paper.
The majority of scientific articles also make use of figures and graphs as visual aids.
These figures are used to display the results in a different way, many times dealing with
quantitative values. Photographs are a helpful tool as well, and should focus on the important
details of the picture while avoiding any extraneous background details. In general, the format of
scientific articles is in the following order: abstract, introduction/background information/review
of literature, methods, results, and discussion/conclusion. The abstract is usually written when
the entire paper is complete, but is placed at the very beginning of the paper just above the
introduction. It serves as a summary of the main protocol, findings and conclusions of the paper
so that the reader is able to determine whether this specific article is relevant to their search. The
introduction should include background information pertaining to past studies, the importance of
the topic being discussed, as well as the hypothesis made by the researchers. In scientific
research, formulating a hypothesis is one the steps of the scientific method. Literature review is
also important in order to provide relevant background information for the reader to understand
the experiment better. The main goal of the methods section of the article is emphasized in all
scientific fields: describe the protocol clearly enough that the audience would be able to replicate
the experiment. Some important details to include in this section are: population used for the
study, what equipment was used, protocol and general steps, how the outcomes were measured
and how data was analyzed. The last two sections, results and discussion/conclusion go hand-inhand. However, there should be a clear section stating only the results neutrally, with no
explanation or interpretation. The explanation portion is relevant in the discussion/conclusion
section, in which the researcher is able to interpret the results, state the significance of the
results, how it is similar or different to previous work that has been done, and whether the
hypothesis was supported, while at the same time only discussing ideas that are appropriate for
this particular article. There is no need to discuss other ideas, and the only new ideas that should
be introduced in this section are ideas for future possible experiments to be done in this line of
study.

Writing effective scientific research articles

Hina Khatri

The author of this article is a reliable source for information about writing scientific
articles because she has many published articles about research done on physical therapy
patients. As far as this article, she has properly cited other sources which provide ideas that were
not originally hers. For this reason, I believe this is a helpful resource for the guidelines of
scientific writing. This article outlined the important components of any scientific research
article for any branch of science including biology, chemistry and physics. One detail that I was
unaware of despite my previous experience with these types of articles was the information listed
in Table 1 of this article. There are specific details that must be included when stating the
purpose of the experiment, depending on the type of research that is being done. Although there
is some variation in the requirements for published works in specific journals, the majority of
articles are written in the format as described in this paper. Being a biology major who has taken
many biology labs, I know from first-hand experience that the key to writing an effective paper is
to make the audience understand what the experiment was about. The tips and guidelines in this
paper will help me in the future because research is done in many aspects of health care and
medical education. This is a skill that I have practiced since my freshman year as a biology
major, and have found is improving as the years go on. Although some students do not take many
science classes, it is helpful to know that there are resources such as this one that give guidelines.
Leung, Alexander. Writing a Medical Article: Guidelines for Prospective Authors. Can Fam
Physician 33.1 (1987): 2249-2252. Web. 18 March 2015.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2218563/pdf/canfamphys00188-0083.pdf
This article written by Alexander Leung focuses on the purpose and effects of scientific
writing. The main reason for writing is to share information with the outside world that could
help in further understanding of a certain aspect of science. Although Leung states that practice
makes perfect when it comes to effectively writing, there are different steps that the writer must
go through to ensure that their writing is becoming increasingly better. The first step is usually
writing a letter to an editor, followed by writing a case report or review articles. These are all
different types of technical communication that are relevant to the scientific field. The last step
would be to complete the actual research and report findings on that. If the main goal of the
article is to get published, it is crucial for the researcher to find the scientific journal that is most
appropriate for their topic. There are journals regarding different disciplines for medicine and
can range from local to international journals. There are also more prestigious journals compared
to others which are not as well-known. It is important for the researchers to determine where
their findings would be most beneficial because this has an impact on who the information is
accessible to.
The majority of scientific research is done by teams because the sheer amount of data
obtained would be a lot for one person to handle. For this reason, oftentimes there is a list of
authors just below the title of the article. However, it is also important to know which people
should be listed as authors and which should not. The participants who design the article,
interpret or analyze the data, draft or revise the article or give final approval of the version to be

Writing effective scientific research articles

Hina Khatri

published should all be included as authors, in addition to the actual researchers of the
experiment. It is important to acknowledge the work of a scientist or reviewer where appropriate.
It is common for the main researcher to gather a team that brings various experiences in the field
in order to create an effective experiment with accurate results. At the same time, it is vital that
the main researcher informs the others about what the guidelines are, the general purpose of the
experiment, and any deadlines in regards to the publication of the paper.
A literature review is the first step in developing the article. Appropriate and relevant
information should be obtained and copied so that the researcher is able to have it ready when it
is needed. Leung states that you can never have too many sources. Not only is it important to
find relevant sources, it is crucial for the researchers to know which information is needed and
which is not pertinent to the study. After the experiment has been done and sufficient background
information has been obtained, the first draft of the article should be written. This can include
spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors because the main goal of this draft is to state the facts
and organize the paper. After writing this draft, the researcher should go back and polish it by
correcting any mistakes, changing the order of information that is presented, and even cutting
and pasting the information to areas where it would be more relevant. The general format should
be as follows: introduction, patients and methods (how patients were selected and what was done
in the protocol), results (stating only the results with no interpretation), and the discussion (areas
of agreement/disagreement, references to previous works). The paper can also include an
acknowledgements section to recognize the hard work of others in developing this research and
article. The last section should include works cited in the article.
The author of this article is a reliable source based on his past experience writing
scientific articles and being a professor of pediatrics. He cites sources at the end of the article
which include ideas that are not his. This article focuses on medical articles specifically and what
steps should be taken with particular type of technical communication, a branch of scientific
writing. I believe this is a helpful guide for writers in the medical field, based on experience of
the writers. Not only does it only state what should be included in the medical article itself, it
explains how the research team is gathered and a topic is decided. Novice medical article writers
can use this as a guide to help them improve their writing, because as Leung stated, practice
makes perfect. Attending a graduate program next year in Physician Assistant Studies, I am
bound to perform and present research done in the medical field. Since I do not have any prior
experience with works being published because all of my scientific writing has been done in the
classroom setting, I know an article such as this one will be beneficial to me and my classmates.
It is important for a student of biology to have practice with writing a wide range of scientific
articles.