Research Paper Writing & Publishing: A Step-by-Step Guide for Biomedical Sciences

Research Paper Writing & Publishing

A Step-by-Step Guide for Biomedical Sciences

Author: Sam L. Shan, M.D., Ph.D.

Editor: Avery X. Shan, B.A.H. Linguistics, B.S. Biology 

Published by S&S Publications & Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2015 S&S Publications

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Preface

§1: Why I Wrote This Book

§2: Why You Should Publish Scientific Papers in English

§3: Language and Cultural Barriers in Scientific English Writing for Non-Native English-

Speaking Scientists

Chapter 2: Prewriting

§1: Getting Started

§2: Organization of an English Research Paper

§3: General Requirements for Scientific Writing

Chapter 3: Scientific Paper Writing

§1: Title: The Link between Your Work and Readers’ Interests

§2: Abstract: Important for Getting Reviewed

§3: Introduction: The Scope and Importance of Your Study

§4: Materials and Methods: Often Neglected but Frequently the Cause of Rejection

§5: Results: The Heart of Your Paper

§6: Discussion: The Most Difficult Section to Write

§7: Acknowledgements: Who and What Deserve to Be Acknowledged

§8: References: Valid and Invalid Sources

§9: Authorship: Who Deserves Authorship

Chapter 4: Paper Submission and Publication

§1: Choosing an Appropriate Journal: What to Consider

§2: Manuscript Submission

§3: Cover Letter: Why the Cover Letter is Important

§4: Following-Up on the Status of the Manuscript

§5: The Review Process and Responding to Reviewers’ Comments

§6: Rejection: Reasons and How to Deal with Rejection

Chapter 5: Uniform Requirements for Submission

§1: Plagiarism

§2: Duplicate and Redundant Publications

§3: Conflict of Interest

§4: Preliminary Reporting Before Being Published

§5: Competing Manuscripts on the Same Study

Chapter 6: Frequent Errors in Scientific Writing

§1: Numbers

§2: Tenses: Present vs. Past

§3: Voices: Active vs. Passive

§4: Word Choice

§5: Misspellings

References

Author’s Note

Chapter 1: Preface

§1: Why I Wrote This Book

There is no doubt that the most fundamental ingredient of a scientific paper is good science and that successful papers are those that present innovative research. However, the best papers are the ones that present the research work in a clear and logical way. In other words, a scientist should not only be a distinguished investigator, but also a professional scientific writer.

Poor writing may result in a significant delay of publication for even innovative findings. Unfortunately, instead of learning the art of scientific writing, many young scientists, especially those whose native langue is not English, simply blame their English proficiency for poor writing. It is true that English proficiency is essential for writing a good scientific paper, but unlike literary English, scientific English needs little ornamentation and does not have to be complex. The best scientific English is one that clearly expresses your idea in the fewest number of words. Journal editors always request authors to be as clear and concise as possible, since journal space is too precious to be wasted on verbosity. Therefore, I dedicate this book to helping young scientists understand and master the arts of scientific writing and publishing, thus facilitating the publication of their research work in peer-reviewed journals.

For that purpose, in this book I focused on the issues that young scientists often encounter. The book also has many unique features. First, a list is provided for quick references and easy memorization on What to write and What to avoid in writing a paper. Second, a series of examples with corresponding comments are presented to help reiterate the key points. Third, because the book describes the framework of a general research paper, mastery of its format will allow for easy adaptation to most journal specifications. And lastly, this book is written using easy-to-read English — simple words, simple sentences, and short paragraphs — so that non-native English-speaking scientists can enjoy the text.

I sincerely hope that this book will help you write and publish a scientific paper more effectively, efficiently, and enjoyably. I would also like to emphasize that this book is a guide to scientific paper writing and publishing, not a reference to English grammar. To improve your overall writing skills, you must practice, practice, and practice. In addition, I strongly recommend that you to pay meticulous attention to how native-English-speaking professional scientists express their research work and learn their writing styles and language use. I believe you will then see great improvements in your own scientific writing.

Suggestions and comments for making this book more useful are greatly appreciated at any time and from anywhere. Your success will be our greatest reward.

§2: Why You Should Publish Your Research Work

Having invested several months or even years in conducting research and having suffered from repeated failure and pain, you finally have excellent data in your hands. Congratulations! At this moment, you deserve to celebrate the success of your experiments and to share your happiness with your family, colleagues, and friends. At the same time, I have to remind you that the ultimate goal of scientific research is to publish, since that is how scientists communicate their results to the scientific community. No matter of how momentous your scientific breakthrough, nobody will know who you are, what you did, and what contributions you have made to scientific knowledge if your results are not published. Publication provides the most effective means of disseminating information to people worldwide. Furthermore, to reach a large and broad readership, you need to publish your work in English because the most important scientific journals to date are in English. Whether you become known or remain unknown in the scientific world will largely depend on your publications.

From a career standpoint, you stand little chance in winning fellowships, research grants, or a faculty job if you have no good publications. When you apply for a job or other positions, you are measured primarily not by your skills and knowledge, but by the number and quality of articles provided in your curriculum vitae or resume. Zero publication means that you have done nothing, since papers are the most important measure of your scientific achievement. Without good publications, you stand little chance in getting a job or a promotion.

§3: Language and Cultural Barriers in Scientific English Writing for Non-Native English-Speaking Scientists

Writing a good scientific paper in English is not easy for many scientists. Not surprisingly, it is much more difficult for non-native English-speaking scientists than for those whose native language is English, no matter how simple the actual experiment or concept is. This is true not only for non-native English-speaking scientists working in their home countries, but also for those