by reading How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper 5th Edition Robert A. Day
The Need for Clarity Successful scientific experimentation is the result of a clear mind attacking a clearly stated problem and producing clearly stated conclusions
There is little need for ornamentation. The flowery literary embellishments—the metaphors, the similes, the idiomatic expressions—are very likely to cause confusion and should seldom be used in writing research papers.
Receiving the Signals
Sound is more than "pressure waves," and indeed there can be no sound without a hearer. And, similarly, scientific communication is a two-way process. Just as a signal of any kind is useless unless it is perceived, a published scientific paper (signal) is useless unless it is both received and understood by its intended audience.
English need not be difficult. In scientific writing, we say: "The best English is that which gives the sense in the fewest short words" (a dictum printed for some years in the Instructions to Authors of the Journal of Bacteriology)
History of Scientific Writting
The first journals were published only 300 years ago, and the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) organization of scientific papers has developed within the past 100 years.
The Imrad Story
The early journals published papers that we call "descriptive." Typically, a scientist would report that "First, I saw this, and then I saw that" or "First, I did this, and then I did that." Often the observations were in simple chronological order.
Definition of a Scientific Paper
A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results. That short definition must be qualified, however, by noting that a scientific paper must be written in a certain way and it must be published in a certain way, as defined by three centuries of developing tradition, editorial practice, scientific ethics, and the interplay of printing and publishing procedures.
The Need for Clarity Successful scientific experimentation is the result of a clear mind attacking a clearly stated problem and producing clearly stated conclusions
There is little need for ornamentation. The flowery literary embellishments—the metaphors, the similes, the idiomatic expressions—are very likely to cause confusion and should seldom be used in writing research papers.
Receiving the Signals
Sound is more than "pressure waves," and indeed there can be no sound without a hearer. And, similarly, scientific communication is a two-way process. Just as a signal of any kind is useless unless it is perceived, a published scientific paper (signal) is useless unless it is both received and understood by its intended audience.
English need not be difficult. In scientific writing, we say: "The best English is that which gives the sense in the fewest short words" (a dictum printed for some years in the Instructions to Authors of the Journal of Bacteriology)
History of Scientific Writting
The first journals were published only 300 years ago, and the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) organization of scientific papers has developed within the past 100 years.
The Imrad Story
The early journals published papers that we call "descriptive." Typically, a scientist would report that "First, I saw this, and then I saw that" or "First, I did this, and then I did that." Often the observations were in simple chronological order.
Definition of a Scientific Paper
A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results. That short definition must be qualified, however, by noting that a scientific paper must be written in a certain way and it must be published in a certain way, as defined by three centuries of developing tradition, editorial practice, scientific ethics, and the interplay of printing and publishing procedures.
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