Scientific paper structure[推荐]

第一篇：Scientific paper structure[推荐]

why a scientific format?the scientific format may seem confusing for the beginning science writer due to its rigid structure which is so different from writing in the humanities.one reason for using this format is that it is a means of efficiently communicating scientific findings to the broad community of scientists in a uniform manner.another reason, perhaps more important than the first, is that this format allows the paper to be read at several different levels.for example, many people skim titles to find out what information is available on a subject.others may read only titles and abstracts.those wanting to go deeper may look at the tables and figures in the results, and so on.the take home point here is that the scientific format helps to insure that at whatever level a person reads your paper(beyond title skimming), they will likely get the key results and conclusions.top of pagethe sections of the papermost journal-style scientific papers are subdivided into the following sections: title, authors and affiliation, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, and literature cited, which parallel the experimental process.this is the system we will use.this website describes the style, content, and format associated with each section.the sections appear in a journal style paper in the following prescribed order:experimental process section of paper what did i do in a nutshell? abstract what is the problem? introduction 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 i refer to? literature cited extra information appendices(optional)section headings: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 double spaced from the lines above and below.do not underline the section heading or put a colon at the end.example of a main section heading:introductionsubheadings: when your paper reports on more than one experiment, use subheadings to help organize the presentation.subheadings should be capitalized(first letter in each word), left justified, and either bold italics or underlined.example of a subheading:effects of light intensity on the rate of electron transporttop of pagetitle, authors' names, and institutional affiliations1.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: the molecule studied, the organism used or studied, the treatment, the location of a field site, the response measured, etc.a majority of readers will find your paper via electronic database searches and those search engines key on words found in the title.2.title faqs3.format:the title should be centered at the top of page 1(do not use a title pagebouldertop of pagethe title is not a section, but it is necessary and important.the title should be short and unambiguous, yet be an adequate description of the work.a general rule-of-thumb is that the title should contain the key words describing the work presented.remember that the title becomes the basis for most on-line computer searchesthe broadest part at the top representing the most general information and focusing down to the specific problem you studied.organize the information to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow toward the more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your statement of purpose and rationale.a good way to get on track is to sketch out the introduction backwards;start with the specific purpose and then decide what is the scientific context in which you are asking the question your study addresses.once the scientific context is decided, then you'll have a good sense of what level and type of general information with which the introduction should begin.here is the information should flow in your introduction:begin your introduction by clearly identifying the subject area of interest.do this by using key words from your title in the first few sentences of the introduction to get it focused directly on topic at the appropriate level.this insures that you get to the primary subject matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too general.for example, in the mouse behavior paper, the words hormones and behavior would likely appear within the first one or two sentences of the introduction.top of pageestablish the context by providing a brief and balanced review of the pertinent published literature that is available on the subject.the key is to summarize(for the reader)what we knew about the specific problem before you did your experiments or studies.this is accomplished with a general review of the primary research literature(with citations)but should not include very specific, lengthy explanations that you will probably discuss in greater detail later in the discussion.the judgment of what is general or specific is difficult at first, but with practice and reading of the scientific literature you will develop e firmer sense of your audience.in the mouse behavior paper, for example, you would begin the introduction at the level of mating behavior in general, then quickly focus to mouse mating behaviors and then hormonal regulation of behavior.lead the reader to your statement of purpose/hypothesis by focusing your literature review from the more general context(the big picture e.g., hormonal modulation of behaviors)to the more specific topic of interest to you(e.g., role/effects of reproductive hormones, especially estrogen, in modulating specific sexual behaviors of mice.)top of pagewhat literature should you look for in your review of what we know about the problem? focus your efforts on the primary research journalsan index which is useful for tracking a line of inquiry forward in time.some of the newer search engines will actually send you alerts of new papers that cite particular articles of interest to you.review articles are particularly useful because they summarize all the research done on a narrow subject area over a brief period of time(a year to a few years in most cases).top of pagebe sure to clearly state the purpose and /or hypothesis that you investigated.when you are first learning to write in this format it is okay, and actually preferable, to use a pat statement like, “the purpose of this study was to....” or “we investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the...(1)blah, blah..(2)etc.it is most usual to place the statement of purpose near the end of the introduction, often as the topic sentence of the final paragraph.it is not necessary(or even desirable)to use the words ”hypothesis“ or ”null hypothesis“, since these are usually implicit if you clearly state your purpose and expectations.top of pageprovide a clear statement of the rationale for your approach to the problem studied.for example: state briefly how you approached the problem(e.g., you studied oxidative respiration pathways in isolated mitochondria of cauliflower).this will usually follow your statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the introduction.why did you choose this kind of experiment or experimental design? what are the scientific merits of this particular model system? what advantages does it confer in answering the particular question you are posing? do not discuss here the actual techniques or protocols used in your study(this will be done in the materials and methods);your readers will be quite familiar with the usual techniques and approaches used in your field.if you are using a novel(new, revolutionary, never used before)technique or methodology, the merits of the new technique/method versus the previously used methods should be presented in the introduction.top of pagematerials and methodsthis section is variously called methods or methods and materials.1.function: in this section you explain clearly how you carried out your study in the following general structure and organization(details follow below):the subjects used(plant, animal, human, etc.)and their pre-experiment handling and care, and when and where the study was carried out(if location and time are important factors);if a field study, a description of the study site, including the physical and biological features, and precise location;the experimental or sampling design(i.e., how the experiment or study was structured.for example, controls, treatments, the variable measured, how many samples were collected, replication, etc.);the protocol for collecting data, i.e., how the experimental procedures were carried out, and, how the data were analyzed(statistical procedures used).organize your presentation so your reader will understand the logical flow of the experiment;subheadings work well for this purpose.each experiment or procedure should be presented as a unit, even if it was broken up over time.in general, provide enough quantitative detail(how much, how long, when, etc.)about your experimental protocol such that other scientists could reproduce your experiments.you should also indicate the statistical procedures used to analyze your results, including the probability level at which you determined significance(usually at 0.05 probability).2.style: the style in this section should read as if you were verbally describing the conduct of the experiment.you may use the active voice to a certain extent, although this section requires more use of third person, passive constructions than others.avoid use of the first person in this section.remember to use the past tense throughout.the methods section is not a step-by-step, directive, protocol as you might see in your lab manual.3.strategy for writing the methods section.4.methods faqs.top of pagedescribe the organism used in the study.this includes giving the source(supplier or where and how collected), size, how they were handled before the experiment, what they were fed, etc.in genetics studies include the strains or genetic stocks used.describe the site where your field study was conducted.the description must include both physical and biological characteristics of the site pertinant to the study aims.include the date of the study(e.g., 10-15 april 1994)and the exact location of the study area.location data must be as precise as possible: ”grover nature preserve, ? mi sw grover, maine“ rather than ”grover nature preserve“ or ”grover".when possible, give the actual latitude and longitude position of the site(the www.xiexiebang.com范文网[CHAZIDIAN.COM]