Career skills & technical writing BIOC492

Career skills & technical writing BIOC492

Dr. Ashwag Albukhari

Assistant Professor

Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, KAU Website: aalbukhari.kau.edu.sa

Email: aalbukhari@kau.edu.sa

3. The Discussion

Important Issues ..

q Structure of the discussion à Follow the journal regulations q Relate it to the paper’s Title

q Relate it to the Introduction q Relate it to previous findings

q Include ..

ü Limitations of the study ü Implications of the study

ü Recommendation for future research/ applications

Important Questions ..

• Did the study confirm/deny the hypothesis?

• If not, did the results provide an alternative hypothesis?

• What interpretations can be made?

• Do results agree with other research? Sources of error?

• What are the suggestions for improvement and future

research?

What to be included (Checklist)..

1. A reference to the main purpose or hypothesis of the study, or a summary of the main activity of the study.

2. A restatement or review of the most important findings, generally in order of their significance, including:

• whether they support the original hypothesis, or how they contribute to the main activity of the study, to answering the research questions, or to meeting the research objectives

• whether they agree with the findings of other researchers.

3. Explanations for the findings, supported by references to relevant literature, and/or speculations about the findings, also supported by literature citation 4. Limitations of the study that restrict the extent to which the findings can be

generalized beyond the study conditions.

5. Implications of the study (generalizations from the results: what the results mean in the context of the broader field).

6. Recommendations for future research and/or practical applications.

Common Mistakes ..

• Discussing new results

• Broad statements

• Incorrectly discussing inconclusive results

• Ambiguous data sources

• Missing information

4. The Title

A label suitable for indexing by Abstracting /Indexing services.

Importance .. Read by thousand of people including the editor, referees and others

Rule .. Fewest possible words that adequately describe the content of the paper (usually less than 20 words) q Not too short : need to be specific (not general)

q Not too long : not an abstract

Strategy 1:

Provide as much relevant information as possible, but be concise

Strategy 2:

Use keywords prominently Strategy 3:

Choose strategically: noun phrase, statement, or question?

Strategy 4:

Avoid ambiguity in noun phrases

Strategies in Writing the Title:

Notes ..

5. Authors List

• Main Author (1

^st

): First author will be used when article is cited

• Middle Author (2

^nd

, 3

^rd

…): All must be contributed in the work

• Group leader: The last Author

• Corresponding author: Contact the journals and replay

to questions

6. Affiliations

q This is basically the institution(s) one would put under one’s name in a publication

q An institution that pays the authors for their work

q Examples: University, Department or Research Centre

Examples

7. The Abstract

It is a Summary of Manuscript (200-300 Words) Goal of the abstract:

a) Allows the reader to decide to read the paper or not.

b) States principal objectives (aims) and scope.

c) Describes the methodology employed.

d) Summarizes the results.

e) States the principal conclusions.

Important Note: In any paper/manuscript you can find ü Aims in 3 different places : Abstract, Introduction and

Discussion

ü Conclusions in 2 different places : Abstract and Discussion

Notes ..

• Once convincing .. Readers will read the whole paper

• Limited access to whole paper

• A summary of the paper

Styles of the Abstract ..

Structured non-structured

Common Mistakes ..

• Too much background or methods information

• Figures or images

• References to other literature, figures or images

• Abbreviations or acronyms

8. The Materials and Methods

Purpose of the M & M Section ..

• Is it written to give others the chance to repeat the work ??

• Could be used to establish the credibility for the results ??

• It is generally accepted to refer to previously published

method (citation) .. Highlight changes (if there is any) ..

Organization of the M & M Section ..

ü Start with Materials

ü Use identical or similar orders of methods and results ü Use introductory phrases that relate to the aim

e.g. (To prepare tumour samples for sequencing, ……… )

ü Usually scientists use passive voice rather than active

ü Avoid repetition of the words (Be Precise)

Organization of the M & M Section ..

Provides all the experiment information and the instruction on exactly how to repeat experiment subjects including:

ü Sample preparation techniques ü Sample origins

ü Data collection protocol ü Data analysis techniques

ü Any computer programs used

ü Description of equipment and its use

Common Mistakes ..

• Too little information about the experiment techniques or methods

• Information from Introduction

• Results/ sources of error reported

Examples ..

Examples ..

Journal "Volume"

Refers to the number of years the publication has been circulated

"Issue"

refers to how many times that periodical has been published during that year.

Example: the April 2011 publication of a monthly magazine first published in 2002 would be listed as, "Volume 10, Issue 4.”

Digital object identifier (DOI)

A unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the

International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet. The publisher assigns a DOI when your article is published and made available electronically.

Terms ..

Impact Factor:

The Journal Impact Factor for a given year is the average number of times articles published in the journal in the two previous years have been cited in that year. This index provides a measure of the average recent use of articles in a given journal. It is calculated using the following formula.

Immediacy Index

The number of citations to articles in the year with respect to the number of articles published in that year, giving a measure of how rapidly the average article in a given journal is used

Examples: number of times articles published in 2003 (by a journal) that were cited in 2003 divided by number of articles that were published in 2003 (by the journal)

Journal Impact ..

Where to find articles?

1. Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) 2. PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) 3. ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/)

How to search ??

•

Quick vs. Advanced

•

Key words

•

Author name(s)

•

Year of publication

•

Journal, Book , etc.

Note:

some articles are available (open access) while others require

subscription (personal, institutional).

References ..

• Cargill, M. & O’connor, P.(2009). Writing Scientific Research articles:

Strategy and Steps (1^st ed.). Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK. (ISBN-978-1- 40519335-1)

• Knight, K.L., Ingersoll, C.D., (1996) Structure of a Scholarly Manuscript: 66 Tips for What Goes Where. Journal of Athletic Training 31 (3): 201-206.

• My Personal Experience ++