Writing Scientific Research
Dr. Zainab Saigl
❖ Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry, KAU
❖ Member of Academic Accreditation
❖ Certified Trainer from the British Masters Academy
Outline
- What is the Scientific Writing?
- Types of Scientific Writing
- Characteristics of Scientific Writing
- Essential Parts of a Scientific Research - Writing a Scientific Research
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What is the Scientific Writing?
- Scientific writing is a formal style of writing used in universities and scholarly publications. You’ll encounter it in journal articles and books on Scientific topics, and you’ll be expected to write your essays, research papers, and dissertation in Scientific style.
- It follows the same writing process as other types of texts, but it has specific standards in terms of content, structure and style.
Types of Scientific Writing
Essay Research paper Thesis/Dissertation
Research proposal Literature Review Lab Report
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Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
•Formal and unbiased
•Clear and precise
•Focused and well structured
•Well sourced
•Correct and consistent
Scientific writing is:
• Personal
• Long-winded
Scientific writing is
Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Formal and unbiased
Avoid informal language, including slang, contractions, and conversational phrases:
• Also, a lot of the f indings are a little unreliable.
• Moreover, many of the f indings are somew hat unreliable.
• Exam ple of contractions: (Can’t – Cannot) and (W on’t – W ill not)
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Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Clear and precise
It’s important to use clear and precise language to ensure that your reader knows exactly what you mean. This means being as specific as possible and avoiding vague language:
• People have been interested in this thing f or a long time.
• Researchers have been interested in this phenomenon f or at least 10 years.
Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Formal and unbiased
Avoid enclose your claims with words like “perhaps,” as this can give the impression that you lack confidence in your arguments. Reflect on your word choice to ensure it accurately and directly conveys your meaning:
• This could perhaps suggest that…
• This suggests that…
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Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Focused and well structured.
- A scientific text is not just a collection of ideas about a topic—it needs to have a clear purpose.
- A coherent structure is crucial to organize your ideas. Pay attention to structure at three levels: the structure of the whole text, paragraph
structure, and sentence structure.
Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
10 Overall
Paragraph
Sentence -Always include an introduction
and a conclusion.
-Divide longer texts into chapters or sections with clear headings.
-Make sure information is presented in a logical order.
-Start a new paragraph when you move onto a new idea.
-Use topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph and make clear transitions between paragraphs.
-Make sure every paragraph is relevant to your argument or question.
-Use transition words to express the connections between different ideas within and between sentences.
-Use appropriate punctuation to avoid
sentence fragments or run-on sentences. Z . S a i g l ( 2 0 2 3 )
Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Well Sourced
- Sources are texts that the author analyzes or uses as evidence.
- Scientific writing is collaborative and builds on previous research.
- It’s important to consider which sources are credible and appropriate to use in Scientific writing.
- You must always cite your sources in Scientific writing.
Characteristics of Scientific Writing?
Scientific writing is..
Correct and consistent
- How to write numbers - Introducing abbreviations
- Using verb tenses in different sections - Capitalization of terms and headings
- Spelling and punctuation differences between UK and US English
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Essential Parts of a Scientific paper
◼ Title: Describe concisely the core contents of the paper
◼ Abstract: Summarize the major elements of the paper
◼ Introduction: provide context and rationale for the study
◼ Materials: Describe the experimental design so it is reproducible
◼ Methods: Describe the experimental procedures
◼ Results: Summarize the findings without interpretation
◼ Discussion: Interpret the findings of the study
◼ Conclusion: Summarize the findings
◼ Acknowledgement: Give credit to those who helped you
◼ References: List all scientific papers, books and websites that you cited
✓ Titles should neither be too short nor too long as to be meaningless .
✓ It should contain the keywords that reflect the contents of the paper.
✓ It should be concise, specific and informative
✓ It should capture the fundamental nature of the experiments and findings.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Title
Examples:
1. Action of Antibiotics on Bacteria - Action: should be defined - Antibiotics: should be listed - Bacteria: should be listed
Writing a Scientific paper
Title
Examples:
3. Retention behavior of chromium (VI) from water using tetrazolium
chloride-Ag nanoparticles chemically treated polyurethane foam sorbent.
4. Sorption behavior of selected chlorophenols onto polyurethane foam treated with iron (III): kinetics and thermodynamic study.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Title
Writing a Scientific paper
Title
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Writing a Scientific paper Abstract
Discussion Results
Method Objective
Writing a Scientific paper
• The last section to be written.
• It should not exceed 250 words
• It should be written in one paragraph.
• It should be written in the past tense as it refers to work done.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Abstract
Writing a Scientific paper
Abstract
• Long words should be followed by its abbreviation.
• It should not cite any references.
• It should never give any information or conclusion that is not stated in the paper
• Must be accurate with respect to figures quoted in the main text.
-Why is this study of scientific interest and what is your objective?
-This section discusses the results and conclusions of previously published studies.
-The Introduction is organized to move from general information to specific information.
- Limit the introduction to studies that relate directly to the present study.
- Emphasize your specific contribution to the topic.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Introduction
-The last sentences of the introduction should be a statement of objectives and a statement of hypotheses.
-This will be a good transition to the next section, Methods, in
which you will explain how you proceeded to meet your objectives and test your hypotheses.
Writing a Scientific paper
Introduction
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Writing a Scientific paper
-It is important to cite sources in the introduction section of your paper as evidence of the claims you are making.
-Note that articles by one or two authors are always cited in the text using their last names.
It is acceptable, and encouraged, to cite more than one source for a particular statement.
Writing a Scientific paper
Introduction
- This section provides all the methodological details necessary for another scientist to duplicate your work.
- It should be a narrative of the steps you took in your experiment or study, not a list of instructions
- Should include subheadings
- Write clearly enough to be understood by nontechnical reader and be replicated.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Methodology
Methodology
• Do not mix some of the Results in this section.
• This part of the manuscript must be clear, precise and concise so that it can be reproducible.
• Questions such as “how ” or “how much” must be answered and not left to be puzzled over.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Methodology
Methodology
Writing a Scientific paper
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Writing a Scientific paper
Methodology
Novel Methods • All details must be provided
Previously published method
• Only the reference should be given with some identification
Example
“Cells were broken by ultrasonic treatment as previously described by …”.
“Cells were broken as previously described by …. “
❖ Evidence does not explain itself.
❖ The Discussion section inverts the format of the introduction.
❖ Any problems or shortcomings encountered during the course of the work should also be discussed.
Writing a Scientific paper
Results and Discussion
Some of common pitfalls are:
❖ Lack of organization.
❖ Presenting results that are never discussed.
❖ Presenting discussion that does not relate to any of the results.
❖ Presenting results and discussion in chronological order rather than logical order.
❖ Ignoring results that support the conclusions.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Results and Discussion
❖ Should be more than a summary.
❖ Should be reader-focused.
❖ Allow for opportunistic reading.
❖ Not repeat the arguments made in the results and discussion.
❖ Provide a future perspective on the work.
Writing a Scientific paper
Conclusion
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Writing a Scientific paper
Conclusion
Some of common pitfalls are:
❖ Repeating the abstract .
❖ Repeating background information from the introduction.
❖ Introducing new evidence or new arguments not found in the results and discussion.
❖ Repeating the arguments made in the results and discussion
❖
Writing a Scientific paper
Conclusion
❖ Referencing is a standardize way of acknowledging the sources of information and ideas that you have used in your document.
❖ A list of all the references used in the text must be written.
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Writing a Scientific paper
Referencing
Writing a Scientific paper
Editing and Proofreading
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References
1. How to write a scientific paper, Dr. Srinivasaragavan, DLIS, BDU.
2. Writing good scientific papers, MPIP, Mainz (2016).
3. Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Harvey A. Andrus Library.
4. What is Academic Writing — Everything You Need To Know, Kanu Priya (2021).
5. How to Write a Scientific Paper, David T. Felson, Clinical Epidemiology Research and Training Unit, Boston University Medical Center.
6. Robert Day: How to write and publish a scientific paper. 4th Edition, Cambridge University Press (1995).
7. University of Queensland (2009).
