Giovanna Danies

g-danies@uniandes.edu.co

How to write a research paper?

To consider before starting:

The first thing you need to know when you start a research project is that if you do not
publish your work, only you, your advisor, members of your research group, and some
friends will know the results of your work.

Part of our role as researchers is to contribute to the community on a particular topic.

Before starting, it is important to consider the following questions:

1. What is the research question I want to address with my work?
2. Why is this important?
3. What has already been done or is known on this topic?
4. What do I need to respond my research question?
5. What are the controls needed?
6. Do I have the resources and time to accomplish the proposed objectives?

Many times, our initial proposal does not reflect our final work. For example: 1) When
starting experimenting, we realize that we need additional analyzes; 2) We do not
obtain the expected results; 3) We did not have time to finish everything we had
proposed at the beginning, etc. All these factors are important. However, when writing
an article, the reader does not have to know what your initial proposal was, but needs
to read a story that makes sense. In other words, the order in which we present our
results does not necessarily correspond to the order in which the analyzes were carried
out.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things is to dissociate or discard the initial idea and
modify it according to the results that were obtained. Obtaining a negative result does
not mean that our work is not valid, but instead, it means that we need to rethink our
initial question in order to explain what we observed.

As a good exercise before starting your research project, search for reference articles
similar to what you are going to do. Think about which journals you would like to
publish your work. Read several articles in these journals in order to understand how
the authors organize their information and what things the editors of these journals are
looking for.

Start a library with your references in the reference management software of your
choice (For example: EndNote, Mendeley, etc.).

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 Giovanna Danies
g-danies@uniandes.edu.co

First step
(Before starting to work on your research project)

Before starting to work on your project, it is IMPORTANT to start reading and writing.

One of the most important sections of your article and perhaps the most difficult to write
is the Introduction.

*Paradigm: “In the introduction I will write everything I know and cite all papers I have read to
demonstrate that I have done a complete literature review”.

The simpler, clearer, and concise your Introduction is, the better. The introduction
will give the reader the information necessary to understand your story. It will also
determine if the reader continues reading your article. This section should explicitly
state the question you want to answer and why it is important.

The first paragraph should be the most general. Depending on the audience (the
journal you intend to submit your article to), it will talk about the system with which you
are working, the pathogen, or the plant. The following paragraphs should mention only
previous studies that the reader should know to understand what you did. Usually the
work you are doing is based on a previous study and this must be mentioned. In the
introduction, avoid mentioning anything that is unnecessary. Remember that you
(unconsciously or consciously) will want to write everything you know about the
subject. The challenge is to limit what you write.

The Introduction should mention why your work is important and should explicitly
mention the research question or research objectives.

**Important: Write short sentences with a clear idea. The grammar and syntax must be perfect.
NEVER write a sentence which the reader should go over more than once. Everything must be
read and understood perfectly. This is not easy, particularly for those who have worked on the
research project and have written the article. That is why it is very important that you ask other
people, who do not know your work or who know your research but have not read your article,
to read it and give you feedback. It is common that the researcher assumes things that are not
obvious at first sight for the reader.

***Recommendation: Write your introduction before you start running your experiments.

Writing your introduction before beginning your experiments, will help you understand
the motivations of your study. Furthermore, it will make you aware of what has been
done before and what is your contribution in your particular field of study.

**** Error: Never start a research project if your main reason for doing it is: "my advisor told me
to do it", "I'll try to see what happens", "it's easy "," I can not think of anything else ", etc. You, as
the main researcher, has to understand the importance of your study. You need preliminary
data that supports your hypotheses and you have to be convinced that what you are doing is
important.

When you finish your experiments and have analyzed your data, you may realize that
your initial question is different and that probably, the way the introduction was written,
tells a story different from the one you are going to present. NEVER settle for what you
originally wrote. Remember that the introduction is the first thing that the reader /
reviewer reads and therefore must reflect what is presented in your work. An article
must communicate a coherent story. If the Introduction leads the reader to an idea

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that will not be presented in the work, it will confuse the reader or perhaps suggest
additional experiments to the reviewer. This is because the reader already has certain
expectations. Always remember to explain the specific terms of your area. The
reviewers of your articles may be experts on the subject, or a master's or doctoral
student who is just beginning to work on the subject. Both the comments of the expert,
and those who are just beginning to become familiar with your research topic will be
taken into account by the editor of the journal.

General structure of the Introduction

First paragraph: Generalities
Second paragraph: Background
Third paragraph: Problematic
Fourth paragraph: Research question

The last paragraph of your introduction should explicitly mention your research
question or research objectives.

Second step
(Before starting to work on your research project)

Once you have reviewed the literature, have written your Introduction, and are clear
about the questions and/or objectives of your work, you should proceed to write the
Methodology that will be conducted.

*** Recommendation: Starting is always the most difficult part. To facilitate this, the simplest
strategy is to write an outline of your methodology. In the Word document where you are
working, write in bold the general subtitles of the activities you will be conducting.

Regardless of the work you are doing, one of the most important things to consider is
your experimental design. How will you carry out your sampling? How many samples
do you need? How many replicates will you do?

**Important: The experimental design is something that EVERY reviewer observes carefully. Be
sure to read articles that discuss topics similar to yours. Look at what your experimental design
should look like, what data should you collect, what statistical analyses should you perform, etc.
If you can cite the experimental design of an article that is already published, this will help you
justify why you are doing what you are doing. (Remember that you must be very clear why the
methodology that others did applies to your work. It is important that you make the necessary
modifications to adapt the design to your specific case). If you are making a totally new design,
be sure to justify it very well.

***Recommendation: Once again, do not start without first sitting down and understanding why
your experimental design is the best for what you are proposing to do. It is not a valid answer to
respond: "my advisor told me to do it like this". Make sure you understand the strengths and
limitations of your study.

The methodology must be written in such a way that if someone wants to reproduce
your experiments, s(he) can do so. Cite everything that has already been done in
previous articles (be sure to cite the original source).

The first sentence of each section of the methodology should explain why you will be
doing the activity you are describing.

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Use tables or figures when you consider it necessary. Make a flow diagram if it makes
it easier to visualize the experimental design.

Third step
(Before starting to work on your research project)

Think about how you want to present your results. What information should go in
Tables and what should be Figures? Remember that the figures need to be in high
resolution and should include an adequate font size so that it is possible to read them
without difficulty.

Before starting to collect your data, determine in which statistical program you are
going to analyze them. Each program has a specific format to read the data. If you
know this before you start it will make your life much easier!

** Important: Remember that figure and table should be self-explanatory. Make sure the
legends allow people to understand them without having to read the paper.

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Fourth step
(Once you have began collecting data or experimenting)

Update the methodology as you begin collecting your data. Observe your data very
well and make descriptive statistics while collecting it. Do not leave this for the end. Ask
yourself if your data makes sense, if you have to make any modification in the
methodology, and if you have the appropriate controls.

Design your figures, take pictures, document everything!

** Important: Be sure to modify the order in which you present the methodology so that it makes
sense to the reader. Ask your self: If I were to repeat the whole methodology again, how would I
do it? REMEMBER that in most cases what you propose to do is not exactly what you end up
doing.

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 Giovanna Danies
g-danies@uniandes.edu.co

Fifth step
(Once your data collection or experimentation has been completed)

Write your Results in the same order in which you wrote the Methodology. Start with
writing the same subtitles you wrote in the Methodology.

** Important: In the Results section, limit yourself to writing only what you observed or found
without making a deep analysis of your findings. The analysis should be written in the
discussion. Remember that this is the place to present all the observations and statistical
analyzes carried out. Look closely at your data and take advantage of it by doing an in-depth
analysis of them.

Once you have finished writing your results, you can change the subtitles and replace
them for the result itself. Remember that the Results section should not include
references.

Sixth step
(Once your data collection or experimentation has been completed)

Discuss your results. This is the place where you can connect different results to reach
certain conclusions. Cite publications that support your findings.

The first paragraph should answer the question you wrote in the Introduction. In other
words, the first paragraph of the discussion should answer what you wrote in the last
paragraph of the introduction. Your most important finding should be written here.

End your Discussion by proposing which experiments or questions should follow your
research.

***Recommendation: Keep the same order in which you presented the Results

Seventh step
(Once your data collection or experimentation has been completed)

Write the Abstract of your article! This is one of the most important sections of your
manuscript. It is the letter of presentation of your work. In many cases this will
determine whether or not someone downloads and continues reading your article.

STRUCTURE:
• Two introductory sentences
• Statement of the problem
• Question you want to answer with your research
• Brief description of the methodology you followed
• Most important results
• A final concluding sentence

Eighth step
(Once your data collection or experimentation has been completed)

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Write the Title of your article.

This should be concise, should not include any acronyms, and should ideally mention
the main result of your work.

Ninth step
(Once your data collection or experimentation has been completed)

If necessary, modify your introduction so that your "story" follows a coherent thread.
Make sure the question you wrote is answered by the results obtained. Verify that you
only have the information necessary for the reader to understand your work.

Tenth step
(FINAL)

Read your manuscript carefully. Make sure to avoid grammar errors. Submit your
manuscript through a plagiarism detection program. Ask at least two people to read
your paper and review writing, syntax, and consistency.

Links of interest
http://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-
14053993/118519636#bookContentViewAreaDivID