Wow. I know how it feels to sit down at your computer with a week or two to go from nothing to a full scientific paper or proposal. For me, the feeling of being completely overwhelmed to the point that I can’t make any progress is the most difficult thing to overcome. Taking those first few steps to set oneself up for success is crucial. To do this, you need to separate your paper writing into two steps: thinking and writing.
The thinking stage:
This needs to happen at the beginning (though it should come back when you’re getting reviews and advice from others).
Step 1: What’s your message?
The first thing to determine is what your main “story” is going to be. Every good paper should have one main thesis that the data can be used to enhance. This may seem obvious, but I have seen dozens of colleagues’ and coworkers’ papers that collect and present data on a certain topic but lose the main thesis of the paper along the way. First and foremost, come up with a thesis that sums up why you’re writing the paper and putting it into the world.
Step 2: Design the tables and figures and make them!
You collected tons of data! You analyzed it for months or years! So what now? Imagine a few key graphs, figures, or (if necessary) tables that will best express your main message.
If you have been giving presentations on your data before you were ready to write a paper, think about which visual representations of your data were easiest for your advisors/managers and colleagues to understand. Use this to guide you in making small improvements. Any other data needed to support the main message that experts will understand and need to replicate your study can be placed in detailed graphs and tables.
If you haven’t had to present your data in visual form before being tasked to write the paper, look to similar papers in your field and find the ones with the easiest-to-understand messages. Generally these have very clear figures, graphs, and tables.
A friend and collaborator, artist and designer Jenna Luecke, created a beautiful guide to design for scientists. This guide teaches you best practices for using things like color, font sizes, and emphasis to nail down your main messages using design. Access the free guide here:
https://cns.utexas.edu/communications/communications-tips/design-tips-for-scientists
You can see more of Jenna’s work on her Instagram at jennaluecke
Step 3: Put together an outline
Before writing my first scientific papers independently, I admit that I hadn’t written an outline since my high school teachers required it for English papers. I recall writing my first outlines in 4th grade when we studied the California gold rush and miraculously, something about the organization stuck deep in my mind all these years. Here’s how I still do it:
Thesis
I. Main topic to discuss in figure/table 1
a. Specific note on figure/table 1
b. Specific note on figure/table 1
c. Continue as needed.
II. Main topic to discuss in figure/table 2
a. Specific note on figure/table 2
b. Specific note on figure/table 2
c. Continue as needed.
Each roman numeral can be used as a section in the paper, but it’s not necessary to mark them separately. Each letter is the topic in a new paragraph.
Note that I did not include the abstract, introduction, materials/methods, or conclusions in the outline. These should be thought about later.
Step 4: Write the body
This is when you actually need to start forming sentences and paragraphs. The silver lining is that you already know what you want to say from the outline, so you don’t need to focus on ideas as much as you need to focus on crafting sentences that logically flow. Generally I try to separate the figure making, organizing, and actual writing as much as possible. I often spend a few days organizing and set myself up so I have a full morning to isolate myself for writing. That means no email, no phone, work from home/coffee shop. This allows me to get 1-3 pages written in a few hours a day.
Step 5: Start organizing your introduction
If you already have a very good grasp on the related literature in the field, YOU’RE SO LUCKY. For me, a literature search is the hardest part of writing an introduction in a new field. Let’s start with how to update an introduction if you already know the field fairly well and know the biggest papers and reviews.
Updating an introduction
Simply look at the most recent 10-20 papers and reviews in your field and take note of any papers that have cited these. Make a simple list of these most recent papers you’re not yet familiar with. Read their abstracts and cross off anything that’s not remotely relevant to your main message. Any paper that seems relevant, open it up, read the introduction and conclusion and skim through the figures. Take notes on the main message of this paper. If you’re interested later, make a note to read it. But, keep your eye on the prize (writing your own paper) and make sure not to get distracted. Move through the list of new papers as quickly as possible.
Writing an introduction in a field new to you
Look to the most recent papers of the main players in your field/topic. Read their introductions and make a list of all the papers they cite. Skim the papers’ abstracts, intros, conclusions, and figures and take a few notes on anything that relates to your current work. Start to identify “hub” papers. I define hub papers to be papers with huge impact (many citations, published in top journals, or reviews). Hub papers are amazingly useful for identifying new research in the field by seeing who has cited them recently. Look at all recent papers that have cited the hub papers and perform the same note-taking process as above.
Once you have a giant list of paper titles and notes, identify the most important papers on your list. Many journals have citation limits (i.e. up to 40 citations per paper), so choose these carefully. Group similar papers together so you can cite multiple papers after one sentence.
Build your introduction around your main message, integrating the citations you’ve flagged as important. Your 1-2 paragraphs should discuss why your research is important and how it relates to big world problems. Your next paragraphs should begin to discuss what problem you’re looking to solve with your work. The last paragraph of your intro should be your thesis: tell the readers in plain words what your main message is.
Step 6: Write your conclusion
I always love writing my conclusion because all the hard work has been done already. Generally, conclusions can be quite short. Summarize the main points (taken from the letters in your outline) and integrate them into your thesis.
Step 7: Write your title and abstract
If you haven’t already, create a title. I prefer to say exactly what the big finding of the work is in the title. In the year 2020, there are so many scientific papers that people cannot keep up with the literature like one could 50 years ago. This means that researchers are skimming titles more often than they skim abstracts, so putting the main message of what you learned or achieved is essential to put in the title.
As for the abstract, I am planning to write a more detailed post on this soon, but I will say that the body of the abstract can largely be modeled off of my post on how to write a conference abstract. Start your abstract with the “why” you did the study and “what” you learned. Keep things concise and hit the main points quickly, as abstracts are advertisements for people to open your paper and read it. Keep it punchy.
My own conclusions:
Writing papers is hard, but I find it really helpful to break it down into small and manageable steps. Try not to burn out on any one portion and get help from colleagues and mentors. Writing great papers takes practice!
Best of luck in writing!