Chad's Writing Guide

Planning
Before you even begin, ask yourself the question, Why should anyone care to
read past the title of my paper?
In order to write a good paper, you need to look carefully at what you want to
accomplish: what important message do you want readers to take away from the
paper? Once you have made that decision, it is easier to write with a tight focus.
The best way to write well is to put yourself in the place of a reader, and ask
what they most care about. Any general reader will want to know why the topic is
important otherwise, why should he or she devote any of their time to it? Next
they will need to know what problems or issues are important to the field. This will
set the stage for your own work, when you tell readers what you have done. Then
the paper should end with a clear description of how your work relates back to the
problems and issues you mentioned earlier. Have you solved any of the problems,
or has the mystery deepened? Or perhaps you have discovered something startling
or unexpected. Whatever you have achieved, it has to be placed firmly in the wider
context of the field, so that readers will get a clear sense of progress towards a goal.
Readers, reviewers, and you in 5 years are going to want to have some pithy
way of remembering that paper. what is the "main result"? what did you learn? if
answering this takes a long time, maybe you don't understand the subject well yet,
or maybe it's really 2 papers.

Next write an outline. seriously you need to do this. don't just sit down and start
writing stuff.

The best papers are those in which complex ideas are expressed in a way that
those less immersed in the field can understand.
Start writing the paper the day you have the idea of what questions to pursue
Decide early on where to try and publish the paper.
Get a sense of the novelty of the paper before it is written and decide where to
try and publish.

Chad's Writing Guide

Strategies to writing ambitious papers: (1) Pick a new problem, define it, be the
first to propose a solution. simple and concrete problem. (2) Try to explain
something significant that nobody has managed to explain. (3) Improve by an order
of magnitude what others have already done.

Before picking up a pen... (1) Decide what the message is, what point your
making. Most papers should only make a single point. (2) Why is the message
important? Why should reader take the time to read it? (3) How is this contribution
novel or different from what's already been said many times?

Chad's Writing Guide

Main text
Abstract
Set the scene, explain the background that will give the non-specialist reader
a context in which to understand the significance of the work, but fellow specialists
will also appreciate your telling them what you consider to be the relevant
questions in the field.
Sample: "Sources such as [y] are interesting/important because [provide an
explanation]. Particularly crucial to our physical understanding is a measurement/
calculation of [z], because that will tell us [b]. In the past, it has been difficult/
impossible to accomplish this, because [generally, equipment was inadequate].
Now we have measured/calculated [z] and find that it is/is not as expected. In the
light of this result, we can now determine that our understanding of the physical
processes underlying [b] is/is not complete. We have accordingly determined that
[relate your discussion back to why the source is interesting, to give your readers a
sense of progress towards a goal]."
In general people simply dont care where the data came from; what they want
to know is what the data mean for our broader physical understanding
Components of an abstract (each one sentence): (1) Motivation: Why do we
care about the problem and the results? (2) Problem statement: What problem is
the paper trying to solve and what is the scope of the work? (3) Approach: What
was done to solve the problem? (4) Results: What is the answer to the problem?
(5) Conclusions: What implications does the answer imply?
Writing an abstract (Nature guidelines):

Basic introduction to the field, comprehensible to a scientist in any discipline

(1-2 sentences)

More detailed background, comprehensible to scientists in related disciplines

(2-3 sentences)

General problem being addressed by this study (1 sentence)

Chad's Writing Guide

Summary of main results (1 sentence)

Explain what main result reveals in direct comparison to what was thought to
be the case previously, or how the main result adds to previous knowledge
(2-3 sentences)

Put results into a more general context (1-2 sentences)

Provide broader perspective, readily comprehensible to scientist in any

discipline (2-3 sentences)

In an abstract everything is subordinate to communicating what the paper is

about. Do not be afraid to spend a disproportionate amount of the abstract setting
up underlying ideas: comprehension is your aim. Imagine you are explaining your
work verbally to a colleague in three minutes. You should state what you did, how
you did it, and give your conclusions, but be sparing as to why; the Introduction is
the proper place to explain your motivations. Stress the single underlying theme of
the paper. Since the author's perspective is clearest after the paper has been
completed, that is when the abstract should be written. Do not bother with a
preliminary version; you should have begun writing the paper with a preliminary
draft of the Introduction.!
Kent Beck's 4 sentence abstract recipe: (1) State problem. (2) State why it's
interesting. (3) Say what your solution achieves. (4) Say what follows from your
solution.

Introduction
Guidelines: (1) Establish a territory (bring out the importance of the subject or
present overview of current research on the subject). (2) Establish a niche (oppose
an existing assumption, reveal a research gap, formulate a research question or
problem or continue a tradition). (3) Occupy the niche (sketch the intent of the own
work).
Even though the introduction is the first main section in a paper, many
researchers write or at least finish it very late in the paper writing process, as at
this point the paper structure is complete, the reporting has been done and
conclusions have been drawn.

Chad's Writing Guide

Use keywords from title in first sentence of introduction to focus the intro
Don't use specific, lengthy explanations--save it for the discussion
Don't need to say "hypothesis"
Write the intro backwards, starting with specific purpose and working towards
scientific context, then to the general information required at the beginning.
In the introduction, answer the following questions: (1) What is the problem?
(Describe the problem, summarize relevant research to give context, key terms,
concepts so reader can understand the experiment(s)). (2) Why is it important?
(review relevant research to provide rationale. What conflict or unanswered
question, untested pop, untried method does the experiments address? What
findings of others are you challenging?). (3) What solution (or step towards it) do
you propose?
Set the scene, explain the background. Useful for giving non-specialist reader
context, but specialist will also appreciate that you understand key issues or
questions in the field

More tips:

Go from general to specific (problem in real world/literature --> your

experiment)

Engage the reader (answer questions to What did you do? Why should I
care?)

Make clear the links between the problem and solution, question asked and
research design, prior research and your experiment.

More relevant an article is to your study, more space it deserves and later in
introduction it should appear

Methods
Include the hypotheses you tested

Chad's Writing Guide

Results
Highlight trends/differences you want readers to focus on by using leading or
suggestive words (pronounced effect, highest, etc.)

Discussion
Conclusions are not mandatory, and those that merely summarize the preceding
results and discussion are unnecessary
Concluding paragraphs should offer something new to the reader.
A good conclusion says things that become significant after the paper has been
read.
Five components: (1) Presentation of background information as well as
recapitulation of the re- search aims of the present study. (2) Brief summary of the
results, whereas the focus lies on discussing and not recapitulating the results. (3)
Comparison of results with previously published studies. (4) Conclusions or
hypotheses drawn from the results, with summary of evidence for each conclusion.
(5) Proposed follow-up research questions.
Organize in same sequence results are in
Discuss reasons for similarities and differences b/w yours and others' findings
Instead of saying "This work will open up new avenues of exploration in the
field" (this is the point of most novel research), offer specific problems that could be
addressed or new capabilities that might be enabled by your work.

Figures
To an expert reader, the information conveyed in a figure should be clear
without needing to consult the main text.
Arrange figures in logical order before writing results. Then, make notecards of
1-2 key results the figures illustrate. These are the points to address in the text of the
results
Figures and tables should be able to stand alone and should have a caption that

Chad's Writing Guide

enables them to be understood without having read the body of the paper.
Numbers are easier to compare reading down a column than across a row.
Place graphs side by side for easiest comparison.

Design rules:
Identify storyline and how each figure contributes to it. Ensure that each figure
serves well-defined purpose and is critical to overall story.
Establish key message for each figure. Each component in the figure should
contribute to the message.
Top-left corner allows viewer to enter the image easily. Scanning goes from
top-left to bottom-right. Put stuff along this path.
Use minimum of 70% contrast between foreground and background
Directly label points rather than having reader refer to legend
Minimize the ink:data ratio (Tufte)

Misc
If claims matter, they will be scrutinized, and if theyre not robustly supported by
the results, no amount of hyperbole will convince anyone editor, referee or
reader otherwise.
Questions that a research article should answer: (1) Which questions did you
ask? (2) Which experiments did you perform to answer them? (3) Which kinds of
data did you collect and how? and (4) What conclusions did you draw from the
data and what suggestions have you made for further research?

Write good papers

Other tips:

Chad's Writing Guide

Style
Prose
OConnor [6, p.97] states the following principles for solving problems of
writing style: (1) Be simple and concise. (2) Make sure the meaning of every word.
(3) Use verbs instead of abstract nouns. (4) Break up noun clusters and stacked
modifiers (that is, strings of adjectives and nouns, with no clue about which
modifies which).

Henre Gee: Look at the lengths of your sentences. If you can split them into
shorter sentences, do so. Dont use words or phrases in print that you wouldnt use
in conversation: write as you would speak. I find that if youve written something
and you think it doesnt make sense, speak it out loud. If it still seems like it doesnt
make sense, then it probably doesnt.

Story should underlie the structure of the whole paper

Explain don't hype
Obscure language won't make you sound more intelligent, it will only confuse
others, resulting in less impact of your work on the intended audience.
Use short sentences (< 15 words)

Punctuation guide
Comma
Join 2 independent clauses by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and,
but, or, for, nor, so).
Use to separate elements in a series. Include before the last item in a series
Use to separate nonessential elements from a sentence. More specifically, when
a sentence includes information that is not crucial to the message or intent of the

Chad's Writing Guide

sentence, enclose it in or separate it by commas.
Use between coordinate adjectives (adjectives that are equal and reversible).
Use after transitional element (however, therefore, nonetheless, also, otherwise,
finally, instead, thus, of course, above all, for example, in other words, as a result,
on the other hand, in conclusion, in addition)

Semicolon
Use to join 2 independent clauses when the second clause restates the first or
when the two clauses are of equal emphasis.
Use to join 2 independent clauses when the second clause begins with a
conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, moreover, furthermore, thus, meanwhile,
nonetheless, otherwise) or a transition (in fact, for example, that is, for instance, in
addition, in other words, on the other hand, even so).
Use to join elements of a series when individual items of the series already
include commas.

Colon
Use join 2 independent clauses when you wish to emphasize the second clause.
Use after an independent clause when it is followed by a list, a quotation,
appositive, or other idea directly related to the independent clause.

Parenthesis
Parentheses are used to emphasize content. They place more emphasis on the
enclosed content than commas.
Use parentheses to set off nonessential material, such as dates, clarifying
information, or sources, from a sentence.

Dash:

Chad's Writing Guide

Dashes are used to set off or emphasize the content enclosed within dashes or
the content that follows a dash. Dashes place more emphasis on this content than
parentheses.
Use to set off an appositive phrase that already includes commas. An appositive
is a word that adds explanatory or clarifying information to the noun that precedes
it.

Use the em-dash

Quotes
In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man
to whom the idea occurs first!-!Sir!Francis!Darwin
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, (s)he's one who asks
the right questions. - Claude Levi-Strauss

Structure
Section headings should make a point
Make papers easy to skim (meaningful section headers, bullet points, simple
figures)

10