Core Biology Home | Course Supplements | Schedules | Study Guides | Biology Links | Delta College | Biology Department

Guide To Scientific Papers

Introduction:

In science, writing is the most important means of communicating research findings. Major scientific findings are never kept secret. Instead, scientists share their ideas and results with other scientists, encouraging critical review and alternate interpretations from colleagues and the entire scientific community. Scientists report their findings in scientific journals in a standard scientific paper format.

Scientific papers include the following sections: These should exist as distinct sections of the paper identified by sub-headings.
1. Title - should communicate the hypothesis or the problem being investigated. Must be as specific as possible; stay away from using vague titles.
2. Abstract - Placed at the beginning of the paper. It summarizes the question being investigated, the methods used, the results, and the principle conclusions. Written in the past tense and must be 250 words or less. Hint: compose this last!!
3. Introduction - Functions: (1) to provide context, or background info, about the question being investigated. This will allow the reader to understand the objective of the study and the significance of the problem; (2) to state the question asked and the hypothesis tested in the investigation. Also, briefly describe the expected outcome. Write in the past tense when referring to your experiment.
4. Materials and Methods - This section describes your experiment in such a way that it can be repeated exactly. Warning: this should be a description, not a list of steps. Write in the past tense.
5. Results - Three components (1) one or more paragraphs that describe the results; (2) figures (graphs, tables, and pictures); and (3) tables. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MEANING OF YOUR RESULTS IN THIS SECTION.
6. Discussion - Analyze and interpret the results of your experiment. DO NOT USE THE WORD PROVE IN YOUR CONCLUSIONS. Results will support, or will not support your hypothesis. Here are some "fool" proof steps to a good discussion: (1) restate your question, hypothesis, and prediction; (2) answer the question; (3) state whether your results did or did not confirm your prediction and support or negate your hypothesis; (4) State significance of your results (if any!); (5) List weaknesses of your experimental design; how have these screwed your results up? (6) List any problems that arose during the experiment; state how these may have affected your experiment.
7. Reference cited page - list all references that you used during your experiment and your paper.

*modified from Morgan and Carter: Investigating Biology 2ed - Appendix A.

Guide For Reference Cited Page

Name and Year System - (Harvard System)
Rules:
I. Citations w/in the text of the paper.
In any case, one may choose to cite the author(s) w/in a given sentence or one may choose to place the citation at the end of the sentence.

Example
In any case, according to Bender (1998), one may choose to cite the author(s) w/in a given sentence or one may choose to place the citation at the end of the sentence.
OR
In any case, one may choose to cite the author(s) w/in a given sentence or one may choose to place the citation at the end of the sentence (Bender, 1998).

A. From a paper w/ only one author -
Smith (1997) said blah blah blah............ or at the end ..................... (Smith, 1997).
B. 2 authors -
1. Smith and Jones (1997) said ................... or again at the end blah blah blah ... (Smith and Jones, 1997).

2. If 2 or more Smith and Jones,

for the 1st publication
Smith and Jones (1997a) said ................ .

for the second publication,
Smith and Jones (1997b) said ...............

C. If the publication has more than 2 authors,
use the et al. rule

1. for a publication w/ 3 authors,
the first time you cite the paper, state all three authors
Smith, Jones, and McGillicuddy (1990)

the next time you cite the same paper,
use Smith et al. (1990)

2. For a publication w/ 4 authors,
use et al. even for the first time you cite the paper.

II. Reference Cited section - according to Name and Year System:
REFERENCE CITED
Day, R.A. 1994. How to write and publish a scienfific paper. 4th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Huth, E.J. 1986. Guidelines on authorship of medical papers. Ann. Intern. Med. 104:269-274.

Sproul, J., H. Klaaren, and F. Mannarino. 1993. Surgical treatment of Freiberg's infraction in athletes. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:381-384.

 Core Biology Home | Course Supplements | Schedules | Study Guides | Biology Links | Delta College | Biology Department