A Recommended Book for Writing Scientific Papers

Writing scientific papers can be a daunting task. After taking months to design your experiment, conduct your experiment and analyze your results you must then present your findings. For many researchers, the act of writing about one’s work in a scientific manner and knowing where and how to present your work can hamper even the most confident of writers. The book How to Write and Publish a Scientific Research Paper: a Guide to Beginning Investigators (2014) by Dr. Luz Claudio offers the essential information to finish your paper. 

New researchers seem to face this frightening task alone. In some cases they may have worked as understudies , or co-researchers, with other principle investigators and have learned the hard way. Other times they may be part of a university that conducts research but have not satisfied their full training needs. In either case, having a book that can not only refresh your memory but also gives you the specifics you will need to know to accomplish your writing goal. 

The beautiful thing about this book is that it is not filled with technical language and is easy to comprehend. A relatively short read that focuses on the essentials to getting your papers completed. It will discuss the nature of scientific papers, reviewing literature, developing outlines, writing each of the sections, submitting papers and responding to requests for revision. 

Submitting papers to scientific journals is a difficult and a frustrating process. Authors can sometimes wait months before receiving a rejection letter or a revision letter. The book not only improves upon your chances of getting accepted through the first submission but also helps you avoid major pitfalls that may doom even the best studies to the ash pile of history. 

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher that needs a refresher course or you are a novice that wants to understand how to conduct research the book will help you. In my line of work as a research fellow I am going to suggest that new researchers review this book, or similar type of book, to help them formalize a better understanding on how to write a scientific paper. Practical benefits for Ph.D. candidates that are working on their dissertations may also be beneficial.