Guidelines to Scientific Paper Writing (Manuscript)

Guidelines to Scientific Paper Writing Compiled by V. Magendira Mani Assistant Professor, PG & Research Department of Biochemistry, Islamiah College (Autonomous), Vaniyambadi, Vellore District – 635751, Tamilnadu, India. [email protected] Download at : https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 1 During the research studies students write various types of papers, which show their knowledge and skills in solving theoretical as well as practical problems. Papers to be written by a student are all those tasks and assignments that are to be drawn up and submitted on paper or electronically, which reveal the student’s skills of analysis, generalizing skills, her/his orientation in the respective area of specialty. These papers show how the student is able to independently formulate research problems, analyze with the help of appropriate methods, research and solve them.  Research Paper represents solving of a specific problem given or approved by supervisor by applying particular methods of research. Writing of a research paper helps to acquire skills of formulating and defining a research problem, objective and task setting, choosing appropriate methods and finding empirical materials for achieving the objectives, skills of working with special literature, and of analyzing and generalizing    research results. Special literature sources (references) in the subject must contain a minimum of 10 sources. The research paper has to be approximately 20-25 pages long (from the title page to appendices), plus appendices, where necessary. All research papers are written individually (by one student). By way of exception (participation in a research team) and with the supervisor’s agreement two students are allowed to write a paper together, which shall be bigger than normally (by 20%) and the contribution of each author must be clearly distinguishable (by mentioning the authorship of introduction, each chapter, subchapter, section). Preparation of Scientific paper The manuscript should be prepared in English using “MS Word” with 1 inch margin on all sides of the page. “Times New Roman” font should be used. The font size should be of 12pt but main Title should be of 14pt bold uppercase, main headings should be of 12pt bold uppercase, subheadings should be of 12pt bold lowercase. These subtitles should be typed in italics. Illustrations (Figures & Graphs) and tables must be inserted at the end of the reference section. Manuscript should be concisely typewritten in 1.5 spaces in A4 sized sheets. The length of article should not exceed 25 pages to include figures, tables and https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 2 references. No abbreviations on acronyms shall be used in the titles or Abstract acronyms except for measurements. There shall not be decorative borders anywhere in the text including the title page. Format for Scientific article Scientists have established the following format for "scientific papers”. A complete paper is divided into sections. The manuscript should be starting with the covering letter and the text should be arranged in the following order: 1. Covering letter (Appendix – 1) 2. Title Page (Appendix – II) 3. Abstract 4. Keywords 5. Introduction 6. Materials and Methods 7. Results and Discussion 8. Conclusion 9. Acknowledgements (If any) 10. References 11. Tables 12. Figures and/or Graphs Most journals handle a specific format and they all have “guidelines for authors” published on their website. e.g. Author Guidelines on the home page of the Journal of Ecology (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0477&site=1) Covering letter: The corresponding author should mention the undertaking that if any animal studies carried was in accordance with their country or institutional ethical committee and also state that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere or even under consideration for publication. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 3 Title Page    Choose a topic which interests and challenges you. Your attitude towards the topic may well determine the amount of effort and enthusiasm you put into your research. A good title is informative, i.e. it summarizes as specifically, accurately, and concisely as possible what the paper is about. Select a subject you can manage. Avoid subjects that are too technical, learned, or specialized. Avoid topics that have only a very narrow range of source materials. Authors names and affiliations, author for correspondence All title page elements are written on a separate line, centred, with the exception of information on supervisor; the place and date of defence are on the same line:            University name, all caps Faculty name name of department in the subject or under supervision of which the paper is written name of the chair in the subject or under supervision of which the paper is written author’s first name and family name title of the paper in capital letters type of paper (research paper, bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis); in a research paper add also the subject in which the paper is written Title or position (lecturer, assistant/Associate. professor, researcher, senior researcher) and full name of supervisor(s) – aligned right Place (or location of supervising institution, i.e. town) and year of defence. Title page font size is 12 pt (except for the title). Title of the paper is printed in Bold, all caps, font size 16 pt. Author’s first and family name are placed before the title, 2/3 from the top of the page. Hyphenation and abbreviations are not allowed on the title page. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 4 Abstract The Abstract states clearly and concisely what is dealt with in the paper. It is a concise statement of the questions, general procedure, basic findings, and main conclusions of the paper. This is a brief, all-encompassing section summarizing what you discuss in the rest of the paper, and should be written last, after you know what you have said. The abstract should be written as one single spaced paragraph (all other sections are double spaced), and must not exceed 200-250 words. A good “Abstract”...      states the question investigated and the principal objectives of the investigation, specifies the scientific context of your experiment, summarizes what you did, summarizes your results, and States your major conclusions. Keywords Abstract ends, on a separate row, with keywords (5-10 words, depending on the research specificity) which identify the subject areas discussed in the research. Introduction The Introduction presents a background for the work you are doing and put it into an appropriate context (e.g. scientific principles, environmental issues, etc.). What questions are you asking in your study? What organisms or ideas were studied and why are they interesting or relevant? Identify the subject(s) and hypotheses of your work. Tell the reader why (s)he should keep reading and why what you are about to present is interesting. Briefly state your general approach or methods (e.g. experimental, observational, computer simulation, a combination of these, etc.) as a leading to the next section. Cite any references you used as sources for your background Information. Any statements not original to you should be properly cited in the text using the scientific citation style, and listed in the “References” section at the end of your paper. This section should be written in the past tense when referring to this experiment. However, use the present tense when discussing another investigator’s published work. Why? Previously published work is considered part of the present body of knowledge. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 5 A good “Introduction” will....  include a clear statement of the problem or question addressed in the experiment,  state the hypothesis or hypotheses that you tested in the study,  put the question into some context by stating why this is an important question to be answered and/or why you found this to be a particularly interesting question,  state the objectives of the research,  address how the research helps to fill holes in our knowledge,  include any background material that is particularly relevant to the question,  Give a brief overview of the method of the investigation. If deemed necessary, the reasons for the choice of a particular method should be stated, and  State the principle results and conclusions of the investigation. Do not keep the reader in suspense. Let the reader follow the development of the evidence. Materials and Methods The “Materials and Methods” section tells how the work was done. There should be enough detail that a competent worker can repeat the experiments. What procedures were followed? Are the treatments and controls clearly described? Does this section describe the sampling regime and sample sizes, including how individuals were assigned to treatments? What research materials were used: the organism, special chemicals, concentrations, instruments, etc.? Briefly explain the relevance of the methods to the questions you introduced above (e.g. "to determine if light limited algal growth, I measured...."). If applicable, include a description of the statistical methods you used in your analysis. Careful writing of this section is important because the cornerstone of the scientific method requires that your results are reproducible, and for the results to be reproducible, you must provide the basis for the repetition of your experiments by others. Avoid lab manual or “cook book” type instructions. This section should be written in the past tense. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 6 Results and Discussion The “Results” section presents in words the major results of the study. Your data should be presented briefly in the body of the report and presented in detail as tables or graphs. However, do not present the same data in both tabular and graphical form in the same paper. Try for clarity, the results should be short and sweet. Do not attempt to discuss the interpretation of your data this should be done in the “Discussion” section. The results section should be written so that any college student could read the text to learn what you have done. For eg. You might use a paragraph to explain what is seen on a particular graph; “... When the enzyme as soaked in sulphuric acid, it produced no change in absorbance....” Do not make the common mistake of saying, “We performed the experiment, see figures.” That is too brief and does not convey to a novice what you have done. When stating your results in the body of the text, refer to your graphs and tables. Tables and graphs alone do not make a Results section. In the text of this section describe your results (do not list actual numbers, but point out trends or important features). Refer to the figures and tables by number as well as any other relevant information. “See Figures” is not sufficient. Results are typically not discussed much more in this section unless brief discussion aids clarity. In referring to your results, avoid phrases like 'Table 1 shows the rate at which students fall asleep in class as a function of the time of day that class is taught." Rather, write: "Students fall asleep in class twice as frequently during evening than day classes (Table 1)." The results section should avoid discussion and speculation. This is the place to tell the reader what you found out, not what it means. Each table and figure should be numbered sequentially for easy reference in the text of the Results and Discussion sections. Figures (e.g. graphs and diagrams) are numbered consecutively as Figure 1 to Figure 10. Be sure to label both axes of all graphs (e.g. growth rate, height, number of species, water consumed, etc.), include units (e.g. meters, liters, seconds, etc.), and define all treatments. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 7 Your reader should NEVER have to go back to the text to interpret the table or figure thus you need to provide a legend for each figure and a caption for each table. A figure legend is freestanding text that goes below the figure. The first sentence of the legend is typically a succinct statement that summarizes what the entire figure is about. The first sentence is then followed with particulars of the figure contents, as appropriate, including information about methods, how the data are expressed, or any abbreviations etc. Discussion The discussion section is where you explain your results in detail, speculating on trends, possible causes, and conclusions. Try to present the principles, relationships, and generalizations shown by the Results. And bear in mind, in a good Discussion, you discuss you do not recapitulate the Results. Don't be shy; discuss the theoretical implications of your work, as well as any possible practical applications. A good discussion section...       States what conclusions can be drawn from the results (Present major findings first, then minor ones; Use your data to support these conclusions), compares your results with those of other workers and cites the references used for comparisons, puts your results in the context of the hypotheses and other material in your Introduction, indicates where your data fits in to the big picture, addresses problems that arose in your study and how could they be avoided in the future, will attempt to explain why results might be inconsistent with the predictions you made (what you thought would happen before you did your study, based on a specific     hypothesis or other background information), explains any exceptional aspects of your data or unexpected results, examines your results for possible errors or bias, recommends further work that could augment the results of the study you have presented, and States your major conclusions as clearly as possible, using specific examples from your data. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 8 Conclusions  In Conclusions the author presents with his/her own words a generalisation of the research, mentioning the objective and how the objective was achieved, pointing out the main results and findings, suggestions, problems that need to be solved still, and development trends. Conclusions and suggestions/proposals are presented by special    items or theses. Conclusions also identify the hypotheses, either proved or/and disproved with the reasoning of approval or/and disproval. Conclusions shall not raise any new problems, present no viewpoints or draw conclusions in issues not discussed in previous parts. Conclusions may not contain viewpoints or solutions not discussed in the main part of the paper. Conclusions do not refer to literature sources or present opinions or conclusions    made by other authors. Conclusions assess whether the objectives of research were achieved or not. Introduction and Conclusions should be presented in such a way that a reviewer could have an idea of the problems, the way these were solved and main results. Conclusions should be 2-3 pages long, depending on the nature of research. Acknowledgments In this section you should thank anyone who has helped you in any aspect of this project. The source of any financial support, gifts, technical assistance and advice received for the work being published must be indicated in the Acknowledgments section. References (or References Cited) The References section is a complete list of all references that you cited within your paper. The references are listed in alphabetical order by last name of the first author of each publication. Include only those references that you have actually read and that you specifically mention in your paper. If a laboratory hand-out was used it is only a beginning and must be cited. When researching for information for the Introduction and Discussion sections or the paper, seek out original sources that are written by experts in the field (e.g. articles found in scientific https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 9 journals such as Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, New England Journal of Medicine, etc.) or authoritative magazines (e.g. Scientific American) and books written by well-respected scientists. Textbooks, although acceptable in this class as a last resort, are rarely cited in the scientific papers since information in textbooks is less reliable than from the original sources. Citing Journal and Magazine Articles Format Author(s). Publication year. Article title. Journal title volume: pages. Example Ahlberg, P.E. 1990. Glimpsing the hidden majority. Nature 344: 23. Citing Journal and Magazine Articles with no Identifiable Author Format Anonymous. Publication year. Article title. Journal title volume: pages Example Anonymous. 1976. Epidemiology for primary health care. International Journal of Epidemiology 5: 224225. Citing Books Format Author(s). Publication year. Book Title, edition if known. Publisher, Place of publication, number of pages. Example Purves, W.K., G.H. Orians and H.C. Heller. 1995. Life: The Science of Biology, 4th edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA, 1195 pps. Citing Book Chapters Format Author(s). Publication year. Chapter title. In: Book title (Author(s)/editors, first name first) Place of publication, pages. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 10 Example Jones, C.G. and J.S. Coleman. 1991. Plant stress and insect herbivory: Toward an integrated perspective. In: Responses of Plants to Multiple Stresses (H.A. Mooney, W.E. Winner & E.J. Pell, editors), Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 249280. Citing Newspaper Articles Format Author(s). Date (Year/Month/Day). Article title. Newspaper title Section: Page: Column. Examples Bishop, J. E. 1982 November 4. Do flies spread ills or is that claim merely a bugaboo? The Wall Street Journal 1: 1: 4. Citing a Thesis or Dissertation Format Author. Publication year. Title [dissertation]. Publisher: Place of publication, number of pages. Available from: University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI; DAI number. Example Ritzmann RE. 1974. The snapping mechanism of Alpheid shrimp [dissertation]. University of Virginia: Charlottesville (VA). 59pp. Available from: University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI; AAD 7423. Government report Format Author/Agency (if no author). Publication year. Title. Publisher, Place of publication, number of pages. Example Mitchell, R.G., N.E. Johnson and K.H. Wright. 1974. Susceptibility of 10 spruce species and hybrids to the white pine weevil (= Sitka spruce weevil) in the Pacific Northwest. PNW225. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 11 Tables Should be typed on separate sheets of paper and should not preferably contain any molecular structures. Only MS word table format should be used for preparing tables. Tables should show lines separating columns but not those separating rows except for the top row that shows column captions. Tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and bear a brief title in capital letters normal face. Units of measurement should be abbreviated and placed below the column headings. Column headings or captions shall be in bold face. It is essential that all tables have legends, which explain the contents of the table and place footnotes to tables below the table body. Tables should not be very large that they run more than one A4 sized page. Tables should not be prepared in the landscape format, i. e. tables that are prepared widthwise on the paper. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Figures Figures are all illustrative materials, including graphs, diagrams, maps, drawings, schemes, photographs, etc. Should be on separate pages but not inserted within the text. Figures should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and bear a brief title in lower case bold face letters below the figure. Graphs and bar graphs should preferably be prepared using Microsoft Excel and submitted as Excel graph pasted in Word. These graphs and illustrations should be drawn to approximately twice the printed size to obtain satisfactory reproduction. As far as possible, please avoid diagrams made with India ink on white drawing paper, cellophane sheet or tracing paper with hand written captions or titles. Photographs should be on glossy paper. Photographs should bear the names of the authors and the title of the paper on the back, lightly in pencil. Alternatively photographs and photomicrographs can be submitted as jpeg images. Figure and Table titles and legends should be typed on a separate page with numerals corresponding to the illustrations. Keys to symbols, abbreviations, arrows, numbers or letters used in the illustrations should not be written on the illustration itself but should be clearly explained in the legend. Avoid inserting a box with key to symbols, in the figure or below the figure. In case of photomicrographs, magnification should be mentioned either directly on them or in the legend. Symbols, arrows or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Method of staining should also be mentioned in the legend. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 12 APPENDIX – I (COVER LETTER FOR SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT) To Date: Editors Journal Name XXXXXX I am herewith submitting a manuscript entitled “XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Title” for publication in XXXXXXXXX Journal name for possible evaluation. The Corresponding author of this manuscript is XXXX, and contribution of the author as mentioned below with their responsibility in the research. 1. XXXXX – contribution (Mention their contributions) 2. XXXXX– contribution (Mention their contributions) 3. XXXXX– contribution (Mention their contributions) With the submission of this manuscript I would like to undertake that:       Submitted manuscript is Original Research Article/Review/short communication etc. This research work was conducted from January XXXX to December XXXX. The contents of this manuscript are not now under consideration for publication elsewhere. The contents of this manuscript will not be copyrighted, submitted, or published elsewhere, while acceptance by the journal is under consideration. There are no directly related manuscripts or abstracts, published or unpublished, by any authors of this paper. My Institute’s is fully aware of this submission. The research project was conducted under the supervision of: XXXX Address / Contact No / Mail ID etc . Signature of the Authors Signature of the Corresponding author 1. 2. 3. https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. Page 13 APPENDIX – II TITLE PAGE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Title of the manuscript Type of Paper: Research/Review/short communication etc. Authors Details: XXXXa XXXXXXXb XXXXXXXX*c University name, all caps XXXXXXX Faculty name XXXXXX Name of department in the subject or under supervision of which the paper is written XXXXX Author’s first name and family name Place (or location of supervising institution, i.e. town) Eg. Authors Details: Kalaiyarasan Vinotha Abdul Majeeth Mohamed Sadiqb Vinayagam Magendira Mani*c a,*c Assistant Professor, PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Islamiah College (Autonomous), Vaniyambadi- 635 751, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. b Principal & Head, PG and Research Department of Biochemistry, Adhiparasakthi College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Kalavai -632 506 Tamil Nadu, INDIA. * Corresponding author Dr. V. Magendira Mani, M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Islamiah College (Autonomous) Vaniyambadi – 635 751 TamilNadu. INDIA. Office : +91 xxxxxxxxxx Mobile : +91 xxxxxxxx E-mail : [email protected] Fax https://tvuni.academia.edu/mvinayagam, Asst. Prof. Islamiah College, VNB. : xxxxxx Page 14