WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE Components of a paper Title Abstract Introduction Experimental Results & Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgments & References Titles Titles Never use a colon (or hyphen) unless the paper is part of a multi-part series Ex: “Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: I Carbon deposition from methane ” “Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: II Carbon deposition from propylene ” “The structure of CVD carbon: the effect of deposition temperature” should be: “The effect of deposition temperature on the structure of CVD carbon” Titles “To improve mechanical properties……” - Which one? Tensile? Bending? Bursting? - For what applications? - Better for one application may be the opposite for another “CNT solution in organic acids” - All? Which did you investigate? Formic- or acetic acid Names & Affiliations - Full names of all authors according to order of involvement in the work - Affiliations of all authors i.e which Institution/Organization you belong to Abstract Simply tell the reader two things: 1.What was done 2.Important results obtained  Do not: 1.Provide history or narrative 2.Speculate -possible uses, etc 3.Include data that is not in the manuscript  Introduction with references A brief history of the subject Most Introductions are unnecessarily long  A minimum of 30%, and as many as 70+% of all references are usually cited in the Introduction  A reference is something you may wish to refer to for further information Experimental This section has two purposes: To convince readers that the work has been done systematically and thoroughly using appropriate equipment To allow readers to repeat the experiments if they wish to check (doubtful) results, prepare the same materials etc Experimental This section contains ALL information needed for another person to repeat the experiment: Sample preparation: Techniques with delivery rate, time, temperatures, heating rates etc Sources of materials: Origin, purity, particle size, mol weight etc Analytical & measurement techniques Results  A paper is centered around the Results First get them organized What to include? Any photographs? How will I present them -Figures and/or tables? Do I need to combine results with discussion? Fonts - Good  Use at least an 18-point font  Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points –  this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial Fonts - Bad  If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written  CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ  Don’t use a complicated font Colour - Good  Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background –  Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure –  Ex: blue font on white background Ex: light blue title and dark blue text Use colour to emphasize a point – But only use this occasionally Colour - Bad     Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary – Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary Trying to be creative can also be bad Background - Good  Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple  Use backgrounds which are light  Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation Background – Bad  Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from  Always be consistent with the background that you use Graphs - Good  Use graphs rather than just charts and words – –  Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data Trends are easier to visualize in graph form Always title your graphs Table - Bad Expressing Table Data in Graph Stress-strain behavior of PVA/SWCNT fibres Graph & Table together SWCNT 0.5% 2.5 SWCNT 0.7% SWCNT 1.0% SWCNT 0.3% Stress (GPa) 2.0 Neat PVA 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 10 12 Strain (%) Sample Tensile strength (GPa) Young’s modulus (GPa) Elongation % Toughness (J/g) Neat PVA 1.65 30 10.0 67 SWNT 0.3% 2.17 40 10.5 91 SWNT 0.5% 2.42 46 10.3 105 SWNT 0.7% 2.25 48 8.0 74 SWNT 1.0% 2.20 52 7.0 62 Graphs - Good Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Blue Balls Red Balls 20 10 January February March April    Graphs - Bad   Minor gridlines are unnecessary Font is too small Colours are illogical Title is missing Shading is distracting 100 90 90 80 70 60 Blue Balls 50 Red Balls 38.6 40 34.6 31.6 30.6 27.4 30 20.4 20.4 20 10 January February March April Spelling and Grammar  Proof your slides for: – – the use of of repeated words –  speling mistakes grammatical errors you might have make If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation! Conclusion  Use an effective and strong closing –  Your audience is likely to remember your last words Use a conclusion slide to: – Summarize the main points of your presentation – Suggest future avenues of research Giving thanks and Questions??  End your presentation with thanks, Ex: “Thank you for your kind attention”, or “Thank you for listening”  Thanks may be followed by a simple question slide to: – Invite your audience to ask questions – Provide a visual aid during question period – Avoid ending a presentation abruptly ... easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data Trends are easier to visualize in graph form Always title your graphs Table - Bad Expressing Table Data in Graph Stress-strain behavior of PVA/SWCNT... References are really important here Be careful to show where your work has advanced the subject Try to lead naturally to the Conclusion Conclusion  This is NOT the same as a summary like the Abstract... that are distracting or difficult to read from  Always be consistent with the background that you use Graphs - Good  Use graphs rather than just charts and words – –  Data in graphs is easier