1. Scientific Writing: How to Prepare Manuscript for
Publication
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jaroon Jakmunee
Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Science
Chiang Mai University

2. OVERVIEW Scientific Research Problem(s) Objective Hypothesis
Experimental design
Perform experiment
Gather results
Interpretation of results
conclusion
Report to Scientific Community
Report
Thesis
Journal paper
Manuscript
Submit to Journal
Peer review
Paper/article

3. Importance of Scientific Research
Why is research performed?

4. To see what all people have seen and to think what nobody has thought
To research:
To discover new thing
To solve problem(s)
To see what all people have seen and to think what nobody has thought
A.Szent Gyorgyi
Education and Teaching in Analytical Chemistry, by G.E. Baiuleseu, C. Patroescu, R.A. Chalmers Ellis Horwood, Chicheser, 1982, p.63.

5. Instrument/Apparatus/
Input
Output
Grant
Instrument/Apparatus/
Chemicals
Time
Knowledge/
Vision
INNOVATION
-Proto type
-Knowledge
HUMAN RESOURCES
-Logical
-Vision
RESEARCH
PUBLICATION
-Journal
-Meeting/conference
PATENT
etc.,
STANDARD

6. Research project report
Scientific Report
Lab report
Senior project report,
Research project report
Paper in a journal
Abstract
Introduction
Experimental
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements

7. Informative but short Concise report Raw (primary) data process
Digested data
graph, table,
summarized form

8. Four questions of Scientific Writing:
1. What was the problem studied?
2. How did I study it?
3. What did I find?
4. What do the findings mean?
The Answers become the
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
The four parts of a scientific paper

9. Organization of a Scientific Article
General
Particular
General
Introduction: What was the problem/topic studied? 1. 2. 3. 4.
Objectives: a. b. c. d.

10. Methods/Procedures: How did I study it?
In order to (do this), I (did this)
Subheading 1:
Subheading 2:
Subheading 3:
Subheading 4:
Results: What did I find?
Subheadings: I.
II.
III.
IV. V.

11. Discussion: What does it mean? Subheadings: I. II.
IV. V.
Conclusion
Objectives a.-d.:

12. Scientific writing, is it difficult?

13. Why publish in international peer-reviewed journal?
“A naturalist’s life would be a happy one if he only had to observe and never write”
Charles Darwin
Scientists must not only DO science, they must also
WRITE about science.
Good scientific writing does not lead to the
publication of poor science. Poor writing does, however,delay the publication of good science.
Scientists become known or remain unknown
through their publication.

14. Definition of a “Scientific Paper”
The first publication of original research results in a form whereby peers of the author can repeat the experiments and test the conclusions in a journal or other source document readily available within the scientific community

15. What are important for getting publication?
Novelty (New findings) Highlight, claim
Correctness of scientific discussion
High impact / advantages
Good story, easy to follow, concise
Good English language

16. Goal: To prepare manuscripts that have a high
probability of being accepted for publication.
To be completely understood when they are published.
To write a scientific paper, we must know WHAT to do and WHY we do it.
Preparing a scientific paper is not a literary skill, it is ORGANIZATION.

17. See journal website for
Types of Articles Appearing in Journals
1. research paper (8-10 pp.)
2. review articles (20-30 pp.)
3. commentaries (1-2 pp.)
4. reviews [individual books or software (<1-2 pp.); comparative reviews (2-3 pp.)]
5. working papers (1-2 pp.)
See journal website for
Author Guidelines

18. Manucript preparation
Concise
Keywords
Put sequence of keywords
Highlight of the work
Novelty !!!
What?
Why?
How?

19. Title:
concise but show the image of the manuscript
Authors:
Name(s) & Address(es)
Corresponding author
Abstract:
the last part to be written
Introduction:
Review literatures,
why this work to be investigated?
Experimental part:
Methodology

20. Results:
Digested results; one form to present the results
(e.g. not present both graph and table)
Discussion:
Correlation of the observation in the results.
Using theory to support the observation.
Conclusion:
very short

21. Concept: Theme of the work Make a good story!
Think and put in your own language.
Put topics and subtopics as many as you can scope
of your manuscript.
Consider the language after having your good story.
Draft 1
Draft 2
Draft 3
Draft 4
Draft 5
Draft 6
Draft 7

22. Some more remarks
“aging” of manuscript helps
pre-submission reviews

23. Hint

24. The more you read, the better you write

25. A title is a label Not a sentence Titles
Too short? Rarely
Too long? Avoid “waste words”
“Studies on.…”
“Investigations of… ”
“Observations on. ..”
The fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper
A title is a label
Not a sentence

26. Title Specific “Actions of antibiotics on bacteria”
Short but tells us little
“Preliminary observations on the effect of certain antibiotics on various species of bacteria”
Longer but tells us no more
“Action of streptomycin on Mycobactrium tuberculosis”
Better, but still too general
“Inhibition of growth of Mycobactrium tuberculosis by streptomycin”

27. Authors and addresses Order of names No universal agreement
Most popular is listing in order of seniority (in relation to the study)
First author should be the one who did most or all of the research
Subsequent authors should be in order of importance to the study

28. Introduction
A description of what you did
Goes from general to specific
Presents the nature and scope of the problem
Indicates how this study fits into the problem
Reviews pertinent literature
Present goal/objectives of study and paper

29. Materials and Methods
A description of how you did it
Add Subheadings for approaches used
in outlining use: “In order to do/determine ………..,I did………..”
Give copy of methods to colleagues, asking whether they could repeat the experiment based on what is written

30. Results A description of what you found in your experiments
Separate facts from inferences
Present results in a logical sequence that corresponds to objectives
Best if short difficulties of repetitive data in Tables and figures
Do not include material that does not relate to objectives

31. Figures or Tables?
Exact numerical values (Tables)
Trends (Figures)
Design tables and figures with format
(1 or 2 column) of journal in mind.

32. Example

33. Discussions
A description of what your experiments mean
Shows relationships among results observed
Shows how results agree or disagree with previously
published research
Conclusion
Most often-quoted part of article
State conclusion summarizing evidence
Ideas for future research (not a call for more research);
questions?

34. Acknowledgement
Simple and courteous
“I thank” not “wish to thank”
Limited to those who contributed to study (technical, funding, editorial)

35. Literature Cited (see Guideline for authors)
references cited should be restricted to significant
journal articles, not reports if possible
format specific to journal * name and year * number from an alphabetical list * number in sequence of citation
check citations and text for congruence
check citations against original articles
use literature cited to determine appropriate journal for submission

36. avoid “ghosts”
150 citations checked (Public Health journals)
31% had errors
10% of citations could not be found
cite literature correctly
30% of citations differed from original
author’s statements
15% of citations do not relate to original

37. Selection of journal

38. Journal Aims and Scope General Information Manuscript submission
Original research paper
Preliminary communications
annotations
Aims and Scope
General Information
Manuscript submission
Presentation of Manuscripts
Author enquiries
Proofs
Reprints
Electronic manuscripts
Editor(s), Editorial board,
Advisory board

42. Impact factor A Quick Review of Terms
The ISSN is a unique International Standard Serials
Number assigned to a journal.
Total Cites represents the number of times the journal
has been cited by all journals in the ISI database in
a particular year.
The Impact Factor is the average number of times
articles published in a specific journal in the two
previous years were cited in a particular year

43. The Immediacy Index is the average number of times
current articles in a specific journal are cited during
the year they were published.
Total Articles represents the number of articles
published in a given year.
The Cited Half-Life is the number of years, going
back from the current year, that account for 50% of
the total citations received by the journal in the current
year.
The Citing Half-Life is the number of years, going back
from the current year, that account for 50% of the total
citations given by the journal in the current year.

44. Journal Impact Factor
A measure of how “visible” and “generally useful” a particular journal is to the readership of a particular scientific field.
The impact factor is a quantity that reflects the average number of time all manuscripts from a given journal, published during the two previous years, have been referenced in other manuscripts during the following year in all journals from a particular scientific field of study.

47. Submission and peer reviewed

48. Submission: Informations: Submit by post
On-line submission ( , website)
Informations:
copyright transfer form
guideline for manuscript preparation
manuscript template
guideline for submission

49. How is the manuscript review process conducted?
First, manuscript submission is made to the journal editor.
The editor may reject and return to the authors a
manuscript at this stage if the manuscript does not meet
the Aims and Scope of the journal
Second, referee selection of experts in the field is made
by the journal editor, and the manuscripts are sent out
for review
Third, completion and return of referee reports is
followed by an editorial decision regarding status of
the manuscript. A decision may be made with only
one referee report in rare cases

50. Peer-reviewed Journals
Editor
Editorial Board
Helps the editor establish editorial policy
Manuscript reviewers
Help the editor identify manuscripts for publication
Accept
Reject
Accept after modifications

51. Peer-reviewed Journals
Manuscript reviewers
Editor usually selects 2 or 3 reviewers per manuscript
Very specific instructions
Evaluate the experimental procedure
Do the results justify the conclusions?
Check one third of the references for accuracy

52. Review / evaluating process?
Peers must be able to
1) assess the observations
Did you do a proper literature review?
Did you design the experiment properly?
2) repeat the experiments
Are they described in sufficient detail that I can repeat them? and
3) evaluate intellectual processes
Are your conclusions justified by the results?

53. Resubmit after more analysis or research Reject
Accept
Major revision
Minor revision
Resubmit elsewhere
Resubmit after more analysis or research
Reject
Author
Editor (Associate editor/Editorial board)
Reviewers (Editorial board)
Author
Editor (preliminary decision)
Editor (final decision)

54. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUTHOR
1) No Double Publishing
The same “body of data” is used to produce two
articles that are published in two different places.
2) No Multiple Submissions
The same article is submitted to more than one
journal at a time.
3) No Copyright Violations
Any repeat use of material after copyright has been
transferred to the publisher.

55. Comments -
how to revise according to the reviewers’ comments
Don’t be panic to reviewer comments, carefully consider each point with positive thinking
If have time, see example (in word file)

56. See submission demonstration if internet is available….

57. Summary

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