By Krithika Muthukumaran, ORT Times Writer and UHN Trainee
As the year is coming to an end, it is time to reflect on what has been accomplished so far and set new goals for the upcoming year. As researchers we would like all the hard work and hours we put in the lab to lead to manuscripts, however, writing can be difficult. In order to effectively tackle this writers block, the Biophysical Society published an extensive set of very useful guidelines and tips for graduate and postdoctoral fellows on how to start with the first draft and turn it into an article worthy of publication.
The hardest part about writing a manuscript is completing the first draft. To make it as painless as possible, begin the first draft early. This will prompt you to think about the story you are trying to tell the reader and help you in planning your experiments. By defining the story and the narrative early, you will also be able to decide how to organize and present your results logically.
Remember the results and your figures play a key role in creating the narrative. They should flow logically and be presented in such a way that the reader is able to get the gist of the paper. To save time, assemble your data for lab meetings and presentations in such a way that they can easily be modified and used to draft the results section.
Once you have your results section completed, it’s time to tackle the discussion. This section should frame how your work fits into the larger context. Start by including a brief discussion of a few key points from the introduction and then reiterating the question you are trying to address. You should also include a critical evaluation of the methodology, an evaluation of the strengths and limitations of your study and an explanation of how your study relates to previous work. Conclude with a paragraph that summarizes your major findings and future directions.
Once the discussion is written, re-visit the introduction to see if it is still logical and leads you to the questions in the study. The introduction, instead of being a review, should have key background information that helps the reader understand your questions. The last paragraph of the introduction is important, as it briefly describes what you found and creates interest and curiosity in the reader. Be sure to make the reference list as you go and cite the right papers when mentioning facts.
When you start putting different parts of the manuscript together, it will get much easier to make revisions and polish the story. As you do this, remember to think of your audience. Limit your use of scientific jargon or acronyms as they can be distracting and will make your manuscript difficult to follow. Also, don’t forget to get feedback from your colleagues and mentors as they can give you valuable input on whether your writing is clear and easy to understand. Most importantly start writing now!