How to Write a Scientific Article for Publication

There are few things more exciting than getting a scientific article published, and the world of academic publishing changes exponentially. So, what you might have done in the past may not work today. Or, perhaps you’re just learning how to write a scientific article for publication. In previous articles, we’ve covered the different sections of your paper. Today we’re going to go over your findings and conclusion in research submissions, scientific illustration, research ethics and how to get your paper seen by setting it up as an SEO research paper.

Findings and Conclusion in Research

Your manuscript needs to wrap everything up in its findings and conclusion in a way that is concise and clear. The approach is similar to writing your abstract, where you avoid extraneous phrases and words. Basically, keep it simple.

The quality of your writing here is critical as well. For instance, you’ll want to make sure you’re using an active voice. An active voice is generally considered stronger and more direct. Consider the passive, “10g of the feed was consumed by the chicken,” versus the more active, “The chicken consumed 10g of feed.”

Tense is also important. Use the present tense when including hypotheses and known facts. For instance, “the average weight for leghorn layer chickens is 4.5 lbs.” Use the past tense when you’re referring to prior experiments and results. For example, “the average weight of the eggs produced in our experimental environment was 63 grams.”

Scientific Illustration and Other Enhancements

Using professionally produced illustrations to explain complex ideas can improve the readability of your article. Scientific illustrations are a way to better communicate your subject matter, allowing for a much greater understanding of the topic. You don’t have to be an artist to include scientific illustration in your manuscript. We provide custom illustration services, including full-color and realistic images made from sketches. We can also take photorealistic illustrations and simplify them into line drawings.

You can also enrich your article by including references to external sources, like a virtual microscope or interactive map. A graphical abstract can be included as well. This is essentially a visual summary of your main findings and conclusion. These enrichments can show up in online search results, increasing your potential to reach your audience and help people, at a glance, understand the main points of your article. Finally, your graphical abstract can be used as a promotional tool on social media and your website. Don’t forget to add a link to the full-length article.

Adding Data

Your research can be added to the knowledge-base that can be easily accessed and used. By utilizing established repositories, you’ll also receive deserved credit for your work. Any data you upload to one of many repositories can be linked to your published article. You’ll not only ensure that your work can be found, you’ll also be supporting other researchers in your field, as well as providing the opportunity for your readers to delve deeper into your topic.

Ethical Considerations in Research

• Competing interests (e.g. not disclosing a direct or indirect conflict that may prevent you from keeping an unbiased perspective)
• Author disputes (e.g. misrepresenting a scientists contribution to the research and/or published manuscript)
• Plagiarism (e.g. representing someone else’s idea as your own)
• Simultaneous submission (e.g. submitting a manuscript to more than one journal at a time)
• Fraud (e.g. fabricating data, manipulating research results, data, images or data)
• Salami slicing (e.g. “slicing” up research that would normally form one paper into several.

To be sure, some of the above breaches can be committed inadvertently. But to make sure you have no issues with your manuscript, double and triple check that you’re not participating in scientific misconduct, knowingly or unknowingly.

The SEO Research Paper

It can be argued, perhaps, that it’s easier to write your manuscript, than it is to get it seen and read by your audience. One way you can improve your chances is to SEO your manuscript. What this means, in a nutshell, is to use keywords in the title and abstract, add SEO-driven captions with keywords for all photographs, tables, graphs and images. You can also add titles and subheadings within your paper. In addition to your research paper, you can place links to your article in other materials, like your research institute’s website, Wikipedia pages, blogs and articles, and social media, including your own website and/or LinkedIn page.

Know more: How to choose keywords for a manuscript?

Language Editing Plus

It doesn’t matter how well your research is done, if your manuscript isn’t well-written, clear and focused, it will not be accepted by any leading journal. Take advantage of Elsevier’s Language Editing Plus services to ensure proper flow and logic, absolutely correct English grammar, unlimited rounds of language review, and manuscript formatting specific to your desired journal. We also include a reference check and customized cover letter. Use the simulator below to check the price for your manuscript, using the total number of words of the document.