The general outline of a scientific article
There are different kinds of scientific writing: course papers, diplomas, research project proposals, technical reports, scientific articles for journals, monographs, etc. A journal article is a primary unit of scientific publication.
Original scientific papers are written in such a way that specialists in the same branch of science are able:
to reproduce the experiments and secure the results described with equal accuracy or within the limits of experimental error specified by the author;
to repeat the author’s observations and judge his findings;
to check the accuracy of the analysis and deductions on which the author’s findings are based.
The first step in writing a scientific paper is to decide the basic structure of the paper. The general outline of a scientific article should consist preferably of such structural elements as:
the title,
the introduction section,
the materials and methods section,
the results section,
the discussion section,
the conclusion section,
the acknowledgement section
The second step in writing a scientific paper is to make an outline of the main topics in a convenient and logical order, following the adopted structure of the text. Each topic should preferably be expressed in the forms of a concise topic sentence. Ideally every topic sentence will form the basis of a paragraph in the final text.
Title. The title should be brief, specific and rich in informative words. It is better to give only one topic, which is the main subject or idea of the paper. The aim is to give the reader as much specific and intellective information as possible in a few words. If a title can be kept below 12 words so much the better.
Introduction Section. The introduction should be brief: not more than two or three paragraphs. Its aim is to awaken interest. It is better to indicate the aim and scope of the paper, to state the purpose in undertaking the work, to explain how the investigation moves forward from closely related previous work on the same subject.
Materials and Methods Section. This section deals with the description of the materials and equipment employed or explains the way in which the work was done. It is better to follow a logical order in describing the methods and to provide enough details for an experienced investigator to repeat the experiments or calculations and to assess the reliability of the methods and therefore the results. New or unusual equipment should be described in this section.
Results section. The description of experiments should be combined with indication of their purpose, significance and relevance to the line of the thought. The results should be presented in a logical order, using only observations that are strictly pertinent to the given argument.
Discussion Section. In this part a subject is treated from different sides. This section should be written only after long and hard thinking about the results obtained and compared with other persons’ findings. If necessary, one may criticize the scientific basis of other persons’ work. But one must be absolutely accurate when describing or quoting from other authors’ publications.
Conclusions Section. Some authors head this section “Summary”. It is a restatement within the paper of its most important findings and conclusions. The section is intended to complete the orientation of the reader in the given text. Because other vital portions of the text (e. g. Introduction, Methods) are not usually condensed into summary, the term should not be used synonymously with abstract. It is better to include in this section the main findings and conclusions of the work and refer only briefly to new hypotheses and future work.
Acknowledgement Section. This section may be included in the paper if the author wants to express his gratitude to organizations or to the persons who helped the author.
The method of writing is governed by many conditions including: the nature of the subject, the purpose of the article, the writer’s style, and the interests of the probable reader.
No set method or arrangement will be suitable to all kinds of papers. That is why the conventional pattern given above can be modified sufficiently to adapt it to the special requirements of an article or a report. For instance, results can sometimes be effectively combined with discussion; or it may be a good thing to give some results first in order to explain why such methods were adopted in the course of the investigation. It is very important that the outline of the composition should be self-evident and comprehensive to the reader.
(Derived from Korneeva, M [25])
APPENDIX В