why a scientific format?
the scientific format may seem confusing for the beginning science writer due
to its rigid structure which is so different from writing in the humanities.
one reason for using this format is that it is a means of efficiently
communicating scientific findings to the broad community of scientists in a
uniform manner. another reason, perhaps more important than the first, is
that this format allows the paper to be read at several different levels. for
example, many people skim titles to find out what information is available on
a subject. others may read only titles and abstracts. those wanting to go
deeper may look at the tables and figures in the results, and so on. the take
home point here is that the scientific format helps to insure that at
whatever level a person reads your paper (beyond title skimming), they will
likely get the key results and conclusions.
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the sections of the paper
most journal-style scientific papers are subdivided into the following
sections: title, authors and affiliation, abstract, introduction, methods,
results, discussion, acknowledgments, and literature cited, which parallel
the experimental process. this is the system we will use. this website
describes the style, content, and format associated with each section.
the sections appear in a journal style paper in the following prescribed
order:
experimental process
section of paper
what did i do in a nutshell?
abstract
what is the problem?
introduction
how did i solve the problem?
materials and methods
what did i find out?
results
what does it mean?
discussion
who helped me out?
acknowledgments (optional)
whose work did i refer to?
literature cited
extra information
appendices (optional)
section headings:
main section headings: each main section of the paper begins with a heading
which should be capitalized, centered at the beginning of the section, and
double spaced from the lines above and below. do not underline the section
heading or put a colon at the end.
example of a main section heading:
introduction
subheadings: when your paper reports on more than one experiment, use
subheadings to help organize the presentation. subheadings should be
capitalized (first letter in each word), left justified, and either bold
italics or underlined.
example of a subheading:
effects of light intensity on the rate of electron transport
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title, authors' names, and institutional affiliations
1. function: your paper should begin with a title that succinctly describes
the contents of the paper. use descriptive words that you would associate
strongly with the content of your paper: the molecule studied, the organism
used or studied, the（励志大学
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