GENRE REPORT

Scientific Papers

Schmitt, Carrie E.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2
Purpose, Audience, and Voice................................................................................................ 2
Elements of the Genre ........................................................................................................... 2
Abstract and Introduction .............................................................................................................2
Methods.........................................................................................................................................3
Results ...........................................................................................................................................4
Discussion, Conclusion, and Literature Cited ................................................................................5

Literature Cited ..................................................................................................................... 5

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INTRODUCTION

The goal for many students and young professionals today is to get published. In STEM fields,
scientific papers are the basis for current knowledge. Research is ongoing to advance science and
with research comes the literature. With so much information at our disposal it is important that
your paper stands out. To add to the credibility of the research, it needs to sound and look
professional. Scientific papers have become fairly standardized with most containing the same
sections. This report will serve as a guide as to what needs to be included and how to construct a
professional scientific paper.

PURPOSE, AUDIENCE, AND VOICE

The purpose of the scientific paper is to present new information to advance a certain field of
science. You are trying to show that your results change some idea that was previously held. The
scientific paper serves as a tool to communicate the results of scientific study and it needs to
present the information in a way that it is easy to comprehend while presenting enough
information that the reader can duplicate the study (Wortman-Wunder & Kiefer, 2012). Your
audience will typically have some understanding or interest in the topic, so the voice needs to be
professional. You should use scientific terms, not colloquial expressions. The point of writing a
scientific paper is to be published so the writing will need to be catered to the particular journal
or journals you are submitting it to (Turbek, et al., 2016).

ELEMENTS OF THE GENRE

ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTION

The abstract will typically be the first, and potentially only, thing that the reader reads. The
abstract is meant to convince someone to read the rest of the paper. It should be easy to
understand and very brief. A summary of the goals, results, and conclusions should be included
(Wortman-Wunder & Kiefer, 2012).

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Figure 1. Abstract from Ketzler, L. P., Comer, C. E., & Twedt, D. J. (2018). Bat community response to silvicultural treatments in bottomland
hardwood forests managed for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluivial Valley. Forest Ecology and Management, 417, 40-48.

The introduction does what it says, it introduces your research. It should include clearly marked
hypothesis and objectives, typically written in list form (Borja, 2014). You also need to discuss
the background of the study with history, past research and any gaps in knowledge that you hope
to fill. A good introduction should answer these questions:

• What is the problem to be solved?

• Are there any existing solutions?
• Which is the best?
• What is its main limitation?
• What do you hope to achieve?

(Borja, 2014).

That said, this section needs to be concise. This section will also benefit from strong sources of
the history and past research.

METHODS

The methods section should describe how the study was performed, it needs to be detailed
enough that it can be replicated. Given that your reader is probably in a related science field, you
can assume they understand basic practices. Along with this, any standard or replicated

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procedure can be cited. This should be presented in chronological order as the study was carried
out. If data is collected out in the field then a description of the site needs to be included with
relevant history. Next should be any field measurements or sampling techniques used followed
by analytical methods including data processing. Any new techniques should be extra detailed
for replication purposes. You should not state any of what you found yet, just how you found it.

RESULTS

This section details what was found in the study. Be careful not to interpret the data yet, that’s
the job of the discussion (Turbek, et al., 2016). The results should be in a logical order, typically
in the order of the methods or in another way that tells your story. Also, use standard statistical
rules as to look more professional and credible. An important factor in this section is the use of
tables, charts, and figures. These can be used to present key data and important relationships
between data (Wortman-Wunder & Kiefer, 2012).

Figure 2. Table 1 from Ketzler, L. P., Comer, C. E., & Twedt, D. J. (2018). Bat community response to silvicultural treatments in bottomland
hardwood forests managed for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluivial Valley. Forest Ecology and Management, 417, 40-48.

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DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND LITERATURE CITED

The discussion may be considered the most important section in scientific writing. It is where
you will interpret your results and relate back to your hypothesis and goals. While it is in a way
based on speculation, you need to back up any claims with your results. Even if your hypothesis
is not supported or the results were unexpected, some explanation as to why this might of
occurred should be given. Additionally, you can suggest further research that could provide
additional needed information (Borja, 2014). Not all scientific papers have a separate conclusion.
It is sometimes the last part of the discussion and is so for a reason. The conclusion should be
where you talk about how your work advances science and the significance of your work. The
literature cited is at the end and is a list of all your sources used. As your study should build on
or challenge what is already known, you need to provide some context as to what was previously
thought.

LITERATURE CITED

Borja, A. (2014, June 24). 11 steps to structuring a science paper editors will take seriously.
Retrieved from Elsevier: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/11-steps-to-structuring-a-
science-paper-editors-will-take-seriously

Turbek, S. P., Chock, T. M., Donahue, K., Havrilla, C. A., Oliverio, A. M., Polutchko, S. K., . . .
Vimercati, L. (2016, October). Scientific Writing Made Easy: A Step‐by‐Step Guide to
Undergraduate Writing in the Biological Sciences. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of
America, 97(4), 417-426.

Wortman-Wunder, E., & Kiefer, K. (2012). Writing the Scientific Paper. Retrieved from
Writing@CSU: https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=83