20 Ways to Improve Your Research Paper

Katherine Bosworth
24 February 2021
Editorial Process, Open Science

1. Choose a specific and accurate title (and

subtitles)
This is a very important part of your manuscript and can affect readership. People often
choose what to read based on first impressions. Make sure your title doesn’t put people
off. The title should give an overview of what your paper is about. This should be
accurate and specific and reflect the content of the paper. Avoid jargon where possible.
Don’t forget about section titles and table and figure captions. They should be accurate
and specific. Readers tend to skip to the content they want to read. You can find even
more useful advice in our article on choosing the best research paper title.

2. Writing an interesting abstract can improve

your research paper
The abstract is the first part of the paper that’ll be read. You need to persuade the
reader to continue reading. A clear abstract should outline the workings of your
research. This will help you to carve out a very specific space in your field. You should
also consider other published work in the field. Mention some notable achievements
and explain how your research builds on them. This will help you place your research.
Those who know the area well will be able to understand which direction you’re going
in. A great way to make your abstract more dynamic is to add a graphical abstract or
video. It should describe the methodology within your paper. This additional media
quickly summarises your paper. It makes it more visually appealing to readers at first
glance.

3. Be selective with keywords

On our journals’ webpages, we use keywords for indexing. This makes work more
searchable. Many researchers search the MDPI site using keywords related to their field.
This gives you a chance to get more eyes on your paper. Make sure your choices are
precise and are not in the title already. You want to cover as much ground as possible.

Depending on the journal, keywords that are also in the journal’s name are sometimes
not allowed. For example, authors cannot use the keyword “soil” when publishing in Soil
Biology & Biochemistry. You can check the journal’s webpage for more details. Get in
touch with the Editorial Office if you have any questions.

4. Make sure that your research is novel

Have you conducted a thorough search of the latest findings? Knowing about these will
improve the originality of your work. Reviewers are asked to rate your manuscript on
novelty. Your research should advance the current knowledge in your field. Avoid
repeating what may already be out there.

You can cite other works and add them to the content of your paper. This shows that
you’re aware of the current knowledge in your research area. You should add your own
work and findings that bring something new to the field. Editors like studies that push
the boundaries and have new and unexpected outcomes.

5. Ensure that your results are exciting

Your results should not only be novel, but also significant. Attracting readers and
citations will be easier if the results are exciting. Interesting and exciting work will
encourage others to build on what you have discovered.

6. To improve your research paper, keep it

simple
When it comes to research, it’s easy to get lost in your own paper. But, there is value in
keeping it simple. This will make your work more accessible to others. It may even
improve its success. Keeping your paper simple (English included) also means making it
consistent. We have a handy guide that can help with this! Avoid including information
that is unnecessary. Review what you have written so far – if you can delete something,
then you should.
7. Don’t self-plagiarise!
Perhaps you want to repeat something that you have already mentioned in a previous
research paper. Be careful, reusing your own words is self-plagiarism.

Self-plagiarism is a problem because you are just producing a copy of your work from
before. This creates the illusion of new ideas when there aren’t any. This can happen
without you realising it, so be careful. To avoid this, use short quotes from your past
paper. You should place these in quotation marks and cite the original. Be succinct but
comprehensive.

MDPI takes plagiarism very seriously and we (and other publishers) do our best to
ensure that it is not present in our authors’ research by using a plagiarism detector that
reviews online content for similarities. This helps to ensure that our it is ready to be
published. As part of MDPI’s anti-plagiarism regulations, image manipulation is also not
permitted. The peer review process involves an assessment of images and figures.

8. Use the journal template, even in the early

stages
Peer review can be a nerve-wracking process. You are waiting for opinions on whether
your paper should be in a journal or not. We understand that this is a stressful time for
our authors so we do our best to encourage reviewers to provide their reviews as soon
as possible.

You can increase your chances of good reviews by making sure your work is clearly
organised and easy to understand. Templates are great for this and can definitely help
you to improve your research paper throughout the writing process. This can give your
paper a more professional look from the outset. It’s also important to maintain good
formatting throughout.

Using the template from the start will save you a lot of time later. You can avoid
spending precious time transferring your manuscript into the MDPI format. You won’t
be at risk of possible errors caused by a late move-over.
9. Keep the topic relevant to the research field
or journal
Some journals or Special Issues have broad scopes, while others are narrower. Research
papers need to fit well within the range of the topic. This can sometimes be as simple as
adding a paragraph of context to cement your paper’s relevance.

You can find information about the scope on journal webpages. You can also reach out
to the Editorial Office if you have any questions.

If your work doesn’t fit into the specific scope, an editor may encourage you to submit
to a different journal or Special Issue.

10. Keep in touch with co-authors

To improve the direction of your paper, check in with the other authors often. Obviously,
this is only if you have co-authors.

Reviewing other sections of the paper can help to ensure that you don’t repeat yourself.
It’s a good opportunity to make sure that the English is standardised as well.

11. Swap and share ideas to improve your

research paper
Research can be solitary. It is easy to forget that there are other people – co-authors,
colleagues, peers, associates – in the same boat as you. Their feedback can help you
spot mistakes that you may have missed. Meeting with a colleague can also give you a
break from your paper and allow you to come back to it with a new mindset.

12. Write methods and results first, then

abstract, introduction and conclusion later
This is commonly given advice, but is worth noting. The content and tone of your paper
may change as you write it. You’ll have a better overview of your findings, and be able
to include key points from the paper. The introduction and conclusion will be more
refined when left until the end.

13. Check your plots and graphs

Nothing in your paper is as important as your data. Your discoveries are the foundation
of your work. They need to be clear and easy to understand. To improve your research
paper, make sure graphs and images are in high resolutions and show the information
clearly.

14. Customise your graphs using external

packages in Python
You can use external packages like MatPlotLib or MATLAB to make the creation and
editing of high-quality graphs and plots easy and efficient.

15. Improving the language can improve your

research paper
It is important to make sure your English is as good as possible. This may mean proof-
reading the paper several times (or having someone else look at it).

16. Follow the instructions to format your

paper
Review the house rules for the journal and follow these with care. Each journal has an
‘Instructions for Authors’ webpage. It provides extensive information on how to present
your work and improve your research paper. Take these into consideration when
coming up with the final product.
17. Be thorough with author contributions and
acknowledgments
Make sure to add the names of colleagues and supervisors who helped with your paper.
This may seem obvious, but there are often people you forget. This may include
thanking your funder or grant provider.

18. Declare any conflicts of interest

All authors need to state whether they have any relationships or interests that could
influence the paper or its outcomes. This may include (financial or non-financial)
connections to organisations or governments.

19. Don’t forget about the importance of

references

It may surprise you that many papers are submitted without evidence for their claims.
Editors return these papers, and time is then lost in the publication process. The author
then needs to locate the sources and resubmit the work. Make sure to provide citations
where necessary. If you want to know more about how to cite your work, we have
a handy guide to review on this very subject.

Tools like EndNote and Mendeley can help you with the formatting of references in your
paper. These manage your references based on what you enter and then organise them
in the References section. You can also use free reference generators. For example, the
online tool ‘Cite This for Me’ allows you to format individual references.

20. Read through it again

This is where you need to take a step back from what you have written. Looking over
your work with a fresh set of eyes is a great way to improve it. Sleep on it and come
back in a few days to check your work. A final scan may help you find minor errors and
put your mind at ease. Once that’s all done, you can submit your manuscript. You’ll
generally receive a response in 1-5 working days. For more details on our speedy
submission process, take a look at our article on MDPI submission statuses.

Going through these tips can help you improve your research paper during the writing
process. This can increase your chances of having your work published, read, cited, and
shared.

During this time, you may be feeling worried or nervous. And that’s perfectly normal!
You’re about to release your findings into the world. If you feel tense about this process,
you’re not alone. It takes a lot of courage to put ideas out there, even ideas that you’re
happy with.

Once you’ve published your manuscript, make sure to share it wherever you can. Talk
about it on social media and put a link on your website.