Scientific

Writing
GRÁINNE LEHTIPUU B.A., M. SC.
INSTRUCTOR LANGUAGE SERVICES / LANGUAGE CENTRE,
UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
WWW.HELSINKI.FI/LANGUAGESERVICES
Academic Writing Process
 SECTION I: ARTICLE STRUCTURE

ARTICLE STRUCTURE

Titles

Abstracts

Introductions

Results / discussion sections

 STRUCTURE: SCIENTIFIC WRITING

Structure of the Academic Article

IMRAD:

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion
 STRUCTURE: SCIENTIFIC WRITING

Introduction
•
Introduce the general nature, relevance of your chosen topic

Methods
•
Describe how you obtained and treated your data
- Scope, sources, limits, inclusion / exclusion criteria, etc.

Results
•
Report the results of your study
Avoid evaluating or explaining your results (that comes later)
 STRUCTURE: SCIENTIFIC WRITING,
CONT.

Discussion (Analysis)
•
Evaluate the data from your study
•
Compare your results with those from other studies
•
Place your results in the context of others’ results
•
Explain why the results coincided or differed from expectations

Conclusions
•
Succinctly restate main findings
•
Outline their broader implications
 STRUCTURE: JOURNAL
PREFERENCES

Journal of Social Work

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/journal-social-work#s
ubmission-guidelines

International Journal of Sociology and

Social Policy

http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/
author_guidelines.htm?id=ijssp#1
 STRUCTURE: RECOMMENDED
ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION
Abstract (rough drafts)

Tables & figures (rough drafts)

End of your Introduction (Study aim, Move 4)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Remainder of your Introduction (Moves 1, 2 and 3)

Abstract (final draft)

 PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ARTICLES:
TITLES

Titles
•
Too general, too detailed or unsuitable
•
Includes specialist abbreviations
•
Is a full sentence
 TITLES (INSUFFICIENT DETAIL)

‘Trends in living alone among the elderly’

This title DOES tell us …

• What?
- Trends in living alone

• Who / Whom?
- The elderly

• But what does this title OMIT?

 TITLES (INSUFFICIENT DETAIL),
CONT.

The title OMITS …

• When?
• Where?
• How / Methodology / Study design?
• Indication of the results?
 TITLES (EXCESSIVE DETAIL)

‘Trends in living alone among 3000 men and women

over 65 in central and southern Finland from 1950–
2000 rise from 17 to 37%’

What can we safely omit from this title?

-The sample size and exact age (… 3000 … over 65)

This info appears in the abstract
-Detailed results (… from 17 to 37%)
An indication of the results is sufficient
-Detailed location (… central and southern …)
May be unnecessary depending on scope of journal
 A SUITABLE TITLE

‘Rising trends in living alone among the elderly in

central and southern) Finland, 1950–2000: a
population-based study’

Let’s fill in the missing details …

-When? 1950–2000
-Where? (Central and Southern) Finland
-How / Methodology? Demographic, population-based study
-Indication of the results? Rising
… while omitting the unnecessary details
-Exact sample size: (… 3000 … over 65)
-Specific results: (… from 17 to 37%)
 TITLES: NEUTRAL VS. DECLARATIVE
(GUSTAVII 2008)

A ‘neutral,’ descriptive title:

Influence of aspirin on human megakaryocyte prostaglandin
synthesis

Compare to title by Nobelist John Vane in Nature, 1971:

Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis as a mechanism of action
of aspirin-like drugs

Note: Vane’s title has no verb, but – because of its powerful use of ‘as’ – is
declarative.

Prefer Declarative titles to Neutral ones

ABSTRACTS: A SUMMARY

‘The writer must attempt, within the space allowed, to

convey the purpose, general experimental design,
conclusions, and if possible, the significance of his work

– not merely list his results in a dull, meaningless

catalogue.’

- Peter Woodford (1968)

 PROBLEMS WITH ACADEMIC
ARTICLES: ABSTRACTS

Abstracts

• Elements unbalanced

• Results too brief or incomplete

• No implications for the findings

 ABSTRACTS: THE FOUR ELEMENTS

• Problem
What question does your study answer?

• Methods
How did you attempt to answer that question?

• Results
What did you find out?

• Conclusions / Implications
What do your results mean?
 ABSTRACTS: THE FOUR ELEMENTS

Problem

-Author’s intention, thesis, purpose, hypothesis, and goal

-Why was this study done?

-What motivated the research?

-How does this goal differ from others?

Methods

-Scope and limits of study

-Kind and treatment of data

-What was done and how?

-What was the methodology or experimental design?

-What limits were imposed?
 ABSTRACTS: THE FOUR ELEMENTS,
CONT.
Results

-Indicate your findings and summarise your results

-Comprise the bulk of the abstract

Conclusions

-Implications and inferences drawn

-What is the value of your findings?
-How do we interpret your results?
-What may we conclude?
 ABSTRACTS: STYLE GUIDELINES

-Be clear and brief

-Avoid abbreviations (unless clearly defined)

-Include all appropriate articles (the, a or an)

-Use of ‘I’ or ‘We’ (active) is preferable to the passive

 Abstracts: Style Guidelines contd.

-Past tense: theories, methods and results

-Present tense: conclusions and implications

-Abstract MUST be understandable independent of the text

-Abstracts often float in databases separately from the article itself

-Cannot depend on it for understandability

 ABSTRACTS: THE STANDARD
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACTS: THE STANDARD ABSTRACT

Objective:* To determine the influence of body weight throughout the life course on the
development of clinical hand osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: A British national survey was used to perform a prospective cohort study of 1,467
men and 1,519 women born in 1946. Weight was measured at birth and at subsequent follow-
up visits through childhood and adulthood. The main outcome measure was the odds ratio for
the presence of hand OA at the age of 53.
 ABSTRACTS: THE STANDARD ABSTRACT
contd.
Results:

OA was present in at least one hand joint in 280 men (19%) and in 458 women (30%).
Hand OA was significantly associated with increased weight at ages 26, 43, and 53 years
and with decreased weight at birth in men. Birth weight and adult weight showed
independent effects, such that men at highest risk for OA represented those who had been
heaviest at age 53 and lightest at birth. These findings were not explained by grip
strength. No significant relationship appeared between weight and hand OA in women.
Conclusion: Our results show that increased adult weight is associated with, and may
precede, development of hand OA, but only in men. This relationship between hand OA and
lower birth weight is a new finding concerning adult joint structure and function that may
reflect the persisting influence of prenatal environmental factors

* Most journals want either Background or Aim/Objective, but not both.

This is a more concise, end-focused version of a 2003 abstract in Arthritis &
Rheumatism, adapted from ‘Weight from Birth to 53 Years / A longitudinal Study of
the Influence on Clinical Hand Osteoarthritis,’ A. Aihie Sayer, et al., Arthritis &
Rheumatism, Vol. 48, No. 4, April 2003, p. 1030.)
 ABSTRACTS: THE STRUCTURED
ABSTRACT
Background: Finnish academics face increasing competition worldwide in their struggle to publish in English in
international journals. Publishing is frequently necessary for their careers. Professionalism shown as
improvement in
speed and ease of writing is thus vital.

Aim: To discover means to improve Finns’ academic writing skills and increase their efficiency and success in
publishing abroad in English.

Subjects: Finnish academics writing their first journal articles while taking or shortly after completing a course in
academic editing versus Finns with no such course.

Methods: Comparison of success rates in publishing in English in international journals.

Results: Academics who took a writing course, specifically one offering practice in
editing others’ texts, experienced fewer problems in planning, beginning, and
completing their own publishable work than did those without such a course.

Conclusion: Learning writing and editing skills in English early in the academic careers
of Finnish academics leads to increased self-confidence, greater enjoyment of writing,
more rapid completion of manuscripts, and a higher publication rate.

Implications: Finns, because of their thorough training in basic English and high
exposure to English, need little help in improving their English grammar, but benefit
from new attitudes toward and new methods of writing.
(Carol Norris, 2013)
 Recipe for an Introduction

Move 1

• Establishing the field

• Asserting in a sentence or two the significance and importance of your
chosen topic
• Usually sufficiently general to be in present tense
• A statement requiring—for the readers of this journal—no citation

“The medicinal use of marijuana remains

st
 Recipe for an Introduction contd.

Move 2

• Summarizing earlier research

• Gradually narrowing focus toward your

research question

• Mostly in present tense

“Mutant embryos at various developmental

stages generally respond well to XYZ (4).”
 Recipe for an Introduction contd.

 Move 3: The “However” move

• Focusing now on your own research question or problem

• Identifying or highlighting a gap in knowledge
“ Research has focused on X in adults, but to date few studies examine X in
children.”
• Alternatively, raising a question about previous research
“In attributing this poor prognosis to the genetic pattern alone, Jones (2000)
may have overlooked the profound influence of lifestyle.”
 Recipe for an Introduction contd.

 Move 4

• Introducing your own research project

• Stating the purpose of your research
• Briefly outlining what you did / will do
• Indicating how your research project will fill the
gap in knowledge from Move 3

“This/Our study demonstrates/tests X . . . .” “Here, we examined the

influence of X on . . . .”
 Recipe for an Introduction contd.

Methods

 Observe strict chronology

Describe each step/event in its order of occurrence

 In past tense

 Be concise! Reviewers question randomization,

controls, statistics, so NO WASTED WORDS!
Write long, then cut, cut, cut
 List-like
 Good Academic Writing

Starting with Good Ideas

Having a Clear Sense of Audience, Genre, and

Purpose
Writing Specific and Detail-Oriented Prose

Using a Logical Progression of Ideas

Using Sources Judiciously

 Good Academic Writing Contd…

Writing Clearly and Directly

Approaching the “So What” Question

Using a Consistent Tone and Style

Writing with a Compelling Strong Voice

Making Sure Your Writing is Mechanically Competent

 FOR NEXT TIME….

• Review pp. 73

• Exercises (in pairs or independently)

•
Exercise 7: Plagiarism hunting (p 61)
•
Appendix V
•
Revise your introductions (in pairs)
•
Expand your introductions based on today’s discussion
•
Can you transform it into an abstract?
•
Rough draft / descriptions of the tables / figures for your manuscript