Planning, outlining, creating

graphics in research article

M Boulmalf
Dean of the Computer Science School
International University of Rabat
International Training-Workshop on Scientific Paper and
Patent Writing, ICESCO

14/12/2020
 Outline
 Introduction
 The purpose of creating an outline
 Outline of a research paper
 Structure of a full article

 IMRAD Method

 Graphical Abstract of a research paper

 Conclusion
 Introduction:
Making an Outline
 An outline is a listing of brief ideas that will
be in the paper.
 If you take time to think about what you
want to say and to put your ideas into an
outline, writing the actual paper will be
easier.
 Writing an outline in addition to the paper
may seem like a lot of extra work
 Introduction:
Making an Outline
 Aids in the process of writing
 Helps you organize your ideas
 Presents your material in a logical form
 Shows the relationships among ideas in your
writing
 Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
 How do I create an outline?
 Determine the purpose of your paper.
 Determine the audience you are writing for.
 Develop the thesis of your paper.
 How do I create an outline?
 Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to
include in your paper.
 Organize: Group related ideas together.
 Order: Arrange material in subsections from general
to specific or from abstract to concrete.
 Label: Create main and sub headings.

Remember: creating an outline before writing your paper

will make organizing your thoughts a lot easier.
 Structure of an Outline IMRAD
Importance of Research
Goals
I. Introduction Overview: a brief summary of a topic
Literature Review
II. Body Methods:
Scope of Methods/Analysis
Method 1
Method 2
Results:
III. Conclusion Results for Method 1
Results for Method 2
Gaols Achieved
Summary of objectives
Major Findings Discussion
Implications of findings Contribution to previous Research
Scope for future research Significance of results for Method 1 & 2
General Structure of a full article
 Title
 Authors Make them easy for indexing and searching
 Abstract (informative, attractive, effective)
 Keywords

 Main text (IMRAD)

 Introduction
 Methods Each has a distinct function.
 Results
 And
 Discussion (Conclusions)

 Acknowledgements
 References
 Supplementary material
 Four main components for effective
Outlines

 Parallelism
 Coordination
 Subordination
 Division
 Parallelism

 Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure.

If the first heading is a noun, the second heading should be a
noun. Example:
Choose and Prepare
1. Choose Desired Colleges
are both verbs
2. Prepare Application
 Conjoined items in a sentence must be in the same grammatical
form.
 Editing your work for parallel construction improves clarity and
emphasizes your points.
 Coordination

 All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same

significance as the information contained in Heading 2. The same
goes for the subheadings (which should be less significant than the
headings). Example:
I. Visit and evaluate college campuses Significant
A. Note important statistics
B. Look for interesting classes Less Significant
II. Visit and evaluate college websites
A. Note important statistics
B. Look for interesting classes

 Campus and websites visits are equally significant, as are statistics

and classes found on college websites
 Subordination

 The information in the headings should be more general, while

the information in the subheadings should be more specific.
Example:
I. Describe an influential person in your life
A. Favorite high school teacher
B. Grandparent
 A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples of
influential people
 Division
 Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts.
Example:
I. Compile resume
A. List relevant coursework
B. List work experience
C. List volunteer experience
 The heading "Compile resume" is divided into 3 parts

Reference: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/
Reference: https://cls.ccu.edu.tw/documents/
 Alphanumeric outlines
 An alphanumeric outline uses Roman numerals,
capitalized letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase
letters, in that order. Each numeral or letter is followed
by a period, and each item is capitalized:
 Basic Outline Form

I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
a) Subsidiary idea to 2
b) Subsidiary idea to 2
II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
B. Subsidiary idea to II
C. Subsidiary idea to II
III. MAIN IDEA
 IMPORTANT!!!
 It is up to the writer to decide on how many main
ideas and supporting ideas adequately describe the
subject.

 However, if there is a I in the outline, there has to

be a II; if there is an A, there has to be a B; if there
is a 1, there has to be a 2, and so forth.

Refernce: http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/outlining.html
 Preparing and Using Outlines

 Using an outline can help you organize your material

and can also help you discover connections between
pieces of information that you weren't aware of when
you first conceived the plan of your paper.

 It can also make you aware of material that is not

really relevant to the purposes of your paper or
material that you have covered before and should
therefore be removed.
 The Working Outline

 The working outline can be revised as you discover new material

and get new ideas

 Most word processing programs have outlining features with

automatic formatting that make it easy to create and revise
outlines. ( Latex)

 It is a good idea to keep copies of old outlines in case new

versions of the outline lead you in false directions that you will
later have to abandon.
 The Final Outline
 A Final Outline should enhance the organization and
coherence of your research paper.

 Material that is not relevant to the purpose of your paper as

revealed in your outline should be removed from the paper

 Try to bring related material together under general headings

and arrange sections so they relate logically to each other.

 An effective introduction will map out the journey your

reader is about to take, and a satisfactory conclusion will
wrap up the sequence of ideas in a nice package.
 Topic Outlines vs. Sentence Outlines
 A final outline can be written as a topic outline, in
which you use only short phrases to suggest ideas, or
as a sentence outline, in which you use full sentences
(even very brief paragraphs) to show the development
of ideas more fully.
 How to write an Outline for a
research paper

Introduction
Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer
for the reader these four questions:
• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance our knowledge?
 Tips related to Introduction &
Results
Introduction: Summarizes the rationale for the study and gives a
concise background. Use references to provide the most relevant
background rather than an exhaustive review. The last sentence
should concisely state your purpose for carrying out the study
(not methods, results, or conclusion).

Results: Emphasize or summarize only important observations.

Simple data may be set forth in the text with no need for tables or
figures. Give absolute values, not merely percentages, particularly
for the control values. Present your results followed by (Table 1
or Figure 2). Do not write "Table 1 shows that" or "Figure 2
demonstrated that."
 Literature Review

 Literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other

sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory,
and by so doing, providing a description, summary, and critical
evaluation of these works.

 Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of

sources you have explored while researching a particular topic
and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits into
the larger field of study.
 The purpose of Literature Review

 Place each work in the context of its contribution to the

understanding of the research problem being studied,
 Describe the relationship of each work to the others under
consideration,
 Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in
previous research,
 Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research, and
 Locate your own research within the context of existing
literature.
 How to design a graphical abstract

 How to create a graphical abstract

 You need to know what is the requirement of the

journals (Ex Elsevier, Nature, etc ..)

 Learn how to design a graphical abstract

 Useful resource to create graphical abstract

All editors hate wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts.

It is a sign of disrespect.
 How to design a graphical abstract
 How to know requirement
 Just type in google graphical abstract guideline

and type the name of the journal like Nature or

Elsevier
 Example Elsevier for the size they say use the

ratio 200 high and 500 wide so the ratio is 2 by 5

Dots Per Inch (DPI) versus Pixels
Per Inch PPI

DPI PPI
 How to design a graphical abstract
You may have known already that most of publishers do not
accept PowerPoint slides as figures. By default, when you
save a PowerPoint slide as an image file, the resolution is 96
DPI. However publishers require 300 DPI or higher for
figures.
 The importance of using graphs for your
research paper

 Graphs are the best way to visually illustrate your

research paper. Research papers usually have
massive amounts of data and complicated
concepts to explain.
 Graphs can be used to represent these data and
concepts in a visual, easy to understand manner.
Graphs can effectively help to deliver the message
that you want to convey.

Ref: Fabricio Pamplona

 The importance of using graphs Graphs
for Your Research Paper

 Graphs are meant to make your thesis sound more

interesting and explain things better. But, you can easily
go wrong with it by adding graphs that do not necessarily
complement your research paper.
 The importance of using graphs Graphs
for Your Research Paper
Knowing your audience is very important to understand
while you write your research paper and create
comprehensive graphs for it.
 If your audience is less experienced, then  If your audience is well versed
you should go with graphs that are easier with the basics of your
to understand: research paper’s topic:
 Flowchart  Stacked bar graph

 Linear graph  Stacked area graph

 Pie graph  Spiral plot

 Word map  Point and figure chart

 Multi-set bar graph  Choropleth map

 Keep a Check on the Aesthetics

 While creating and adding graphs to your research paper, it is

also important to think about its aesthetics too.
 There is no point in adding a graph if it looks messy and
unclear. Right from the colors, the fonts, to the placement of
your graphs, everything counts.
 Colors: They might even put down your research paper

right away.
 The contrast of colors is also an essential aspect to

consider. You should avoid using dark backgrounds with

lighter colored fonts and plots. As this will decrease the
readability.
 Keep a Check on the Aesthetics

 As a general rule, have a lighter background and contrasting colored

elements.
 If you use a white background for your graph, do not plot your graphs
with yellow-colored lines as these will not be distinguishable. Instead,
use darker colored lines.
 Keep a Check on the Aesthetics

 Fonts of your graphs are also a very crucial element. If you use fonts that
are too large, then your graph might look messy.
 If you use fonts that are too small, then your graph might not be
readable. Hence, use the right size for the fonts in your graphs.
Types of Graphs
 Make Your Readers Visualize Effectively

 The point of adding any graph, chart, or illustration to your

research paper is to help your readers easily understand your
point.
 You need to ensure that your graphs are designed in a way so
that they can be visualized effectively.

 If your graph seems a little too complicated, try to break down a

single graph into multiple smaller graphs.
 Know What You Want to Convey

 Based on the message that you want to convey, you can

create different types of graphs. Here are a few types of
graphs that can help you get started:
 Hierarchical,

 Histogram,

 Geospatial,

 Multidimensional,

 Temporal,

 Scatter plots, etc…

 Know What You Want to Convey

Hierarchical Histogram
Any concept that forms a represent the frequency
hierarchy distribution of a set of
continuous data.
 Know What You Want to Convey

Geospatial
represent geographical
locations through latitudes,
longitudes, or the names of
geographic locations.
Multidimensional
These can be very effective
in helping your readers
effectively visualize your
data in 3D and findings.
 Know What You Want to Convey

Temporal Scatter plots

. You can plot different data Can be used to explain the relationship
points with one of the axes between two sets of data in a visual
of your graph as the time format. In scatter plots, dots are used to
axis. represent different numerical values.
 Ask Others to Share Their Feedback

 You would probably love and admire the graphs you have
created. But others might have a completely different opinion
about it. Hence, it is best to get others’ opinions on this.

 The best way to go about it is to pick people who most likely fit
your primary audience. For example, if your research paper is
meant for readers experienced in your industry, then pick
someone with the same kind of industry experience.
Questions