Scientific writing: Strategies and tools for students and advisors

Abstract

Scientific writing is a demanding task and many students need more time than expected to finish their research articles. To speed up the process, we highlight some tools, strategies as well as writing guides. We recommend starting early in the research process with writing and to prepare research articles, not after but in parallel to the lab or field work. We suggest considering scientific writing as a team enterprise, which needs proper organization and regular feedback. In addition, it is helpful to select potential target journals early and to consider not only scope and reputation, but also decision times and rejection rates. Before submission, instructions to authors and writing guides should be considered, and drafts should be extensively revised. Later in the process editor's and reviewer's comments should be followed. Our tips and tools help students and advisors to structure the writing and publishing process, thereby stimulating them to develop their own strategies to success. V C 2014 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 42(5): 405-413, 2014.

Dos and don'ts of a successfully peer-reviewed publication: From A–Z

“…Scientific peer-reviewed journals are suitable and important means of spreading the results and outcomes obtained from scientific investigations [ 15 , 19 ]. In addition to peer-review process, indexing and abstracting by scientific databases like EMBASE [ 1 , 3 ], Clarivate Analytics ( https://www.clarivate.com/ ) (Web of Science (WoS) [ 20 ]), MEDLINE [ 3 , 7 ], Scopus [ 1 , 3 ] and Science Citation Index [ 15 ] are important destinations for academic staff, graduate students and researchers to get their scientific works published with [ 7 , 21 ]. Many universities only reward papers published in journals indexed in the abovementioned databases.…”

“…Rather than the IF, other indicators including CiteScore ( https://www.elsevier.com/editors-update/story/journal-metrics/citescore-a-new-metric-to-help-you-choose-the-right-journal ), the Eigenfactor Score (ES) ( http://www.eigenfactor.org/projects/journalRank/journalsearch.php ), Article Influence Score (AIS), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) ( https://www.scimagojr.com/ ) [ 21 , 23 ], Immediacy index [ 21 ], IF 2 -index (the Impact Factor squared) [ 24 ] and Hirsch index (H-index) [ 21 ] are also important items to measure the validity and influence of the journals. The CiteScore metrics belongs to Scopus journal metrics ( https://www.scopus.com/sources ) and is calculated just like the IF but for three previous years ago.…”

Twelve tips for getting the most out of an intercalated research project

“…The write up of an intercalated research project will frequently be a medical student's first piece of scientific writing, and thus the unfamiliarity of the style of writing required can make the process particularly challenging (Hyatt, Bienenstock and Tilan, 2017). It is therefore crucial that students begin writing their projects up as early as possible, as this facilitates ample time for input from their supervisor and multiple revisions to be drafted (Singh and Mayer, 2014). Many universities will have archives of the reports of past project students, and so by beginning to think about writing up their project early, students will have sufficient time to carefully review the work of past students to help inform them as to the style and structure of writing expected from them.…”

Highlighting common pitfalls to avoid when writing the medical education manuscript

“…Further, a medical educator's advancement may depend heavily on the number of articles published (Cable, Boyer, Colbert, Boyer 2013Malani & Lypson 2012Simpson, McLaughlin, Schiedermayer 2000), requiring that the medical educator write up the scholarly work and submit it, a daunting task for some individuals (Boice 1989;Keyes 1995;Malani & Lypson 2012;Steinert, McLeod, Liben, Snell 2008;Sullivan 2013), especially those who received little or no education in writing during their years of training (Sullivan 2013;Singh & Mayer 2014). Fortunately, authors have succinctly addressed the "how-to" of writing manuscripts in articles and shorter correspondence (Azer, Dupras, Azer 2014;Cook 2015), and faculty development workshops have provided venues during which the novice can write a basic paper.…”