For scientists writing a research article for submission to an international peer-reviewed journal, knowing how to write can be as important as knowing what to write. Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps provides systematic guidance on writing effective scientific papers with the greatest chance for publication. Using clear language, this highly practical guide shows scientists how to apply their analysis and synthesis skills to produce a compelling research article and increase their competence in written communication of science [from the back cover].

Contents:

Preface to the third edition;

Preface to the second edition;

Preface to the first edition;

Section 1: A framework for success;

1 How to use this book;

1.1 Getting started with writing for international publication;

1.2 Publishing in the international literature;

1.3 Aims of the book;

1.4 How the book is structured;

1.5 How to use this book if you are. . .;

2 Research article structures;

2.1 Conventional article structures: AIMRaD and its variations;

3 Reviewers’ criteria for evaluating manuscripts;

3.1 Titles as content signposts;

Section 2: When and how to write each article section;

4 Results as a “story”: the key driver of an article;

5 Results: turning data into knowledge;

5.1 Designing figures;

5.2 Designing tables;

5.3 Figure legends and table titles;

5.4 Supplementary material;

5.5 Archiving data;

6 Writing about results;

6.1 Structure of Results sections;

6.2 Functions of Results sentences;

6.3 Verb tense in Results sections;

7 The Methods section;

7.1 Purpose of the Methods section;

7.2 Organising Methods sections;

7.3 Methods in supplementary material;

7.4 Publishing methods papers;

7.5 Use of passive and active verbs;

8 The Introduction;

8.1 Argument stages towards a compelling Introduction;

8.2 Stage 1: Locating your project within an existing field of scientific research;

8.3 Using references in Stages 2 and 3;

8.4 Avoiding plagiarism when using others’ work;

8.5 Stage 3: Indicating the gap or research niche;

8.6 Stage 4: The statement of purpose or main activity;

8.7 Stages 5 and 6: Highlighting benefit and mapping the article;

8.8 Suggested process for drafting an Introduction;

8.9 Editing for logical flow;

9 The Discussion section;

9.1 Important structural issues;

9.2 Information elements to highlight the key messages;

9.3 Negotiating the strength of claims;

10 The title and keywords;

10.1 Strategy 1: Provide as much relevant information as possible, but be concise;

10.2 Strategy 2: Use carefully chosen keywords prominently;

10.3 Strategy 3: Choose strategically – noun phrase, statement, or question?;

10.4 Strategy 4: Avoid ambiguity in noun phrases;

11 The Abstract and highlights;

11.1 Why Abstracts are so important;

11.2 Selecting additional keywords;

11.3 Abstracts: typical information elements;

11.4 Visual abstracts;

11.5 “Highlights” and other significance or summary sections;

12 Writing review articles;

12.1 What editors want to publish;

12.2 The “take‐home message” of a review;

12.3 The structure of review articles;

12.4 Visual elements in review articles: tables, figures, and boxes;

12.5 Checklist for review article manuscripts;

12.6 Systematic review articles;

12.7 Submission and revision of review articles;

Section 3: Getting your manuscript published;

13 Submitting a manuscript;

13.1 Five practices of successful authors;

13.2 Understanding the peer‐review process;

13.3 Understanding the editor’s role;

13.4 The contributor’s covering letter;

13.5 Understanding the reviewer’s role;

13.6 Understanding the editor’s role (continued);

14 How to respond to peer reviews;

14.1 Rules of thumb for responding to reviews;

14.2 How to deal with manuscript rejection;

14.3 How to deal with “conditional acceptance” or “revise and resubmit”;

15 A process for preparing a manuscript;

15.1 Manuscript mapping;

15.2 Editing procedures;

15.3 A pre‐review checklist;

Section 4: Developing your writing and publication skills further;

16 Skill‐development strategies for groups and individuals;

16.1 Journal clubs;

16.2 Writing groups;

16.3 Selecting feedback strategies for different purposes;

16.4 Becoming a reviewer;

16.5 Training for responding to reviewers;

17 Developing discipline‐specific English skills;

17.1 Editor expectations of language use;

17.2 Strategic (and acceptable!) language re‐use: sentence templates;

17.3 More about noun phrases;

17.4 Concordancing: a tool for developing your discipline‐specific English;

17.5 Using the English articles (a/an, the) appropriately in science writing ;

17.6 Using “which” and “that”;

18 Writing funding proposals;

18.1 A process for preparing and submitting a funding proposal;

18.2 Easy mistakes to make;

Section 5: Provided example articles;

19 PEA1: Kaiser et al. (2003);

20 PEA2: Britton-Simmons & Abbott (2008);

21 PEA3: Ganci et al. (2012);

Answer pages;

Appendix: Measures of journal impact and quality;

A.1 Journal impact;

A.2 Using indices of journal quality;

References;

Index.