Generic Paper Outline Or, What Goes Where in a Scientific Paper?

Critical note: You should not sit down and write the paper in the order listed below from start to finish. A suggested order for writing a paper is:

 1.Research questions/hypotheses

2.Methods (can usually take from protocol from the field)

3.Results

4.Discussion

5.Conclusion

6.Introduction

7.Abstract

8.References

The most important point here is, the first major step you should take in writing is to analyze your data, make your figures, and figure out what you have found in your research.This should guide what goes inthe rest of the paper, so that the references to larger issues in the literature and other studies relate to what your data actually support. Do not start the process by reading and reviewing hundreds of papers, then writing an Introduction that takes up half your allotted word count, which may in the end have very little to do with what you found...Read more

    

 

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