How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper

Barbara Gastel is Professor of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Humanities in Medicine, and Biotechnology at Texas A & M University. She has received awards and recognitions from the American Medical Writers Association, the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, the Council of Science Editors, and Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society. Robert A. Day (1924–2021) was Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Delaware, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in scientific writing. He directed the publishing program of the American Society for Microbiology and served as managing editor of the Journal of Bacteriology. He had also been president of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and chairman of the Council of Biology Editors.

Preface; A word to international readers; Acknowledgments; Part I. Some Preliminaries: 1. What is scientific writing?; 2. Historical perspectives; 3. Approaching a writing project; 4. What is a scientific paper?; 5. Ethics in scientific publishing; 6. Where to submit your manuscript; Part II. Preparing the Text: 7. How to prepare the title; 8. How to list the authors and addresses; 9. How to prepare the abstract; 10. How to write the introduction; 11. How to write the materials and methods section; 12. How to write the results; 13. How to write the discussion; 14. How to state the acknowledgments; 15. How to cite the references; Part III. Preparing the Tables and Figures: 16. How to design effective tables; 17. How to prepare effective graphs; 18. How to prepare effective photographs; Part IV. Publishing the Paper: 19. Rights and permissions; 20. How to submit the manuscript; 21. The review process (how to deal with editors); 22. The publishing process (how to deal with proofs) – and after publication; Part V. Doing Other Writing for Publication: 23. How to write a review paper; 24. How to write opinion (letters to the editor, editorials, book reviews, and essays); 25. How to write a book chapter or a book; 26. How to write for the public; Part VI. Conference Communications: 27. How to present a paper orally; 28. How to prepare a poster; 29. How to write a conference report; Part VII. Scientific Style: 30. Use and misuse of English; 31. Avoiding jargon; 32. How and when to use abbreviations; 33. Writing clearly across cultures and media; 34. How to write science in English as a foreign language; Part VIII. Other Topics in Scientific Communication: 35. How to write a thesis; 36. How to prepare a curriculum vitae, cover letter, and personal statement; 37. How to prepare grant proposals and progress reports; 38. How to write a recommendation letter – and how to ask for one; 39. How to work with the media; 40. How to provide peer review; 41. How to edit your own work; 42. How to seek a scientific-communication career; Appendix 1. Selected journal title word abbreviations; Appendix 2. Words and expressions to avoid; Appendix 3. SI (Système International) prefixes and their abbreviations; Appendix 4. Some helpful websites; Glossary; References; Index.