Writing in Science

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The scientific paper has developed over the past three centuries into a tool to communicate the results of scientific inquiry. The main audience for scientific papers is extremely specialized. The purpose of these papers is twofold: to present information so that it is easy to retrieve, and to present enough information that the reader can duplicate the scientific study. A standard format with six main part helps readers to find expected information and analysis:

• Title--subject and what aspect of the subject was studied.
  
• Abstract--summary of paper: The main reason for the study, the primary results, the main conclusions
  
• Introduction--why the study was undertaken
  
• Methods and Materials--how the study was undertaken
  
• Results--what was found
  
• Discussion--why these results could be significant (what the reasons might be for the patterns found or not found)
  

There are many ways to approach the writing of a scientific paper, and no one way is right. Many people, however, find that drafting chunks in this order works best: Results, Discussion, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Abstract, and, finally, Title.