Dr Vivek V. Nair
Editor, JPID
Every researcher aspires to finish their research with
a top-notch research paper. The only way for people
to understand how hard you worked is through your
writing. Your methods for presenting the facts and your
writing style all come together to provide a complete
picture of you, regardless of whether you write an
abstract, a research paper, research proposals, or a
thesis. Given the extreme importance of a research
paper, here are some guidelines that can make the
challenging process of writing easier.
Step 1: Decide on site of Submission
Don’t: Begin writing your manuscript without knowing
where you will submit it.
Do: Pick a journal early on in the process, aligning the
scope and depth of your research to the requirements of
the journal. Failure to choose the journal that is “best fit”
can delay the publishing of your data and force you to
spend a lot of time and effort reformatting your paper.
Step 2: Convert your figures into their final form
Don’t: Avoid losing track of your data.
Do: The first and most important stage is to finalize
your figures because they will be closely related to
every portion of your paper. Pay close attention to the
appropriate use of colour, figure size, desired fonts,
and the placement of labels and text.
Don’t: Subject your reader to all of your frustrations
and inadequacies.
Do: Pay attention to your findings rather than your errors
and failures. Using chronological order might not be
the best option. Organize your figures in a reasonable
way to present the “story”.
Don’t: Create composite figures with ambiguous titles.
Do: Create each figure with a single, distinct point in
mind and identify that point in the figure’s title.
Don’t: Make it difficult for the reader to follow the data
in your figures.
Do: Position figure panels so that the viewer’s eyes
will naturally follow the correct sequence. Remember
that figure panels will be correspondingly sized for
publication.
Don’t: Avoid cutting corners while submitting your
figures.
Do: Submit high-resolution figures. Reviewers may
assume that you worked hastily and carelessly both
in the lab and on the computer if the figures are hazy.
Step 3: Compose Legends, Materials, and Methods
Don’t: Write these sections until the article has been
completed.
Do: Write your figure legends and materials and
methods section as soon as you have a clear idea of
your figures. Include a brief summary of your data in
the order it appears in each figure legend. Legends
shouldn’t completely repeat the information in the
material and methods section, but they should help
make the figures understandable on their own. On the
other hand, the methods section must be thorough and
contain sufficient information to enable the reader to
reproduce the studies that you are reporting.
Step 4: Compose your title and abstract
Don’t: Lose the concentration you attained while
finalizing your figures.
Do: Write the abstract before the results section, as
instructed. Use the journal’s abstract word limit to your
advantage, not against it. Concentrate on the title once
your abstract has been finalized. What will or won’t
entice readers to your article is the title. Inaccuracy
could lower your article’s recall in your field because
it will be utilized to index your material. Instead of
being a descriptive sentence, the title should be a brief
label that summarizes exactly what the manuscript is
related to.
Step 5: Summarize Your Findings
Don’t: Repeat the information from the section on
materials and methods, since this is not the appropriate
place to discuss the relevance of your findings.
Do: Clearly explain your data in the order that it appears
in the figures. If as all possible, group the results into
sections with headings that closely resemble the titles
of your figures. Readers benefit greatly from a one sentence summary at the end of each subsection.
Step 6: Compose your discussion
Don’t: Emphasize results that could be interpreted as
incidental findings or reiterate the results section.
Do: Place your research findings in a broader scientific
perspective. Discuss their contributions to the field and
provide justifications for any facts that conflict with
prior research. The discussion should be written in a
scholarly and professional manner.
Step 7: Compose the introduction and reference
sources of your work
Don’t: Neglect to highlight the significance of your
research.
Do: Define the unanswered questions that determine
the research’s direction.
Don’t: Be sloppy while giving author credit, identifying
potential conflicts of interest, or disclosing author
information.
Do: Spend the effort needed to guarantee that the
coauthors and other collaborators, as well as anyone
else referenced in the paper, are appropriately credited.
Check the journal’s instructions for further clarification
on these matters.
Step 8: Draft the cover letter
Don’t: Consider the cover letter as a formality with
minimal significance.
Do: Give the cover letter some thought. You get the
chance to speak directly to the editor(s) and reviewer(s)
and share with them why you think your work is
significant and deserves to be published in their journal.
The cover letter is customarily addressed to the journal’s
editor in chief.
Don’t: Merely recycle old cover letters.
Do: If necessary, edit reused cover letters. Make sure
to adjust research-related statements as appropriate
to match the journal’s requirements.
Step 9: Submission of Manuscript
Do not: Submit without consulting anyone else.
Do: Once you have a strong draft, ask for feedback
from your peers and then modify and edit as necessary.
Don’t: Submit without obtaining the required
permissions.
Do: Distribute a copy to each coauthor and get their
permission before publishing.
Don’t: Overlook raising up issues with copyright.
Do: Specify in the statement that the work has not
been submitted to or is presently being reviewed by
another journal. Review the policies and procedures of
the desired journal after you’ve finished the previous
steps. Upload your cover letter, text, and figures as
directed by the journal, then hit SUBMIT!
Step 10: Reply to the Reviewers
Don’t: Upon reviewing the article, avoid looking for
biases and malicious intentions.
Do: Begin by assuming that the reviewer was
objective and invested a significant amount of time
comprehending your work. After all, this is the most
likely situation; assuming the opposite is apparently
pointless. If a reviewer’s tone strikes you as snarky,
dismiss it and concentrate on the comment’s main point.
Don’t: React to these criticisms in a hurried manner,
not even to your coauthors. Avoid stirring any possibly
sensitive emotions.
Do: Compose a thoughtful reply to the criticism and a
list of modifications and follow-up activities.
This editorial addresses the ways to structure a
manuscript. Similar to how an artist may thoughtfully
choose a frame to best display a work of art, authors
need to think about how they will display their research
contribution.