An abstract summarizes the major aspects of the paper in one paragraph. The reader should gain an understanding of what you did and your major findings from your abstract. Abstracts are usually written after the rest of the paper is complete so that sections may be appropriately summarized. The following is the appropriate sequence, with each…
The introduction provides context for your experiment and establishes your objectives and hypotheses. The structure of the introduction can be thought of as an inverted triangle, moving from the most general information down to the specific problem you studied. Begin by clearly describing the broad subject area of interest. (e.g., natural selection, competition, etc.) and…
The purpose of this section is to describe to the reader how the experiment was designed, conducted and analyzed. It should not follow the same format as a procedure that you would find in a lab manual. Instead, it is a delicate balance of providing enough information that the reader could replicate the experiment without…
The function of the Results section is to objectively present your key results, without interpretation. This section should follow a logical sequence (often similar to the order in which questions/hypotheses are presented within the introduction) and use text complemented by tables and figures. Start with basic descriptive results. This may involve indicating how many field samples…
This is where you have the opportunity to interpret your results and determine what they mean within the broader biological context you referenced in the introduction. This section serves to ‘book end’ your introduction, and should move from your specific findings to the general. Start by stating your primary findings. Assess whether your hypotheses were…
This section describes how each author contributed to the study. It indicates which authors contributed to experimental design, data collection, analysis, funding, writing, etc. Professional example: D. J. E. conceived and coordinated the study. K. K. performed the analysis in Figs. 1 and 5F. J. T. generated the data for Figs. 3A; 4, B and…
A vital component of scientific writing is accurately crediting authors for their work. To do so, we cite both within the text and list a full citation in the literature cited section of the paper.
