Every scientist needs to write and publish research papers on their experiments. In order to understand and further an area of research, we often refer to scientific writing in journals, textbooks, blogs and reports. Because of this, writing is arguably the most important skill in any kind of science. A scientific paper needs to have a well-reasoned focus, method and conclusion, and every detail needs to be addressed carefully. Here’s how you can go through the scientific writing process and write a great research paper:
The Research Question
All research papers start with a well-defined research question. The research question clearly states the purpose of the experiment and briefly summarizes how the experimental results will be collected. When the research question addresses both of these components, it establishes a clear context for the rest of the paper.
For example, a good research question could look like this:
What is the effect of nitrogen fertilizer concentration on the growth rate of pea plants, as predicted by growing pea plants in sealed environments containing different concentrations of nitrogen fertilizer?
The italicized part of the question states the experiment’s purpose, and the bold part of the question states how the results will be collected.
Background Information
A research paper should provide scientific context and describe existing information about the experiment before diving into the experiment itself. Good background information should be organized in a well-written essay where nothing is irrelevant or confusing. The best way to structure background information would be to identify the experiment’s main variables (what to change, keep the same, and look for), and to write on information about each variable.
Going further with the fertilizer experiment, the background information can focus on pea plants (controlled variable), nitrogen fertilizer (manipulated variable), and growth rate (responding variable).
Setting Up the Experiment
After providing background information, a research paper states the following:
- The Manipulated Variable, the one thing in the experiment to change or manipulate, as the name suggests.
- The Responding Variable, the thing that changes as a result of changing the manipulated variable.
- Controlled Variables, parts of the experiment to keep the same. The paper should also describe why and how these parts should be controlled.
- Assumptions that should be made about the experiment when conducting it.
- A clear Hypothesis that states and explains an answer to the research question with support from the background information.
- Ethical and Environmental Concerns about the experiment. Scientists need to be aware of ethics and responsibility, so this part is essential.
Procedure
How should a scientific paper communicate steps to conduct an experiment? Simply put, the procedure should allow anyone, even someone who is not a scientist, to conduct the experiment properly. It essentially functions like stage directions for an actor. If a step is confusing to read, reword it or provide a picture to visually describe the step. If an experiment has a very complex setup, having a picture of the setup in the procedure will also help.
Observations
Every research paper has two types of observations. The first type are qualitative observations, which are descriptive. Examples of these include colour, shape, smell or sound. The other type of observations are quantitative observations, which are numerical measurements. Examples include temperature, length, mass or pH.
Record your observations in tables with descriptive captions and clearly indicated units for quantitative observations. In order to account for measurement uncertainties, these should be in your tables as well.
Analysis
The analysis in a research paper consists of the calculations you perform on the measurements from your quantitative observations, and the graph you make from your data.
When you show your calculations, clearly list known and unknown values, show the formula you are using, plug in your values into the formula, then show your final answer. Remember to indicate units! All together, it should look something like this:
The graph in the analysis should have the manipulated variable on the x-axis and the responding variable on the y-axis. The axis labels should include units and measurement uncertainties.
Discussion of Results
When discussing experimental results, a research paper should talk about whether the observations and graph showed if the hypothesis was correct or incorrect. Directly quote values from your quantitative observations and explain the trendline of your graph! The discussion should also talk about the reliability of the data. To do this, look at the uncertainties from your observations and graph and see if they are large or small.If you have small uncertainties, then your data is reliable. However, if your uncertainties are large, your data is not so reliable.
This section of the research paper also looks at Sources of Error. These are parts of your procedure that decreased the accuracy of your data or shift your results away from what actually happened. There are two types of errors: systematic errors, which shift your results in one direction (i.e. make your measured results higher or lower than the actual values), and random errors, which can shift your results in any direction. You should also mention how to fix your sources of error in the future.
And… That’s it!
That’s how to communicate your ideas in a research paper! Although this process is a lot of work, it’s great to go through, because it helps you communicate your scientific ideas in a clear and effective manner. When you’re writing a lab report or reading scientific information, be sure to keep this writing process in mind!
