How To WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE

1. WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE

2. Components of a paper Title Abstract Introduction Experimental Results & Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgments & References

3. Titles Titles Never use a colon (or hyphen) unless the paper is part of a multi-part series. Ex: “Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: I. Carbon deposition from methane .” “Chemistry and kinetics of chemical vapor deposition of pyrocarbon: II. Carbon deposition from propylene ” “The structure of CVD carbon: the effect of deposition temperature” should be: “The effect of deposition temperature on the structure of CVD carbon”

4. Titles “To improve mechanical properties……” - Which one? Tensile? Bending? Bursting? - For what applications? - Better for one application may be the opposite for another. “CNT solution in organic acids” - All? Which did you investigate? Formic- or acetic acid.

5. Names & Affiliations - Full names of all authors according to order of involvement in the work - Affiliations of all authors i.e. which Institution/Organization you belong to.

6. Abstract  Simply tell the reader two things: 1.What was done. 2.Important results obtained.  Do not: 1.Provide history or narrative. 2.Speculate -possible uses, etc. 3.Include data that is not in the manuscript.

7. Introduction with references  A brief history of the subject . Most Introductions are unnecessarily long  A minimum of 30%, and as many as 70+% of all references are usually cited in the Introduction A reference is something you may wish to refer to for further information.

8. Experimental This section has two purposes: To convince readers that the work has been done systematically and thoroughly using appropriate equipment To allow readers to repeat the experiments if they wish to check (doubtful) results, prepare the same materials etc.

9. Experimental This section contains ALL information needed for another person to repeat the experiment: Sample preparation: Techniques with delivery rate, time, temperatures, heating rates etc. Sources of materials: Origin, purity, particle size, mol. weight etc. Analytical & measurement techniques

10. Results  A paper is centered around the Results First get them organized. What to include? Any photographs? How will I present them -Figures and/or tables? Do I need to combine results with discussion?

11. Figures & Tables  Make sure whether each one is important  Do not duplicate data in figures and tables. Which shows the data more clearly?

12. Discussion If possible separate from the Results But sometimes results must be discussed in order to logically point to the next stage in the experiment. In this case combine Results and Discussion Compare your results with those of others. References are really important here. Be careful to show where your work has advanced the subject Try to lead naturally to the Conclusion

13. Conclusion  This is NOT the same as a summary like the Abstract. Authors often do mistake in distinguishing ‘Abstract’ and ‘Conclusion’.  Conclusion only highlights the major outcome. NEVER make conclusions that cannot be justified or are not mentioned in the main text.

14. Making PowerPoint Slides Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

15. Tips to be Covered  Outlines  Slide Structure  Fonts  Colour  Background  Graphs  Spelling and Grammar  Conclusions  Questions

16. Outline  Make your 1stor 2ndslide an outline of your presentation (like previous slide)  Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation

17. Slide Structure – Good  Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation  Write in point form, not complete sentences  Include 4-5 points per slide  Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only

18. Slide Structure - Bad  This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

19. Slide Structure – Good  Show one point at a time: – Will help audience concentrate on what you are saying – Will prevent audience from reading ahead – Will help you keep your presentation focused

20. Slide Structure - Bad  Do not use distracting animation  Do not go overboard with the animation  Be consistent with the animation that you use

21. Slide Structure - Bad  Distracting animation THIN PLACES(-50% ) 3.5 card 3.5 3 No. of thin(-50%) places/km 2.5 2 1.5 siro 1.5 1 0.5 0 card siro

22. Consistent animation Dry-jet Wet Spinning 100℃ ℃ 100℃ ℃ Air gap Water wash Extrusion temp. ： Spinneret Air gap ： Injection speed ： Winding speed ：100 ℃ ： ：0.5 mm ：15 mm ：4.0 m/min ：35~70 m/min (depending on the coagulant) ℃ ：

23. Consistent animation 1900 1800 1700 Tensile strength (MPa) 400 MPa 30 MPa 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 0 5 10 15 20 Whisker content (wt%) PVA/chitin composite drawn fibers PVA/chitin composite films

24. Fonts - Good  Use at least an 18-point font  Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points – this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point  Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial

25. Fonts - Bad If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written   CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ  Don’t use a complicated font

26. Colour - Good  Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background – Ex: blue font on white background  Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure – Ex: light blue title and dark blue text  Use colour to emphasize a point – But only use this occasionally

27. Colour - Bad  Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read  Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.  Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary – Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary  Trying to be creative can also be bad

28. Background - Good  Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple  Use backgrounds which are light  Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation

29. Background – Bad  Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from  Always be consistent with the background that you use

30. Graphs - Good  Use graphs rather than just charts and words – Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data – Trends are easier to visualize in graph form  Always title your graphs

31. Table - Bad Structure Count (Ne) PPI Pilling rating Plain 30 42 3 Plain 30 52 3 Matt 30 42 1-2 Matt 30 52 2 Matt 30 66 2 Twill 30 42 2-3 Twill 30 52 3 Twill 30 66 3 Diamond 30 42 2-3 Diamond 30 52 3 Diamond 30 66 3 Satin 30 42 1-2 Satin 30 52 1-2 Satin 30 66 1-2

32. Expressing Table Data in Graph PPI Vs Pilling 3.5 Graph: PPI Vs pilling rating (count 40Ne,plain) 3 2.5 Graph: PPI Vs pilling rating (count 40Ne,Matt) Pilling rating 2 Graph: PPI Vs pilling rating (count 40Ne , Twill) 1.5 1 Graph : PPI Vs pilling rating (count 40Ne,Diamond) 0.5 Graph:PPI Vs pilling rating ( count 40Ne,Satin) 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 PPI

33. Stress-strain behavior of PVA/SWCNT fibres Graph & Table together SWCNT 0.5% 2.5 SWCNT 0.7% SWCNT 1.0% SWCNT 0.3% 2.0 Neat PVA Stress (GPa) 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Strain (%) Sample Tensile strength (GPa) Elongation % Toughness (J/g) Young’s modulus (GPa) Neat PVA 1.65 30 10.0 67 SWNT 0.3% 2.17 40 10.5 91 SWNT 0.5% 2.42 46 10.3 105 SWNT 0.7% 2.25 48 8.0 74 SWNT 1.0% 2.20 52 7.0 62

34. Graphs - Good Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002 100 90 80 70 60 Blue Balls Red Balls 50 40 30 20 10 0 January February March April

35. Minor gridlines are unnecessary Font is too small Colours are illogical Title is missing Shading is distracting    Graphs - Bad   100 90 90 80 70 60 Blue Balls Red Balls 50 38.6 40 34.6 31.6 30.6 27.4 30 20.4 20.4 20 10 0 January February March April

36. Spelling and Grammar  Proof your slides for: – speling mistakes – the use of of repeated words – grammatical errors you might have make  If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!

37. Conclusion  Use an effective and strong closing – Your audience is likely to remember your last words  Use a conclusion slide to: – Summarize the main points of your presentation – Suggest future avenues of research

38. Giving thanks and Questions??  End your presentation with thanks, Ex: “Thank you for your kind attention”, or “Thank you for listening”  Thanks may be followed by a simple question slide to: – Invite your audience to ask questions – Provide a visual aid during question period – Avoid ending a presentation abruptly