Writing Scientific Papers

The ability to write a clear, concise, and compelling research article is often overlooked as one of the most critical skills to have as a researcher. Regardless of the excellent quality of your work or ideas, as a scientist, it can be challenging to engage others and convince them of your work without the capacity to effectively convey your message.

Scientific writing is a skill that requires a lot of practice and reading scientific texts. However, the ability to write a clear paper can be hugely improved when specific guides or structures are provided. Here is a list of resources that can help you improve this crucial aspect of scientific communication:

• Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 12th edition - Great book to directly help you improve your writing style
• Some Tips for Writing Science - Recent article from a neuroscientist on writing scientific articles
• Brad Voytek’s Article Template - A good rough draft on how to structure your research article
  • Ten simple rules for structuring papers

Remember to keep an eye on courses from the Radboud University Graduate School on Scientific Communication

Journal Article

On a more practical note, having a structured approach for certain procedures is invaluable. Here, lab members have compiled a concise list of considerations before submitting an article.

• Remember to get approval by all authors before you submit.
• Ask other members of the group to provide peer review! (check here for peer review guidelines for the lab)
• Post your article on Biorxiv, to make your findings available immediately to the scientific community and potentially receive feedback on your manuscript. It might also be a good idea to share this work on Twitter or Bsky to increase your reach! (Do not forget to tag other authors and Floris!)
• Following the lab’s values, consider publishing in an Open Access journal (e.g., eLife, PLOS Biology, Nature Communications, PLOS One, Scientific Reports). In some cases, it is even mandatory to do so. Remember to check if this is the case for you.
• You have to share all the data and code associated with your publication. A tip is to use a version control software (e.g., GitHub) that allows you to simply link the your work without having to do anything else. Otherwise, include the information about your Data Sharing Collection (DSC).
• If you have preregistered your study, do not forget to mention this in the article, and provide a link to the preregistration
• Ask the person responsible for the website to add a post about your publication on the lab’s website