Writing effective scientific research articles Hina KhatriHoogenboom, Barbara. How to write a scientific article. The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy 7.5 (2012): 512-517. Web. 18 March 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474301/pdf/ijspt-07-512.pdfThe ability to write accurate and informative scientific articles is one that develops with practice. This article highlights the important aspects of any scientific article, including what should be included and what should not be included. One of the main goals of any scientific article is to present the information, whether it is about an experiment or case study, in a way that even if the reader is not familiar with the topic, they will be able to understand the basic protocol and results. As with any form of technical communication, proper spelling, grammar, punctuation and word choice is encouraged and based on the audience. Also, plagiarism should be avoided at all costs. The researcher should know that prior to writing their article, that if any ideas are not theirs, they must cite the source of the idea. For this reason, a proper works cited page should the included at the end of the paper. The majority of scientific articles also make use of figures and graphs as visual aids. These figures are used to display the results in a different way, many times dealing with quantitative values. Photographs are a helpful tool as well, and should focus on the important details of the picture while avoiding any extraneous background details. In general, the format of scientific articles is in the following order: abstract, introduction/background information/review of literature, methods, results, and discussion/conclusion. The abstract is usually written when the entire paper is complete, but is placed at the very beginning of the paper just above the introduction. It serves as a summary of the main protocol, findings and conclusions of the paper so that the reader is able to determine whether this specific article is relevant to their search. The introduction should include background information pertaining to past studies, the importance of the topic being discussed, as well as the hypothesis made by the researchers. In scientific research, formulating a hypothesis is one the steps of the scientific method. Literature review is also important in order to provide relevant background information for the reader to understand the experiment better. The main goal of the methods section of the article is emphasized in all scientific fields: describe the protocol clearly enough that the audience would be able to replicate the experiment. Some important details to include in this section are: population used for the study, what equipment was used, protocol and general steps, how the outcomes were measured and how data was analyzed. The last two sections, results and discussion/conclusion go hand-in-hand. However, there should be a clear section stating only the results neutrally, with no explanation or interpretation. The explanation portion is relevant in the discussion/conclusion section, in which the researcher is able to interpret the results, state the significance of the results, how it is similar or different to previous work that has been done, and whether the hypothesis was supported, while at the same time only discussing ideas that are appropriate for this particular article. There is no need to discuss other ideas, and the only new ideas that should be introduced in this section are ideas for future possible experiments to be done in this line of study.The author of this article is a reliable source for information about writing scientific articles because she has many published articles about research done on physical therapy patients. As far as this article, she has properly cited other sources which provide ideas that were not originally hers. For this reason, I believe this is a helpful resource for the guidelines of scientific writing. This article outlined the important components of any scientific research article for any branch of science including biology, chemistry and physics. One detail that I was unaware of despite my previous experience with these types of articles was the information listed in Table 1 of this article. There are specific details that must be included when stating the purpose of the experiment, depending on the type of research that is being done. Although there is some variation in the requirements for published works in specific journals, the majority of articles are written in the format as described in this paper. Being a biology major who has taken many biology labs, I know from first-hand experience that the key to writing an effective paper is to make the audience understand what the experiment was about. The tips and guidelines in this paper will help me in the future because research is done in many aspects of health care and medical education. This is a skill that I have practiced since my freshman year as a biology major, and have found is improving as the years go on. Although some students do not take many science classes, it is helpful to know that there are resources such as this one that give guidelines. Leung, Alexander. Writing a Medical Article: Guidelines for Prospective Authors. Can Fam Physician 33.1 (1987): 2249-2252. Web. 18 March 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2218563/pdf/canfamphys00188-0083.pdfThis article written by Alexander Leung focuses on the purpose and effects of scientific writing. The main reason for writing is to share information with the outside world that could help in further understanding of a certain aspect of science. Although Leung states that practice makes perfect when it comes to effectively writing, there are different steps that the writer must go through to ensure that their writing is becoming increasingly better. The first step is usually writing a letter to an editor, followed by writing a case report or review articles. These are all different types of technical communication that are relevant to the scientific field. The last step would be to complete the actual research and report findings on that. If the main goal of the article is to get published, it is crucial for the researcher to find the scientific journal that is most appropriate for their topic. There are journals regarding different disciplines for medicine and can range from local to international journals. There are also more prestigious journals compared to others which are not as well-known. It is important for the researchers to determine where their findings would be most beneficial because this has an impact on who the information is accessible to.The majority of scientific research is done by teams because the sheer amount of data obtained would be a lot for one person to handle. For this reason, oftentimes there is a list of authors just below the title of the article. However, it is also important to know which people should be listed as authors and which should not. The participants who design the article, interpret or analyze the data, draft or revise the article or give final approval of the version to be published should all be included as authors, in addition to the actual researchers of the experiment. It is important to acknowledge the work of a scientist or reviewer where appropriate. It is common for the main researcher to gather a team that brings various experiences in the field in order to create an effective experiment with accurate results. At the same time, it is vital that the main researcher informs the others about what the guidelines are, the general purpose of the experiment, and any deadlines in regards to the publication of the paper.A literature review is the first step in developing the article. Appropriate and relevant information should be obtained and copied so that the researcher is able to have it ready when it is needed. Leung states that you can never have too many sources. Not only is it important to find relevant sources, it is crucial for the researchers to know which information is needed and which is not pertinent to the study. After the experiment has been done and sufficient background information has been obtained, the first draft of the article should be written. This can include spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors because the main goal of this draft is to state the facts and organize the paper. After writing this draft, the researcher should go back and polish it by correcting any mistakes, changing the order of information that is presented, and even cutting and pasting the information to areas where it would be more relevant. The general format should be as follows: introduction, patients and methods (how patients were selected and what was done in the protocol), results (stating only the results with no interpretation), and the discussion (areas of agreement/disagreement, references to previous works). The paper can also include an acknowledgements section to recognize the hard work of others in developing this research and article. The last section should include works cited in the article.The author of this article is a reliable source based on his past experience writing scientific articles and being a professor of pediatrics. He cites sources at the end of the article which include ideas that are not his. This article focuses on medical articles specifically and what steps should be taken with particular type of technical communication, a branch of scientific writing. I believe this is a helpful guide for writers in the medical field, based on experience of the writers. Not only does it only state what should be included in the medical article itself, it explains how the research team is gathered and a topic is decided. Novice medical article writers can use this as a guide to help them improve their writing, because as Leung stated, practice makes perfect. Attending a graduate program next year in Physician Assistant Studies, I am bound to perform and present research done in the medical field. Since I do not have any prior experience with works being published because all of my scientific writing has been done in the classroom setting, I know an article such as this one will be beneficial to me and my classmates. It is important for a student of biology to have practice with writing a wide range of scientific articles.