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How to Write a Manuscript/Scientific Article

2009-03-18T08:30:00.008+08:00

This is based on my personal experience after publishing 4 articles (1 for local journal, 3 for international journals). Feel free to give opinions or share your own tips.

First thing first, decide which journal are you interested in submitting your article. For example, Atherosclerosis, International Journal of Experimental Pathology, American Journal of Pathology and Nutrition Research (to name a few) are related to my field. Choose a journal with a high impact factor (IF). For a starter, choose journal with IF between 1 to 2.
Surf to the official website of that particular journal that you have chosen. Browse through their Instructions for Authors. There you can find the format of the manuscript, i.e. font, line spacing, figures & tables format etc..
Then only you can start writing the article. Start with a catchy, concise title. Some journals prefer a straightforward title.
List down all author and co-authors' full names (without credentials). Normally, you are the first author (as you are the one who's writing the article) and the last author is the most important person (your main supervisor or grant owner). Don't forget to write down the corresponding author. If you are a student, normally your main supervisor would be the corresponding author.
Some people write the Abstract first, but I prefer to skip the Abstract section and start with the Introduction. Abstract is written after the whole manuscript is done.
Introduction: Normally it is divided into 3-5 paragraphs. The overall perspective of the study (1-3 paragraphs), describe briefly similar past studies and their findings (1 paragraph) and objective of your study (last paragraph). Avoid long Introduction.
Materials & Methods: Divide them into few subheadings, i.e. Preparation of diet, Study design, Statistical analysis etc..
Describe briefly every subheadings. Quote every method followed from previous studies and state any modifications, unless you invented the method yourself!! For parameters using commercial kit, state the manufacturer's names and the device used. For example, kit is purchased from Randox Laboratories Ltd. (UK) and performed using Vitalab Selectra E (Netherlands).
Results: People will appreciate more if you present your results in tables or figures. Then, describe briefly the important findings in few sentences.
Tables and figures should be self-contained. Explain each abbreviations used.
Discussion: The most crucial section. Usually, write a recap of the study in the first paragraph.
Discuss each important/significant findings. Compare your results with previous studies. Try to refer studies that can support your findings. If your results are contradictory with previus studies, explain why (may be due to different study duration? method? subject's metabolic condition?)
If possible, explain the mechanisms or the causes of your findings. Why did it happen? How?
Conclusion: Write briefly your overall conclusion. Some write suggestions for future studies, some point out the limitations of the present study.
Sort out your references according to the journal's format. Since we're now in 2009, it's good to use references from the year 2000 onwards. This is not applicable for quoting methods, as some established methods are from the year 1951!!
Abstract: Write a brief Abstract but all important aspects of the study must be pointed out. Do not cite any references in the Abstract.
Keywords: Choose words that you think are relevant for the article. Please check your keywords at the MEsH Database in Pubmed for internationally accepted subject headings.
Last but not least, give a copy of your article to each of your co-authors. Expect some major corrections. =)

next entry: Additional Tips for Writing Manuscript and Getting Them Published.

COSTAM/SFRR International Workshop

2009-03-12T16:09:00.007+08:00

The first conference that I attended and presented my research findings was back in 2006. The conference which was held at Kuching, Sarawak focused on free radicals and vitamin E. To be frank, this is the most beneficial conference I've attended so far, at least for me. This year, it will be in Langkawi this July. InsyaAllah, I'll be going to participate and present my research findings as well (even though I haven't submitted my application yet.. hehe..).

For more info, please go their official website.

Apart from that, UPM is having a postgraduate education fair this weekend. All finishing undergrad students and anyone who's interested in pursuing masters/PhD are welcomed.

Journals Impact Factor

2009-03-10T10:12:00.002+08:00

The most important thing that we should know when reading/writing an article is the impact factor (IF) of the journal.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "IF is a measure of the citations to science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the importance of a journal to its field. The Impact factor was devised by Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information, now part of Thomson, a large worldwide US-based publisher. Impact factors are calculated each year by Thomson Scientific for those journals which it indexes, and the factors and indices are published in Journal Citation Reports. The publication of each year covered occurs in the summer of the following year. For example impact factors for 2008 will be published in the summer of 2009."

The latest IF is available here.

Elements of Successful Research

2009-03-04T17:05:00.001+08:00

A week after I started working in the university, we, the new officers (tutors and lecturers) had a meeting with the TNC (Research & Innovation). This meeting was mainly to welcome the new officers to the institution. Since our university is a Research University (RU), the TNC focused on the importance of doing research and supervising undergrad/postgrad students.

One of the things he said that caught my attention was this..

The elements of successful research are..
1. Love
2. Commitment
3. Leadership
4. Environment
5. Planning
6.Monitoring
7. Endurance
8. Luck!

I totally agree on this. The most important thing in doing research is you need to have the love and passion. Without these elements, I don't think one can be a researcher. And of course, luck is important. Sometimes, even when you already do your very best, if the mr. luck is not on your side, you won't reach the aim/objective of your research.

It was a good meeting. I felt inspired to do my own research and to supervise my own students. Thanx so much Prof! :D