Lesson from PhD Course: Writing a scientific text

Lessons from Magne Nylenna, Kunnskapssenteret: 

The setup of a publication

• Introduction
• Three paragraphs:
• What is known
• What is unknown
• What is your plan
• Catch the interest of the reader and help him or her understand
• Start with a quote, a definition, a scenario
• Materials and methods
• Study design
• How, what, when, and where
• Data analysis
• Aim for six paragraphs
• Results
• Aim for six paragraphs
• systematic presentation of findings
• A logical order: general to detailed
• Use tables and figures; do not state the same facts twice.
• Discussion
• 6-7 paragraphs
• Structure:
• summarize main findings
• the limits and strengths
• interpretation of results
• importance of the study
• End with a clear message

"Kill your darlings"

• Make your title better.
• Informative and exciting
• be careful with conclusions
• wait until the final manuscript; use a working title
• A question in the title must be answered in the text
• Form example: "An exciting statement: An explanation of the text"

Lesson from PhD Course: Publishing

Lessons from Richard Horton, Editor of the Lancet

• The forces of publication
• Open Access: Science should be accessible for everyone, especially since the public paid for it by way of taxes
• Impact: Brand names of universities are built by publications. More publications mean better recognition.
• Liars, cheats & fraud: Science is not better than any other area, it has it's fair share of bottomfeeders.
• What do journals want in the articles they publish?
• Originality; is anything new brought to the table?
• Relevancy: is the disease discussed in media? 
• Readership: are the main readers of the journal going to be interested?
• Then - and only after this - do the journals consider the truthfulness of the research.
• Open access publications like PLOS One have a bias to publish more, especially research that may have been turned down in higher impact journals like the Lancet or BMJ.

• Think about the message you want to convey
• Be actively engaged in the publishing process
• Convey passion for your work in in the paper and in the cover letter.

Shetlandsponnier i lusekofte

Denne går kanskje ikke inn under hverken burger eller vitenskap. 

Det gjør ingenting.

Ingen trenger å være regelrytter her på haugen.

I do Science