The editor of Nature magazine shared some suggestions in the process of publishing research results. Here are some of their views.
Data is the core of all research work. Without excellent data support, it is almost impossible for a paper to be published in top journals. Even if the data is good, if the quality of the article is not good, it is not good.
Suppose your research is telling a story. An article should start with asking questions and then form a logical argument. A good paper usually needs strong evidence and convincing conclusions, so make sure there are no loopholes in your story. Excellent research should build a systematic and creative outline, and the paper should clearly tell attractive "stories". At the same time, you should have confidence in the style of the target journal when writing articles.
Know your readers. No one is obliged to read your article. If you carefully consider the object of the paper, the potential influence of the paper will also decline invisibly. Readers of scientific research papers are very special, but don't expect too much from you and their knowledge level, especially some influential journals. One of the acceptance criteria of these journals is the relatively extensive relevance of papers. Therefore, although your readers may be scientists, they are not necessarily experts in your research field.
Concise, clean and clear. Titles and abstracts are the most concerned issues for editors and reviewers. Be sure to use the title and abstract as bait to pull the reader down. This means trying not to use redundant technical terms in titles and abstracts.
This part should introduce the research topic and questions to be answered, summarize the main research results, and put forward opinions on its possible value and application prospect. We can start this paper by thinking about the following questions: What is the main conclusion that this paper wants to show? Which industries will be harmed by scientific research results? How much does it have to do with other industries outside this industry?
The wonderful title and abstract of the paper can attract readers' attention.
In addition, pay attention to the structure and language of the papers you usually read. Not only your own field, but also other fields will give you a lot of inspiration.
Make full use of charts. Charts can visually show your findings. There should be a logical order between them, which should correspond to the "story" told in your paper. In the era of big data, the application of charts in scientific research results is almost rampant, so you should know how to choose. Among all the data information, choose the data information that fully reflects the key points of your scientific research, and you don't have to pile all the data information on paper. In addition, one of the most basic scientific research skills is to be inspired by other people's research, so publishing a paper in a top magazine will let more scholars who need to see your research see your paper.
After years of scientific research and training, most people have formed the writing thinking of "Look at what I have done" in their papers, but if you really want to improve your research value and influence, you should establish the writing thinking of "Look at why this problem is important" in your papers.