Plan your experiments in such a way that the data can be published Make sure you have a sound question (hypothesis) before you begin your research That hypothesis may not be the same you wish to use when publishing the data Research without a sound hypothesis is hard to write up, but sometimes there are good reasons to make an inventory(no sound hypothesis required Think three times before you start your experiments
Plan your experiments in such a way that the data can be published • Make sure you have a sound question (hypothesis) before you begin your research • That hypothesis may not be the same you wish to use when publishing the data • Research without a sound hypothesis is hard to write up, but … • sometimes there are good reasons to make an “inventory” (no sound hypothesis required) • Think three times before you start your experiments
Data that have not been published do not exist If you do not publish your data, you might as well not do the experiments Published data can make a lasting impression, like the Great Wall Photo Dr Jianbo Shen, CAU Beijing, PR China
Data that have not been published do not exist! If you do not publish your data, you might as well not do the experiments Published data can make a lasting impression, like the Great Wall Photo Dr Jianbo Shen, CAU, Beijing, PR China
The structure of a scientific paper Authors addresses Title, running title Abstract Where do i start? Keywords, abbreviations Introduction Materials and methods Results Discussion Acknowledgments References Tables and Fiqures
The structure of a scientific paper • Authors + addresses • Title, running title • Abstract • Keywords, abbreviations • Introduction • Materials and methods • Results • Discussion • Acknowledgments • References • Tables and Figures Where do I start?
Begin with the Results section Arrange your data in figures and tables Are the data best presented as figures or as tables? Decide which figure/table comes first Decide the order of all other figures/tables Make a structure for your results Decide what you wish to describe Design the sections in the Results(dot points) Then make a structure for each section(dot point) Decide what you wish to describe in each section Then start writing Write your results in the past tense
Begin with the Results section • Arrange your data in figures and tables – Are the data best presented as figures or as tables? • Decide which figure/table comes first • Decide the order of all other figures/tables • Make a structure for your Results – Decide what you wish to describe – Design the sections in the Results (“dot points”) • Then make a structure for each section (dot point) – Decide what you wish to describe in each section • Then start writing • Write your results in the past tense
The choice between a Figure or a Table Age malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aco succinic fumaric trans-ad Total 161 371 119109 7 484 1252 1.5 14 86 2.5 0000000 0000700 0000000 000 0000 5 68 5.5 929 00 824 19 2066 13.5 3217 3020 14 16o 54 6471 25 0 11 11 malic 0.400 malonic 0.350 0.300 lactic 0.250 acetic 0.200 *-maleic citric 80100 0.050 0.000 Time(days)
The choice between a Figure or a Table Age malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aconitic sucinic fumaric trans-aconitic Total 0 161 0 371 0 0 119 109 0 7 484 1252 1.5 0 0 66 0 0 0 4 0 2 14 86 2.5 17 0 41 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 68 5.5 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 27 8.5 929 0 0 57 0 824 6 209 22 19 2066 13.5 3217 0 0 0 0 3020 14 160 7 54 6471 25 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 0.300 0.350 0.400 0 10 20 30 Time (days) OA (nmol g-1 FW s-1 ) malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aconitic succinic fumaric transaconitic