How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper

Now thoroughly updated and expanded, this new edition of a classic guide offers practical advice on preparing and publishing journal articles as well as succeeding in other communication-related aspects of a scientific career. Writing and publishing journal articles are essential aspects of a successful scientific career. Unfortunately, many scientists find the process of communicating about their work intimidating and confusing. Now in its eighth edition, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper teaches how to apply clear focus, good organization, and simple, straightforward language to write papers as well as communicate effectively in many other scientifically related applications. By providing practical, readable, and sometimes humorous guidance, this book enables researchers to gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in communicating about their work. The authors not only guide readers in the craft of scientific writing—broken down into the separate tasks of writing the respective sections of a scientific paper and then publishing the paper—but also address important related psychological, ethical, logistical, and cultural considerations in communicating about science. Chapter topics include composing (and requesting) recommendation letters, writing grant proposals, providing peer review, editing one's own work, preparing oral presentations and poster presentations, and working with the popular media. This is an essential resource for researchers—both native and non-native users of English—with limited experience writing scientific papers, such as graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty members.

About the Author :
Barbara Gastel, MD, is professor of integrative biosciences and of medical humanities at Texas A&M University, College Station, where she coordinates the graduate program in science communication. Robert A. Day is professor emeritus of English at the University of Delaware, Newark.

Review :
"This highly engaging and informative work will be an excellent addition to libraries that support graduate programs in the STEM fields. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty." - Choice "This charmingly written and superbly organized volume leads the reader through the many steps of writing for the scientific community. . . . Any library with readers who are seeking guidance in writing for publication in the sciences, and particularly academic libraries, will certainly benefit from adding this to their collections, even if it simply means updating an earlier edition." - ARBA "What about technical communicators? Two matters make the book valuable. First, if colleagues ask for help in writing their scientific papers, technical communicators can point to this book as giving good advice. . . . The second is to enhance the technical communicator’s knowledge of what is scientific writing. In sum, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper has merit for technical communicators and should at least be found in a company or reference library." - Technical Communication "The value of the book lies in its coverage of scientific papers in a broader sense. In addition to discussing journal manuscripts, Gastel and Day provide instruction on writing other types of scientific publications, such as reviews, opinion pieces, and book chapters or books, as well as conference presentations (oral and poster presentations) and conference reports. . . . How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper is used in teaching programs in many colleges and universities. I use it as the required text for my online course in medical writing at a major university. Students like its straightforward, practical approach, and their assignments demonstrate that the advice can be applied readily. As further testimony of the value of the book, James Jett, MD, former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, recently recommended the book to fellows and young investigators at this year’s World Conference on Lung Cancer." - American Medical Writers Association Journal "Overall, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper is a very good guide for novice writers. Advanced writers may find the cursory chapters on topics other than scientific papers helpful. I would recommend this book to students, beginners, regulatory writers transitioning into medical communications, and anyone else new to writing academic science." - Medical Writing