Chapter 4 Writing Specific Sections
4.1 Title
The title is the most read part of an article, and influences whether a reader is interested in reading the manuscript. Hairston and Keene (2003) suggest that the title of a research paper should accomplish four goals:
- predict the content of the research paper;
- be interesting to the reader;
- reflect the tone of the writing;
- contain important keywords (that makes it easier to be found from keywords search).
The title of a paper is usually determined when the paper is close to completion. To come up with a good title, list some key phrases that you would like to have, and be creative in forming a good title that consists of most of them. Here are some tips.
- Be informative by including these aspects: topic, method(s), data, and results.
- Consider adding a subtitle to give more specifics about the paper.
- Use appropriate critical keywords to increase the discoverability of the paper.
- Follow the requirements from the instructions or journals.
- Keep it as concise as possible.
4.2 Abstract
Marron (1999) recommended the following:
Abstract material needs to be carefully chosen. A balance between the twin goals of brevity and maximal information content should again be carefully sought. There is room for more detail than in the title, but not enough room for all ideas covered in the paper. Make sure each “high point” is included. The paper will have a better chance in the review process if it is made clear what is done, and why it is important, since this will immediately capture the interest of the reviewer.
Any recommendations for length here must be more case dependent. Longer papers will usually need longer abstracts. However, something between 4 and 10 sentences is reasonable for most situations.
Mathematical notation is rarely useful in the abstract. Sometimes notation is introduced in an abstract, and then not used at all! Even when notation is used in the abstract, the point can usually be conveyed more efficiently in words alone.
Tips:
- Open with a sentence to establish the importance of the subject of the paper.
- Identify a gap in the literature to set up the background of the paper.
- Highlight the novelty/contributions of the paper.
- For application papers, allude to new discoveries and their impacts.
- For method papers, outline the essence of the methodology, and evidence from theoretical and numerical studies supporting the methods.
- It must make sense when read in isolation for those who only read the
abstract, and must also provide a clear and accurate summary of the manuscript
for readers who read the entire manuscript (Zeiger 2000).
- Should not include citations.
4.3 Keywords
Keywords are words in addition to those in the title that attract search queries. Including the most relevant keywords helps other researchers find your paper.
- No need to repeat anything in the title already.
- List them in alphabetical order.
- Contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about.
4.4 Introduction
The introduction section is always the first section of a paper. Some journals may not call it introduction but require a section that serves the same purpose. The purpose of the introduction is to stimulate the reader’s interest and to provide background information which is pertinent to the study (Jenkins 1995). The introduction section guides the readers from a general subject area to the narrow topic of the paper. It should answer three questions:
- Why does it matter?
- What has already been done?
- What is new?
That is, the introduction sections need to explain the importance of the topic of the paper, provide the background of the research work, and highlight the contributions of the work. At the end of the introduction, a roadmap, or an outline of the paper is useful in helping the readers navigate through the following sections.
The introduction is typically outlined at the very beginning of the writing process, but completed towards the end after the other sections have been written. Do NOT wait to perform the literature review until last, however! This should happen before the research is undertaken to ensure you are not duplicating something that has already been done!
An introduction often contains the following items.
- An overview of the topic. Start with a general overview of your topic and narrow it to the specific subject you are addressing. Then, mention questions or concerns you have about the case. Explain why they are important and why it needs to be addressed right now.
- Existing works. The introduction is the place to review other conclusions on your topic. The literature review should be thorough, including both old and recent works. It should show that you are aware of prior research. It also introduces past findings to those who might not have that expertise.
- A gap needs to be identified from the importance of the topic and the current status of the literature, which is the rationale for your work. Why are existing methods not sufficient? What are elements of an attractive solution?
- Contributions. This is a thesis statement, which summarizes the the contributions of your work to the existing literature, and answers the “what is new” question.
- A roadmap. A brief summary of what each section does in the paper. This concludes the introduction.
4.5 Data
The data section should provide all the details that are relevant for the research project.
- Who collected the data (source)?
- How was the data collected? Sampling frame? Sampling approach?
- What period or range does the data cover?
- Why does the data help answer the research question?
- What exploratory analyses are done (descriptives, visualization, etc.)?
4.6 Methods
Notation is much easier to digest if the reader first understands the main idea at an intuitive level.
- Establish notation.
- What are the observed data?
- What are the models?
- What are the parameters to be estimated?
- How are the point estimators obtained?
- How are the uncertainty (standard errors) of the point estimators assessed?
- How are the variances of the point estimators estimated?
- How are the null distribution of the testing statistics established?
- Clearly state the assumptions and claims of theoretical results.
4.7 Simulation
ADEMP (Morris, White, and Crowther 2019):
- Aims
- Data generating mechanism
- Estimand/target of analysis
- Methods
- Performance measures
Coding and Execution
Analysis/Discussion: with tables and figures. May be included in a Results section.
- For each table/figure, write down the bullet points to convey to the readers.
- Group the bullet points in blocks and put the blocks in a logical order.
- Within each block, put the bullet points in the right logical order.
- Some (shorter) blocks can be converted into proper paragraphs in the final paper, while other (longer) blocks may remain in bullet form.
4.8 Application
- Report the statistical analyses in tables/figures.
- When summarizing from tables/figures, paint the big picture, rather than reiterating all of the little details.
- Discussions to link the analyses back to the substantive topic (Miller 2015):
Having presented the individual pieces of evidence, an investigator must summarize how that evidence, taken together, support the conclusoin of the investigation. Statisticians should explain how the statistical evidence answers the question posed at the beginning of the paper, following standard expository writing guidelines to writing an analytic essay.
4.9 Discussion and Conclusion
- A summary, again, of the contributions of the research.
- The research question posed as the `need’ of the introduction must be answered here (Zeiger 2000).
- Limitations of the current study
- Future directions.
4.10 Appendix
- Technical details (e.g., proofs, algorithms) that would otherwise break the flow of the main text.
- Data source details.
4.11 Acknowledgements
This section is optional, but could be used to acknowledge certain individuals who have contributed to the research and/or success of the manuscript (e.g. peer reviewers).
In general, if the research upon which you are writing was funded, the funding agency and funding mechanism are typically included here unless otherwise specified.
4.12 References
- Every reference cited in the paper should appear here.
- References not cited should not appear here.
- All are automatically taken care of by BibTeX.
- Styles are controlled by bib style (
.bstfile).
4.14 General Tips
From Jenkins (1995):
In order to maintain continuity between the key sections (introduction, methods, results and discussion) it is helpful to consider the manuscript as telling a story.
The strong parts to the story-line are the introduction and the discussion, so the link between these sections must be clear.
Devices such as paragraphing, headings, indentation, and enumeration help the reader see the major points that you want to make.
As a rule of thumb, if you type a full page (double spaced) without indenting for a new paragraph, you almost certainly have run one thought into another and have missed an opportunity to differentiate your ideas.
Any tables and figures included in the manuscript must be mentioned (referenced) within the main text.
If journal/instructions do not specify otherwise, tables and figures should be placed near (ideally after) the related text, and on the top of the page.
Use consistent notation throughout the manuscript, avoid defining any unnecessary notation, and avoid using the same notation to describe different things (variables, indices, etc.).
4.15 General Tips: Use of English
It is relatively easy to read and understand English which is well written. As the quality of writing deteriorates, however, it becomes progressively more difficult for the reader to understand the author’s intended meaning.
An obvious problem occurs when the author fails to use properly constructed sentences. This can be easily corrected with revision and external review.
A much more dangerous problem occurs when the author unconsciously assumes that the reader is able to follow his/her unwritten train of thought. This can also usually be caught with external review.
More tips on the use of English:
Use of tenses: Use present tense for most of the manuscript; use past tense only when describing events that occurred in the past (data collection, an experiment that has already been conducted, how simulations were designed).
Be consistent with tense usage within sections, paragraphs, etc.Do not use the word ‘significant’ other than in a statistical sense.
The word ‘data’ is often mistakenly treated as if it were a singular noun instead of as a plural noun. The word ‘data’ is, in fact, a plural noun (its singular form is ‘datum’).