EDIT: This series of webpages was created in Jan 2018 to support a writing week I was teaching. Since then many students have told me that they would like a general guide book for new scientists. I have now created that book. You can check it out here, or scroll down to access the original content.
This page hosts links to a series of writing guides for preparing scientific papers, journal articles, manuscript-style project reports and for PhD theses / dissertations.
These pages were generated to help undergraduate, MRes and PhD students passing through our lab but I thought the content might be useful to others so have provided them below. If they are any use to you, please feel free to share with friends, colleagues etc. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated (form below).
In a white box = link
Template
“insert text here” template (downloadable .doc file)
Template for manuscript / journal article / scientific paper or MRes / undergraduate report writing.
Good place to start if you have an idea of what you are doing and just want to get started. It should also useful for postdoc level writers as a quick way to go from blank page to getting into the meat of your writing. I have included a few quick notes in each subsection to help you.
Specific Subsection guides
Each of these links will take you to pages devoted to each subsection.
Writing effective titles for research papers
Writing abstracts for research papers
Introductions mostly for research paper writing)
Materials and Methods sections
- Cell culture methods sections
- Antibodies methods sections
- Western blotting (aka immunoblotting) methods sections
- qPCR, RT-PCR, RNA isolation etc methods sections
- Immunofluorescence, immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry methods sections
Figure legends aka captions
Quick tips
Grammar
Seriously! We now even have a grammar quiz based around science phrases. Don’t worry, although it is quite tricky it makes up for it by having cartoons! Reach it here:
Coming soon…
Specific type of figures, thesis introductions/literature reviews, and probably some general writing tips.
Experimental Design
Check out our new experimental design series – step by step guide
Other useful blogs/websites with guides etc
- Doctoral writing
- PhD2published
- The Research Whisperer
- Explorations of Style
- And for grammar lessons, perfect English grammar has a wealth of deep resources.
Any comments on what other guides would be useful next? Other comments on the content? or suggestions of sites to add to the list – contact us via the form below
About the author
Dr Kevin Hamill is a Senior Lecturer in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Liverpool, in the Department of Eye and Vision Science, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease. His lab focuses on cell-matrix interactions; you can read about ongoing work elsewhere on this blog, on the lab webpages, or in his published work. As well as supervising PhD, Masters in Research and Undergraduate research projects in his lab, Kevin is also the academic lead for the Lab skills Module of MRes Clinical Sciences program where he teaches fundamental skills for life scientists.
Like the cartoons on this page? Have a look in the menu for “cartoons” or at the blog for “life in the laminin lab” posts.
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