Transcript WRITING CHEMICAL RESEARCH PAPERS - tpc lab

WRITING CHEMICAL
RESEARCH PAPERS
TITLE AND AUTHORS
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TITLE
A good title should
• Define contents of paper in a
few words. It should “sell” your
manuscript
• Make retrieval of your article
easy (= more impact)
• Have more important words
first
• Show accuracy
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Desirable Features of a Title
• Expresses only one idea
• Omits redundant words: verbs
and articles (usually)
• Omits waste words like “A
Study of..”
• Uses simple word order with
correct syntax
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Things to Avoid
• Scientific Abbreviations (e.g.
E. coli should be Escherichia
coli); IR should be infrared
• Acronyms (Ca should be
Calcium)
• Chemical Formulas – use
generic or common names
• Roman numerals
• Sensational or strong words
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Title Styles
• Descriptive or Label Style
- no verbs and (usually) no articles
(the, a, etc)
This is the more common style
• Assertive Sentence Style
- contains subject, verb and object
This style is used more often in
general science and biomedical
journals
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Title Styles (2)
• Series titles are used to connect a number
of papers published on the same general
subject. E.g. Nucleophilic Catalysis, Part
IV. Acid-hydrolysis of organic sulfites.
Uncommon nowadays.
• Hanging titles consist of general
statement, then : or . or – followed by a
more specific statement. Common
nowadays.
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Examples of Title Styles
From azides to nitro compounds in a few seconds using HOF·CH3CN
S. Rozen and M. Carmeli
From J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 8118-8119.
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Examples of Hanging Titles
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Examples of Hanging Titles (2)
Suppression of a palladium-mediated homocoupling in a
Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. Development of an impurity
control strategy supporting synthesis of LY451395
J.T. Quatroche and C.D. Sturgill
From Org. Process Res. Dev., 2007, 11, 359-364
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Example of Series Title
Chemistry of the sulfur-nitrogen bond 12. Metal-assisted
synthesis of sulfenamide derivatives from aliphatic and
aromatic disulfides.
M.D. Bentley, J.A. Lacadie, and I.B. Douglass
From J. Org. Chem. 1977, 42, 967-972
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Examples of Title Improvements
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Example 1
•“Cycloaddition Reactions of
mesoionic oxadiazoles” is too
general for the manuscript
content
•A more accurate title might be
“Diels-Alder Reactions of
Mesoionic 1,2,3-Oxadiazol-5ones (Sydnones)”
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Example 2
•“Preliminary Canine and Clinical
Evaluation of a New Antitumor
Agent, Streptovitacin” is an
example with incorrect syntax
•A more correct title might be
“Preliminary Evaluation of a New
Antitumor Agent, Streptovitacin,
using Canine and Clinical Trials”
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Example 3
•“Determination of Copper in
Tequila using Stripping
Potentiometry”
•If the focus is on the technique
rather than the analyte or medium
then a better title may be
•“Stripping Potentiometric
Determination of Copper in Tequila”
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Example 4
•“Investigation into the Use of
Copper and Other Metals as
indicators for the Authenticity of
Scotch Whiskies”
•Removing “waste” words gives
•“Copper and Other Metals as
Indicators for the Authenticity of
Scotch Whiskies”
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AUTHORS
• The list of authors should reflect
a system of credit
• As far as possible, include only
significant contributors
• Acknowledgements can be used
for people who helped with a
specific aspect, but who otherwise
made no contribution
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Authors: Order of Listing
• There are no definite rules
• Decide early in the program of
study on sequence of authors
• Main author can be placed
first and corresponding author
(if different) can be indicated by
*
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Example 1
•Scientist A designs program of
work and Technician B (nonstudent) carries out the work
successfully
•Either
Author A (with B acknowledged)
Or
Author A and B in that order
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Example 2
•Scientist A and Technician B (nonstudent) jointly design program of
work and B carries out the work
successfully
•Either
Author A and B in that order
Or
Author B and A* in that order
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Example 3
•Supervisor A and student or
post-doc B design progam of
work jointly, which B completes
•Author B and A* in that order
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Example 4
•Supervisor A and student or postdoc B design progam of work
jointly, which B completes, with
small but specific help from
scientist C
•Author B and A* in that order, with
C acknowledged
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Example 5
•Supervisor A and student or postdoc B design program of work
jointly, which B completes, with
extended collaboration of scientist
C
•Author B, A* and C in that order
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Writer’s Lament
Research: I slog away for the benefit of
humanity, my sponsors get all the
money and my supervisor hogs all the
glory. Such is life!
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