A guide for Scientific Writing

1. A guide for Scientific Writing By Dr. Najla Abdulrahman Al-Nabhan Assistant Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs,  Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS)

2. Bio-note • Dr. Najla Alnabhan works as an Assistant Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS). She is also an Assistant Professor, at Computer Science Department. • She received her BSc (Hon) and MSc degrees in Computer Science from King Saud University. She also received her PhD. degree in Computer Science, College of Computer and Information Science, King Saud University. She was a visiting PhD student in GWU, IEEE member and a research fellow in Brunel and Imperial University London. • Her research interest includes wireless networks (specifically sensor networks), mobile computing, distributed systems, ubiquitous computing, cloud computing, Emergency management, and IoT. • She has awarded a US patent and the top prize in the “King’s Ambition For a Nation’s Future” competition. Dr. Al-nabhan has more than 12 published papers and she is a reviewer in a number of specialized journals. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

3. Tips on How to Write a Good Research Paper?

4. What is Scientific Research? • Scientific research • Scientific research is the systematic investigation of scientific theories and hypotheses. • Research is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of datato answer a certain question or solve a specific problem. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

5. Objectives of Scientific Research • The ultimate aims of research are to generate measurable and testabledata, gradually adding to the accumulation of human knowledge. • Observe and Describe • The first stage of any research is to observe the world around us and to ask questions about why things are happening. • Predict • develop a strong hypothesis • Determination of the Causes • Providing numerical data to prove or disprove the hypothesis. • Explain • try to find possible explanations of 'Why?' and 'How?' things are happening. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

6. A 14-step Process: • Choose a problem. • Review the literature. • Evaluate the literature. • Be aware of all ethical issues. • Be aware of all cultural issues. • State the research question or hypothesis. • Select the research approach. • Determine how the variables are going to be measured. • Select a sample (design the experiment). • Select a data collection method. • Collect the data. • Analyze and interpret the data. • Write the report. • Disseminate the report. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan See more : http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/steps-of-the-research-process

7. A Fact.. • A scientific experiment is not complete until the results have been published and understood. • A scientific paper is a written and published to describe original research results. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

8. What is Scientific Writing The purpose of scientific writing is to communicate new scientific findings. Thus it has to be clear, simple and well-ordered communication to transmit new scientific findings. Scientific writing must use proper English which gives the sense in the fewest short words. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

9. What is the structure of a scientific paper? • All scientific papers have almost the same format. • They are divided into distinct sections and each section contains a specific type of information. • The number and the headings of sections may vary among journals, but for the most part a basic structure is maintained. • Because scientific papers are organized in this way, a readerknowswhat to expect from each part of the paper, and they can quickly locate a specific type of information. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

10. What is the general structure of a scientific paper? • Typically, scientific papers are comprised of the following parts: • Title. • Abstract. • Introduction. • Related Work . • Methodology/ Your approach/work. • Results. • Discussion & Conclusion. • Acknowledgments. • References. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

11. How to Find a Good (Well-written) Paper • We need an example on how a good paper looks like! • KSU digital library: • Library.ksu.edu.sa • WebofScience.com(KSU domain) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7WQMALBg8w&t=4s • Pick a paper(or 3) in your specialty or area of interest to use it throughout this presentation, By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

12. Essential Parts of a Scientific paper 1. Title: Describes concisely the core contents of the paper. 2. Abstract:Summarizes the major elements of the paper. 3. Introduction: provides context and rationale for the study. 4. Literature review:surveys scientific articles, books, journals, dissertations & other sources relevant to the research question. 5. The Approach: Materials: Describes the experimental design so it is reproducible. Methods: Describes the experimental procedures. 6.Results: Summarizes the findings without interpretation. 7.Discussion:Interprets the findings of the study. 8. Conclusion: Summarizesthe findings. 9. Acknowledgement: Give credit to those who helped you. 10. References:Lists all scientific papers, books and websites that you cited. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

13. PAPER TITLE By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

14. The Title • The title will help you to determine if an article is interestingor relevantfor your project. • Well-written titles give a reasonablycomplete description of the conducted study, and sometimeseven highlights the findings. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

15. Why the Title is Important? • The title is extremely important and must be chosen with great care as it will be read by thousands, whereas few will read the entire paper. • Indexing and abstracting of the paper depends on the accuracy of the title. An improperly titled paper will get lost and will never be read. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

16. Tips on Writing a Good Title Length: • A good title is defined as the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper. • Titles should neither be too short nor too long as to be meaningless • Waste words • i.e. studies on, investigations on, a, an, the. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

17. Tips on Writing a Good Title (cont.) • Syntax(words order) must be very carefully considered. • It should contain the keywords that reflect the contents of the paper. • It should be meaningfuland not general. • It should be concise, specific and informative. • It should capturethe fundamental nature of the experiments and findings. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

18. How to Prepare the Title? Make a list of the most important keywords. • Think of a title that containsthese words. • The title could state the conclusionof the paper. • The title NEVERcontains abbreviations, chemical formulas, proprietary names or jargon. • Think, rethinkof the title before submitting the paper. • Be very careful of the grammaticalerrors due to faulty word order. • Avoid using waste words. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

19. Title: Rules of Thumb • Shortand simple: 7-10 words. • Attracts the reader's attention; • Try to pick a catchy title! • Indicates content and main discoveries; • Avoid complex grammar; • Avoid redundancy ("An investigation of... ", "The analysis of... ", "Effect of... ", "Influence of...", "New method...); Examples! By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

20. The ABSTRACT By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

21. ABSTRACT • Abstract provides you with a complete, but very brief summaryof the paper. • Something that is briefly and clearly expressed. • Abstracts areoften included in article databases, and are usually free to a large audience. • The most widely read portions of scientific papers. • Abstract is the first and sometimes the only part of the manuscript read. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

22. The Abstract • An abstract can be defined as asummary of the information in a document. • An abstract contains brief statements of the 1)purpose, 2)methods, 3)results, and 4)conclusionsof a study. • It provides a brief summary of each of the main sections of the paper. • It is easier to write the abstract after completion of the paper By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

23. Criteria of the Abstract Example! • It should not exceed 250 words • It should be written in one paragraph. • Long words should be followed by its abbreviation which would be used through out the abstract and paper. • It should not cite any references (except in rare cases) • It should never give any information or conclusion that is not stated in the paper. • Must be accurate with respect to figures quoted in the main text. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

24. The Abstract • Find the sentences that: • Give an introductionto the topic, highlights the importance of this study, • State the principal objective and scope of the investigation • Describe the methodsused • Summarize the results, and • State the principal conclusion. • Check the other discussed criteria. Examples! By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

25. Abstract: Rules of Thumb • Abstract should be short but give the overall idea on: • what was done, • what was found and • what are the main conclusions • bring summary 'numbers‘. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

26. Key Words (Or index words) By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

27. Key Words • Keywords are important words/concepts found in your research question or paper. • Keywords make your paper searchable and ensure that you get more citations. • Therefore, it is important to include the most relevant keywords that will help other authors find your paper. • A quick way to pull keywords from a research question is to choose the most important nouns; all other words are irrelevant. • Using keywords to search will always retrieve more results than phrases or sentences. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

28. Key Words: Tips • Here are a few tips that will help you create relevant and effective keywords for your paper: 1. Think from the point of view of the reader. • What keywords would the reader search for that would help retrieve your article? 2. Keywords should ideally be phrases of 4-5 words • Journals ask for anywhere between 3-8 keywords. • single word keywords are acceptable, but they may lead to many false matches. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

29. Key Words: Tips 3. Keywords should contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about. 4. Also include words and phrases that are closely related to your topic. • (For example, if the paper is about heart diseases, use words like stroke, circulatory system, blood, etc. 5. Also use variants terms or phrases that readers are likely to use. • (For example, if the paper is about spine disorders, use words like spinal cord, vertebral column, backbone, etc.) 6. Full forms of shortened words and abbreviations could be included as well. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

30. Keywords: Rules of Thumb • when selecting keywords, imagine you are searching for your article in some database. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

31. INTRODUCTION

32. INTRODUCTION • You will find background information and a statement of the author's hypothesis in the introduction. • An introduction usually describes the theoreticalbackground, indicates why the work is important, states a specific research question, and poses a specific hypothesis to be tested. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

33. INTRODUCTION The introduction should answer the following questions: • What are you studying? • Why it is this an important question? • What did you know about this topic before you did this study? • What the model/context that you are testing? • Problem statement. • The aim of this paper is to … study/propose/review/.. • What approach did you take in this study? • Paper organization Check above answers in your exemplary paper! check! By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

34. Suggested Tips for a Good Introduction: • It should present the nature and scope of the problem investigated. • Review the relevant literature. • State the method of investigation. • State the principal results of the investigation. • State the principal conclusion(s) suggested by the results. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

35. Introduction: Rules of Thumb • Introduce the topic and emphasize why is it important! • Defines the terminology • Relate to current knowledge: "What's been done" and "What need's to be done?” • Bring the gap! • Introduce your work Give the purpose and main objective • Indicated the focus of the paper and research objectives; Paper structure! By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

36. LITERATURE REVIEW Or Related Work

37. What is Literature Review(LR)? • The literaturerepresents an on-going scholarly conversation • A literature review “reviews” – looks again – at what others have said, done and found in a particular area • In fact, a literature review is performed on many rounds. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

38. Sources of Literature 1) Journal articles: • these are good sources, especially for up-to-date information. • They are frequently used in literature reviews because they offer a relatively concise, up-to-date format for research. • Depending on the publication, these materials may be refereed materials. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

39. What about Non-refereed Journals? • Non-refereed materials such as Trade Journals, or magazinesuse less precise standards of screening prior to publication. • Non-refereed materials may not be checked as intensely as refereed materials, but many can still be considered useful, although not for scientific literature and research. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

40. Sources of Literature (cont.) 2) Books:  remember that books tend to be less up-to-date, as it takes longer for a book to be published than for a journal article. • They are still likely to be useful for including in your literature review as they offer a good starting point from which to find more detailed and up-to-date sources of information.  By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

41. Sources of Literature (cont.) 3) Conference proceedings: these can be useful in providing the latest research, or research that has not been published. • They are also helpful in providing information about people in different research areas, and so can be helpful in tracking down other work by the same researchers. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

42. Sources of Literature (cont.) 4) Government/corporate reports: • Many government departments and corporations commission carry out research. • Their published findings can provide a usefulsource of information, depending on your field of study. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

43. Sources of Literature (cont.) 5) Thesis and dissertations: can be useful sources of information. However there are disadvantages: • they can be difficult to obtain since they are not published, but are generally only available from the library or interlibrary systems • the student maynot be an experienced researcher and therefore you might have to treat their findings with more caution than published research.  • describe more than one topic, and it may present more than one approach to some topics. • The thesis may present all or most of the data obtained in the student’s thesis related research. • longer than a scientific paper. By Dr. NajlaAlnabhan

44. Sources of Literature (cont.) 6) Internet: the fastest-growing source of information is on the Internet. • bear in mind that anyone can post information on the Internet so the quality may not be reliable • the information you find may be intended for a general audience and so not be suitable for inclusion in your literature review (information for a general audience is usually less detailed). By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

45. General Rules in Writing Related Work • Use the active voice as much as possible • Avoid lengthy or unfocused reviews of previous research. • Cite peer-reviewed scientific literature or scholarly reviews. • Avoid generalreference works. • Define any specialized terms or abbreviations. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

46. Annotated Bibliography • An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, theannotation. • The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

47. Annotated Bibliography: How to Write? • First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. • Briefly examine and review the actual items. • Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic. • Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

48. Annotated Bibliography: How to Write? (cont.) • Include one or more sentences that : (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

49. LITERATURE CITED (References) • The last section of your paper: References. • It provides the sources cited throughout the paper. • The literature cited section is also helpful for generating a list of background reading on the topic under study. By Dr. Najla Alnabhan

50. THE METHODOLOGY How to Present your Approach/Work?