Scientific Writing
Info Sheet | Submit & Publish
March 2025
At its core, scientific writing is meant to convey complex information in a
clear, concise manner, which causes it’s structure, content, and style to
vary from other types of writing. Whether you are an experienced writer or
writing your first scientific article, this Info Sheet is meant as a quick
reference to help streamline your writing process.
Contact & help desk
In Person: At the information desks in Birmensdorf, Dübendorf and Villigen
Phone: + 41 58 765 57 00
E-mail: publicationservices@[Link]
Website: [Link]/scientific-publishing
Getting started
There are many considerations when writing a scientific publication and
many can be field-dependent. This guide is meant to serve as
recommendations and general considerations. We recommend referring to
articles and publications in your field, especially in the journal you are
interested in publishing in. It is also advisable to consult with your peers,
collaborators, and PIs.
When to begin? There are many schools of thought on when to begin writing, and the best
approach will depend on what works for you. However, since writing can be
a lengthy process we recommend beginning early and allowing the writing
Tip: and research process to be integrated (following G. Whitesides’ advice).
Have writers block? Consider This can include concept mapping, outlining, and/or writing your methods
changing up your writing process. A as you conduct your research.
few options include:
- Pomodoro Method
- Change your physical environment Also, note that developing your personal scientific writing style is part of
- Try writing on paper improving as a writer. Scientific writing has some specific requirements, but
- Try a brain dump
there are possibilities to adjust the way you present your research
- Start with an outline
- Try using an AI assistant according to your personal preferences. Keep writing and reading scientific
articles to improve.
Library for the Research Institutes within the ETH Domain: Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL 1
Scientific Writing — Info Sheet | Submit & Publish
Style
Scientific writing style differs from other types of writing because it is
meant to convey quantitative information in a clear, precise, concise, and
logical way. Here are some of the typical do’s and don’ts of scientific
writing:
DO: DON’T:
○ Construct simple, clear sentences ○ Write in a complicated manner
○ Aim for brevity ○ Use unnecessary adjectives,
○ Use active voice when appropriate adverbs, or constructions
○ Use concrete and specific terms ○ Use vague qualifiers
○ Focus on quantitative rather than ○ State quantities with more significant
qualitative statements digits than their accuracy
○ Use positive phrases ○ Overstate your results
Scientific storytelling: Context-Content-Conclusion (C-C-C) scheme
The Context-Content-Conclusion (C-C-C) Scheme (Mensh and Kording,
2017) is a method to structure your paper both at the paper scale and at
the paragraph scale to increase coherency. At a paper level, the
introduction provides the context, the results are the content, and the
discussion brings the conclusion. Within a paragraph, the C-C-C scheme
starts with 1-2 sentences of context, followed by the content in the body of
the paragraph, and finally, ending with a summarizing statement. This
scheme has the advantage that the series of context and conclusion
statements allows readers to follow the flow of your research, even when
they struggle to understand certain details. This can be particularly helpful
for readers that are not from your field, broadening the reach of your work.
Article structure and content
The majority of scientific articles have similar components. Each section
has a specific purpose and serves a role in sharing your research with the
community. The following is a guideline to help you approach the different
sections, determine what content should belong where and what
grammatical tense should be used in each section (Note: This was
developed with a physical/natural sciences article in mind1).
Tip: Writing Resources
The structure of the article depends o Strunk, William Jr: Elements of Style
on the type of article you are writing,
the journal/book you are submitting to, o Wallwork, Adrian: English for Writing Research Papers
and the field you work in. It is best to o The University of Manchester: Academic Phrasebank
check the Author’s Guide for your
journal to determine the exact o Zinsser, William: On Writing Well
components you need for submission o Mensh and Kodring: Ten Simple Rules for Structuring Papers
and publication.
1
Originally developed by W.P. Gardner (Univ. of Montana) and iterated on by E. Knappe.
Library for the Research Institutes within the ETH Domain: Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL 2
Scientific Writing — Info Sheet | Submit & Publish
Section Purpose Content Tense
Title Concise, specific and ○ Main finding Present simple
engaging phrase ○ What is new/interesting?
○ Includes 3-5 keywords
Key points/ Meant to convey the main ○ What is the main point of your article? Present simple
highlights contribution ○ What do you want the reader to take away?
Abstract Standalone summary ○ What did you do? (~1 sentence) Present simple
○ How did you do it? (~2-3 sentences)
○ Key results (~2-3 sentences)
○ Implications/impact (Final sentence)
Plain language/ Explain your research to a ○ Short summary of your paper using non-technical terms. Present simple
layman summary broader audience Follow the same structure as an abstract but broader and
simpler so anyone can understand.
Introduction Set up the context and ○ Problem statement (broad, ~1 paragraph) Present simple
importance of your • Why is this research important? What is the broad
objectives problem?
○ Scientific background (~2-3 paragraphs) Past perfect
• What has been done? What do we already know?
○ Statement of contribution (last sentence in scientific
background)
• What is the problem this research is addressing?
Present simple
○ Remaining question (final paragraph)
• What is the contribution this research is making? 1-2
sentences on the basic method used. Fundamental
results and implications. “In this paper we investigate ...”
Methods Detailed procedure ○ Method of solution -- how did you do it? Past simple
• Theory/equations
• Domain/geographic region
• Lab/field measurements
• Models/Numerical code
• Boundary & initial conditions
• Material/chemicals
• Instrumental techniques
• Data analysis
Results Findings without ○ What did you find? Past simple
interpretations ○ Majority of this section is likely to be tables and figures
Figures & tables Communicate complex ○ Easily readable axes and labels Present simple
information ○ Good captions (enough detail to understand the figure
without the main text)
Discussion Interpretion and evaluation ○ Answer your question Present simple
of your results ○ Compare your results
• Discuss nuances (anomalies, specific data, etc.)
• Limitations of your study
Past perfect
○ Compare to what exists in the literature
Present simple
○ Implications/significance of your findings
Conclusion Wrap up ○ Contribution -- what did you do? Present simple
○ Summarise important results
○ Broad implications and other applications/further research
to be considered
Library for the Research Institutes within the ETH Domain: Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL 3
Scientific Writing — Info Sheet | Submit & Publish
Citing
Paraphrasing In scientific writing, direct quoting of a source is rare. Instead, you want to
integrate the sources into your writing by paraphrasing. Techniques to help
with paraphrasing:
o Only include the information that is relevant to your argument while
retaining the meaning/intention of the primary source
o Change the sentence structure and/or word order
“When in doubt, cite” is a good rule of thumb. However, here are the cases
when citing is not necessary:
Tip: o General/common knowledge (e.g. plants photosynthesize)
Ensure you are using appropriate o Observable or generally accepted facts (e.g. water flows downhill)
references. This includes peer
o Your original ideas and results (e.g. the results section of your paper)
reviewed articles as well as books,
encyclopaedias, and scholarly works Citing reviews vs. primary literature:
from reputable sources. Preprints can o Cite a review to cover established theories in your field
be cited but you should check the
rules of your journal. Websites, blogs
o However, if a certain finding is particularly relevant for your study, con-
and magazines are almost never cited. sider finding, reading and citing the relevant primary literature
Finally, don’t cite anything you haven’t read.
Formatting
Main article Some journals allow your first submission to be formatted according to
your own preferences. Other journals have guidelines. Check the journal’s
“Author’s Guide” to learn more.
References The format of your references will depend on the journal you are
submitting to. To save time and effort, we recommend using a literature
management software, such as Zotero or EndNote, to easily create and
adapt your reference list. See our website or trainings to learn more.
Prepping for review Many people will review your article, from your collaborators to external
peer reviewers. Scientific writing is an iterative process. Reviewers’ input
can significantly improve your manuscript. We recommend thinking about
how to format your manuscript for ease of review, such as adding line
numbers or double-spacing lines. This helps both you and the reviewer
suggest and implement changes.
Tip:
Programs like LaTeX can make Finished with writing your manuscript? Congrats! Ready to start the
formatting and changing formatting publication process? Check out our Info Sheet on Scientific Publishing.
easy. Need help getting started? We break down the different steps to help you navigate the world of
Check out our trainings. scientific publishing.
Tip:
For a PDF version of this Info Sheet that contains all the relevant links, please scan the QR code
or go to [Link] Still have questions?
Reach out at publicationservices@[Link] or consider joining our training.
Library for the Research Institutes within the ETH Domain: Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL 4
