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Preliminary Steps in Writing a Scientific Manuscript
Collecting the Material You Already Have Another task you can complete before you begin to write is to collect the material that you already have: Lab notes Literature gathered Hypothesis or purpose statement Conclusion
Methods section Tables and figures Names of materials used and their suppliers Author instructions List of co-authors with e-mail addresses and phone and fax numbers Acknowledgments References
Poster presentations Slide presentations Outline of paper
Planning Your Time A schedule for writing your paper will help you stay focused and reassure your co-authors. One way to plan a schedule is to estimate how much time you will need to complete the remaining steps, many of which are listed under “Identifying Responsibilities,” and then multiply it by 2 or 3. For instance, if you think that a particular task will take 3 hours to do, multiply that amount to be more realistic. Thus, 3 hours could really mean 6 or 9 hours, depending on how experienced you are and whether you are collaborating with other authors. Another way to plan your time is to decide on a date for submitting your paper and work backwards. For example, if you give yourself 2 months to plan and write your paper from start to finish, you might mark a date on the calendar 3 weeks before the submission date: 1 week for your co- authors to review the final version, a couple of days to make changes based on their comments, a week or 2 for an editor to edit the paper, a few days to make corrections, a few days for final approval by your co-authors, and a day to get the paper e-mailed or mailed to the journal.
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