Checklists for Writing a Scientific Manuscript
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How to Write the Methods Section: Basic Science Studies
One way to write the Methods section of a basic science study is to create paragraphs for each main topic below that applies to your study. The following order works well in many papers.
Materials
▪ Describe the materials (e.g., animals, drugs, reagents, equipment) used in the study.
▪ For drugs, use the generic name and specify the concentration and dose. (A trade name may be given in parentheses at first mention.) For reagents, specify the concentration and grade, if appropriate.
▪ Identify the suppliers of those materials and the locations (city and state) of the suppliers.
Cell Lines and Cultures
▪ Describe the cell lines and cultures that were used.
▪ Identify the suppliers of the cell lines and the locations (city and state) of the suppliers.
▪ Describe how the cultures were prepared.
Human Subjects
▪ Say whether institutional approval and informed consent were obtained, and if not, explain why not.
▪ Describe the source of the study population.
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List inclusion and exclusion criteria.
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Tell how samples were collected.
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Tell the number of samples included.
Animals
▪ Provide the standards of care that were followed in the care of animals.
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Identify the supplier of the animals.
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State how many animals were used.
▪ Describe what was done to the animals, including how they were killed.
Experiments
▪ Describe what experiments were performed, why each was performed, and specifically how each was performed. (Each experiment may be described in a separate paragraph, each beginning with an explanation of what the particular experiment was designed to determine.) Chronological order usually works best.
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