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Publications

Moore, M. J., Lanagan, T. M., Wells, R. S., Kapit, J., Barleycorn, A. A., Allen, J. B., Baird, R. W., et al. 2024. Development of single-pin, un-barbed, pole-tagging of free-swimming dolphins and sharks with satellite-linked transmitters. Animal Biotelemetry, 12: 6.

Denk, M., McLellan, W., Pabst, D. A., Rommel, S., Keenan, T., Sharp, S., Niemeyer, M., et al. 2024. Melon and rostral muscle morphology of Gervais' beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus): Alternating patterns of bilateral asymmetry. The Anatomical Record, 307: 633-657.

Yang, D. Y., Shorter, K. A., Moore, M., Rocho‐Levine, J., Wells, R. S., Barton, K., and Johnson, M. 2024. In vivo viscoelastic properties of cetacean integument: an experimental characterization. Marine Mammal Science: e13153.

How to outline a scientific paper

The Bones of a Scientific Paper - Michael Moore

Title: Think long and hard about the title – it drives your thoughts as to the story you are trying to tell.

Authors: I tend to be inclusive. It builds future willingness to collaborate and recognizes usually unsung heroes.

Abstract: It will write itself once the body of the paper is drafted. Simply pluck out the key words from the text once it has been assimilated and string them into good prose.

Introduction: Start off by setting the scene of the subject area – broadly what is known. Then go on to describe what is not known in the area of your endeavor and then describe the questions you asked to fill that gap, perhaps with a hint as to what you found out. So there are three sections to the Introduction: What we know, what we don’t know and what we now know.

Methods: what you did and how you did it.

Results: Sample sizes and sources, tables of data, figures etc. Often points that belong in the discussion creep in to the results. Don’t let this happen. Push them into a resource pile for use in the discussion.

Discussion:  The first section of the discussion defines the paper. The first sentence of that paragraph encapsulates what you discovered, the subsequent sentences lay out a series of issues that need discussing in logical sequence: data quality, variables you could not control, alternative interpretations etc.  Each sentence in that first paragraph defines a subsequent paragraph detailing each issue. Then at the end you wrap up with a conclusive paragraph telling the world what we now know that we did not before. Three sections again: first a summary of what needs to be discussed, then a series of paragraphs discussing each of those needs, and then a wrap up.

Citations. Be religious about maintaining an ACCURATE EndNote file as you read papers. Insert a citation link with key text in the developing ms file as you read it so you know why and where to cite it as the paper comes together. NEVER insert the word (REF) with an intent to come back to it. It simply isn’t efficient to do this. File pdfs with consecutive file numbers and author name and year in a single folder. Insert that file number in an EndNote Field such as Call Number. That way you can always find the pdf again.

Easy

 

Read Gopen and Swan 1990.

https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/the-long-view/the-science-of-scientific-writing