Having a good and high-quality scientific article at the international level is one of the great concerns of people to study abroad at the graduate levels (master’s, doctorate, etc.). Having a good and high-quality essay can increase your chances of gaining admission and scholarships at the university, or in other words, it can be your key to applying to the university of your choice. Now the question arises, are you familiar with the principles and rules of writing a valid article? Are you aware of the characteristics of a valid scientific paper? Many people believe that writing an essay internationally is very difficult, but if you are familiar with the rules, it will be easier for you to do so. If you are planning to immigrate to study, HM Trading Company will fully accompany you in this matter. Also, our consultants will be serving you 24 hours a day. In this article, we will review the main characteristics of a valid scientific article.
The Necessity of Writing a Scientific Article in the University Application
The best tool for the dissemination of science and knowledge is the writing and production of scientific articles. Scientific articles show off people’s abilities, capabilities, and skills in writing, as well as their level of knowledge. A short and safe way to get to your desired university can be to submit a scientific and good article. Among the most important advantages and reasons for writing a scientific article, we can mention the following:
- Getting Admission from Accredited International Universities for Postgraduate Studies
- Accurate criteria for evaluating a student in a doctoral interview
- An Effective Criterion for Employment as a Faculty
- Promotion of Academic Degrees of Professors
- Career Promotion
- Creating a sense of confidence in the author
What sections does a scientific article include?
In general, scientific articles include common sections based on which the topics should be written. The general components of the article are shown in the table below :
Title |
Affiliation |
Abstract |
Key words |
Introduction |
Materials and methods |
Findings(Results) |
Analysis(Discussion) |
Conclusion |
Acknowledgements |
Appendices |
References |
Note that in some articles sections 6 and 7 (materials, methods and results) may be merged together and written as Results and Discussion. Also, sections 9 and 11 (conclusion and appendices) are not necessarily written in all articles, and their existence depends on the type of article and journal in question.
Principles and rules of writing a scientific article
As mentioned in the above section, every scientific article has several main sections, and we will explain each of these sections below.
First part – Title
One of the most important and influential parts of an article is its title, which indicates the nature and content of your scientific article. The title is the first part that attracts the attention of the reader, so you should pay a lot of attention to choosing the name of your scientific article. Usually, the title of the article should be written at the end and after writing the main text so that the best option can be chosen after re-reading and summarizing the contents. It is very important to pay attention to the following in choosing a title:
Things to consider when choosing a good title |
The title should be attractive to the reader. |
Summarize the main idea of the article. |
Indicate the purpose of the article. |
It is possible to predict the content of the article by reading the title. |
As much as possible, the research results should not be mentioned in the title. |
Start with the main topic of the article (what the research is about and is the essence of the article). |
Introduce the discussed variables and the relationships between them. |
Be precise, clear, explicit, specific and complete, but not beyond the content of the article. |
Include keywords to be found easily when searching the internet. |
As much as possible, it should not be in the form of a sentence and it is better to be a non-question phrase. |
Part II – Profile of the author or authors
In this section, the name of the author or authors of the scientific article should be mentioned in full, it should be avoided to write the name in an abbreviated form.
The third part – abstract
In the abstract section, as its name suggests, an extract and summary of the main text and the whole article should be written. The abstract and the title of the article are like the window of a shop, so its writing needs very high accuracy. The abstract of a scientific article should usually be written at the end and before choosing the title. The abstract should be such that reading it answers the questions of the audience and fully expresses the topic of the article and shows whether this article is worth reading completely or not! A good abstract should answer these questions:
- Why have we started researching this topic in particular?
- How was the research done?
- What have we achieved in this research?
- What can be concluded from these findings?
- And finally, what do these results tell us?
Section 4 – Keywords
In this section, you should use 3 to 5 subject terms as keywords in your text. To find and write keywords, you must first understand the general concept of your scientific article, then choose your keywords based on that. Keywords are actually a summary of your article in the form of several words and have a subtle but powerful effect on the article. Audiences usually find your article when searching on Google or different browsers based on keywords. So it is very important to pay attention to the choice of keywords for your article.
Section V – Introduction
The heart of a scientific article and its most sensitive part is the introduction. In the introduction, the goals and scope of the research should be presented completely; Also, if a research has been done about this in the past, you should explain it fully in this section so that the audience can understand its entirety by reading it. At the beginning of the introduction, you should write general and more general topics, and in the second part, you should review more specialized topics, and at the end, you should present your research work. In general, the main elements of a good introduction are as follows:
- Introducing the problem under investigation or research question
- background research
- Presenting research work
The sixth section – materials and methods
In the section of materials and methods, it is very important to express clearly and precisely how to conduct the research. This part depends on the type and specialized field of the study of the article and may be expressed by other names such as: working method, experiments, simulation, methodology, etc. The audience should be aware of the methods and information that led you to this conclusion in your research and be able to judge the validity of the findings and conclusions of the article with the help of that information.
Section VII – Results
In this part of the article, we have to say whether the methods used to conduct the research have yielded good results or not! This section is completely different from the conclusion. In this section, the outputs and findings of the article and its analysis are presented, and the performance of the proposed method of the article can be compared with the previous methods by using these analyzes and it is possible to understand whether this method is a better solution for progress in this field or not!
The eighth and ninth sections – discussion and conclusion
The discussion and conclusion section is different in different articles, in some articles these two sections are combined and the person ends his scientific article in the discussion section, but in some articles according to the place to be presented (university, workplace) And…) the conclusion is also added to the article. In articles that have a conclusion section, usually one or two paragraphs that focus on important aspects of the discussion are placed in this section. In general, the reader should be convinced of the advantages and benefits of your research results in the discussion and conclusion section. In this section, you must answer the research question that you stated in the introduction and explain how the results of your research provide a suitable answer to those questions. In fact, in this section you should explain how much of the research gap mentioned in the introduction section you have filled! The questions that must be answered in the discussion and conclusion section are:
- Why is this research important?
- How does this research relate to previous studies and is related to them?
- What are the limitations of research design?
- What are the suggestions for future studies on the topic of future research?
Section 10 – Acknowledgments
In this section, you should acknowledge and thank all the natural and legal persons who have helped you in writing this text, and the reason for your thanks to them should be mentioned in full. For example, the:
- Those who helped you in writing the text in English.
- Those who provided important comments about the content of the article.
- Those who had technical assistance.
- Those that have provided external funding sources such as research grants.
- And …
Section 12 – Appendices
In this section, you should acknowledge and thank all the natural and legal persons who have helped you in writing this text, and the reason for your thanks to them should be mentioned in full. For example, the:
- Those who helped you in writing the text in English.
- Those who provided important comments about the content of the article.
- Those who had technical assistance.
- Those that have provided external funding sources such as research grants.
- And …
Section 11 – Resources
You should mention all the sources that you used to write this article in this section. Note that articles, theses, doctoral theses and all data that have not been published should not be included in this section. If mentioning your source is important and vital, you should write it in the main text and in the footnote section, and refer to articles that have been accepted but not yet published in the references section.
Important points when writing a scientific article
- Note: The abstract is not the introduction of the article, but a summary of the entire article. For example, some researchers write an abstract that contains ten sentences of background information while not mentioning results or discussion and conclusions.
- After finishing the article, proofread it several times to minimize spelling and grammar mistakes.
- After mentioning the sources, make sure that all the sources that you have used in the text are mentioned in the sources section and that you have not forgotten any of them.
- If you use specialized terms and words, you must explain their meaning to the audience in the footnote.
Common questions about how to write a scientific article
1- How many words should an abstract usually contain?
For the abstract, it is usually between 130 and 250 words that are expressed in the form of a paragraph.
2- What is meant by ISI article?
An ISI article is an article published in an ISI journal. Institute for Scientific Information is an institute with a focus on scientometrics and scientific publications. This institute was bought by Thomson Scientific Institute in 1992 and introduced as Thomson ISI and is now known as Thomson Scientific.
3- What parts do the appendices of a scientific article usually have?
Appendices of an article usually include: 1- highly technical and complex mathematical proofs 2- inputs and additional required information such as photos, videos, etc. 3- codes related to computer programs, etc.
References:
1- antarctic glaciers
2- washingtonpost