It is hard to face a blank page and usually this is the hardest part in the entire process of writing a scientific paper. In this class I am going to show you a pathway to follow that will make the process of building your paper much easier.

An outline is a roadmap that guides you through the writing process and helps you organize your thoughts and ideas. It is an important tool for ensuring that the final paper is coherent, well-structured, and easy to follow. Here I will show you how to build the outline of your paper by answering 12 simple questions.

The Introduction is the first section of a scientific paper and serves as an overview of the research problem being addressed, provides relevant background information on the topic, and on the main objectives of the study.

This microsection should provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the subject, which in turn provides a foundation for the research question and hypotheses being addressed in the study.

The Gap microsection of the Introduction is an important section that identifies what is not yet known or understood about a particular topic.

The research question is a critical aspect of any research study. It serves as the guiding principle that drives the entire research process and should be carefully considered and well-defined.

Storytelling is the act of sharing a narrative or story with others. It can be a way to entertain, educate, or communicate. Storytelling often involves the use of characters, plot, and other elements to create a compelling and engaging narrative. It can be used in a variety of settings, including in literature, movies, theatre, and scientific communication.

The Materials and Methods section is an important part of a scientific paper because it defines the scientific rigor of the work. This section provides details on the materials and methods used in the study, including the experimental design, sample size, data collection techniques, and any statistical analyses that were performed.

The Results section of a scientific paper is a place where you present the findings of your study. This is the most important section of your paper, it's like the heart of your paper. Without results you have no paper to write.

The microsection Heading is usually the first microsection of the Results section and you will probably need to write more than two Headings in your Results section. A sub-section may be written for a single result or for a group of related results. Whatever the case, you should prefer an informative Heading for the sub-section, rather than a descriptive one.

In a scientific paper, the prologue microsection provides context for the result and explains the reasoning behind certain tests or analyses. By including a prologue, the reader can better understand the logic and methodology of the research, especially in complex or technical fields.

The microsection called Processing is an essential part of a paper because it is where you present your data. When crafting the narrative of this section, it is important to focus on extracting meaningful information and drawing conclusions from the data, rather than simply describing the visualizations.

The Closure microsection summarizes the main points of the Results section. It can help the reader understand the implications of the findings.

The discussion section of a scientific paper is a place where authors interpret and draw conclusions from their findings. In the discussion, you should address the main research questions or hypotheses that were posed in the Introduction section.

It is not surprising that there would be a microsection called Answer in the Discussion section. If there is a question asked in the Introduction, then we would expect that somewhere in the article this question would be answered.

The next microsection, called Positioning, is built when you answer the following question: “How do your findings relate to the literature?” This microsection is the one we usually identify with the Discussion section.

The next microsection to build your Discussion is the Limitation. It is critical that you be the first one to comment on the limitations of your study, not leaving this task for the editor of the journal or even the reviewers.

The next microsection is called Novelty/Contribution and it is in the microsection that you will highlight the strengths of your findings. And this can be done by adopting different strategies.

The production of scientific knowledge is constantly evolving, with new questions arising as sound answers are found for existing ones. Therefore, it is important to recognize that any scientific paper, including the one you are writing, cannot be the final word on a given topic.

Some journals request that authors include a separate conclusion section at the end of their paper. The conclusion should be a brief summary of the main points and should not exceed a few sentences in length.

The abstract of a scientific paper is a brief summary of the main points of the paper and is typically found at the beginning of the document. It is important because it allows readers to quickly understand the key points of the paper and decide whether they want to read the full document.

The title of your paper will be competing for the reader’s attention against hundreds of other titles retrieved from databases such as PubMed and Google scholar. To win this competition you need a title that is attractive and stands out.