Content of the Paper Protocol

The Paper Protocol follows the structered way of writing.

Prologue: My First Research Paper

My dissatisfaction with the existing writing and publishing process strength-ened my interest in scientific writing. […] Over time and inspired by the standard operating procedures of the pharmaceutical industry, I developed a writing protocol.

On the Structured Way of Writing

Basically, there are two writing strategies and both can be applied in general writing. The first strategy is linear writing, which might be used for very short texts. […] For a research paper, you definitely need an organized approach – the structured way of writing.

Phase 1: Concept & Abstract

A concept sketches the story of a research paper. Basically, such a concept is nothing other than the abstract of a research paper, because both the concept and the abstract summarize the most important points of your story.

Phase 2: Outline

After having defined the most important statements of your paper in the concept, we now turn towards the outline. A well-prepared outline serves the following three purposes: sketching the content of the paper’s sections, defining the order of text segments reflecting the argumentative steps within each section, and arranging ideas hierarchically.

Phase 3: First Draft

TOPIC SENTENCE, PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE, and the BEGINNING OF SENTENCES – these three elements are required to build an organized framework for the writing of a paragraph. During the writing of your first draft, this framework helps you move from sentence to sentence in an understandable and logical manner.

Phase 4: Editing

Hemingway is reported to have said “The first draft is always crap.” In other words, editing the first draft thoroughly is not an optional but an essential part of the writing process.

Final Tips

The structured way of scientific writing offers an opportunity to regularly check, revise, and optimize your paper if and when required. Following the structured way of scientific writing, you can purposefully write a manuscript worthy of being published.

Glossary

terms shortly explained

Appendix

Frequently used verbs in scientific writing; Verbose or concise; Punctuation