Checklist for Writing Scientific Papers
The checklist below lists should help you eliminate some common problems in writing scientific papers. A separate checklist is available specifically for lab reports.
Please check the following items.
BEFORE STARTING TO WRITE:
___ Make an Outline to construct the basic structure of the paper.
___ Decide who you are writing for & aim at that level.
___ Form. a "thesis statement" - a short (1-3 sentence) statement of what you want the reader to understand as the most important point in your paper. This statement may end up appearing in the abstract or introduction.
WHILE WRITING & MAKING GLOBAL REVISIONS TO THE PAPER
___ Double space your paper.
___ Check organization of the paper. Make sure it is consistent with the format requested.
___ See "Checklist for Global Revisions" in D. Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 2nd ed. (Bedford, 1992) pp. 24-5
___ Make sure that the text in each paragraph agrees with the opening sentence of the paragraph. Break the paragraphs by logical divisions.
___ Be careful of plagiarism in following the structure of another book too closely. (See D. Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 2nd ed. pp. 213-7)
___ Reference (endnote, footnote) any material, including apparatus diagrams, which is not your own or is not "common knowledge." Use a standard style. for references (preferably the AIP Style. Manual for physics papers).
___ All graphs, pictures, drawings, diagrams, sketches, etc. must be called a "Figure."
___ All Figures & Tables must be numbered (in order of appearance) and include a 1-3 sentence caption (if desired, they may be on a page of captions instead of the bottom of the figure).
___ All Figures & Tables must be referred to, by number, in the text.
___ All numeric values should have units and errors (if appropriate). Check significant figures.
___ Include the "accepted values" (with the uncertainty and a reference) for all constants (such as c, e, ...) from an official source such as Physics Today, August of each year (the front cover of Serway is not acceptable).
___ Make sure your conclusions logically follow from the analysis and discussion in the paper.
___ Carefully read the whole paper!
PROOF READING OF PAPER (At the Sentence/Paragraph level)
___ Carefully read the whole paper again!
___ Check the spelling. Be careful of correctly spelled words that are not correct (such as "than" instead of "that" or "excepted" instead of "accepted")
___ Avoid the first person (We or I) and contractions (wasn't, didn't, ...) whenever possible in scientific papers.
___ If a sentence is longer than about 2-3 lines, make sure it is not run-on or that you shouldn't rewrite it.
___ Check tense of verbs and remain consistent: Past Tense (was, were) Present Tense (is, are).
___ Check noun/verb agreement (singular/plural): The coil's diameter were measured ...
___ Check punctuation. Equations should be punctuated in a sentence as if it were a word.
___ Avoid unnecessary words (replace phrases like "due to the fact that" with "because" or "in order to" with "to")
___ Make sure you write in any equations, greek characters, etc. which you did not type into the paper.
___ Carefully read the whole paper still again!
___ While you are at it, carefully read the whole paper one more time!
