Manuscript Writing

Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication 

Key points for mastering the art of scientific publication:

1) Title: 
Title is a first entry that draws attention of your readers - be creative. 
It should be simple and accurately reflect your work. 
Avoid overused words and phrases, such as investigation, study, novel, facile, highly efficient, etc.
Avoid acronyms that are not common.  

2) Abstract: 
Highlight the major scientific finding of the study.
Keep it short. Avoid detailed experimental procedures, observations, and data analysis.
Be creative in generating curiosity.

3) ToC graphics: 
Not a nuisance!
Provides first glimpse of your paper to a potential reader. 
Make sure it sums up the theme of your paper. 

4) Introduction:
Start with general background of the topic and narrow it down to the research question. 
Indicate how you would address the scientific problem.

5) Results and Discussion:
Results description and discussion should be within the scope of the journal.
The order of figures should follow the discussion themes and not necessarily in the sequence they were conducted.
Compare and contrast your observations with previous studies. Justify how your data advances the field.

6) Conclusion:
Short. Give numbers.
Highlight major findings and discuss future perspectives.
Do not rewrite the abstract!

7) Figures:
Must be scientifically accurate. 
Check for readable fonts and legends.

8) Citations:
Should reflect the scope of the journal. 
The cited articles must be relevant and up-to-date. 

9) Journal
Select an appropriate journal to submit. This becomes easier when you know the focus of your paper. For example, if you have developed a new mass spectrometry-based method to identify a cancer biomarker, you should submit it to a journal that publishes mass spectrometry-related research. However, if you have discovered a novel cancer biomarker with existing mass spectrometry methods, then you might consider it submitting to cancer journals.

References:
Webcast Link of seminar by Dr. Prashant V. Kamat, Deputy Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters: here