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This article appeared in the Autumn 1999 edition of Short Words, the newsletter of Tim Albert Training. It was written by Tim Albert.

Weak starts and fuzzy ends

Scientific papers have a secret structure of their own, by Tim Albert

Set off with a bang. This is the advice usually given to those starting a piece of writing, particularly if one of the aims is to attract busy readers.

If you are writing a scientific paper, however, my advice is different: start with a whimper

In 1996 I studied 80 papers from the BMJ. Last year I looked at another 300 from this journal and five others. The evidence clearly shows that scientific papers have evolved a curious structure of their own. There are indeed four sections and four key sentences, but don't fall into the trap of assuming that each section starts with key sentence, or even that there is a key sentence in each section.

1. First sentence of the introduction. This is only a key sentence because everyone, including the editors, say that it is. In fact these are formulaic (see panel): mini-seminars abound, with eight articles in every 10 starting in this way. A notable exception is the Lancet, where two papers out of 10 take an 'alarmist' tone, twice as many as in other journals.

2. Last sentence of the Introduction. This really is a key sentence, with nearly seven articles out of 10 using it to summarise the research: 'In this study we…'

3. First sentence of the Discussion. Six out of every 10 articles used this sentence to summarise the findings: 'In this study we found…'

4. Last sentence of the discussion. There were three main ways of ending the article (see panel). For every 10 articles, about five ended with 'another puzzle solved'; three with a 'perhaps possibly' and two with 'more research is indicated'.

One of the interesting things shown up by the research is that the more prestigious the journal, the more likely it was that the article conformed to this structure.

Unfortunately, just as we are all getting used to this, there could be dramatic changes. An article in the BMJ earlier this year proposed introducing structured discussions, in which the last topic will be unanswered questions and future research.

So we can all start dreaming up interesting ways of writing 'more research is indicated'. And resign ourselves to the fact that the message (when there is one) is going to be even harder to find. .

Types of first sentences:

mini seminar: 'Irritable vowel syndrome affects one in three of the population and is a major cause of inability to spell words correctly'.
much discussion recently: 'There has been much debate in the lay press recently about the implications of irritable vowel syndrome'.
alarmist: 'Over the past decade the number of people suffering from irritable vowel syndrome has doubled - and the numbers are still rising'..

Types of last sentences:

more research is indicated: 'Although investigations with rum punch have been proved to be promising, further investigations into preferred dosages are indicated'.
perhaps possibly: 'The consumption of two glasses of rum punch, give or take a glass or two, could in certain circumstances prove to be of some benefit in the treatment of irritable vowel syndrome'.
another puzzle solved: 'Two glasses of rum punch per night will reduce significantly the incidence of irritable vowel syndrome' '

The full article can be found in 'Research' on our website.

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