How

to Write a
Scientific Paper
HADIYANTO
EDITOR IN CHIEF
INT JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
The questions to ask yourself
first…
 Motivation
ØIdeally –
•to share research findings and discoveries with the hope of
improving knowledge base

ØPractically –
•to get funding
• to get promoted
•to get recognition
•for knowledge sharing and achievement

“ You are rated by what you produce, not by what you attempt”
Is the paper worth writing?
What’s in the literature?

“So What?”

It’s a lot of work (average 20-30 drafts). Don’t do it

unless its worth it.
Is it one or more papers?

Putting too much in one paper makes it diffuse and less compelling than
if its focused

Salami Science?
Before we submit
1. Know the journal, its editors, and submit the paper
2. Pay close attention to spelling, grammar, and
punctuation
3. Make sure references are comprehensive and accurate
4. Avoid careless mistakes
5. Read and conform to “Instructions for Authors”
OK, So you want to/need to write
a paper --> next questions

a. What is the right format for the message (original article/review?)

b. What is the right audience—who cares?

c. What journal should I choose?

Academic Publications
Journal vs Proceeding?
 Kriteria Jurnal nasional
vKarya ilmiah yang diterbitkan dituiskan dengan kaidah
ilmiah dan etika keilmuan
vMemiliki p/e-ISSN dan terbitan online
vMerupakan wadah untuk menampung hasil-hasil
penelitian ilmiah dalam disiplin ilmu tertentu
vDiterbitkan oleh penerbit/Badan ilmiah/organisasi/PT
vBahasa yang digunakan Bahasa Indonesia/Bahasa Inggris
vPenulis berasal dari 2 institusi berbeda
vDewan redaksi berasal dari minimium 2 institusi berbeda
 Jurnal Internasional
ØKarya Ilmiah yang diterbitkan ditulis dengan
memenuhi kaidah ilmiah dan etika keilmuan
ØMemiliki ISSN (p/e-ISSN)
ØDitulis dalam bahasa resmi PBB (Arab, Inggris,
Perancis, Spanyol, Rusia dan Cina)
ØMemiliki terbitan online
ØDewan redaksi (Editorial Board) merupakan pakar
dibidangnya dan minimum dari 4 negara
ØArtikel dalam 1 nomor terbitan paling sedikit dari dua
negara
 Jurnal internasional bereputasi
vKriteria jurnal
internasional dan
vTerindex di lembaga
pengindex internasional (
Scopus) atau Web of
Science (Science Citation
Index Expanded)
Which journal?
i. Is topic of my paper within iv. Impact Factor
its scope and format?

v. Consequences of wrong
ii. Would it match my decision: time lost; failure to
audience? publish

iii. Ask mentor or other

senior researchers:
appropriateness
Sinta indexed Journals
Scopus Indexed Journal
Web of Science indexed Journals
Quartile OF JOURNAL
Q1: 0.0 < Z ≤ 0.25
Q2: 0.25 < Z ≤ 0.5
Q3: 0.5 < Z ≤ 0.75
Jika X adalah posisi jurnal pada urutan
Q4: 0.75 < Z
rangking IF/SJR dan Y adalah jumlah
keseluruhan jurnal pada kategori tertentu,
maka Z= (X/Y)

Category
 Calculation for journal impact
factor*
A= total cites in 2015

B= 2015 cites to articles published in

2013-14 (this is a subset of A)

C= number of articles published in 2013-14

D= B/C = 2015 impact factor

*Weights review articles heavily and is higher in

scientifically better populated fields
Selecting a journal
Impact factor – average number of times published papers are cited up
to two years after publication.
Immediacy Index – average number of times published papers are cited
during year of publication.
Lead time or incubation time- average time taken for paper from
receipt to publication
ISSN- ISBN possessing international standard serial (or book) number,
meaning recognized.
QUALITY OF PUBLICATIONS
Kualitas
Kualitas Presentasi
Substansi artikel
artikel

Jurnal

NUMBER OF CITATIONS
Writing a manuscript
The hardest part is getting started !
Kick Start !
Type of articles
o Letters to the editor/Commentary
• Science and technology articles
• Short communication
• Technical note/case study
• Original paper/research paper !
• Review Opinion, Brief notes.
• paper , Book Reviews.
• Monographs and Books.
• STP papers, Theme papers in special issues !
• Online journal paper articles.
A good science
Novel – new and not resembling something formerly known or used
(can be novel but not important)
Mechanistic – testing a hypothesis – determining the fundamental
processes involved in or responsible for an action, reaction, or other
natural phenomenon
Descriptive – describes how things are but does not test how things
work – hypotheses are not tested.
Literature Search First
What has been done and what can you say that’s new?
Be thorough in your search:---a high sensitivity/low specificity
search.
Original research paper
§Title
§Abstract and
§keywords
§Introduction
§Methods
IMRAD
§Results
§Discussion
§Acknowledgements
§References
Authors
Who is the first author?
Who is the corresponding author?
Don’t forget the address of affiliation
Sequences?
 Abstract

•Tell the prospective readers what you did and what were the
important findings
•This is the advertisement of your article.
•Make it interesting, and easy to be understood without reading
the whole article.
•You must be accurate and specific! A clear abstract will strongly
influence whether or not your work is further considered.
•Keep it as brief as possible!!!
•Mini IMRAD
Introduction

General overview /background

Current status of knowledge

Gap…?

Your idea/proposal

Objective of your reserach

The Introduction
vDraw audience in; be
provocative
vTarget journal specific
audience
vIdentify gaps in
knowledge
vEnd with
question/hypothesis

Knee Pain, Why?

Introduction Current status of
knowledge/motivation

Give overall overview

of your research!!!
(must be brief)
Review of
previous
methods!!
!

Your
objective!!
!
The Methods Section
§Best to begin writing when experiments lead somewhere.
§Should be detailed enough so results can be reproduced by
others.
§Reference published methods where appropriate.
§Include regulated use approval information ( like toxic
substances).
§Use descriptive subheadings
üStarting materials
üSynthesis
üMaterials characterization
§Past tense
Materials and Method
Materials
Materials and Method
Apparatus
Materials and Method
Procedure
Material and Method
Analysis
The Results Section
Organize around 90
tables/figures 80
Present tabular results 70
selectively in text 60
50 % Fellows
Past tense 40 with Papers
30 Published
No interpretation; just
20
the facts! 10
Tables should stand on 0
before after
their own talk talk
Figure and Table
Statistical data
The Discussion Section
1st paragraph: answer question/hypothesis
Remainder:
◦ Evidence pro and con: literature review
◦ Strengths/limitations of your study
◦ Implications of findings (be conservative)
◦ Other findings of your study

Last Paragraph: conclusion

Conclussion
How the work will advance the field from the present state of knowledge
What
you
have
shown Main
finding

Suggesti
on (if
appropriate)
Getting Tense!
PAST and PRESENT
When quoting When describing
previously published your own study, refer
work, refer to it in to work in past tense
present tense (e.g. (e.g. we tested a new
penicillin treats strep antibiotic for strep
throat) throat)
Proofread before Submitting
üAre terms used consistently throughout?
üDo numbers in abstract match numbers in text
and tables?
üDo citations in text match references?
üAre Syntax and Grammar acceptable
Getting the Reviews of Your
Paper
“The reviewer is always right.” (whether they are or not!)

Don’t respond quickly. Digest reviews.

.
If your paper was rejected…
Was it sent out for
review? If not, consider
changing type of journal
If reviews don’t suggest
changes, send it out
quickly to another
journal
The 3 journal rule.
Thank you