Scientific Research:
The nuances of Scientific research are three fold: i. knowing what to do for research; ii. how to make it effective and useful by scientific writing; and iii. finding a suitable journal to publish the research finding for the benefit of the society at large. The process consists of creative imagination to choose the area of research, critical analysis culminating in integration of data and interpretation, and smart outlook to identify an effective medium in the form of a journal to disseminate the information found or discovered. The beauty of research is simplicity but elegance in application. Einstein recalled ‘the happiest thought’ of his life. He narrates:
I was sitting in a chair in the patent office at Bern (in the Switzerland), when all of a sudden a thought occurred to me. “If a person falls freely he will not feel his own weight.” I was startled. This simple thought made a deep impression on me. It impelled me toward a theory of gravitation.[1]
We know the outcome is the general theory of relativity.
What and What for Research:
Research, to start with, is acknowledging our ignorance as science has not said the final word yet. So we develop theories to solve existing and upcoming problems through creative and systematic work to enrich the already existing knowledge to be useful for life. The area of research could be people, their culture and environment. What is important is that our accumulated knowledge should become application oriented in the form of technology, communication, medicine etc that would enhance the quality of life for people. As Y.N. Harari mentions in his book Sapiens, there has been a revolution with regard to research: The road of research has passed through the milestones of cognitive, agricultural, scientific, cosmic, etc and all leading to unification of humankind.[2] And our tiny contribution could be a little drop to this great ocean of revolution in knowledge explosion and research illumination and it might even cause a ripple as well.
Purpose of Research:
Our search or research should have a direction, purpose, and meaning. Today’s needs primarily are energy, environment, and ethics. For example, in our research we find out as matter turns into energy, we also realize that energy in turn should give rise to consciousness of others and their needs and hence to make our research enrich their lives. D. Bohm, an American-British scientists, argues that reality is tripartite, namely matter (mass), energy, and consciousness. He would state, “… consciousness is a coherent whole, which is never static or complete, but which is an unending process of movement and unfoldment.”[3] Hence, this would bring in our commitment to make our environment meaningful and lasting. The whole process should revolve around ethics in order to give us the overall meaning about research. In a world of Multi-National Companies where exploitation of the people and amassing profit seem to be preoccupation, our research should bring in the value that people should be more important than profit. In other words, ethical values should be the principle and foundation of any scientific research.
Inter-disciplinary Research is the Order of the Day:
We tend to think that our area of specialization is the most important in the world of research. We need to understand that our research should complement other research areas and hence inter- or multi-disciplinary research is the need of the hour.
Just think of research in materials science: Materials science is constantly coming up with new discoveries that could revolutionize our future. Let us look at a few examples:
- Synthetic Spider Web: This family of material is not only five times stronger than steel, but also has great elasticity. Its potential uses include, bulletproof clothing, artificial skin or burns or waterproof adhesives.
- Shrilk: It is a fully biodegradable plastic. Its main component is chitin, a carbohydrate found in krill shells. It was created by researchers from Harvard University and is considered as the ideal substitute for plastic. Its decomposition time is only two weeks and it also works as stimulant for plant growth.[4]
- Conducting Polymers: when exposed to electric or chemical simulations, the electrons can move from one end of the polymer to the other. Dielectric elastomers (also called electrostrictive polymers) can reduce or increase its volume by 30%, when exposed to electric field. They are used for building artificial muscle for robots.
- Smart gels are made of cross–linked polymer network inflated with solvent such as water, and can reduce or increase its volume up to 1000 times. They can be programed to absorb or release fluids in response to almost any chemical or physical stimulus.
- Metallic carbon nanotubes have also been proposed for nanoelectronic interconnects since they can carry high current densities.
We are more and more becoming enlightened by the need and use of multi-disciplinary research in order to address ever increasing complex challenges and changes.
Biodegradable Plastics:
One important area could be considered in this context: When we think of substitute for plastic, we could think of biodegradable plastics as well. Stanford researchers have recently discovered plastic-eating worms. This may offer solution to the mounting wastage and garbage in the world. The mealworm, which is the larvae form of the darkling beetle, can subsist on a diet of Styrofoam and other forms of polystyrene. The worms converted about half of the Styrofoam eaten into carbon dioxide, as they would with any food source; and the rest of the remaining plastic is excreted as biodegradable fragments, which could be used safely as soil for crops.[5] This has opened a new door to solve the global plastic pollution problem. This is an area of inter-disciplinary research.
We have the responsibility to guide the world which direction to take for a meaningful life, not mere comfortable life. Today, food habits very much affect our health – Too much chemicals in food production affect even children. The genetically modified seeds, for example, need our critical observation, scrutiny, and research. We could, instead, promote organic farming. It is encouraging to see that so many IT experts, especially after spending a few years abroad, return to their natives and get involved in active farming. They make use of knowledge and expertise gained but for improving farming technology. Our research should have the good and welfare of the people especially in the rural areas.
Scientific Writing:
Now what happens after the research process? Once the research is done, we might have a lot of data. We need critical thinking to analyze the data meaningfully. The interpretation should be coherent and sequential. Then, we need to communicate to the general public, with the approval of the scientific community, with clarity and how our findings could make a change for the better. This is the service we do for the society.
Scientific writing is writing for science world to effectively communicate research findings. English-language scientific writing came into practice around 14th century with the style focusing on different modality, for example, passive instead of active voice, non-use of personal pronoun, etc. The traditional structure is an abstract, followed by introduction to a particular topic with hypotheses to be tested, a description of methods used in research, key results, discussion/interpretation that ties the results to our broader current knowledge in the given area and to bridge the knowledge gap, if any, with conclusions, and acknowledgements. This would be effective in transfer of information from the author to the reader.
Scientific writing process is as important as research process. Scientific writing is a technical form of writing that is designed to communicate scientific information to other scientists and later to the public. The scientific writing depends on purpose, audience, organization, journal etc. We need to keep in mind the following:
- The primary audience of scientific writing might be other scientists to get their opinion as well as approval. But ultimately it should be useful to the people at large.
- The writing should be concise and clearly communicating the findings with applications. Flowery, ambiguous, redundant language would be counter productive. State the fact with explanation in simple language and that would be much appreciated.
- The communication should correlate with or complement other published works. This is ensured with references from previous reported works. At times our research might be a departure or contradictory to earlier findings, then we need to systematically explain and prove our findings, after consultation with experts in the area. Interpretation is very important in making others understand and accept our proposals or findings.[6]
Checklist before writing the Research Paper:
Before you start writing the scientific paper you could have a check list in the form of a few questions to clarify to yourself: [7]
- What do I know more in this topic or area more than already known to the world of science?
- Whether my research findings are important as an additional information or enlightenment?
- What are still not clear or yet to be cleared which could be a follow up of the research in the future?
These would provide critical insight into the structure and style of the paper you are about to launch in writing. You keep in mind that your research is going to add insight to the work already done in the area and this could keep the reader interested in going through the paper. The style also matters: The language should be simple, clear, and should guide the reader through your argument or interpretation of the data.
Audience: You should keep your audience in mind as well. The purpose of scientific writing is not describing or explaining or defending what you did or what you learned, but rather what you want your audience to understand. Through your paper you should be able to accompany your audience. In order to make this part effective and interesting ask the following questions before start writing the paper:
- Who is my audience and what is their level of expertise in my area of research?
- What is their expectation in reading my paper? Will my paper satisfy their expectation?
- What would be the take home message when they finish reading my paper?
These questions would keep you alive and alert while writing the scientific paper.
Flow of Language: You need to think about flow of language in the paper. The reader should be able to move from one concept to another, from one argument/theory to another, either within a sentence or between a paragraph. Try to connect new concepts with the previous idea and take efforts to maintain the same concept or idea throughout a given section. The start of the paragraph should introduce a concept and the last sentence should summarize the elaboration of the concept in the paragraph.
Seasoning of the Paper: Do not rush to send in the paper for publication. Give it a time-delay (unless you are under the constraint of deadline). Forget your paper after you have composed it and revisit it after a few days. Read it again and see whether the paper reflects what you intended to convey. Gaps in the writing would become visible, some explanation may not be clear, some points could be misunderstood – Revisiting the paper would help you address these minor defects. Then you could offer the paper to your research colleague or research guide for his/her comments and observation. After incorporating all these ideas and suggestions you are ready to go for publication.
Publication:
Once the paper is written and verified, the next stage is publication. It is better to decide on the journal prior to start writing the paper, since each research journal has its own format and expectation as well as regulation. During the research you might have consulted a number of sources, especially current research publications, these sources would serve for publishing your results. There are academic journal websites that could provide clear journal mission statement and submission guidelines for prospective authors. Once you submit the paper to a journal, there would be peer-review or expert review which would often expect you to revise or rewrite your paper. At times the paper might be even rejected. Do not get dejected. Remember that when Einstein submitted his paper on Relativity it was first rejected. When a paper is rejected it implies that the journal’s focus does not cover your area of research. There would be other journals or often when you rewrite and resubmit it might be accepted for publication. Practice makes perfect and you need sportive spirit when the paper is criticized or even rejected. Keep going and you would eventually succeed.
Conclusion:
As you could see, writing a scientific paper is an art – It has its own nuances, traditions, rituals, and practices. You begin to walk the labyrinth of this vistas of scientific wonders – You need to walk further into the thick of the forest and you would find rare specifies. The research world is an ocean. The output depends on your efforts. Many stand at the shore and just enjoy the breeze; some get into the sea and collect sea-shells; a few go deeper and find pearls. Much depends on how much you want to go into the sea of research. Keep clarity and simplicity in focus while writing the scientific paper. All the best in your research and your publishing.
Cf. AIACHE Faculty Development Program – Inaugural Address 11Jul2022
Francis P Xavier SJ
11Jul2022
[1] John S. Rigden, Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness, Harvard Uni Press, Cambridge, 2005, p.5
[2] Y.N. Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Harper, 2015.
[3] Bohm, D. (2005). Wholeness and the Implicate Order. London: Routledge, p.10. Retrieved from
[4] Smart Materials, discover the Materials with which we will shape the Future. Retrieved from https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/smart-materials-applications-examples
[5] Jordon, R. (2015). Plastic-eating worms may offer solution to mounting waste, Stanford Researchers discover.
[6] https://sites.middlebury.edu/middsciwriting/overview/
[7] https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bes2.1258