Of Writing a Paper

The formal details (such as how to cite, and so on) are different from journal to journal and are detailed in the Instructions for Authors, which can generally be found at the beginning 

Beginners (i.e., diploma students or doctoral candidates) typically write their papers together with an older post-doc or the professor (i.e., the doctoral candidate writes a raw draft, which is edited by the more experienced scientist). In some labs, the professor writes the paper by herself and the doctoral candidate serves only as a source of information. Nevertheless, you should insist on writing at least the crucial parts of the paper (methods and results) yourself. For the first paper, this is laborious and time consuming. But the earlier you start writing the faster you can do it. If you do not write, you are quickly known as an intellectual featherweight and a dumb measuring aide. 

A paper is no overview article. The introduction does not have to be several pages long and list all references since the end of World War II. The same is true for the discussion. The results count, not their interpretation. 

The references list the papers whose results were used in the woik or papers that support assertions in the introduction and discussion. Also cite the competition. The reasons for this are that then they may also cite you and because this is the proper thing to do. Researchers love to be cited, and many see it as an affront if their work is ignored. Hence, the professors pay great attention to the references. By proper citing they try to appease possible reviewers, to keep their friends in good spirits, and so on. 

Do not create a literary masterpiece If your professor has this ambition, that is his thing. You should deliver a simple and clear piece of writing short sentences, at most two statements per sentence, no swollen or unnecessary words (Gregory 1992). Your paper is read, if at all, only by the reviewers of the journal and by people who work on the same or a similar topic. They know the subject matter. Word bubbles do not impress them. 

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I stopped so suddenly that he put his hand on my elbow to prevent himself from colliding with me. His eyes were the greenish gray of still water, but his face was alight with interest. He really did think I might be capable of writing a paper on the nature of fire. 

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