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How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (Project-Centered Course)

Mathis Plapp

What you will achieve:

In this project-based course, you will outline a complete scientific paper, choose an appropriate journal to which you'll submit the finished paper for publication, and prepare a checklist that will allow you to independently judge whether your paper is ready to submit.

What you'll need to get started:

This course is designed for students who have previous experience with academic research - you should be eager to adapt our writing and publishing advice to an existing personal project. If you just finished your graduate dissertation, just began your PhD, or are at a different stage of your academic journey or career and just want to publish your work, this course is for you.

*About Project-Centered Courses:

Project-Centered Courses are designed to help you complete a personally meaningful real-world project, with your instructor and a community of learners with similar goals providing guidance and suggestions along the way. By actively applying new concepts as you learn, you’ll master the course content more efficiently; you’ll also get a head start on using the skills you gain to make positive changes in your life and career. When you complete the course, you’ll have a finished project that you’ll be proud to use and share.

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What's inside

Syllabus

Understanding academia

In this section of the MOOC, you will learn what is necessary before writing a paper: the context in which the scientist is publishing. You will learn how to know your own community, through different exemples, and then we will present you how scientific journal and publication works. We will finish with a couple of ethical values that the academic world is sharing!

Before writing: delimiting your scientific paper

A good paper do not loose focus throughout the entirety of its form. As such, we are going to give you a more detailed view on how to delimit your paper. We are going to lead you through your paper by taking a closer look at the paper definition which will ensure you don't loose focus. Then we will explain why the literature review is important and how to actually do it. And then we will guide you with advices as to how to find the so-what of your paper! This is important as research is all about so-what!

Writing the paper: things you need to know

In this part of the MOOC, you will learn how to write your paper. In a first part, we will focus on the structure of the paper, and then you will be able to see how to use bibliographical tools such as zotero. Finally you will be required to write your own abstract and to do a peer review for the abstract of the others, as in real academic life!

After the writing: the check list

After writing the paper comes the time of reading your paper a few times in order to get everything perfect.In this section you will learn how to remove a lot of mistakes you might have been writing. In the end, you will have to build your own checklist corresponding to your own problems you want to avoid. After this, your article can be submitted and will hopefully be accepted!!

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Offers a framework and checklist for a complete scientific paper, enabling independent assessment of a paper's readiness for submission

Provides structured guidance through the publishing process, from understanding the academic landscape to preparing for peer review and submission

Suitable for learners with prior academic research experience who seek to publish their work

Emphasizes the importance of defining research objectives and conducting a thorough literature review

Covers ethical considerations and best practices for academic publishing

Involves hands-on practice in abstract writing and peer review, simulating real-life academic processes

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Reviews summary

Well-received scientific paper writing

learners say this course is largely positive, teaching the qualities of engaging assignments and featuring helpful interviews with journal editors and authors. The content is broken down into manageable chunks, and the instructors consist of PhD students and experts. While the course is suitable for beginners, learners praise it for helping them develop a checklist to guide their own writing. Some learners caution that speakers' accents may be hard to understand at times.

This course was very useful and provided many insights into writing and publishing scientific papers.

"I enjoyed the course a lot as it was a project based course."

"Love it."

"Now I know the do's and don'ts of writing a journal."

By and for PhD students! I appreciate your efforts in this course. looking forward to seeing many more courses from you.

"This course is very well designed to make the learner to understand and learn thoroughly from zero to 100% with respect to the topic."

"I really enjoyed it! Thanks!"

This course is a practical and step-by-step guide to writing and publishing an academic paper.

"It is a practical and step-by-step course on writing and publishing an academic paper."

"I have learnt a lot and can sharpen my skills in publishing papers."

It's applicable to any of you who are interested in scientific writing.

"I have improved my scientific writing skill a lot from this method."

"Its a good introductory course, and i really liked it."

This course was a beautiful experience and got to learn many things which i never heard before.

"It was a very useful course for me and I learned the complete steps of writing an article."

"It's an excellent opportunity and the content were too specific and up to the mark."

Activities

Coming soon We're preparing activities for How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (Project-Centered Course). These are activities you can do either before, during, or after a course.

Career center

Learners who complete How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (Project-Centered Course) will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

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Knowledge Manager

Knowledge Managers are responsible for creating, managing, and sharing knowledge within an organization. This course may be useful for those interested in working as a Knowledge Manager as it will help them develop strong writing skills and provide them with valuable insight into how to write and publish a scientific paper.

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Science Journalist

Science Journalists write and report on scientific research and discoveries for a variety of audiences, including the general public, scientists, and policymakers. This course may be useful for those interested in working as a Science Journalist as it will help them develop strong writing skills and provide them with valuable insight into how to write and publish a scientific paper.

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Patent Attorney

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Scientific Consultant

Scientific Consultants provide expert advice and support to organizations in a variety of industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and technology. This course may be useful for someone who wishes to work as a Scientific Consultant as it will provide them with valuable insight into how to write and publish a scientific paper, and help them develop strong communication and interpersonal skills.

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Science Policy Analyst

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Research Associate

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Research Manager

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University Lecturers teach and mentor undergraduate and postgraduate students at a university or college. They conduct research in their field of expertise, and most are responsible for publishing their research in journals. This course may be useful for those interested in working as a University Lecturer as it will help them develop strong writing skills and provide them with valuable insight into how to publish their research.

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Medical Writer

Medical Writers use their understanding of healthcare and science to produce written materials for a variety of audiences, including scientific journals, medical professionals, and the general public. This course may be useful for someone who wishes to work as a Medical Writer as it will provide them with valuable insight into how to write and publish a scientific paper.

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Science Writer

Science Writers help translate research and technology into a format that can be easily understood by the general public. This course will help Science Writers improve their ability to communicate scientific ideas in a clear and concise way.

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Technical Writer

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Reading list

We've selected 25 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (Project-Centered Course).

How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper