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Writing a Scientific Journal Article for 8th Grade Science Author Troy J. Simpson Earth Science Department Head, Glenn Raymond School – Watseka, IL
Abstract Writing a quality scientific journal article requires the ability to communicate research to others. The journal article fits in a specific format that allows readers to easily acquire the information that they need. The basis of the scientific journal article follows the scientific method and creates a relative easy transition into a written document.
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Introduction
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Students are familiar with writing in their language arts classes. When students are approached with writing in the sciences, students react as if it were a foreign language. Writing is equally important in all subject areas. In the sciences, writing becomes an important tool in communicating results of research. The introduction also gives the author an opportunity to share background information about their research and explain the problem that they are attempting to solve. The hypothesis is included in the introduction section of the article, explaining the purpose of the research and what the author hopes to achieve. Materials and Methods The material and methods portion of a scientific article describes the procedure the author used during their research. This is not a list of what to do, rather it is the author explaining what he or she did. The materials and methods should be written as if to explain what you did to someone else. The use of figures is acceptable in this section to help explain the experiment set up. When writing a scientific journal article, the author uses the lab write-up to base their article on. The author begins with explaining the purpose of the research in the Introduction and what he or she hopes to achieve. Once the purpose is stated, the procedure of experiment or research is described, followed by the results of the experiment. The author shares his or her interpretation of the results in the Discussion. The author then acknowledges those who have helped and lists any literature that has helped in the research (Simpson 2005). The final step of writing is completing an Abstract that summarizes the total article. Results
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It is important to list what the researcher observed in their experiment. The results section of a scientific journal article is closely related to the observations portion of the scientific method. It is an opportunity for the author to share what they saw happen. It is important that the author does not share their interpretation of the observation, but merely
share what they saw. The author may use figures to help explain the observations. These figures could include charts, graphs, drawings, or pictures (fig. 1) Discussion
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The interpretation of the data observed is shared in the discussion. This section correlates with the conclusion step of the scientific method. The opportunity to analyze what was successful and what needs to be improved is addressed here. It is also an opportunity to share suggestions for future research. Acknowledgements It is important to thank those who have helped in the research. This is one way to recognize contributions and gain creditability to the research. Those acknowledged can include teachers, mentors, advisors, lab partners, classmates, and research assistants, among others. Literature Cited
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Author. Date of Publication. Title of Book, Publisher, Place of Publication. Anon. 2005. Earth Science, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Orlando. Simpson, Troy J. 2005. 8th Grade Earth Science Class Lecture, Watseka.
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