Papers

Journal of African Earth Sciences 41 (2005) 285–288 www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci

Editorial

Some general advice for writing a scientific paper

1. Introduction Every journal has a format for outlay, headings, references and so on. It is always a good idea to prepare your paper in the exact format of the relevant journal before submitting it. Editors tend to be unimpressed if you arenot even prepared to take this trouble and reviewers usually are unsympathetic towards such authors. Some high class journals like Science, Nature or Geology have extremely strict rules for the format of submission and their electronic submission system filters automatically all submissions that do not follow these rules. Such journals also have a simpler structure of publications and limited pageand reference numbers, which makes writing more difficult. They deal with a very high number of submissions and no time can be wasted on format problems. It is thus essential to know and to follow the rules in every detail. Before you decide on the journal to which you want to submit, study its latest issues and see if your contribution will fit the general concept and policy. Study the guidelines forthe authors and decide what type of publication will best suit your purpose. The Journal of African Earth Sciences (JAES) is both a regional publication, covering an entire continent plus the Middle Eastern countries, and a general earth science journal. This means that papers intended for this journal should be of interest to a broad audience of geological scientists, and not too specialized andnot only of local interest within one country. Narrowly specialized papers should be sent to pertinent specialist journals, and manuscripts dealing with subjects of local interest should be sent to localized journals, often specific to a particular country. In this context it is also important that unusual methods, geological settings not generally known, or unusual terminology, for example, beproperly explained for the general reader not necessarily specialized within such a field. Below we detail some general points on writing a scientific paper:

(1) Express yourself precisely and be informative – i.e., do not lose your reader before he/she gets to the main argument, which is what really counts! Always stay on track of a theme, a model, an interpretation, etc. Use words to express yourexact meaning – this is science – vague and misty concepts should be reserved for that novel you are all going to write in your old age. Use simple language and do not think that big or unfamiliar words will impress anybody. If you use an uncommon or generally unfamiliar scientific word, describe its meaning briefly for those less educated than yourself. (2) Use short paragraphs – say about 2–4 perA-4 typed page, and remember a paragraph must have at least two sentences and a common statement or subject. Bear in mind that a typed page on a normal PC is much less than a journal page – as a general rule, about 2–3 typed pages = one journal page. (3) Use short rather than long sentences – a long sentence starts to become prominent after about 3–4 lines! You can always break a sentence intotwo related parts by using a semicolon (;) between them. (4) Do not split infinitives – e.g., ‘‘I do not this sentence like’’ – ‘‘do not like’’ is the active verb section and ‘‘sentence’’ is a noun. Good editors can normally spot a split infinitive at about 50 m, with their bifocals on. (5) When writing a thesis (M.Sc. or Ph.D.), one tends to write in the assumption that your reader is an idiot (insome universities, this applies), thereby demonstrating your grasp of all the nuances and complexities within your chosen field. A paper is written in the opposite assumption, that your reader is fairly well versed in his/her science. Thus, long explanations of well known principles, facts, theories, etc., should be avoided at all costs. However, local geology and concepts must be explained in a...