People, people, people

Now, being new to paper-writing, don’t expect to go into it solo. Instead, picture one of those generic movies: find friends, find a teacher, beat the big bad guy. Of course, you don’t want to mar your first memories of paper-writing with people you dislike; get a few friends who are just as interested in the paper topic and form a group. Three people in a group would be ideal. Any more and it’ll be too difficult to coordinate information and knowledge; any less and you’ll be stretched pretty thin. Similarly, find a mentor who would be able to guide you to your goal in a timely manner. This mentor should be strict and be able to nurture you to write like a true scientist. Try to establish a friendship with your mentor as it is going to be a long ride. Finally, network! Your mentor might not be an expert in your paper’s topic so remember to find other people who would be able to provide further insight into the subject-matter.

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We’re almost ready

Like the katana to the samurai, you’ll need weapons to deal with paper-writing. For that, you’ll need a) access to scientific papers and b) a text and citation manager.

1. Scientific journals are managed by several publishers such as Nature, American Chemical Society and Science for profit. Thus, you’ll probably need to contact your institute’s library which will provide you access to these papers.

2. Your scientific paper will probably span somewhere between 30-40 pages (conservative number) with close to a hundred references and citations and several illustrations and tables. In order to keep track of what you’ve written as well as to plan for the structure of your paper, you might choose to use a text manager such as LaTeX and a citation manager such as Mendeley to make the job easier.

These are merely the most fundamental stuff that you’ll need. Most importantly, however, above all else, approach the task with a keen and open mind. As my mentor once said, “Scientists are glorified problem solvers”. Nature is often weirder than fiction.

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Failing to plan = planning to fail

As unfortunate as it sounds, work only gets done with an impetus: fear. In order to get your paper done in a definite amount of time, you’ll need to set deadlines. Your plan should comprise hard deadlines for important events such as presentations and submissions, and soft deadlines just so you know that you are on track. Aiming to read between 5-10 papers per week is a realistic goal to set for yourself and your team, and by the end of the 12th week, your scientific paper should be ready for submission. Your rush to meet deadlines will unlock skills, abilities and fortitude you never thought you had in you.

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Let’s begin!

Armed with all your tools, you’re ready to begin your journey as a scientific writer! After downloading all the papers (you think) are relevant to your subject matter, you’ll need to – you’ve guessed it – READ THEM. Learn to appreciate them as they might be the only pieces of text you’ll read for leisure over the next few months. Interestingly however, over this period, it would appear that the more you read, the less you know. I parallel this to solving a demented jigsaw puzzle – the picture of the jigsaw puzzle gradually fades away till it appears as though you are solving a blank picture. Furthermore, with all the jargon thrown around, you’ll begin to feel that not all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are there but you make do. This is the greatest inertia of paper-writing especially if you’re “fresh off the boat” from “standard education”. At this point, many things in science are simply unelucidated and there are no correct answers to most of the questions you have. But you make do.

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(Tip: start researching the topic by reading other general review papers on the subject matter. They often avoid technical jargon and give you a good idea on what’s going on in the field. Weekly discussions with your teammates help a ton as you exchange differing viewpoints on the same topic. Set deadlines for mini-presentations as it forces you to think on your feet.)

 

Mid-life crisis

Now, after two months of reading in the subway, during lunch and after dark, you’ll meet every aspiring scientist’s greatest bane: jadedness. It creeps up on you, gaining momentum with each un-understood paper you read till the point you ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?” This is where that childish fascination I mentioned before becomes critical. Like a doctor to a dying patient, you’ll need to resuscitate your love for the subject matter or risk quitting altogether. For this, I personally went back to the impetus of the endeavour: watching Spiderman movies and going into forests to appreciate the wonder that were spiders. It is important to hype yourself, even if it means lying to yourself. You see, the brain is a funny thing: if you keep telling yourself “it’s fun”, you’ll eventually find it fun too. Try it for yourself!

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If you’ve surpassed this phase, nothing else can stop you now.