Is it possible to write a scientific paper manuscript...in a weekend???

Is it? 

Hi! I'm gonna go ahead and say that for us, it probably isn't. Not yet. But I got the idea for this post when I saw a video on YouTube which is literally entitled "How to Write a Paper in a Weekend (By Prof. Pete Carr)". Professor Carr is a relatively old man and I do not doubt for a second that he can write a paper in a weekend (he actually stated that he was involved in writing around 400 papers). So this post is going to be mainly a synthesis of what he said and my own reactions to his advice, based on my own experiences.

First he laid down some preliminary requirements for this type of activity. Of course, you can't actually write a paper from scratch, without anything to build on. However, I still think that even if you are in the early stages of your research project, you can start following his algorithm.

His preliminaries are:

P1. Review your notes on related literature and renew your literature search.

In other words, you need to have some idea of the background knowledge related to your research before you can write about it.

P2. Determine your audience.

Look for which journal you aim to publish in and ask yourself what the journal is intended for. This doesn't just refer to the topic of your research. This means whether your paper is about a new methodology, a review, experimental results, field-based results, theoretical results, etc. You need to know this information first so you can adapt your writing style.

Okay, on to "The Algorithm." It's important to remember that for writing a first draft, we need to see the big picture, and not get lost in the nitty gritty details. Prof. Carr says the first draft is the creative part of the process, so you must focus on creating and writing down your ideas. Resist the urge to correct mistakes because that will just mess with the process. There's no point in writing a perfect sentence that might just get scrapped during revisions. Remember that the goal is to make a complete draft, not a perfect one.

1. Just get started and don't procrastinate

Let's face it. You don't actually want to have to write a paper in a weekend, and procrastination is probably what brought you to this situation. If you only have a weekend to write, you probably don't want to waste any part of it. It won't do to push everything back until it's Sunday night and you realize what a failure you've been (as I've done many times).

2. Work from an outline

It's difficult to work on something continuously for extended periods of time. If you're familiar with the pomodoro technique, I suggest you try it. But basically, the outline allows you to return to your work without having to waste a lot of time trying to get your bearings back.

One way to do this is to take your tables and figures, and arrange them in a logical manner, much like you would for a presentation.

3. Skip the introduction

The introduction is the most difficult part of the paper and starting with it will probably just discourage you. The easiest part is the what Professor Carr calls the Experimental Section, which I believe is equivalent to the Methodology Chapter. It's easy because we've already done this part so we're very familiar with it.

4. Move on to the Results and Discussion

Prof. Carr didn't dwell too much on this one. There really isn't much of a secret to it. Just write down your results and what you think their implications are for answering your research question.

5. The critical part: Rewrite your draft in clear, concise, and coherent English

At this point, you've already created the core of your paper, and it's time for the critical part. Aside from making sure that you've written everything clearly, you also have to make sure that your science is correct. Check to see if what you've written follows a logical flow.

6. The Cleanup: write your Conclusions

Prof. Carr says he prefers a numbered format, and each conclusion should have a distinct idea. Personally, I like having each conclusion to answer each objective that I will have in my Introduction Chapter.

7. No escaping it: The Introduction

Now is the time to take a break and reflect on your work. The introduction is challenging because it requires deep thought. Here you must state why the study was done. What is its purpose? And this requires extensive knowledge of the problem which you must present to the reader as a clear background for your research.

8. Finishing up: The Reference list

You can start taking notes of your references much earlier in the process, but Prof. Carr says not to spend time searching for each reference, because this gets you out of the flow. I find that using a reference manager, such as Mendeley, helps because the citation plugin in Microsoft Word makes referencing supremely easy, and it assembles your reference list as you add in-text citations. But still, you can do this after writing the bulk of your paper.

9. Don't forget: Review the manuscript requirements

Don't forget this step! According to Prof. Carr, if you do, your paper will probably be returned to you unread, and with a "semi-nasty" note from the editor.

So there they are, the tips for writing a scientific paper in a weekend. I still can't imagine myself actually doing this but I got interested in the video and thought of sharing it with you guys. That being said, I do plan on making a different post on good habits and practical advice for good scientific writing, intended for scenarios that don't involve having to write everything in a single weekend. Hopefully that post will prevent this post from being too relevant to our lives.

See you next time!