Preparing the paper

Before writing the document, it is advisable to identify the journal where you want to publish and consult its guide for authors with the aim of designing the manuscript so that it adapts faithfully to the requirements of the journal, especially concerning the sections that the manuscript must incorporate, its length and the number of figures allowed.

Many magazines provide a template or style guide that incorporates their requirements for text length, number of images and graphics, text format, references, graphs, images, or tables, and more. You can find more information in Editorial Author Rules.

The most common structure for organising the writing of a scientific paper in the academic world is the IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) format. According to this structure, the article must include the sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, which form the core of the paper.

In addition to these sections, the manuscript will typically contain other elements placed either before or after the core sections. The general structure is as follows:

• Title: It should be well-written, clear, concise, and informative. The title is a crucial part of the article, as it will appear in journal summaries and in the results of various search engines.
• Authors and Affiliations: A list of the authors involved (signatories) and their respective affiliations.
• Keywords: Keywords that thematically identify the article. These are used for indexing and increasing its visibility.
• Abstract: A brief synthesis of the article, including the objective, methods, results, and discussion. Some journals may require the abstract to follow a specific structure.
• Introduction: The motivation and context of the study, including a description of the background, a review of similar research, and citations of relevant prior publications (State of the Art).
• Methods: A detailed description of how the research was conducted, providing enough information for another researcher to replicate the study.
• Results: This section presents the findings of the study, with tables, graphs, images, diagrams, and other visual elements, all properly explained in the text.
• Discussion: An analysis of the study’s results, comparing them with previous research and offering relevant references, followed by conclusions.
• Acknowledgements: A section where contributions from individuals who are not authors can be recognised. It should also include details of any grants that funded the project.
• Bibliographic References: A list of all the sources consulted.

This is the most common composition for an article, though variations may exist (such as the inclusion of new sections or modifications to others). These changes depend on factors such as the journal’s requirements, the preferences of the author, or the subject of the research. For example, articles involving research on living organisms should include an Ethical Statement.

Very technical and specific articles are often difficult to understand by people who are not experts in the subject. Good style requires that the document be concise, precise, and clear to make it easier for the reading public to understand and to avoid ambiguity.

It is recommended that the appropriate specific terminology be used and that the acronyms, which should be defined in the article, not be abused.

The most common language is English, and they are written in scientific language, simple with simple sentences. You also need to keep in mind what variety of English (British or American) is used by the magazine where you want to publish.

Publishers require that the work they publish be transparent and evaluable. The IMRaD structure allows the article to be analyzed and criticized, as anyone with knowledge of the subject can reproduce the study and validate whether it has obtained the same result. Another advantage of this structure is that the work is presented in an orderly and logical way, without incorporating unnecessary details and, therefore, the reader can easily find the information he is looking for in the different sections.

A text editor is the most widely used tool to create scientific articles. A text editor allows the author to create and edit a document in a specific format. There are currently three types of programs (information from Wikipedia): 

• Programs based on the concept of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get): the final form of the document is the one seen as the user is editing. Those programs use their own file formats or standards like OpenDocument (.odt) or Office Open XML (.docx). Examples: Microsoft Word, Apache OpenOffice Writer, LibreOffice Writer,  AbiWord... 
• Systems of TeX typesetting and its byproducts like LaTeX: these programs create text files with printing files format like PDF or PostScript. Examples: Kile, Texmaker, TeXstudio, TeXworks.... LaTeX is extensively used due to its high typographic quality and because it allows the inclusion of other elements like mathematical expressions (equations, formulas...).
• Programs based on the concept of  WYSIWYM (What You See Is What You Mean): they integrate the functions of the TeX and the WYSIWYG editors. Example: LyX. 

There are applications that assist researchers in writing scientific texts, incorporating elements such as mathematical formulas, bibliographic citations, etc. In some cases, they also allow formatting the document according to the specific style of a journal, publisher, etc. Some examples include:

• Authorea:A collaborative research platform for writing and technically managing documents (MS Word, PDF, LaTeX...) as well as data, code, videos, figures, etc., all from a single location. It is also used for publishing scientific output. It offers both a free version and a paid one.
• Fidus Writer: An online, collaborative, and free academic publishing editor. It allows the inclusion of citations and formulas in texts and adapting them to different formats based on the publication destination: web, printed book, e-book, etc. It also provides open-source software, which allows installation on a server.
• Manuscripts: A text editing tool for writing equations, tables, and figures. It is a free application for MacBook.
• Overleaf: An online LaTeX editor that enables collaborative work. It offers both a free version and a paid version.
• SciSpace: An online platform designed to help write scientific texts, incorporate bibliographic citations, and adapt them to the format of a specific journal: IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, Nature, etc. It provides the option to submit directly to the journal where you wish to publish. It is a paid service, but it has a free version with limitations on the number of publications and bibliographies. It also includes a scientific literature database in the Discover section.
• Writefull: A tool that helps use correct language when writing scientific texts by selecting the appropriate terminology, improving writing style in English, providing linguistic suggestions, and detecting missing citations. It offers both a free version and a paid one.

You can find more alternatives to text editors and academic writing platforms on software platforms such as SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, and others.

• European Association of Science Editors (EASE)
• Researcher Academy: Self-learning modules in English and Chinese covering various stages of the research process.
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

These platforms and organisations provide valuable resources to enhance your academic writing and research.