Scientific Writing
for Impact
Factor Journals
Eric LICHTFOUSE
Chief Editor. Lecturer, Scientific Writing
Contact: Eric.Lichtfouse@dijon.inra.fr

READ
THE BOOK
TO TRANSFORM
YOUR CAREER
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FOREWORD
But in science the credit goes to
the man who convinces the world,
not to the man to whom the idea
first occurs.
Sir Francis Darwin

WHAT IS A GOOD
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE?
CommunicationNovelty

FOCUS
Too much information kills information
10 results 1 result

DISTILLATION
Before writing
‘distillate’ your results
to keep only 2-3 trends
that show an advance
versus existing
knowledge.

MICRO-ARTICLE
Select your best
result from your too
many results using
the micro-article.
‘Micro-article: great layout. Great to
focus thinking, clarify goods of article
and work for improved impact’
PhD student

NOVELTY
How to select the new result?
Think of:
• Initial hypothesis
• Hypothesis reformulation
• Lab seminar
• Meeting poster, oral
• Scientists outside your field
• Coffee breaks and friends

UNEXPECTED
The novelty is
probably not what
you planned.
Be prepared for
‘anomalous’ and
unexpected results.
Be curious.

CONTRAST
Design general and
scientific issues
(the problem) fitted
to the findings:
the solution
ABSTRACT
Problem
Solution

TEXT
The mind memorizes better titles
and first/last sentences.
Write them wisely.

CLEAR
If you can’t explain something
simply, you don’t understand it
well.
Albert Einstein
• Do not make science ‘secret’
• Do not use complicated words
to look ‘serious’
• Editors hate abbreviations

INTRODUCTION
‘Dive’ from general,
societal issues into
specific, scientific
issues
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

IMAGES
Draw images
showing imagination
Images communicate
100 times better
than text
Species evolution tree
Charles Darwin

PHOTOS
Use photos
And videos

IPHONE
Clever figures
make the
difference on
smartphones
and tablets

REJECTED?
If your article is
rejected, improve and
resubmit!
For 90% submissions
the problem is NOT
novelty, it is the
explanation of novelty

SOCIAL MEDIA
Share your
findings…
And get cited

READ
THE BOOK
TO TRANSFORM
YOUR CAREER
Click here
Contact: Eric.Lichtfouse@dijon.inra.fr