Components of a Scientific PaperResearch Papers will contain all or most of the following sections. Be aware that journals may have specific guidelines regarding formatting and titles for published works.• Title• By-line and Affiliation• Abstract• Introduction• Experimental Method• Results• Discussion • Conclusion• Summary• Acknowledgements• ReferencesMore detailed information can be obtained in the “ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors”, Janet S. Dodd, Ed. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. Most students learn to write in journal style by example. That is, by reading many journal articles and soaking up the language and style in published primary literature.

TitleThe title should be a clear description of what is contained in the paper without being too lengthy. A title should be grammatically correct.

Often times, titles are written last to most accurately reflect the contents.Avoid use of phrases/words such as:• “A Study of…”• “Research on …”• “A Report on…”• “Novel”• “New”• “Rapid”

By-Line and AffiliationList all of the authors of the paper and their respective affiliations. The primary author (principle investigator, etc..) should be listed as the corresponding author.

J.E. Scientist1, T.W. Technician1*1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9510* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

AbstractThe abstract is a brief (1 paragraph) summary of the entire article. It should be concise and accurately reflect the contents of the paper. List key results when appropriate.

Typically 80-200 words in length. Present the problem, method or experimental basis, major finding and principal conclusion. Like the title, the abstract is often written last.Abstracts and Titles are key features used to index papers electronically. They should be accurate and contain information to attract readers. The abstract is often the first thing that readers look at.

IntroductionThe introduction should clearly define the problem that is to be addressed and why it is important. A brief account of past work is presented along with an explanation of how your work ties-in with the past work of others.

The introduction is typically less than three paragraphs and can be as short as one. The purpose is to provide a brief background to those not entirely familiar with the field of study. State what is different about your work.Often the section title “Introduction” is omitted – depends on the journal.

Experimental MethodsThis section describes the procedures used to conduct your research.

List reagents (and the commercial source) if they are non-standard or difficult to obtain. Use proper chemical nomenclature when describing new or rare materials. Apparatus need not be described unless it is custom equipment that has not been described previously. The manufacturer and model number is indicated in parenthesis. For example: “Luminescence spectra were recorded by excitation at the λmax of the MLCT transition (Jasco, FP-6300).”

Experimental Methods Cont…Describe any procedures used unless they are standard (titrations, etc..) being sure to note any potential hazards (explosiveness, toxicity etc..). If the procedure is similar to a published procedure it is proper to phrase the beginning of a synthetic method as follows. “Synthesis of [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2 was accomplished by a modification of the procedure by Jones et al.1Avoid trademarks and brand names (e.g. Kimwipes)Substances with complex names may be given an identifier, for example:dipyridyl (bpy)ruthenium(II)tris-(1,10-phenanthroline) dichloride (Ia)ruthenium(II)tris-(1,10-phenanthroline) dihexafluorophosphate (Ib)

ResultsSummarize all of the experimental results and statistical analysis methods.

Include in this section, tables and figures when appropriate. Provide enough raw data for others to analyze and judge the quality of your work. There should be enough data in this section to justify any conclusions made in the following section. Do not present data in figures and tables unless individual values are important. An example of a paper that presents data twice is the Balzani article which lists all of the values used to calculate the free energy of electron transfer (Table I) and shows the data again in a plot (figure 3). (D. Sandrini, et. al. J. Phys. Chem., 1985, 89, 3675)

DiscussionThe purpose of the discussion is to interpret and compare results. You should strive to discuss your data objectively.

If one experimental result has significant uncertainty you have a responsibility to discuss the uncertainty in your discussion. Relate your work to past work and demonstrate where you have made a contribution. If the results suggest further experiments indicate this in your discussion. Do not repeat information from the results in the discussion section. In many cases the results and discussion are combined into one section if the flow of the manuscript is better when combined (check the journal style)

ConclusionThe conclusion allows you to add your interpretation of the work and to state how it relates to the original problem addressed in the introduction.

Do not repeat points made in the discussion section. Often times authors will use this section to speculate about future work or how the current work impacts other areas. You should base all of your interpretations on facts and evidence presented in the current work. The reason for separating this section from the results and discussion is that your conclusions may in fact be wrong, but your data should stand the test of time.

SummaryA summary is a short (1-2 paragraph) recap of the main points of an article.

Most often this section is omitted. The exception is when the paper is very long and involved, for instance in the case of a review paper (some of which are several hundred pages in length).

AcknowledgementsA short section acknowledging contributors not named as authors, funding sources and organizations that supported the work.

This is an optional section and should be as brief as possible. Many funding agencies required acknowledgments along with the specific grant number that supported the work.

ReferencesBibliographic citations for all referenced materials. We will use the ACS style for citations.

Use superscript Arabic numerals to identify the reference. Footnotes in publication (often endnotes when submitted) Use endnotes for class. Author names may be used in a sentence e.g. The synthesis described by Fraser6 takes advantage of …. Jensen3 reported oscillations of the reaction of … Include both authors if there are two or use et al. if more than two e.g. Allison and Perez12 concluded that… Johansen et al.24 first discovered the reaction of….

References Cont…In the manuscript, multiple citations are given in order, separated by commas and/or dashes. Pauling and co-workers 10,11 found…. Rate constants have been reported to vary over several orders of magnitude depending on experimental conditions.16-20,32

Reference StylesPeriodicals

Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; Journal Abbreviation, Year, Volume, Inclusive Pagination. Note: Author field should be last name first separated by a comma. Cotton, F.A.; Smith, J.R. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 45, 1198-1205. Use CASSI (Chemical Abstract Service Source Index) abbreviations for journals Sometimes only initial page numbers are given, or you may use abbreviated pages, eg. 1109-38.

Reference Styles Cont…Books without editorsAuthor 1; Author 2; Author 3. Chapter Title. Book Title, Edition Number; Series Information (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Volume Number, pagination Shore, B.W. Electronic Spectroscopy. Complete Encyclopedia of Spectroscopic Techniques, 3rd Ed., Modern Instrumental Methods Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 2003; pp 215-300. Books with editors Author 1; Author 2; Author 3. Chapter Title. Book Title, Edition Number; Editor 1, Editor 2, Editor 3, Eds.; Series Information (if any); Publisher: Place of Publication, Year; Volume Number, pagination Note: use the abbreviations p and pp to indicated single or multiple pages.

Less Common Reference StylesNonscientific Magazines and Newspapers Author 1; Author 2; Author 3; Title of Article. Title of Periodical, Complete Date, pagination Theses Author. Title of Thesis. Level of Thesis, Degree-granting University, Location of University, Date of Completion. Johansen, R.R. Kinetic Modeling of Chlorophyll Degradation. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, August 2003 Patents Patent Owner 1; Patent Owner 2; Title of Patent. Patent Number, Date.

Uncommon Styles Cont…Unpublished Materials Author 1; Author 2; Author 3 Title of unpublished work, Journal Abbreviation, phrase stating the stage of publication Cotton, F.A.; Smith, J.R. Photochemical Activation of Benzophenone. J. Am. Chem. Soc., Submitted for publication Smith, J.R. University of Texas, Austin, TX. Personal communication, 1999 For more information on citation styles see:Chapter 6: References, The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors, Dodd, J.S. Ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 1997; 173-229. Avoid citing internet resources – Wikipedia is not a valid citation!

Tips for Professional Writing NumbersUse scientific formatting for numbers over four digits:1.328 10 instead of 13280 Use number in front and back of decimal points.

0.25 instead of .25 23.0 instead of 23.When long numbers must be used group the digits in threes separated by either a comma or thin space123,456,789 or 123 456 789 Note: In some countries the comma is used as a decimal, i.e. 23,1 is equivalent to 23.1

More TipsVariables and UnitsAll variables should be italic font unless it is associated with a specific quantity. Molarity and Molarity 0.19 mol0.50 L“Amount” always refers to the chemical amount in moles.The name for units derived from proper names have a lower case initial letters, while the symbol for the unit has a capital initial letter.Energy is measures in joules and we used 4.184 J to raise the temperature of one gram of water by 1 K.Temperature is measured in kelvin and standard temperature is 25 K(kelvin temperature is absolute so no degree sign is used)

Math FormattingFunctions

Functions should be in italic font, f(x) = , Most operators should be in roman fontlog (x) ln (x) cos (x) etc… e–x

Greek letters are italic when used as variables but roman when used as an operator:cos (θ) , ΔH (italic theta and H , roman delta)

More Math FormattingSubscripts and Superscripts

Use italic when the script is a part of the symbol but roman when it is an abbreviation heat capacity at constant pressureheat capacity of substance B acid dissociation constantobservered equilibrium consantCommon Math OperatorsNever use * or x for multiply use (hold down Alt and type 0215 on the number keypad in MS Word) Never use the hyphen (-) for a negative or minus sign. Instead use an en dash (–) [ctrl + - in MS Word, must be the number pad minus]