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WRITING CHEMICAL RESEARCH PAPERS

TITLE AND AUTHORS

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TITLETITLE

A good title should

• Define contents of paper in a few words. It should “sell” your manuscript

• Make retrieval of your article easy (= more impact)

• Have more important words first

• Show accuracy

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Desirable Features of a TitleDesirable Features of a Title

• Expresses only one idea

• Omits redundant words: verbs and articles (usually)

• Omits waste words like “A Study of..”

• Uses simple word order with correct syntax

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Things to AvoidThings to Avoid

• Scientific Abbreviations (e.g. E. coli should be Escherichia coli); IR should be infrared

• Acronyms (Ca should be Calcium)

• Chemical Formulas – use generic or common names

• Roman numerals

• Sensational or strong words

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Title StylesTitle Styles

• Descriptive or Label Style - no verbs and (usually) no articles

(the, a, etc)This is the more common style

• Assertive Sentence Style - contains subject, verb and objectThis style is used more often in general science and biomedical journals

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Title Styles (2)Title Styles (2)

• Series titles are used to connect a number of papers published on the same general subject. E.g. Nucleophilic Catalysis, Part IV. Acid-hydrolysis of organic sulfites. Uncommon nowadays.

• Hanging titles consist of general statement, then : or . or – followed by a more specific statement. Common nowadays.

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Examples of Title StylesExamples of Title Styles

From azides to nitro compounds in a few seconds using HOF·CH3CN

S. Rozen and M. Carmeli

From J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 8118-8119.

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Examples of Hanging TitlesExamples of Hanging Titles

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Suppression of a palladium-mediated homocoupling in a Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. Development of an impurity control strategy supporting synthesis of LY451395

J.T. Quatroche and C.D. Sturgill

From Org. Process Res. Dev., 2007, 11, 359-364

Examples of Hanging Titles (2)Examples of Hanging Titles (2)

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Example of Series Title Example of Series Title

Chemistry of the sulfur-nitrogen bond 12. Metal-assisted synthesis of sulfenamide derivatives from aliphatic and aromatic disulfides.

M.D. Bentley, J.A. Lacadie, and I.B. Douglass

From J. Org. Chem. 1977, 42, 967-972

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Examples of Title ImprovementsExamples of Title Improvements

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Example 1Example 1

•“Cycloaddition Reactions of mesoionic oxadiazoles” is too general for the manuscript content

•A more accurate title might be

“Diels-Alder Reactions of Mesoionic 1,2,3-Oxadiazol-5-ones (Sydnones)”

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Example 2Example 2Example 2Example 2

•“Preliminary Canine and Clinical Evaluation of a New Antitumor Agent, Streptovitacin” is an example with incorrect syntax

•A more correct title might be

“Preliminary Evaluation of a New Antitumor Agent, Streptovitacin, using Canine and Clinical Trials”

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Example 3Example 3

•“Determination of Copper in Tequila using Stripping Potentiometry”

•If the focus is on the technique rather than the analyte or medium then a better title may be

•“Stripping Potentiometric Determination of Copper in Tequila”

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Example 4Example 4

•“Investigation into the Use of Copper and Other Metals as indicators for the Authenticity of Scotch Whiskies”

•Removing “waste” words gives

•“Copper and Other Metals as Indicators for the Authenticity of Scotch Whiskies”

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AUTHORSAUTHORS

• The list of authors should reflect a system of credit

• As far as possible, include only significant contributors

• Acknowledgements can be used for people who helped with a specific aspect, but who otherwise made no contribution

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Authors: Order of ListingAuthors: Order of Listing

• There are no definite rules

• Decide early in the program of study on sequence of authors

• Main author can be placed first and corresponding author (if different) can be indicated by *

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Example 1Example 1

•Scientist A designs program of work and Technician B (non-student) carries out the work successfully

•Either

Author A (with B acknowledged)

Or

Author A and B in that order

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Example 2Example 2

•Scientist A and Technician B (non-student) jointly design program of work and B carries out the work successfully

•Either

Author A and B in that order

Or

Author B and A* in that order

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Example 3Example 3

•Supervisor A and student or post-doc B design progam of work jointly, which B completes

•Author B and A* in that order

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Example 4Example 4

•Supervisor A and student or post-doc B design progam of work jointly, which B completes, with small but specific help from scientist C

•Author B and A* in that order, with C acknowledged

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Example 5Example 5

•Supervisor A and student or post-doc B design program of work jointly, which B completes, with extended collaboration of scientist C

•Author B, A* and C in that order

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Research: I slog away for the benefit of humanity, my sponsors get all the money and my supervisor hogs all the glory. Such is life!

Writer’s LamentWriter’s Lament