Tangible Advice to Write a Scientific Literature Review

Photo by Ousa Chea on Unsplash

For the past two months I’ve been deep into Google Scholar, reading over 700 scientific papers about bioengineering maize and writing a 40 page manuscript.

In this article I wanted to compile a list of things I’ve learned to help you write scientifically, and make the process of research to writing seamless!

• Create a super detailed outline. It’s a lot of work in the moment, but will save you a lot of time in the future.
• Include graphs, schematics, diagrams. Show complicated information. Don’t just tell.
• “You can’t write what you don’t know”. There is no shortcut to compiling a big data base of information. You need to read the papers and understand the terminology.
• Add to the sum of knowledge. Don’t repeat information that has already been published. Connect dots between research.
• Write as briefly as possible. As clearly as possible. And as simply as possible.
• Get as much feedback as possible at every step of the way. Not just on the manuscript.
• Take criticism and implement feedback. It’s what you do with all this feedback that matters.
• Establish your audience and write to that narrow audience. Don’t write for everyone. This will create a specific focus that defines good scientific writing.
• Write the abstract like a stand alone paragraph — so someone can read it and understand the topic of the entire paper. (Writing the abstract last helps create this narrow focus).
• Avoid speculation and conjecture.
• Write as comprehensively as possible. It takes a lot of time, but include as much information as possible to make a *simply* explained, comprehensive, literature review.
• Understand the network of the topic. Even if it’s not “necessary” for the paper. This will enable you to dot connect and draw conclusions for the reader about this research.
• Use Zotero for your sources
• Highlight impact. Treat proving what impact this research could have as your thesis. Refer back to impact often.
• Use Sci Hub to get access to get past pay walls
• Keep a running doc with notes and screenshots from all important papers so you don’t need to revisit the paper and waste time.
• Treat it like a story. How can you make this story more interesting? What information is needed so the reader understands this story? Ex: history on the development of this innovation to set the stage.
• Balance depth and breath. Map out what topics require breadth (explaining the problem or history) and which require breadth (the body of the scientific work).
• Help the readers see connections between each section. The structure of the paper should be seamless.
• Each section and paragraph should be around the same length.
• Do not blindly accept conclusions of papers you read. Cross reference all information so you can formulate your own conclusions.
• Hold off any biases or personal opinions — the facts come first. The paper should include the facts without your own opinions. Remember that the point of science is to uncover truth.
• Get annoyingly curious about the topic you are writing about. Ask “why” to everything you read and answer those questions. If you don’t answer all the whys, the reader will be thinking them.
• Present all sides of the research. The positive and the negative, the successes and failed attempts. All of this is important for the reader to accurately learn about the field.
• Don’t take data out of context. The context of the data is just as important as the facts themselves.
• Every time you go to Google Scholar know what information you are looking for. This will save you time and make sure you find the information you need.
• Write a to-do list at the start of each work session with the top three tasks you want to complete. This makes sure you make consistent progress and momentum continues. (And saves you time).
• Ask yourself what section of your paper you find most confusing. If you find it confusing, so will the reader. Create a diagram to explain this concept, or add more information to explain it as comprehensively as possible.
• Talk with experts in the field and ask them your questions. It is a more effective way to learn information then spending hours reading papers.
• Make sure all sources cited and information referenced is high quality. The quality of your references correlated with the quality of your paper.
• It is (near) impossible to over cite. Over cite vs under cite.
• Introduce all terminology with the full name before using abbreviations, even if the term seems obvious.
• Don’t get fancy with the titles of sections — they should coherent and cohesive. The reader should know the subject of each section based off the title.
• Write the abstract from broad to specific. Write the conclusion oppositely, from specific to broad.
• Don’t be afraid to “backtrack” and learn preliminary information to make sure you have a strong knowledge base as the information gets more complicated.
• Build your own mental data base of information through multiple sources — research papers, interviews from top researchers and patents are all helpful to formulate your own understanding of the topic.
• Let your passion guide your research. The ability to research scientific knowledge is such a privilege so enjoy the process!

Thanks for reading! I’m Rachel, a 17 year old with a strong passion for food insecurity and cool science. I like to run long distances (ultra marathons!) and frequently embark in backcountry adventures in the wilderness of Canada. My email is always open at: runnerrachel.lee@gmail.com, and you can check out my LinkedIn, website and Instagram.