On My Mind: How to Write a Scientific Paper

New information—however interesting, amusing, or useful—is not accepted by scientists until it has been published. This does not mean published in the New York Times or in a best-selling book; it means published in a peer-reviewed journal. A peer-reviewed journal is run by a scientist-editor or editors. The editors look at your manuscript and then send it out to two or more “peers,” that is, people who work in the same field and are well known (i.e. well-published) themselves. These reviewers remain completely anonymous; presumably you will never know who they are. They critique the paper and often suggest changes. You meet the criticisms and revise the paper. Eventually the paper is either published or rejected. If it’s rejected, you can chuck it in the waste basket or send it to some other journal, whereupon the process begins again.