下面是关于原创性研究论文写作系列博文的第2部分。之前的博文 分享了18个一些常见原则以及关于方法和结果部分的建议和想法。这篇博文则为如何撰写重要的引言部分提供一些有用的建议和想法，并指出在讨论部分你有机会写些什么。

19.在完成方法和结果部分的写作之后，开始撰写引言部分。引言应该提出假设，指出是什么促使你考虑这个假设，分析验证这一假设的重要意义，提供必要的背景以便理解你所提出的假设，并且非常简略地概述你是如何检验假设的。在引言中，你可以提及与你进行的研究相关并可以作为研究背景的工作，包括你自己之前的工作和其他人的工作。简洁是非常重要的。记得保持简短。当你写作引言部分时，考虑一下方法和结果部分如何支持你的目的。

20.接下来，撰写讨论部分。讨论的目的是让科学家告诉大家他或她想要表述的故事。不要在讨论中重申你在引言部分提及的观点，或重复结果部分的数据。在讨论中可以指出结果中所给出的数据的意义，它们的重要性，以及它们所暗含的深层含义。在讨论部分重申引言或结果是很乏味的。那些仅仅是与结果部分重复的段落应该删除。讨论部分中，你可以告诉读者你从这个实验项目中所获取的主要信息，这个新知识会如何推动其所在领域的进步，以及你将利用它做些什么。

21.还记得之前说的包含2至5个重要信息的列表吗？这里给出关于讨论部分的重要建议：按照重要性(或其他逻辑顺序)组织好你的信息列表，然后按顺序使用每条信息作为讨论部分每个段落的首句。每一段应该讨论结果的深层含义，解释实验数据表明什么意义，并且参考与首句信息相关的先前的研究。如果哪句和段落首句的信息无关，那么它就不应该出现在这段话中。删除它或把它放在其他地方。指出数据（在结果部分中指出的）是如何支持这一段落的主要信息，是有必要和恰当的。因此只需提及与该段落的内容相关的结果。

22.在这篇博文的末尾将给出讨论部分的两个示例段落。

23.讨论不是让你列出一连串你读过的文献，而只需要引用那些能够提供与你的主要信息相关的重要而符合逻辑的信息的文献。创作一个合理、有逻辑的故事，并使用尽可能少的文字。要记住，讨论部分是你提出并讨论你希望人们从你的研究中获得的重要信息的地方。

24.关于对你的数据和该领域的推测，可以而且应该被纳入你的讨论部分中。在这里，你有机会展示你的结论和推测。这也是作者进行超前思考、冒险和提出建议的良好机会。一个好的讨论部分可以推动交流的进行，提出新的解释，指出新的假设，传达了一个愿景，并且拓展所有读者的思维领域。

25.在讨论部分中，谦卑地表达该研究的局限性。每项研究都有一定的局限性。最重要的一个局限是，临床和试验研究很少可以非常自信地应用于患者个体。数据就是数据，而病人不可以用一个平均值和标准差来代替。一个个体可能位于钟形曲线靠近边缘的地方，而我们永远也不应该假装不是这样。

26.在你的结论部分中，要小心不要给出任何超出了你的数据实际上所能支持的结论。结论要简单、简洁、明确，而不要带有推测性。这里的一个例子是一个弱的结论：“我们的研究数据表明，XXX未来可能成为一个有用的临床工具。”这个句子是一个推测，而不是一个结论性的事实。

27.结论部分要表现得谦逊。如果一项治疗在你的研究中没有显示出价值，并不意味着换在不同的人群，在不同的问题，或在不同的时间，治疗都是无效的。这同样适用于诊断试验。同样地，如果你的数据表明在你的样本人群里平均而言治疗是有效的，也并不意味着它对每个个体的病人都一定是有效的。循证医学在许多方面也可能有危险的误导。不要再增加已在迅速积累的大量误导性证据。具体地说，不要试图将组均值应用到个体上面。

28.在论文所有部分完成之后，返回去开始裁剪。通过削减所有不必要的概念来缩短你的论文。语言编辑可以减少不必要的单词和短语，但他们却难以对不必要的内容进行必要的删除。缩短论文的过程，旨在帮助作者进行逻辑性的思考，以便彻底并有效地传达信息。

29.撰写摘要。摘要部分不该留有任何多余的空间。每一个字的存在都要是有目的的。摘要中的结论不应该重申结果。最重要和有效的数据应该结合数字来表达。大多数读者可能只会阅读摘要，因此要确保你在摘要中明确表述出你的最重要的信息。

30.真诚地创作标题来吸引可能感兴趣的读者的注意。

撰写论文，是一种艺术创作，也是一种科学尝试。一篇优秀的论文，需要尽可能以简单，便于阅读的方式来传达作者的重要信息。在研究设计、组织论文、确定想要表达的重要信息中投入的思想和时间是第一作者必要的第一步。如此创作出的论文应该是强劲且令人乐于阅读的。

下面段落是两个连续的来自完全虚构的讨论部分的例子。我们假想的例子是一个有临床意义的试验研究项目。红色部分是作者预先确定的重要信息列表中的一条信息。而每条重要的信息，应该作为每个段落的首句。蓝色部分是与段落的首句中重要信息完全并明显相关的辅助材料。绿色部分是作者发挥想象的机会，是根据段落的重要信息进行的推测。

Our investigation identifies that knocking down mRNA for XXXX results in augmentation of pro-apoptotic pathways in two human melanoma lines.Specifically upregulated were the proteins YYYY, ZZZZ, and VVVV (see Figure 3A), to sufficient degrees that cellular apoptosis was enhanced by 80% as assessed by ***** and &&&& (see Figure 3B).  XXXX serves a similar role in other settings. Smith et al previously reported in a mouse model that, compared to controls, epithelial cells from XXXX knockouts undergo more rapid apoptosis when challenged with GGGG (ref 22). Apoptosis of human eosinophils also have been shown to be enhanced when the XXXX gene is knocked down (ref 23), to a degree reflective of the corticosteroid-induced upregulation of VVVV that also triggers rapid apoptosis in an eosinophil cell line(ref 24). The relationship between XXXX and glucocorticoid receptor pathways is currently unknown. Our findings are the first to extend the potential role of the XXXX downstream pathways to human cancer cells, and raise the potential for targeted interventions in human melanoma.

We also demonstrate that the XXXX pathway in two melanoma lines is downregulated by intracellular acidification resulting from exposure to HHHH. HHHH is a pharmacotherapeutic used for decades for the treatment of malaria (ref 25), that is reasonably safe and generally well tolerated other than infrequent ocular side effects (ref 26). In our in vitro study, HHHH used in doses equivalent to standard human dosing effectively reduced intracellular pH in melanoma cells, decreased the message for XXXX, and upregulated YYYY and ZZZZ protein expression (but not VVVV) (see Figure 4A-4C). Although our study does not fully clarify the mechanisms of pH modulation of XXXX transcription, the final effect on augmentation of apoptosis was similar in degree to our XXXX knockdown model. The ability of HHHH to affect cancer cell apoptosis is a novel finding that, after additional data are obtained, may become a candidate for clinical trials of therapeutics for malignant melanoma.

然后下一段应该以作者所想要表达的所有重要信息列表中的下一个信息开始。这个简单的格式将帮助大家避免写出杂乱无章和难以理解的论文，并将帮助读者理解你所做的所有重要的工作。祝你在论文写作路上好运。ACCDON真诚为您服务！

* * *约翰•亨特博士，小儿胸腔科、过敏症专家和免疫学家，曾任美国弗吉尼亚大学终身副教授。发表过大量论文并被多次引用。最近出版了作品YOUR CHILD’S ASTHMA—A Guide for Parents。他非常热衷于为ACCDON提供编辑和咨询服务。

此短文由LetPub美国总公司的科学编辑撰写，英文原文如下：

Manuscript creation for English language journals. Part 1 of 2.

The following is Part 2 of a two part series on original research manuscript development. The previous blog post presented in 18 points some general principles and advice and thoughts regarding the Methods and Results sections. This current post provides advice and thoughts regarding the important Introduction and the fun opportunities available to you while writing your Discussion.

19.After crafting the Methods section and the Results section, write the Introduction. The Introduction should state the hypothesis, present what prompted you to consider this hypothesis, delineate why it is important to examine this hypothesis, provide necessary background to understand the science to be presented, and provide a very superficial overview of how you have examined the hypothesis. In the introduction you can reference your prior work, and the work of others, as they relate to your reason for undertaking the research and as background to understand the science. Brevity is important. Keep it short. As you are writing this introduction, think about how the Methods and Results support your intent.

20.Next, write the Discussion. The Discussion is the opportunity for the scientist to tell the story he or she wants to tell. Do not waste the discussion reiterating what you said in the Introduction, or restating the data that you just presented in the Results section. It is appropriate in the Discussion to state what the data presented in the results mean, why they are important, and what they imply. A Discussion section that does little more than reiterate the Introduction or Results is boring. Paragraphs that do nothing but reiterate the Results section should be deleted. The Discussion is where you tell the reader the main things that you learned from this experimental program, how this new knowledge advances the field, and what you are going to do with the knowledge.

21.Remember your list of 2-5 most important messages? Here is the most important advice for the Discussion section: organize your list of messages in order of importance (or some other logical sequence), and then use each message as the first sentence of a paragraph, sequentially, in the Discussion. Each paragraph should discuss implications of results, explain what your experimental data mean, and refer to prior publications that relate to that first sentence/message. If a point is not addressing the message in the first sentence of the paragraph, then the point shouldn’t be in that paragraph. Delete it or place it somewhere else. It is necessary and appropriate to state how your data (reported in the Results) support the main message of the paragraph. Thus your data are referred to only in the context of the paragraph’s main message.

22.Two example Discussion paragraphs are presented at the end of this post.

23.The Discussion is not a place to list a litany of articles you have read. Use only references that provide important and logical information that relates to your major messages. Craft a sensible, logical story, and craft it using as few words as possible. Remember, the Discussion is where you present and discuss the important messages you want people to learn from your investigations.

24.Your speculations about your data and the field in general can and should be incorporated into your discussion. You have an opportunity to present your conclusions and speculations here. This is the authors’ opportunity to be forward thinking, take risks, and make suggestions. A well written Discussion drives the conversation forward, proposes new explanations, identifies new hypotheses, conveys a vision, and expands the minds of all the readers.

25.In the Discussion, humbly add the limitations of the study. Every study has limitations. The most important limitation is that clinical and bench studies rarely can be applied to the individual patient with any confidence. Data are data, but a patient is not ever represented by a mean and standard deviation. An individual can be way out at the end of the bell curve and we should never pretend otherwise.  

26.In your Conclusion, be careful to not generalize beyond what your data actually support. Conclusions are simple, brief, unequivocal and not speculative. Here is an example of a weak Conclusion: “Our study data suggest the possibility that XXX may someday serve as a useful clinical tool.” That previous sentence is a speculation, not a concluding fact.

27.In your Conclusion, be humble. If an intervention showed no value in your study, that doesn’t mean the intervention won’t work if used in a different population or in a different matter, or at a different time. The same is true for diagnostic testing. Likewise, if you have shown that an intervention has a beneficial mean effect in your sample population, this does not mean it will necessarily be effective in an individual patient. Evidence based medicine can be dangerously misleading in many ways. Make sure to not add to the rapidly accumulating mass of misleading evidence. Specifically, do not to try to apply group mean data to individuals.

28.With the sections of the paper all written, now go back and start cutting. Shorten your manuscript by cutting out every unnecessary concept. Language editors can cut out unnecessary words and phrases, but they have a more difficult time performing the necessary deletion of unnecessary content. The process of shortening a manuscript is designed to help the author think ever more logically, so as to convey the messages efficiently yet thoroughly.

29.Craft your abstract. There is no room for any redundancy within the abstract. Every word needs to have purpose. The conclusion in abstract should not reiterate the results. The most important and impactful data should be incorporated using numbers. Most readers will never read further than the abstract, so make sure your most important messages are stated clearly in the abstract.

30.Craft the Title honestly in a manner designed to attract attention of potentially interested readers.

Writing a manuscript is an art form as well as a scientific endeavor. An excellent manuscript conveys the authors’ important messages in as simple a manner to read as possible. Thought and time—invested in study design first, and then organizing the manuscript and identifying the messages you want to convey—are the first author’s essential first steps. A manuscript that results from following these processes is likely to be strong, and an enjoyable read.

****

The following are two consecutive example paragraphs in an entirely imaginary Discussion section for a bench research project with clinical implications. Red is a single message from the list of important messages pre-selected by the authors. A single IMPORTANT message should serve as the first sentence of each paragraph. Blue is the supporting material that relates entirely and clearly to the important message in the first sentence of the paragraph. Green is the authors’ opportunity to dream and speculate about the important message of the paragraph.

Our investigation identifies that knocking down mRNA for XXXX results in augmentation of pro-apoptotic pathways in two human melanoma lines.Specifically upregulated were the proteins YYYY, ZZZZ, and VVVV (see Figure 3A), to sufficient degrees that cellular apoptosis was enhanced by 80% as assessed by ***** and &&&& (see Figure 3B).  XXXX serves a similar role in other settings. Smith et al previously reported in a mouse model that, compared to controls, epithelial cells from XXXX knockouts undergo more rapid apoptosis when challenged with GGGG (ref 22). Apoptosis of human eosinophils also have been shown to be enhanced when the XXXX gene is knocked down (ref 23), to a degree reflective of the corticosteroid-induced upregulation of VVVV that also triggers rapid apoptosis in an eosinophil cell line(ref 24). The relationship between XXXX and glucocorticoid receptor pathways is currently unknown. Our findings are the first to extend the potential role of the XXXX downstream pathways to human cancer cells, and raise the potential for targeted interventions in human melanoma.

We also demonstrate that the XXXX pathway in two melanoma lines is downregulated by intracellular acidification resulting from exposure to HHHH. HHHH is a pharmacotherapeutic used for decades for the treatment of malaria (ref 25), that is reasonably safe and generally well tolerated other than infrequent ocular side effects (ref 26). In our in vitro study, HHHH used in doses equivalent to standard human dosing effectively reduced intracellular pH in melanoma cells, decreased the message for XXXX, and upregulated YYYY and ZZZZ protein expression (but not VVVV) (see Figure 4A-4C). Although our study does not fully clarify the mechanisms of pH modulation of XXXX transcription, the final effect on augmentation of apoptosis was similar in degree to our XXXX knockdown model. The ability of HHHH to affect cancer cell apoptosis is a novel finding that, after additional data are obtained, may become a candidate for clinical trials of therapeutics for malignant melanoma.

And then the next paragraph begins with the next important message in the first author’s ordered list of the important messages they want to convey in the manuscript. This simple format will help avoid rambling and hard-to-follow manuscripts, and will help the reader understand all the important work you have done.

Good luck in your manuscript writing. ACCDON is here to help!

***John Hunt, MD is a pediatric pulmonologist, allergist & immunologist and former tenured Associate Professor at the University of Virginia in the USA. He has an extensive publication history with a very high number of citations. He is the author of the recently published YOUR CHILD’S ASTHMA—A Guide for Parents. He greatly enjoys providing editorial and advisory services to ACCDON.

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