The Journal of Integrative Behavioral Science Writing Guide: Writing the Article

1. A great title makes the audience want to read your article; a poor title can

2. Effective titles:

   1. Identify the article’s main issue

   2. Begin with the article’s subject matter

   3. Are accurate, unambiguous, specific and (when possible) complete

   4. Are as short as possible

   5. Are enticing and interesting; they make people want to read further

Should be an extensive overview of what has been found by other authors concerning relevant information that affects what you studied for your experiment

1. Present findings objectively

2. Explains findings
   1. Can use tables, figures and graphs

1. Keep brief

   1. Name those who helped your research, contributors, or suppliers who provided free materials

1. Any information that is not “common knowledge” or generated by your experiments, must be recognized with a citation

1. Only list people who made an intellectual contribution to the research

1. The abstract should be 200 words or less

2. It is your chance to fully describe your article and represent its contents

1. Should be detailed enough that others can exactly replicate your research, and assess whether the methods justify the conclusions

   1. Recommendations

      1. Use past tense

      2. Don’t use first person

   2. Explain how you studied the problem

      1. If new methods are used, these need to be explained in detail

   3. Identify the procedures you followed

      1. Identify the equipment and materials you used, and specify their source

      2. State the frequency of observations of observations and what types of data was recorded

      3. Give precise measurements

         1. State strengths and weaknesses when applicable

      4. Explain criteria for picking your participants

   4. Structure logically

1. Keywords are important words that capture the research effectively.

2. They are used by abstracting and indexing services

Begins the body of the text

1. Should provide context and background to your topic. This is NOT a history lesson

2. Should state:

   1. The problem being investigated

      1. State the questions you’re answering and explain any findings of others that you’re challenging or furthering

   2. Its contextual background

   3. The reasons for conducting research

1. Describe the meaning of your results, especially in the context of what was already known about the subject

   1. Can present general and specific conclusions, but don’t summarize your article

2. Should link back to the intro

   1. Referring to your questions or hypotheses, and cover how the results relate to your expectations and cited sources

      1. Do the results support or contradict existing theories?

         1. Explain why if contradictory

            1. What possible factors may have contributed to the discrepancy in the expected results?

      2. Are there any limitations?

      3. Can these be generalized to other settings (environmental)?

         1. Yes or no? Are there any limitations?

3. You can also suggest further experiments, uses and extensions

4. Explain how your research has moved the body of scientific knowledge further