LET’S WRITE A SCIENTIFIC PAPER IN ENGLISH!

Abstract

Many clinicians recognize the importance of writing scientific papers in English, but often fail to do so. I also could not write papers in English until I was 40 years old. Then, I first knew the pleasure of writing the English paper, and have published more than 80 papers as the first author. Herein, I present the significance of research for clinicians and the fundamentals of writing the English paper, based on my experience. Even research that was started towards obtaining a degree or board certification, or as an obligation for promotion and employment will give researchers the pleasure of discovering and publishing new findings. The development of scientific abilities and critical thinking skills while performing research is also important for clinicians. Requirements for writing excellent papers are new knowledge, logical structure, and clarity/conciseness. The authors should clearly state the aim, conclusion, significance, and originality of the study. It is useful to approach writing the paper in manageable sections, in the order of Figures/Tables, Results, Methods, Discussion, Introduction and Abstract. Good writing is one that mimics the beautiful English of excellent papers. The authors should write the draft without paying too much attention to the sentences themselves. Those can always be refined later. In conclusion, the important thing is to start writing the English paper. Regardless of whether it is complete or not, the senior author will revise it.