1. Introduction: types of paper
here are several types of scientific paper:

• The primary research paper. We shall focus on this type in the present module.
• The review article. This provides an overview of the literature on a specialized topic, giving an impression of the whole field. The emphasis is usually on recent advances and current controversies, but older publications (perhaps dating from the 19^th century) may be mentioned too. Review articles are often written by experienced scientists with recognized expertise, and may be commissioned from such authors by journal editors, but they can also be written by younger scientists – in which case they are generally more restricted in scope. A good review article is invaluable as a source of references, especially for newcomers to the field.
• The short general “magazine” article (www.oncology news.biz provides examples) does not usually have the formal sections we discussed in Module 1, and may not even have references. Its purpose is to draw attention to some particular topical matter, often in non-technical language. It provides a quick update of developments so that interested readers can search the more formal literature for further details.
• A technical report
  is a paper that might not get published. For example, it may be prepared for discussion within a company, perhaps leading to a patent.
• Abstracts can be published in conference proceedings and/or relevant journals. They are more important to some scientists than others. Practising clinicians often write abstracts to alert their colleagues to findings that perhaps cannot be followed up in a research paper. Scientists, however, normally follow up their abstracts with full research papers, so abstracts are of less significance after the conference to which they relate has ended.

2. The Primary Research Paper

We will now focus specifically on the primary research paper. For convenience, we will illustrate the structure of a research paper using an article of average length from my own laboratory.

We recall (module 1) that each journal has its own style of presentation. (For instance, in some journals, the Materials and Methods section is placed after the Discussion, not immediately after the Introduction, and is often printed in smaller type.) Therefore, when you decide to which journal you are going submit your paper, you need to know that journal’s style. The details of preparation and submission are given in the Instructions (or Guidelines) to Authors. If you do not follow those instructions strictly, most journals will simply return your manuscript or send a message asking you to upload a new version that conforms to the required style. During the past 30-40 years there has been an increasing insistence that authors take full responsibility for the proper presentation of their articles. More recently, since the advent of online publishing, editors and publishers have become even more insistent that all papers submitted to them conform precisely to their requirements.

Notwithstanding this onus on the author, the appearance of the published paper in the journal will differ in some respects from your final manuscript. The editors and print managers will upload the typescript into a template that deals with particular details, e.g. the positioning of the figures, the introduction of columns (authors are seldom if ever asked to set out their manuscripts in columns), preparation of footnotes for some information (e.g. the corresponding author’s contact details), the font and size for titles and subheadings, and so on.

3. An Annotated Research Paper

The following annotated paper illustrates many of these points and others. In what follows, I will use the left side of the page to present the paper in its pdf format. The wide right-hand margin will give explanatory notes in red, within text boxes. These notes will not be comprehensive since future modules will deal with each section of a paper in greater detail. Also, I will not cover some of the details that journals require because there is too much variation to allow hard and fast rules to be given. Thus, what follows is intended as a general model. You might find it particularly useful if you have had not had much experience in writing papers, but in following this model, remember also to pay proper attention to the journal’s Instructions to Authors.

Please inspect the attached documents below for the full annotated modules: