title: Writing a scientific paper: getting to the basics.
abstract: Research is an important tool in the discovery of new events and inevitable in the advancement of our understanding of new phenomena. However, the process of carrying out a research will be incomplete and irrelevant if the results are not published. While the process of carrying out a research is a challenging experience for many researchers, an even more daunting exercise is publishing the research findings. Thus, writing scientific paper requires skill and experience. A scientific paper should have a clear purpose, be organized systematically and target a specific audience. It is important that before planning to write out a scientific paper certain questions regarding the message of the paper and its worthiness, the format, target audience for the message and the journal for that audience, are addressed. These issues are crucial and determine how well written a paper is and its acceptability for publication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. alicernte@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Nte
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Awi
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D035843:Biomedical Research; D006801:Humans; D008373:Manuscripts as Topic; D009549:Nigeria; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011643:Publishing / Q000592:standards*; D014956:Writing / Q000592:standards*