--- A Model Format for a Journal Article ---
The format of this hypothetical research paper should be followed for manuscripts being submitted for consideration by editors for inclusion in their journals. This format was derived back in the days of Queen Elizabeth-I. It is also a handy guide for write-ups of lab work. Explanatory comments will be in blue.
PASSAGE OVER THE OCEAN SEA
Cristóforo Columbo, Adm.
TO THE INDIES
Note the title tells the result: "I made it!"
Imagine if it were this:
A GIFT FROM THEIR ROYAL MAJESTIES
which says next to nothing other than perhaps a literary novel follows
rather than a scientific result is being reported
National Cartographic Institute
Palos de la Frontera, España
SUMMARY. (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PART OF THE PAPER! Sometimes this is called the "abstract" and may be at the end of the journal article.) Three caravels sailed westward 2,300 miles to the Indies. Friendly, unclad and non-religious natives traded gold and foods of unknown kinds. The geography was comprised of many small islands - some flat, most mountainous. The terrain was covered with vegetation and animal-life, none of which we had ever seen before. The inhabitants reported the presence of a great lord-ruler in a distant place undoubtedly the Great Khan of Cipangu. The summary tells vaguely what he did, how he did it, and what he found. The whole story in a nutshell.
INTRODUCTION. (This paragraph title word is often optional.) I wish to report a counter-intuitive route for reaching the Orient by going west! The current route to the eastern lands is long, tedious, and dangerous, while this new route if much faster, totally bypasses robbers and other dangers, and promises to be highly rewarding for commerce. The opening sentence(s) of the intro must jump out and grab the reader so that they want to read further. Eratosthanes (1), Ptolemy (2), and many others (3-9) have speculated upon the sphericity of the earth having a circumference between 13,000 miles (2) and 22,000 miles (6). He lays out his hypothesis and what he expected. In our estimation, Ptolemy's calculation of 13,000 miles is much superior to the other measurements. It thus seemed probable that by sailing westward from Iberia across the Ocean Sea (8), we should encounter lands previously approached only from the east (7).
The Polos (3) traveled 7,000 miles eastward to reach Cipangu, and the Indies lay another 3,000 miles east of Cipangu. Since Palos City lay 1,000 miles west of the starting point of the Polo brothers, we estimated that our ships would arrive at the Indies after a voyage of 2,000 miles or a little more.
EQUIPMENT. (see *note at end of this section.) Three ships of different sizes were chosen so as to be amenable to all exploratory situations. Lateen-rigged caravels were used as they afforded the best ability to sail close to the wind. Navigational instrumentation included an astrolabe by Vinelli of Genoa, compasses of magnetized iron needles by Adams of London, and assorted sounding bobs.
PERSONNEL. The crews consisted to tested gentlemen and men from African coastal studies as well as several interpreters of Hebrew for ease in communication with the Indians, and the necessary workmen for daily maintenance of the ships and equipment. (Most papers you'll ever write won't say anything about the personnel, because they are all the coauthors. For Columbus, his crews were very important "tools".)
DATA RECORDING. Franciscan secretaries, along with collecting and cataloging equipment, were major components of this project. (Note that he did not tell exactly how many personnel, nor what size nails were used to build the ships. None of that is absolutely relevant to the research. So don't write in your reports that you used 14 pyrex 125 ml flasks, when drinking glasses would have worked just as well, and that their number could be deduced from your figures. Only include relevant information! Also, you will rarely ever mention this subject except for which statistical tests you might have used. Columbus needed to have this paragraph in his day of pervasive illiteracy.)
*Good paragraph form states that your opening sentence tells what the paragraph is about. Scientists are allowed to abbreviate this opening sentence to a few words, which help the reader's eyes to skip around and see the whole outline in a glance.
After voyaging approximately 2,300 miles (Fig. 1) with no loss of crew, we arrived in the Indies and discovered many islands (Fig. 2) that were peopled by Indians having no detectible faith. These natives were of two tribes: the first that we met were unclad primitives who knew nothing of weapons beyond throwing stones, and who lived in fear of the other tribe, which consisted of unclad cannibals adept in the use of spears and archery, and who preyed cannibalistically upon the more primitive tribe. He didn't expound in length with tables of data - all such information could again be gleaned from his maps in the two figures.
A list of our recent plant and animal acquisitions will be published upon completion of cataloging. Preliminary observations are that there were only three familiar species of birds and no familiar plants. Having skin the color of aged copper, the Indian people were of a pleasing body form although their somewhat flattened facial structure (Fig. 3) was different than any other that we have seen anywhere.
Considering that our voyage was of 2,300 miles, we conclude that Ptolemy's calculations were accurate. Unfortunately, he had a misconception: that his data was the whole picture! It is therefore, more expeditious to travel to the Indies by this new westward route than by the much more lengthy eastward route. Were further penetration made of these Indies, the Asiatic continent and Cipangu should be soon discovered as well as of diverse precious metals. A subject for further observation and testing concerns the slow eastward shifting of magnetic north as passage was made in both directions: the more westward the site of measurement, the more the magnetic pole declines from Polaris.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was made possible through a grant from their Royal Majesties Ferdinando and Isabella, King and Queen by the Grace of God. We wish to especially thank Martín Alanzo Pinzón and Vincente Yañez Pinzón for the loan of a ship commonly known as La Pinta and the four Niños brothers for the loan of another ship commonly called La Niña. Without these two ships we should not have returned. This is an optional section. But if you wish to receive further support in the future, give credit where credit is due!
FYI: A few historical notes by the rediscoverer of this ancient document: (a) A handwritten, 3-page description is actually in the Papal Archives of May 1493, and is the first "publication" of the discovery of America. (b) The title of Admiral was bestowed only by the Pope in those days. (c) Many misconceptions are obviously held by CC. (d) While he was renowned as the best navigator/sailor of his day, he held two main personal interests - religion, and anthropology. (e) Many things, not stated here, later became of historical note: his return trip's being the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing until the early 1800's (he sailed much of the way 'running' before a hurricane), and upon his escape from another storm he took refuge fleeing into the Portuguese port of Lisbon, where he, an enemy Spanish agent, ran up his tattered Spanish flag plus his newly earned ensign designating that the little Niña had an Admiral on board. He was soon arrested as a P.O.W. by a young scholarly naval captain who would later make his own mark in history - Vasco de Gama. Despite the arrest, de Gama greatly honored CC. A grand parade including six naked Indians all toting varous exotic plants and animals marched the several miles to the Portuguese Palace. There was no doubt that a "New World" had been reached! Yet CC himself died after another three voyages still believing he had discovered the Philippines or Japan ('Cipangu') and not another half of the globe. (f) 12 Oct 1992 was the 500th anniversary of the European scientific discovery of America. The Vikings and some French fishermen had also found it, but they didn't publish: Alas, of course, the original "Indian" and later Eskimo finders didn't publish either. Interested readers should read the story of Columbus's Fourth Voyage (high drama!). Between 12 Oct 1992 and sometime in 2020 there will be quincentennials of various discoveries made here and there in the New World. The year 2020 will mark the quincentennial of Magellan's reaching the East Indies after having sailed the Atlantic, encountering the New World, and then sailing the Pacific, thus showing that the New World was widely separated from both sides of the Old World. QUIZ QUESTION:What was the name of Magellan's Philippino cabin boy, who was actually the first person to circle the globe?MATERIALS AND METHODS
(The HEART of the paper.)RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
(Often Nobel Prizes are won or lost on the basis of what is said in the 'discussion'. The "great minds" make wonderful leaps to significant implications that turn out to be true.)REFERENCES
These are the shoulders of the 'giants' upon which you stand to reach higher and discover new things.
HOME PAGEBLANK
PROJECTS PAGEBLANKTEACHERS' PAGEBLANKRubric: GRADING OF REPORTS