Longhua Liao

Writing a Research Paper

For students and researchers in the natural sciences who are new to scientific writing or wish to improve the quality of their written output

Taught by 17 Nature Portfolio journal Editors

4.5 hours of learning

15-minute lessons

6-module course with certificate

About this course

This is the first edition of the ‘Writing a Research Paper’ course. We recommend you take the updated, second edition of the course even if you have already started this older version.

'Writing a Research Paper' focuses on how to write an effective, clear and concise article that will appeal to a broad audience as well as attracting the attention of your peers.

What you'll learn

  • What editors look for in a great paper
  • How to write clearly, develop a great title and abstract, and structure your paper
  • How to manage and present your data

The course

Free Sample
What makes a great paper?

8 lessons 50m

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Free Sample
Elements of writing style

6 lessons 25m

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Free Sample
Titles and abstracts

11 lessons 40m

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Free Sample
From introduction to conclusion

12 lessons 40m

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Free Sample
Data management

11 lessons 50m

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Free Sample
Data presentation

11 lessons 55m

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Free Sample
Writing a Research Paper: Free Sample - section

No subscription yet? Try this free sample to preview lessons from the course

7 lessons 30m

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Delivered by Nature Portfolio journal Editors

This course is delivered by 19 Nature Portfolio journal Editors, giving researchers an unparalleled insight into the scientific writing process. Our panel of experts include:

Gemma Alderton

Former Senior Editor, Nature Reviews Cancer

Tanguy Chouard

Senior Editor Biology, Nature

Elisa De Ranieri

Editor in Chief, Nature Communications

Nicky Dean

Chief Editor, Nature Energy

Zoltan Fehervari

Senior Editor, Nature Immunology

Iulia Georgescu

Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Physics

Peter Gorsuch

Chief Editor, Nature Research Editing Service

Patrick Goymer

Chief Editor, Nature Ecology & Evolution

Andrew Hufton

Chief Editor, Scientific Data

Federico Levi

Senior Editor, Nature Physics

Leonie Mueck

Former Senior Editor Physical Sciences, Nature

Sadaf Shadan

Senior Editor Biology, Nature

Anke Sparmann

Senior Editor, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology

Chris Surridge

Chief Editor, Nature Plants

Liesbeth Venema

Chief Editor, Nature Machine Intelligence

Bart Verberck

Regional Executive Editor, Springer Nature

Alexia-Ileana Zaromytidou

Chief Editor, Nature Cell Biology

Feedback from course users

The shortness of the videos allows me to fit them in between work and research. This format also meant that I could take in the information bit by bit..

Postdoctoral student, United States

Discover related courses

Publishing a Research Paper

Learn about the publication process and the things you need to consider

Writing and Publishing a Review Paper

Prepare yourself to write and publish a great review paper

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Longhua Liao