A Lesson from a Nobel-Prize Winner: How to tell the story of your results

Many scientists don’t realize it, but a good scientific article is like a novel: they both tell a story [1]. A well-written research article tells us about the search for the answer to a question. When we read the article, we’re introduced to what is known and unknown, which leads us to the research question. Then we follow the action of the Methods and Results, until we reach the climax: the answer to the question. The story finishes with a Discussion of what the answer means, which usually suggests new questions for new heroes (other scientists) to pursue—and these heroes don’t reward the story-teller with gold, but with citations!

One of the great heroes of science, Nobel Prize Winner Shinya Yamanaka, and his colleague, Kazutoshi Takahashi, give a master class in scientific storytelling in an article [2] that was a key to Yamanaka’s Nobel Prize. (If you want to download the article so that you can read the whole thing, you can get it for free from Cell’s open archive.)


The entire article by Takahashi and Yamanaka is well-written, but the Results section is particularly strong. Each paragraph is like a short chapter in the journey from the question (Can we induce pluripotency in somatic cells?) to its answer (Yes, we can!). Their paragraphs tend to follow this simple, effective plan:

Paragraph structure in Takahashi and Yamanaka's Results section

1. aim of the experiment/what was done (first sentence)
2. data/results (middle sentences)
3. what the data/results indicate (last sentence)

In all their paragraphs, including those that don’t follow the above plan, the authors show mastery of English-language discourse by using the beginnings and endings of the paragraphs to give us the main ideas. These parts of the paragraph are used as power positions in good English in general [3, 4], and in high-level international scientific communication [1, 5, 6]—read a journal with an Impact Factor over 15 and you’ll see that scientists publishing at this level consistently put the main ideas in these places. (Smaller journals can also have good writing, but it’s more common in bigger journals, which is why I recommend my students look for examples in big journals.)
   
Using English-language power positions correctly is an important skill. Readers expect you to put the main idea at the beginning of your paragraph, and if necessary, a conclusion at the end. If you don’t do this, it’s hard for them to know what you’re trying to say. And then, if you make a grammar error, or use the wrong word, the situation gets worse: now you’re asking them to do the extra mental work of fixing your language when they don’t even know what you want to say! So your readers stop reading your paper because they’re busy, and you lose a chance at being published or cited.

An error in the way you use power positions can damage your writing more than several grammar or vocabulary errors [1, 6]. I see this myself when I correct articles: If the authors use power positions well, it’s easier to correct their grammar and vocabulary. However, when the authors don’t use power positions correctly, I often have to talk with them before I can figure out which word or grammar structure is correct. Of course, this isn’t such a bad thing for me—because it takes so long to correct papers in which the authors don’t write good English-language paragraphs, I have to charge them more money!
   
Learn how to use English-language power positions from the best, like Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka and his colleague Kazutoshi Takahashi. Here are some key phrases from their article that you can use in the beginnings and endings of your Results paragraphs:

Aim/What was done
To evaluate…, we developed…
(Next) to determine (which)…, we examined…
We (next) examined…
We performed…to examine (whether)…
We compared…using…
We examined…by…
We further characterized...
(These phrases can be easily adapted for journals that don’t allow the use of “we”: To evaluate…, … was developed, etc.)

What the results/data indicate
These data indicate that…
These results indicate that…
These data demonstrate that…
These results demonstrate that…
These data confirm that…
Thus,…
These results (, together with…,) exclude the possibility that…

Verb tenses
The above phrases follow these general rules for scientific writing:

• Things that were done or observed in an experiment: past tenses
• Things that are still true now (indications): present tenses

REFERENCES
1) Schimel J. Writing Science: How to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 26–94, 104–111, 189–194.
2) Takahashi K and Yamanaka S. "Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors." Cell 126.4 (2006): 663–676.
3) Strunk W, and White EB. The Elements of Style, 4th Ed. New York (NY): Allyn and Bacon, 2000. p. 16–17.
4) Williams, JM. Style: Toward clarity and grace. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago Press, 1990. p. 97–112.
5) Schultz, DM. Eloquent Science: A practical guide to becoming a better writer, speaker & atmospheric scientist. Boston (MA): American Meteorological Society, 2009. p. 65.
6) Hofmann, A. Scientific Writing and Communication: Papers, proposals, and presentations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. p. 2, 99–100.