U is a beautiful shape for your journal article

Abstract

In my experience as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences, many authors are unsure of how to use the structure of their manuscript effectively – and thus end up repeating themselves in four sections, the introduction, literature review, discussion, and conclusion. Thinking of your manuscript as having a U shape can help. The paper “rests” on the bottom of your U – the body of your paper – and reaches towards its audience on the sides. The journey in the manuscript is from general to specific and back again.

Full text

U is a beautiful shape for your journal article. Version 2.0
Introduction
Goal: Both generalists and technical
readers know why they should care
●Describe the problem at hand in a
way that readers understand its
importance.
●Set up the contribution they can
expect to learn about and why such
contribution is needed.
●Foreshadow how you will make the
contribution.
●Provide operational definitions.
Literature Review
Goal: Technical readers know enough
about the technical state-of-the-art you
will employ in the Body or Discussion
●Situate your work in relation to the
existing knowledge.
●Prepare readers to make sense of
the research design and
frameworks you present in the
Body.
●Set up any theory, analytic concern,
or prior result you refer to in the
Discussion.
Conclusion
Goal: Both generalists and technical readers
know your advance and why it matters
●Recalling the problem in the Introduction,
explain:
○How do your findings make a
contribution, and what is the advance, in
more general terms?
○To whom does this matter and what can
they do with it?
○What is the new challenge now should
future work build upon this work?
Discussion
Goal: Technical readers understand the
underlying meaning and implications of your
research
●Recalling the technical context in the
Literature Review, interpret your findings in
the Body and explain:
○What is new about your findings and
what is different or supportive of prior
work?
○What is the strength, limitation, and/or
weakness of your work?
Body
Goal: Readers should know all specifics and details about
your research design and arguments
●Describe your methods, frameworks, theories, data,
analysis, and findings.
●Produce the evidence for your claims; this is the guts of
the paper.
●Focus on your intended contribution, and minimize
detours to other “interesting” aspects of your data if
they aren’t important to your contribution.
General
Specific
Ruiz, P., Dragnić-Cindrić, D., Chillmon, C., Bakhshaei, M., Roschelle, J., Hardy, A., (2021)
The Introduction and Conclusion
are on the same level: The
Introduction sets up the
Conclusion and both present
your most general remarks.
The Literature Review and
Discussion are on the same
level: The Literature Review sets
up the Discussion and both
bridge between generalities of
the problem and specifics of
your research.
General
This work is based on Roschelle, J. (2016). U is a beautiful shape for your journal article. 10.13140/RG.2.1.3188.8405.
It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Tips for authors
This work is based on Roschelle, J. (2016). U is a beautiful shape for your journal article. 10.13140/RG.2.1.3188.8405.
It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
03
02
●Take the reader on a journey. Good papers tell a story. e.g., is there a tension your story resolves?
●Avoid repeating yourself throughout the paper. Early sections can foreshadow what comes next, but
they should not fully disclose what later sections will add to the story.
●Provide guideposts that help readers follow the evolving story, keeping the current part in context.
●Know your intended journal and audience for publication before you start writing. Keep in mind what
is valued for publishing in that journal (a good thing to ask colleagues/mentors about).
●Draft sections in an order that makes sense to you. You can start from methods or results.
●Think early about what the major contributions of this paper will be and focus on them.
03 ●Choose your words to be clear and precise; communicate the exact meaning of your research.
●Use as little jargon as possible. Jargon can be exclusionary; it will limit your audience.
●Help the reader understand how you are using terms, concepts, variables, etc. — and also help them
follow the connections you are making (e.g., from data to an interpretation)
●Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)
●American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for:
○qualitative research
○quantitative research
○mixed methods research articles
Tell a story
Learn more about
scientific writing
Build up your own U
Take the perspective
of your reader
Ruiz, P., Dragnić-Cindrić, D., Chillmon, C., Bakhshaei, M., Roschelle, J., Hardy, A., (2021)