What are the Key Components of a Manuscript for Publication?
Introduction
The introductory paragraph briefly addresses the problem you aim to solve. It also aims to show how significant your research could be to improve the conversation about existing topics. Well-drafted introductions should also give a brief background of your topic and help keep readers interested in your research.
Methodology (or Materials and Methods)
The materials and methods or methodology section usually includes information about how you conducted research. It contains details about:
a. The data environment
Scientific manuscripts usually rely on data from a population or universe to make findings. You need to include information about the data environment in this section of your manuscript. This section should contain details about:
- The population (entire dataset where you will draw a sample from for research), and a
- Sample (a fraction of the population selected for research)
Information about these elements should be concise and not more than four (4) lines or one paragraph.
b. Technique(s) used
Vital techniques employed in collecting information for your research should be in this section. In this part of your manuscript, write about instrumentation used to collect sample data from the population. Scientists usually refer to these methods as sampling techniques.
c. Tools used in the research
Next, your manuscript should feature information about tools used in collecting and analyzing data. Different methods exist and could be quite lengthy to include in detail. You can write a simple definition of each tool used to collect and analyze data in this section. It may be within 1 – 3 paragraphs based on the number of tools you used.
Results
The section contains information about findings made after the analysis. It is also a direct appraisal of how well you solved the problem your manuscript aimed to address.
The Results section of a manuscript could contain the following:
- Tables,
- Graphs,
- Analysis,
- Interpretation of tables, graphs, and analysis, etc.
Including descriptive tools like tables and graphs in this section makes your findings easier to understand. It can also help simplify complex answers and make it easy for people outside your field of expertise to read.
Discussion
The discussion section is a concise and direct evaluation of existing conversations about your topic. It also holds all evaluations about the meaning and implications of findings made.
Other Parts of a Manuscript
Title
The title section of your manuscript introduces readers to the topic you wrote on and contains other vital information. Contents of a title section of a manuscript for publication should include:
- The title of your manuscript,
- Name of author(s),
- Affiliation of author(s), and
- Email of author(s),
The affiliation section should contain information about where the author(s) conducted research in your manuscript. You can also use footnotes to include other affiliations that might be too bulky to add under the main list. Title sections must be at the start of manuscripts for publication.
Abstract
Abstracts should be short and must appear immediately after the title section. Most abstract sections of standard manuscripts should have fewer than 300 words. The editorial team may request you to add more context to your abstract based on your topic and other elements.
An abstract is usually a summary of vital results, conclusions made, and methods used in writing the manuscript. It may also include a list of keywords relevant to your given topic. A good abstract must:
- Be in a single paragraph,
- Highlight vital aspects of the manuscripts in a concise and clear manner,
- Not include any page addendums like references, footnotes, links, and so on
Conclusion
The conclusion section usually comes after results in the manuscript. It conveys information about the results and findings made. The conclusion comes before references and helps summarize all results. You can also suggest a conclusion based on findings made in this section.
References
All sources of literature and other information will receive their due mentions in this section. Reference sections in a manuscript should be shorter than the ones on theses or other long-form research.
Keywords
It is not mandatory to have keywords on all manuscripts; however, it might be an essential element on some papers. You may need to include between four to six keywords in your manuscript before submission.
Other components of a manuscript for publication include:
- Significance Statement
- Supplementary Material
- Acknowledgements
- Appendix
- Availability Statement
FAQs
What are the components of a manuscript?
The components of a manuscript are sections of a research document written to describe concepts about a given topic. Components of a manuscript may be less than ten or number up to twenty sections in larger works.
What are key features of manuscripts?
Key features of manuscripts are sections that must be included in the document for it to be complete and easy to understand. Major features of a manuscript usually include methodology and discussion sections.
What are the 6 essential parts a research manuscript is composed of?
The six most essential parts of a manuscript for publication are the introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. Other sections may feature in long-form manuscripts based on the length of a topic and materials used during research.
Final Word
Taking note of the vital components of a manuscript for publication is essential to put together valid research about a given topic. You may need professional assistance at some point to prepare your manuscript for submission. However, you need to take note of these sections during data gathering and writing to increase chances of passing editorial reviews.
Take advantage of all the information about key components of a manuscript above. Follow all the details above and write engaging, educative manuscripts from start to finish on any given topic without hassle.