Finding the “Pitch” in Ecological Writing

Do not start with a throwaway line, “XXX has been studied for decades; XXX is an indicator of climate change; XXX is important.” Instead, start with the real issue. • Do not be vague in your results. Either say it or leave it out of the abstract, and don’t allude to something hidden in the text (e.g., XXX will be discussed). • Do not end with a throwaway line, “these results have significant implications of our understanding of XXX; more research is needed.” Introduction • If a point isn’t directly needed to set up the research questions, cut it. • Introductions should not be long. • End with a very clear set of specific research questions. Take a long time to really think about how these are worded and what order you want to present them in. Methods • Relate everything you talk about to the research questions described above. • Do not swap the order, such that if you list questions 1, 2, 3 in the introduction, do not discuss the methods as 3, 1, 2. • When you discuss statistical methods, be sure to relate each test to a specific research objective. If the test is complicated, let the reader know what type of statistical result would indicate what type of answer to your question. 202 Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America Eco101 Results • For nearly every paper, this should be your shortest section. For a regular, ~20 page paper, the results of a tightly written paper with a strong story should be about 1 page (excluding tables/figures). • Use fewer figures and tables than you think you need. Put the extras online. The problem with figures is that simple ones are more briefly stated with text, while complex ones take a long time to understand. The latter is fine if, and only if, they are directly related to your main research questions. If tables or figures are simply supportive, then putting them in the main paper will greatly subtract from your overall pitch. • When discussing statistical results, focus on the answer to your research questions, not test statistics, P values, or AIC values. These are tools for interpretation; they are not meaningful in and of themselves. They are to be used to support your story. • Answer your research questions in the same order you presented them. Discussion • Discuss your research questions in the same order you originally presented them. • When interpreting, it is essential that you come back to the same ideas you laid out in your introduction, but now indicate how your results alter our understanding. If some ideas in your introduction don’t get referred to in the discussion, they probably didn’t belong in your introduction. • You should extrapolate from your results one step, but no more than that. For example, if you found X, you can suggest Y. But you cannot say that since X is true, Y might be too, and therefore Z happens.