Just Some Thoughts on How to Write One

When we as researchers sit in solitude, just before (or after) the final deadline for submission, and fight a hard battle in order to finish our latest, newest, and definitely, best paper to date, we do not think much about it. When we post the paper to a journal or a conference, we do not think much about it either. But I bet that most of us do when we get reviews back, or when we get nasty questions when presenting the paper at a conference. Our own colleagues are often much too polite to tell the bitter truth that the paper is flawed, unfinished, and contentious. The following pages explores the question: How do I write a good article which both documents the body of research I have conducted, and which also “sells” the points I am trying to make? These pages contain some of the basic questions it is a good idea to have had considered before shipping the first draft off. They are based on my own subjective experiences with writing articles. It is my aim to present some of the basic rules I have learned, not the “full story”. If you, when you have read these pages, try to apply the normative statements I forward in this paper, you will understand why I chose to call it “This is Not an Article — Just Some Food for Thought on How to Write One”.

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