§ 5.2. Requirements for a scientific article and a scientific presentation

A report is one of the types of monologic speech, a public, detailed, official communication on a particular question, based on the use of documentary data; a communication or document whose content presents information and reflects the essence of the question or research as applied to the given situation.

In order to understand how to correctly present the results of research work, it is important to understand why this is done. The main purposes of publicizing the results of research
are:

• - approbation (testing) of the results,
• - establishing priority for the scientific result obtained,
• - dissemination of information of interest to society.

These goals shape the main requirements for presenting scientific results to the general public: the information made public must be reliable and well-founded, clearly and understandably presented.
The requirements for the structure of scientific articles are established by the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) .
According to a resolution of the presidium of VAK , the editorial boards of scientific publications are required to accept for publication only those scientific
articles that contain a number of mandatory elements (these elements are shown in Fig. 5.4).
When writing a scientific article, in addition to observing the mandatory
requirements of VAK, it is also advisable to follow the specialists' recommendations below:

• - adhere to a scientific style of presentation, which requires the use of ordinary words, simple constructions, and specific sentences;
• - write clearly (since the ultimate purpose of publication is the use of the published materials by other scientists in their work);

A reader's understanding of the text of an article depends both on their ability to analyze scientific text (see § 4.2) and on the author's ability to present this text clearly.

- publish on time (both premature articles and delays in publication should be avoided: a premature article may
contain unreliable information, while a delayed article may lead to a loss of priority in authorship).

Faraday's motto: «to work, to finish, to publish» (work, finish, publish)

The outline of a scientific report is similar to the outline of a scientific article (Fig. 5.4),
however the content of the report should differ somewhat from the text of the article. The reasons for this are such features of a report as oral
speech, the time limit on the presentation, the availability of posters, and the possibility of feedback.
The following requirements are usually put forward for the presentation of a report:

• - when presenting a report, its text should not be read but told, using a plan prepared in advance;
• - the content of the report should not be memorized word for word, since in that case the speech loses its naturalness (however, it is recommended to learn the main points of the introduction and conclusion);
• - the style of presentation of the report should correspond to the specifics of oral speech;
• - the length of the report should be shorter than the length of the article (it should be taken into account that in 10 minutes a person can read material placed on 4 pages of typewritten text at double spacing);
• - when presenting a report, it is advisable to use illustrative material – posters or slides, with the text of the report giving only comments (but not repetitions) on the illustrative material.

Illustrations allow the speaker to turn listeners into viewers and to form in them an image of the problem under consideration.
The use of illustrative material makes it possible to shorten the report by 20-30%.
The characteristics of a well-prepared report are shown in Fig. 5.5. These characteristics can be used both for assessing the quality of reports one has listened to and for self-assessment. Meeting each requirement is scored 1 point, and not meeting it is scored 0 points. To obtain an integral assessment of the report, one needs to sum the points across all criteria and divide the resulting sum by the number of criteria.

The final score will fall within the range [0;1]. Obviously, the higher this score, the higher the quality of the report.

PRACTICAL COMPONENT. PREPARING POSTERS FOR A SCIENTIFIC REPORT

Objective of the assignment:

• - acquire skills in preparing illustrative materials (posters and slides) accompanying the presentation of a report, taking into account
• the regularities of human perception of visual information.

Supplementary material
Psychologists have established the following regularities in the perception
of text on posters and slides [39]:

• - long lines tire the eyes;
• - short paragraphs are perceived better than long text not broken into paragraphs; it is even better if part of the information is presented in the form of a drawing or a graph (Fig. 5.6);

• - text set using both uppercase and lowercase letters is perceived better than text rendered in letters of the same size;
• - framed text attracts attention better, and the shape of the frame also plays an important role (Fig. 5.7);
• - text aligned to the left margin but not aligned to the right is easier to read;
• - an excess of highlighted text fragments (CAPITAL LETTERS, underlining, bold, italics, letter-spaced font, etc.) can look intrusive, and the information seems «cluttered»;
• - light and pale elements of a visualized message look better in the upper part of a poster, while dark ones look better in the lower part;
• - the use of cool colors (blue, light blue, blue-green) has a calming effect on viewers;
• - the use of warm colors (red, orange, yellow) helps attract attention and activate viewers' thinking;
• - green reduces fatigue and promotes a cheerful mood

Assignment

Prepare the text of the report and layouts of the posters illustrating the relevance, purpose, object, subject, and hypotheses of your research work. When preparing the posters, the regularities of human perception of visual information must be taken into account.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

8. What forms exist for presenting the results of scientific research?
9. What types of documents (monograph, scientific article, etc.) contain descriptions of research results obtained not only by the authors of the document, but also by other researchers?
10. What types of documents have only one author and contain descriptions of research results obtained personally by them?
11. Why, in your opinion, did such a type of document as deposited manuscripts arise?
12. What requirements for the structure of scientific articles have been established by the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK)?
13. Why do the requirements for a scientific report differ somewhat from the requirements for a scientific article?
14. How should the illustrative material (posters and slides) accompanying a speaker's presentation be formatted?

CONCLUSIONS

Having studied Chapter 5, you have learned that:

• - The main purposes of publicizing the results of scientific research are: 1) approbation (testing) of scientific results; 2) establishing priority in science; 3) dissemination of information of interest to society.
• - The structure of a published scientific article must comply with
• the requirements of the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine. The article must
• contain the following mandatory elements:

1) a statement of the problem;

2) an analysis of research devoted to the problem under consideration;

3) a formulation of the goals of the article;

4) a description of the course and results of the research;

5) conclusions.

• -The structure of a scientific report is similar to the structure of a scientific article, but its presentation has its own particularities. The style and content of a report are influenced by the following factors: oral speech, the time
• limit on the presentation, the availability of posters, and the possibility of direct communication with the audience.
• -An important role in the presentation of a scientific report is played by illustrative material – posters and slides. When preparing posters and slides, the regularities of human perception of visual information should be taken into account

References

• Resolution of VAK of Ukraine dated 15.01.2003, No. 7-05/1 «On Raising the Requirements for Specialized Publications Included in the VAK List of Ukraine»

See also

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