Blank Page to Manuscript Draft: Scientific Manuscript Writing Workshop (116)

23 and 24 October 2025

Dr Kaycie Butler

The ability to write effective research papers is key to a successful academic career, though it is often expected that academics will pick up the necessary skills in real time without any formal teaching – causing writing to be stressful and inefficient. The goal of this workshop is to equip researchers with the skills necessary to compose compelling research papers in a step-by-step fashion from scratch. A good grasp of these basics of paper composition will save academics time and energy when writing.Workshop content

This workshop will teach the basics of writing a research-based paper, meaning those manuscripts that include materials/methods and results. The workshop will cover how to write the introduction, results, discussion, conclusion, and abstract from a blank page.

Note that this workshop focuses on composing the text of a research paper and is designed to flow seamlessly from the Paper-Planning ½ day workshop. For assistance in how to plan and organize your paper before writing, (i.e., "translating" from a research project to an outline), please consider also attending the planning day.

We will review in depth:

• An extensive breakdown of each paper section;
• Step-by-step formulas for composing each section;
• Techniques for writing a paper with the reader in mind.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

• Compose first drafts of individual sections of a research paper.
• Recognize patterns in the paper sections to provide self-feedback for editing.
• Receive feedback on individual manuscript sections from both trainer and peers, if desired (with pre-drafted sections).

Intended audience:

This workshop will be useful for anyone who wants to improve their ability to plan and draft a scientific research paper, regardless of their completed years in academia. It is designed for writing research papers for hard sciences formatted in the IMRAD style with materials and methods and results sections and is not recommended for those seeking to write papers of alternative formats.

ONLINE!

Date : Thursday, 23rd and Friday, 24th October 2025

Schedule: From 9 am to 1 pm on both days

Location: Online

Trainer:

Dr. Kaycie Butler is a scientific writing consultant and the founder of Butler Scientific Communications (www.butlerscicomm.com) – helping scientists across Europe and the US communicate their research through specialized editing services, workshops, and online courses. In helping with hundreds of published manuscripts and grant proposals, she has developed simple, step-by-step tips and techniques that she teaches to busy researchers to enhance their writing, reduce their stress, and increase their impact. She has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, USA and did her postdoc in chemical biology at EPFL.

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