From Bench to Outline: Planning Your Research Paper (115)

16 February 2026

Dr Kaycie Butler

The ability to write high-quality research papers is an important skill in academia, though a well-written paper is only as good as the initial planning and organization. The goal of this ½ day workshop is to equip early career researchers with the skills necessary to plan and organize a research paper from their research project. The skills gained in this workshop will help a writer "translate" from working on their project to thinking deeply about their project and outlining their research paper.

Note: This workshop works both as a standalone working day for planning your research project as well as a foundation for the paper-writing workshop. For any researcher wanting to learn how to make the full transition from your research project to a written paper, we recommend taking the planning course followed by the writing course.

Workshop content

This workshop will teach the basics of planning and outlining a research-based paper, meaning those manuscripts that include materials/methods and results. We will review in depth how to:

• Think about a research paper, including when a study is ready for publication
• Write an initial summary of a research study
• Determine the target audience
• Pick a target journal
• Outline a research paper
• Plan a paper with the target reader in mind

Learning outcomes

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

• Summarize their research project
• Determine and write to their target audience
• Choose a target journal that fits the study and results
• Outline and organize a research paper
• Receive feedback on summary and any outline progress from both trainer and peers.

This workshop is designed to flow seamlessly into the 8-hr paper-writing workshop.

ONLINE!

Date : Monday 16th February 2026

Schedule: From 1 pm to 5 pm

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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