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\begin{document}
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\title{Research Writing: The Most Important Thing We're Never Trained for~}



\author[1]{Josh Nicholson}%
\author[1]{Alberto Pepe}%
\affil[1]{Authorea}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{April 25, 2026}


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\section*{The importance of research
writing}

{\label{521906}}

Research writing is an important part of the research cycle. However, it
is a skill that is not widely taught in any formal way in academic
curricula. Rather, something that graduate students and postdocs
currently learn by doing. ~Arguably, this lack of formal training may
have negative consequences on research literature as research articles
are becoming harder to read \cite{Plaven-Sigray119370}.

\par\null\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.00\columnwidth]{figures/Screen-Shot-2017-04-11-at-2.20.14-PM/Screen-Shot-2017-04-11-at-2.20.14-PM}
\caption{{Graphs from~\protect\cite{Plaven-Sigray119370} made available
under~\href{https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/}{CC-BY-NC
4.0 International license}.
{\label{888113}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\par\null

\section*{Research Writing Affects Research
Reading}

{\label{271784}}

Unsurprisingly, research writing can have incredible impact on how a
research finding is subsequently disseminated and used. Indeed, at the
very superficial level it determines if an article will be discovered
and, when discovered, if it will be read and cited. Write your research
article with a short positively framed title (i.e. a click-bait title)
and your chances of having it be seen across social media go
up~\cite{Lockwood_2016}.

\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/title-lenght/title-lenght}
\caption{{Comparison between article title length and altmetic score, a proxy for
attention received across social media.
{\label{927155}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\par\null

A cursory look at two articles written on the same topic across
different decades show how much research article language has changed:
~~

\par\null

From \cite{Morata_1977}

\begin{quote}
``However, this is explicable if we assume that wingless is a member of
a new class of homeotic mutations which affect cooperative decisions
taken by {[}wing imaginal{]} discs as a whole rather than decisions
taken individually by each cell. This interpretation is supported by the
analysis of penetrance of wingless. We found that, unlike the other
homeotic mutants mentioned above, the expression of wingless is all or
none, so that, when expressed, all of the cells of the duplicated notum
are transformed. We never find cases of partial transformation in which
some cells are transformed into notum and others remain wing. Since the
probability of one disc being transformed does not affect the
probability of any of the others, the decision whether to differentiate
a normal wing or a duplicated notum is taken by each disc independently.
Thus, it seems that the wingless mutation is a defect in a decision made
by groups of cells.'' Now12: Expression of dpp in the VM responds to Wg
signalling. We show that wg and dTcf mutations eliminate BE reporter
gene expression in PS3 and slightly reduce it in PS7. A similar result
was reported for Dpp protein in an arm mutant background. Our result is
surprising because Drosophila embryos have a large amount of maternal
embryonic dTcf RNA. We were not expecting the null dTcf phenotype to be
similar to that of wg, which is expressed only zygotically. We conclude
that Wg signalling is required for activation of dpp in PS3 and assists
in the activation in PS7. We also suggest that the maternal contribution
of dTcf may not play a role in this activation.''
\end{quote}

From~\cite{Yang_2000}

\begin{quote}
``Expression of dpp in the VM responds to Wg signalling. We show that wg
and dTcf mutations eliminate BE reporter gene expression in PS3 and
slightly reduce it in PS7. A similar result was reported for Dpp protein
in an arm mutant background. Our result is surprising because Drosophila
embryos have a large amount of maternal embryonic dTcf RNA. We were not
expecting the null dTcf phenotype to be similar to that of wg, which is
expressed only zygotically. We conclude that Wg signalling is required
for activation of dpp in PS3 and assists in the activation in PS7. We
also suggest that the maternal contribution of dTcf may not play a role
in this activation.''
\end{quote}

Not only is text becoming more verbose but laden with acronyms, keywords
associated with hype and spin are increasing in the literature
\cite{Vinkers_2015} (see Figure {\ref{238985}})

\par\null\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.84\columnwidth]{figures/F2.large/F2.large}
\caption{{Graphs from \protect\cite{Vinkers_2015} made available under a~Creative Commons
Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license.
{\label{238985}}%
}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\section*{Research Writing on
Authorea}

{\label{351731}}

At Authorea, we believe that we can make research writing easier and
more powerful for researchers. We offer the most advanced editor for
researchers available allowing researchers to write in LaTeX, Markdown,
or text (Word). Additionally, we have partnered with a host of tools to
enhance research writing and dissemination, including Crossref for
citations and issuing digital object identifiers. Read more below about
how Authorea can help your write your research articles.



\section*{Further reading~}

{\label{247724}}

\href{https://www.authorea.com/users/8850/articles/164546-bringing-the-power-of-latex-and-git-to-all-researchers}{Bringing
the power of LaTeX and Git to all researchers}

\href{https://www.authorea.com/users/8850/articles/155312-introducing-the-21st-century-preprint-html-versioned-citable-data-rich}{Introducing
the 21st-century preprint: HTML versioned citable data-rich.}

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