How to plan your astronomy research paper in ten steps

TL;DR

This paper provides a structured, ten-step guide to planning astronomy research papers, emphasizing idea crystallization, audience analysis, journal considerations, and understanding the publishing process to improve scientific writing skills.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, step-by-step framework for planning astronomy research papers, addressing a gap in formal training for scientific writing.

Findings

Provides a clear planning methodology for astronomy papers

Highlights importance of audience and journal considerations

Offers insights into the publishing process

Abstract

Scientific writing is an important skill for a career as a professional astrophysicist. Very few researchers, however, receive any formal training in how to write scientific research papers of high quality in an efficient manner. This paper (Paper I) is the first of a two-part self-help guide in scientific writing to address this skills gap. Paper I focuses on planning your academic research paper in astronomy. We discuss how to crystallise the ideas that underlie a research project, analyse how the paper can be constructed considering the audience and the chosen journal, and give an overview of the publishing process. Paper II is a detailed description of the different sections that make up a research paper in astronomy and shares the best practice in how to write in English. Whether you are a student writing your first paper or an experienced author, you may find the ideas presented here useful.