Episode 6 - How to tell a story in your paper - the Scientific Storytelling Framework

In this episode, we are talking about my very favourite subject: Storytelling – and how to do that in a scientific paper. You have probably had someone say to you at some point: “your paper should tell a convincing story”. But… what does that actually mean?

“Story” stands for so many different things: Re-telling an anecdote, the plot of films, movies, books, or making something up. What “story” means in the context of scientific papers is hardly ever defined, which leads to both an impossible to reach goal post and misunderstandings. One of those misunderstandings is that telling a story in your research paper equals packaging weak or irrelevant data in pretty wrapping paper and putting a ribbon on top – or in other words, overselling a study by hiding behind fancy words, flowery language and a narrative. But that’s not what I’m about to teach you. I’ll show you a framework that uses storytelling in a way that makes your paper easier to read by getting across to your reader why they should care about your research WITHOUT overstating its importance.

Storytelling may also seem childish to you and imply having to oversimplify your research. Shouldn’t the focus of writing a scientific paper be using precise and and accurate language instead of creating a page-turner? Well, the Scientific Storytelling Framework I’m guiding you through in this episode will help you do both: It won’t help you to dumb it down but to spell it out!

Timestamps:
(01:50) Defining storytelling in research papers
(03:08) Common misconceptions and myths surrounding storytelling in academic papers
(08:00) Problems I see in scientific papers
(10:10) The Scientific Storytelling Framework
(18:42) Applying the Scientific Storytelling Framework to your paper
(24:53) Listener question: How can I avoid self-doubt and procrastination in research and writing?

Podcast host: Anna Clemens, PhD
Video and audio editing: Jason Rivera

If you’re interested to join the Researchers’ Writing Academy and learn how to develop a structured writing process to get published in top-tier journals time-efficiently, then I highly recommend watching my free writing training at: researcherswritingpodcast.com/free as the first step.