How to write a scientific journal?
For a long time I've been searching for some reference on how to write a scientific journal but failed to find one. I specifically want to write a scientific journal to be used as my personal journal to track my scientific findings.
How do I go about writing a scientific journal? Are there standards or best practices? Can I include graphs?
Do I need to write it like a scientific paper or other formal formats?
What do I write in a scientific journal?
I'm an aspiring computer scientist and thus I have a lot of projects which are all software. So I'm confused that the software model and other stuff is relevant to be written in a scientific journal (the software is not related to a new invention in science).
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1 answer
In your question you talk about writing "a scietific journal" (to track your progress), but then you talk about publishing in industry journals. Those are not the same thing -- and when you submit to other journals you will have to edit to meet their standards (which vary).
Instead, think about the following different, overlapping types of writing:
A personal journal or blog. You can publish anything you like. You'll need to market it if you want to attract readers. It is not peer-reviewed and other scientists are unlikely to cite it.
Technical reports. If you are connected with a university or research lab, they probably publish work under their name. Material is vetted by editors appointed by the organization. The work might or might not be peer-reviewed, but it has more credibility, and more-stringent requirements, than a personal blog. Sometimes they're cited.
Journal articles and conference papers (like IEEE). Requirements vary. The credible ones are peer-reviewed. The time from submission to publication can be long, and acceptance is not guaranteed. Basically, you're trading that gate-keeping for credibility. Other scientists generally won't hesitate to cite research published in these venues.
I said these groups are overlapping. I've seen graduate students get several publications out of, basically, the same research. They might publish initial findings in technical reports, refine the work and submit to a conference, update it to account for other new research and submit to a journal, develop "version 2" and submit to a different conference, and so on.
Each publication needs to be tailored to its specific audience, so you're not going to be able to write once and then forget about it except to submit it to more places. You're definitely going to have to edit and update.
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