Structural outline of an archival paper for the Journal of biomechanics.

Writing is a demanding, personal task. Any piece of writing, scientific or not, assumes the personality and philosophy of the writer. All writing styles are more or less arbitrary, and preferences vary widely. One cannot argue that a single style or approach is best, for the variations (even with ‘‘good’’ writing) are infinite. However, all agree that clear, concise writing most effectively communicates ideas. Few scientific writers, in fact, practice clear and concise exposition. Seemingly, few know the principles of such writing, and fewer still practise them. (Most traditional scientific curricula fail to demand adequate courses and practice in expository writing.) The two most critical principles are: logical flow and brevity. Logical flow occurs by observing the following elements of paragraph construction: