How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Discussion and verbiage
How to write the discussion
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Free and fair discussion will ever be found the firmest friend to truth.

—George Campbell

Discussion and verbiage

The discussion is harder to define than the other sections. Thus, it is usually the hardest section to write. And, whether you know it or not, many papers are rejected by journal editors because of a faulty discussion, even though the data of the paper might be both valid and interesting. Even more likely, the true meaning of the data may be obscured by the interpretation presented in the discussion, again resulting in rejection.

Many, if not most, discussion sections are too long and verbose. As Doug Savile said, “Occasionally, I recognize what I call the squid technique: the author is doubtful about his facts or his reasoning and retreats behind a protective cloud of ink” (Tableau, September 1972). Another reason some discussions are long and hard to follow is that many authors think they must avoid using the first person. If you mean “I found that …” or “We conclude that, …,” say so. Try to avoid wordier, and sometimes more ambiguous, constructions such as “It was found in the present investigation that …” and “It is concluded that …”

Some discussion sections remind one of the diplomat, described by Allen Drury in Advise and Consent (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959, p. 47), who characteristically gave “answers which go winding and winding off through the interstices of the English language until they finally go shimmering away altogether and there is nothing left but utter confusion and a polite smile.”