Scientific writing 3.0: A reader and writer's guide - Jean-Luc Lebrun, Justin Lebrun 2021

Conclusions Q&A
Conclusions: the smile of your paper
Paper structure and purpose

Q: If the research stopped, should we still mention something in the future work part of the conclusion?

A: The worst possible thing one could do is to invent future work to have something to write about. You may, however, mention open research issues. The reader will understand that your work has stopped and that you do not intend to pursue these issues, thus leaving them “up for grabs” as they say.

Q: To me, listing the many benefits of my research to the reader feels like a list of sentences starting with ’in addition,’ ’moreover,’ ’furthermore’… Is there a better way?

A: When you mention these benefits, you may want to give the reader a time frame: the ripe hanging fruit ready for immediate picking without much else to do, the green fruit that will require extra research to come to maturity (your next paper maybe), the flowers pregnant with the promise of a fruit — (a longer term research effort by your group), and the flowers awaiting pollination from other bees (not your research group).