Reading well-written research papers is not only enjoyable — it’s also (passive) learning that helps you write better papers yourself. But in most fields it’s quite rare to encounter a research article that is clear and easy to follow and truly a pleasure to read. So I am curating a list of handpicked papers from different disciplines, for when you want to read something nice as an inspiration for your own writing. This is an ongoing project: your suggestions of great papers are always welcome! Reading and writing are tightly coupled processes that support each other. Reading creates a basis for writing: it helps you passively build up your (scientific) vocabulary and “assimilate” the writing style and conventions. It’s a source that you can tap into as you write — it’s the input. Writing, then, is the output. When you write you are combining words and phrases you know from reading into a new and unique mixture. As my favorite quote by Pam Allyn says:
Reading is like breathing in; writing is like breathing out.
After reading the book Writing Without Bullshit, my writing became direct, concise and to the point. When I was reading Writing With Power, my writing was clear and persuasive even though I was using more complex sentences just like the author was doing. And ever since I am regularly reading the (evidence-based) self-help blog of Mark Manson, my writing became lighter and more conversational. (I hope you appreciate it 😉 ) So if you want to write great research articles, the only thing you need to do is to read great research articles. That’s easy, right? Well — theoretically. As you have surely noticed, truly well-written research papers are not so common. I think that’s partly because writing clearly about complex matters is inherently difficult — but partly also because the standards and expectations of scientific writing are set fairly low. That’s why I decided to create this list of well-written scientific articles. So far I have mostly included papers that I know from my own research work, papers labeled by students in my courses as being easy to read and papers suggested in the Facebook group Reviewer 2 Must Be Stopped and on the Writing Scientist Facebook page. I have combed through over 100 suggested papers, yet only around 10% made it to the final selection. Apparently, what is easy to read for a specialist doesn’t necessarily reflect overall great writing quality…
2. Paper is well structured. Namely:
Articles that fail to satisfy several of these points are not included in this list.
For each included article, aspects that are particularly well done ( ) and those that are suboptimal ( ) are highlighted.
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