How to write the discussion section of a scientific article

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira, Rogerio Faria
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Lima, Renan Cardoso de, Mizubuti, Eduardo Seiti Gomide
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: Acta Scientiarum. Agronomy (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://www.periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciAgron/article/view/42621
• topic: writing the discussion; discussion section; conclusion; scientific writing

he Discussion is the hardest section of a scientific article to write, as cognitive skills must be used to properly contextualize the findings of a study. In this article, we guide scientific writers, particularly unexperienced ones, on how to structure a Discussion section based on an article by Docherty and Smith (1999). According to these authors, a discussion should be prepared by organizing information in the following order: (a) statement of principal findings; (b) strengths and weaknesses of the study; (c) strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies, discussing particularly any differences in results; (d) meaning of the study: possible mechanisms and implications; and (e) unanswered questions and future research. Each component of this sequence is discussed in detail with examples drawn from the literature.