The technical communication literature contains many articles and books providing advice on how scientists and engineers can improve their skills at communicating research results. The journal articles and book chapters the authors felt offered sound advice on fifteen topics relevant to writing original research results for publication are briefly discussed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Many technical style guides and handbooks recommend the use of a 'topical structure' for reporting original results from experimental research. This structure typically follows the sequence: heading, abstract, introduction, experimental details, results, discussion of results, conclusions, acknowledgements, and references. Slight variations in this basic structure are also employed in reporting the development of a novel device, material, method, or theory. An overview on how each element of the topical structure evolved to its present state is presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>