The Methods section of a scientific paper allows for the reproduction and verification of any given experiment. In order to do so, a carefully thought out narrative must be developed with clear explanation of materials and subjects, as well as experimental design including variables and controls and procedure. In this study we examined how to write an accurate methods section by having a peer follow a set of methods detailing the construction of a figure and subsequently comparing the two figure in order to determine the clarity and accuracy of the provided methods section. Our findings show that small details, variables and controls not accounted for in the methods section of a paper can lead to deviations in the reproducibility of a given experiment. This is important for any scientific paper and provides it with legitimacy.
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