How to Systematically Organize References for Writing a Scientific Paper?

Sharpen your knife for three years to strike once.

For early-stage researchers or students who are new to scientific research and the process of writing a scientific paper—especially in fields like economics or social sciences (like the author)—organizing the references before writing is critically important. It directly influences the speed at which the paper is put together and the logical coherence of the final manuscript.

Have you ever wondered how a single sentence in a paper can include multiple narrative citations? This means the authors have effectively grouped together articles that either support or contradict a particular statement (as shown in the illustrative image).

Source: Nguyen, N. P. T., & Dang, H. D. (2022). Organic food purchase decisions from a context-based behavioral reasoning approach. Appetite, 173, 105975.

If every time you write, you find yourself opening each article or reference to re-read and extract relevant information—feeling that it's overly time-consuming—then this article is for you!

So, what do you need to effectively systematize your references, and what should you keep in mind?

This article will guide you step by step (hands-on) through the process.

Step 1: Drafting a Preliminary Outline for the Paper

You need to refer to existing scientific papers to find an outline structure that fits best for your own paper. Don’t worry if adjustments are needed along the way—that’s a normal part of the writing process.

A typical structure for a social science paper might look like this:

1. Introduction

2. Materials and Methods / Data and Method

3. Results

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion and Implications

6. Limitations

7. References

   
   

This structure may vary depending on the writing style and purpose of the paper. Some papers integrate the literature review into the Introduction. Others may combine Results and Discussion, or separate Conclusions and Implications into distinct sections.

In this step, we aim to determine a rough outline by referencing related papers during your literature review. Don’t worry if adjustments are made along the way.

You should create a table in a Word file with four columns (as suggested by the author) in preparation for Step 2. The columns include:

1. Topic: General theme or category relevant to the content.

2. Content: Related findings or statements from the literature.

3. Note: Optional—personal comments or critical thoughts.

4. References: Citation of the source material.

Table 1. Example of the preliminary structure of the Introduction

Note: The Topic column is illustrative and should be refined based on your writing objectives and structure.

Step 2: Detailing the Outline for the Results & Discussion Sections

To build a detailed outline, you need a clear understanding of the content required. Where does this come from? From your literature review and the narrative you want to tell in your paper.

For example, if you’re building an economic model A → B → C, your paper will need at least two parts:

1. A discussion on the relationship A → B

2. A discussion on the relationship B → C

However, things are rarely that simple. The relationship A → B could be positive, negative, or statistically insignificant. Moreover, A → B might be positive in developed countries but negative or insignificant in developing countries for specific reasons. These nuances provide rich material to break your outline into more detailed segments—as long as it serves your writing logic.

Repeat this process until your Results & Discussion sections are well-structured.

Table 2. Example of the detailed structure of Results & Discussion

Step 3: Download and Extract All Relevant Articles for Detailed Review

In this step, read each article in depth and extract the necessary content into the Content column under the relevant Topic, as illustrated in Diagram 2.

Note: While reading, you may identify new ideas and restructure your outline. That’s completely normal.

Then, rearrange the extracted content under similar topics to facilitate argument development in the next step.

Important: This step requires you to read all articles and selectively extract ideas that align with sections like Introduction, Method, Results & Discussion, etc.

Take your time to thoroughly read each article and distill its essence into this detailed review. You won’t need to read it again later.

Step 4: Check for Secondary Citations

After completing Step 3, your file should be rich with content, ready to be assembled into a paper. But don’t skip this: cross-check secondary citations.

A secondary citation occurs when one scholar cites an issue (e.g., point A) based on another article, not from the original source. This is common in academia and can sometimes perpetuate serious errors—when article B cites A as making a claim, but the original article A never said it.

Double-check any sources you suspect might involve secondary citations, and adjust your detailed review accordingly.

At this point, you have all the materials ready to assemble and refine your manuscript.

The key takeaway: you won’t have to re-read all the articles—just a few select ones for verification.