Importance of Storytelling in Research Writing-Scientific Storytelling Part 1

As scientists, you must have heard the following statement at least once in your publication journey: “Research papers should only present facts and findings. There’s no need to entertain readers with a story!” 

Well, here’s a modified version of that statement: “Research papers should present facts and findings while telling a story!” 

Scientists work hard to answer interesting and unanswered questions, yet they struggle to tell the story of their research in a way that keeps readers engaged. Although storytelling in research writing has often been disregarded, there’s a reason it works as the best form of delivering information. It gets your audience thinking and improves their chances of retaining information, compelling them to act on what they have learned. 

In this three-part series, we will cover the importance of storytelling in research writing and learn effective techniques that can be applied to writing research papers.  

The Science of Storytelling 

Benefits of Storytelling in Research 

The Science of Storytelling

The reason why stories keep the audience hooked is the way in which they are narrated¹. There’s an interesting beginning, followed by some solid action as the characters develop, an exciting climax as the story takes a pivotal turn, and a resolution is gradually reached as the story moves toward conclusion.  

Storytelling is also considered effective for learning². But it is crucial to understand what makes it effective. The three core aspects of storytelling can be listed as follows: 

• Delivering information 
• Imparting experiences 
• Inspiring action 

But how do these aspects apply to research papers?  

Delivering information

Naturally, the objective of any study is to educate the scientific community regarding the latest discoveries or novel findings. All research papers cover this aspect easily.  

But research papers are no longer restricted to just a scientific audience. For instance, true fitness enthusiasts or fitness influencers will look for authentic scientific studies that report peer-reviewed, validated findings to back up their claims regarding a nutritious diet. Policymakers wanting to implement social changes will rely on analyses reported in research papers to better understand how a modified framework can benefit society. 

This means that the information you convey through your research papers must appeal to a vast audience while carrying scientific merit. 

Imparting experiences

This is where most authors falter. While most papers follow the IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion) structure, it can be challenging to incorporate the storytelling aspect in each of them.  

Here’s an example of how you can implement this:  

Say you wish to study the impact of climate change on polar bears. You can:  

i) provide statistical data on changes in climate patterns (quantitative approach), 

ii) choose to interview affected communities in the arctic regions (qualitative approach), 

iii) follow a mixed approach by combining the two. 

In any of the above scenarios, imagine the impact of focusing on the journey of a single polar bear rather than providing extensive statistical data on the shrinking habitat and population. You can make your readers empathize with the painful experiences of the polar bear by describing how the melting ice is destroying its home, affecting its food habits, and influencing its interaction with other bears, while presenting factual findings! 

The objective is to make the readers experience what you experienced during the course of your research. When your findings verified your research hypothesis, you were ecstatic! But how can the reader feel the same way if the research paper does not interestingly convey the experiment performed? So, your research writing should be focused on imparting experiences. 

Inspiring action

All scientists want their work to be recognized and cited. And this can happen only when your study paves the way for future investigations and motivate other scientists to explore possibilities. 

Fiction writing inspires easily by giving the “hero” of the story a happy ending. But in scientific writing, inspiration is drawn differently! Acknowledge the limitations of your study and highlight the future plans. Do not hesitate to identify the study limitations; it is not a sign of weakness of your work but an opportunity for you to build curiosity among fellow scientists to pursue further research. 

This is also helpful in setting a clear scope for your study, so that peer reviewers evaluating your research are aware of what the study does not address. Moreover, listing the study limitations gives you a chance to build on your analysis in future studies.  

Benefits of Storytelling in Research

Now that you are familiar with the aspects of storytelling, let’s talk about how it benefits your research paper writing. Why is storytelling essential for research papers?

1. Determine how your work is interpreted

One of the biggest challenges in presenting your research is making sure that your findings are interpreted the right way. When reviewers and readers fail to understand your intentions, they may misinterpret your ideas, leading to confusion. 

Simply put, if you don’t tell your research story, the audience will fill in the blanks with their stories! Implementing a narrative writing style can ensure that your work is interpreted in the way that you want it to be interpreted. This will help readers reach the same conclusions that you did through your analysis. 

2. Opportunities to co-author papers

Storytelling is a rare skill among scientists! It involves more than just authoring a paper—it helps you learn and practice unique ways of preparing datasets and analyzing data, making you appealing to work with. 

Developing the technique of storytelling over the years and establishing yourself as a good author among your peers can lead to more opportunities. Other scientists may look forward to sharing their ideas and collaborating with you. This skill should evolve with practice over time. Therefore, consciously make an attempt to integrate a narrative writing style into all your academic works—be it a short communication, an original research article, a dissertation paper, or a case study. 

3. Higher academic success

Journal editors and peer reviewers have reviewed numerous papers. They can easily distinguish between a research paper that narrates a story and a paper that merely presents facts and findings. This means that in addition to presenting sound scientific research, your paper should make an impact for it to stand out from the rest.
Well-narrated scientific research can help you have an upper hand over other research papers not only in terms of publication but also with respect to citations. With more and more researchers citing your work, you can gain wide recognition in the scientific community and have a greater influence on driving research in your field. 

Final Thoughts

In this first article of our three-part series, you have discovered the essentials of storytelling. In the second part, we will explore actionable techniques that can help narrate your research story rather than writing your research paper. 

References

1. The art and science of effective storytelling https://medium.com/madhukarkumar/the-art-and-science-of-effective-storytelling-in-c0207f3aac94

2. What makes storytelling so effective for learning? https://www.harvardbusiness.org/insight/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/ 

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