A research paper is often the culmination of years’ worth of data and experiments, successes and failures, doubts and triumphs, as well as a balancing act between many different opinions from different authors. Writing one can be a daunting task, especially for beginners. Even though most manuscripts are structured in the introduction, methods, results, and discussion format (IMRAD format), jargon and genre norms can confuse first-time writers. And in a world where a single journal (PLOS ONE) publishes 80 scientific papers daily, the inexperienced researcher – perhaps writing in their second or third language – may have trouble sorting out the good examples from the bad. Unfortunately, there is a sea of bad examples so immense that it may unmoor even the experienced writer, sending them adrift in the waters of nonsense. The eighth edition of How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper by Barbara Gastel and Robert A. Day is the life raft meant to save the scientific writer from these unsavoury waters and deliver them safely to the shores of clarity.