Why does scientific writing follow a specific format?

The scientific format is used in technical writing to efficiently communicate the results of research to the reader that is expected and consistent. In other words, all scientists expect to read the results of research in the same format to readily compare the results of one study to others and to be able to properly interpret the findings. The individual sections of an article, e.g., the abstract or the results, allow the reader to focus on certain parts of a study that may be of particular interest, such as when someone wants to replicate an existing study in a new population.