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by
Mike
BRILEY
NeuroBiz
Consulting & Communications,
Castres, France
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General
Comments
Usually the only tangible remains of a
scientific or clinical experiment is a
publication in a scientific journal. Logically,
therefore, as much effort and consideration
should be given to writing the paper as was
given to the planning and execution of the
study.
The following guidelines are designed to help
the inexperienced author to get his work
published and appreciated by his peers. They are
very general and should be seen as general
advice and not unbreakable rules.
Format
and style
All journals have their own style and they all
publish "Instructions to Authors" which should
be followed closely. These are nearly all
available on the Internet. In addition reading
papers on similar subjects in the chosen journal
will give you a feel for the journal style in
terms of degree of detail, preferred language
style, use of British or American spelling and
so on.
The following format is a typical one but
significant differences exist between journals.
Most research papers consist of the following
elements: Title, Abstract, Introduction,
Methods, Results, Discussion, References. Some
sections are sometimes combined or absent in the
case of shorter publications (rapid
publications, case reports etc).
With the exception of the discussion and
conclusions, scientific papers are written in
the past tense, which is logical since the
experiments have already been carried out. The
discussion, conclusion and other generalisations
are expressed in the present tense.
"Imipramine
caused hair loss in 90% of the patients in this
study. Caution is therefore required when using
antidepressants in this type of
patient".
For reasons of modesty the passive tense is
usually preferred to the first person.
"The
results were analysed".
The use of "we" is still found in some journals.
"We
used the t-test to analyse the
results."
In single author papers, however, the use of "I"
("I
analysed the results"
or worse still "I
analysed my results")
is not recommended. Similarly for reasons of
modesty, the conditional tense is frequently
used in the discussion and conclusions. The use
of softening words such as "possible",
"suggest", "infer" etc are preferred to absolute
terms like "proves" ("These
results would
suggest…"
rather than "Our
(or my) results
prove…").
Inevitably there will be times when a manuscript
will be rejected from a journal. You may decide
to submit it to another journal after
modifications based on the referees' comments.
In this case be very careful to completely
revise and adapt it to the style of the new
journal. Not only will the reference style
probably have to be changed but very likely a
number of other points as well. Failure to do so
indicates to the Editor and referee of the new
journal that this publication was prepared for a
different journal and therefore probably
rejected! It is not the "first impression" that
you would like your work to make.
Title
The title should be informative and contain the
essential keywords that will help other
scientists to find your publication through
Medline and other abstracting systems.
There are several style of titles:
1. The
effect of imipramine on hair loss in senile
schizophrenics.
2.
Imipramine
increases hair loss in senile
schizophrenics.
3.
Imipramine
and hair loss in senile schizophrenics.
Implications for the long-term management of
balding schizophrenics.
4.
Does imipramine cause hair loss in senile
schizophrenics?
The
question style is often used for a paper with
negative results ie when the answer is "No!"
Some journals specifically require a certain
style. Others have a style that is
"traditionally used" in their journal. As a
humble beginner it is better to conform to a
traditional style.
Abstract
The abstract is a condensation of the entire
work described in the paper. It should be a
self-contained unit capable of being understood
without reference to the rest of the text since
many people will read only this. In addition it
should contain all the keywords that will help
someone to find the publication through
abstracting services.
The length is variable depending on the journal.
Wherever possible it should contain the
following elements:
- the
purpose of the study, including, if necessary, a
very brief (one sentence state of the art)
"Fibromyalgia
is a disorder of unknown
cause."
- a brief description of what was done (a
summary of the Methods)
- a brief statement of what was found (summary
of the results) giving key numbers (including
statistics if the journal style allows)
- a short conclusion possibly including a very
brief implication.
Abbreviations should be avoided.
Introduction
The introduction presents the question being
asked and places it in the context of what is
already known about the topic. It also contains
background information that explains why the
topic is of interest and refers to other
publications. It should not be an exhaustive
review of the subject.
In general, I prefer to keep the introduction
short and to put most background material into
the discussion. The introduction typically
finishes with a simple statement of the purpose
of the study.
"This
study investigates the effect of chronic
imipramine on hair density in senile
schizophrenics."
Methods
Theoretically, the methods should be
described in sufficient detail to enable an
exact repetition of the study. The limited space
available in a typical scientific paper often
make this impossible but it should, however,
remain an objective. All experimental procedures
should be described or a literature reference
given. Any variation from the published
technique should be explained. Where multiple
techniques have been used, most journals
recommend the use of subheadings. No results
should be given not even the lack of effect of
controls. It can, however, be useful to explain
the reason for certain parts of the
procedure.
"Patients
were allowed to play a computer game on the
computer to reduce their apprehension and to
familiarise them with the
keyboard."
Is preferable to "The
patients played a computer game before each
experiment."
The suppliers of unusual apparatus or
non-standard chemicals should be provided to
enable replication of the study. The statistical
test used should be explained in the methods
section.
Results
The function of this section is to summarize
the data which are usually given in detail in
tables or figures. It should not contain any
comment or interpretation. The results of
statistical tests applied to the data should be
reported here.
Ideally tables
and figures
should be fully comprehensible without reference
to the text (except legends) and the text fully
comprehensible without reference to the text or
figures. In the confines of space of a
scientific publication this is often difficult
but should remain an ideal.
"After
6 months hair-loss was significantly (p<
0.05) greater in the imipramine-treated group
(Fig. 1)"
is preferred to "The
effect of imipramine on hair-loss is shown in
Figure 1".
Note the presentation of the results of
statistical tests in parentheses following a
description of the result .
All results should be presented, including those
that do not support the hypothesis. Unsurprising
results such as absence of change in the control
group can, however, simply be stated without
showing the detailed data in a table or figure.
"Patients
in the non-senile group did not show signs of
senility (data not
shown)".
Discussion
This section analyzes the data and relates
them to other studies. This analysis should
refer to your original question or hypothesis
and to point out any wider significance.
Possible explanations should be proposed for
unexpected results and observations. Trends that
are not statistically significant can be briefly
discussed if they are suggestive or interesting,
but cannot be made the basis for any
conclusions.
It is sometimes difficult to avoid redundancy
between the Results and the Discussion sections.
Do not repeat detailed descriptions of the data
and results in the Discussion.
The Discussion should end with a summary
sentence or two of the principal points you want
the reader to remember. Many readers in a hurry
will read only the title and the final paragraph
of the discussion.
Tables
and Figures
Tables and figures should be used to present
data when they can do it more efficiently than
text. They must be accompanied by explanatory
legends or captions that allow them to be
understood by someone who has not read the text.
Usually figures convey meaning more readily than
tables. They are always to be used where the
relationship between values is important.
Figures and Tables should be number
independently.
Tables
Do not repeat the same data in a table
and a figure.
It is easier to compare numbers by reading down
a column rather than across a row. Therefore,
list sets of data you want your reader to
compare in vertical form.
Figures
These comprise graphs, histograms, and
illustrations, both drawings and photographs. A
descriptive legend or caption should explain
what the figure shows without drawing
conclusion.
Making figures that convey the information you
want is quite a sophisticated subject and will
be the subject of a future article in the
Author's Corner.
Remember if you want to reproduce a figure that
has already been published you need to ask the
permission of the copyright holder, usually the
publishers of the journal where it appeared.
This is true even if you were the author
yourself.
References
References should be cited throughout the
manuscript at the relevant place in the text.
The specific system of citation (authors and
date Briley
et al., 2002
, by number32
or other system) depends on the journal and
should be carefully followed. All references
cited should be listed at the end of the
publication in a format stipulated by the
journal. Follow the journal style in detail.
They will only send it back to be done again if
you do not.
In a busy scientific area it is often difficult
to decide who to cite. In general it is not
worth citing old papers (more than 10 years old)
if more recent work exists unless you are making
a point about some original, historic finding.
Reading papers published in the intended journal
usually gives an idea of how extensive citation
is in that journal.
Updated
June 2003