Scientific writing

The steps of a research process

 Understand the Steps of Research Process

The Steps of Research

Process
 Understand the Steps of Research Process

1. Identify the topic and preliminary research question

2. Search and review the related literature

3. Determine the research design, including the specific

study question, hypothesis, study population, sample
size, sampling method, and data collection and analysis
techniques
 Understand the Steps of Research Process

4. Seek institutional review board (IRB)

approval if human subjects are
involved

5. Conduct the data collection

6. Conduct the data analysis

 Understand the Steps of Research Process

7. Write the preliminary report

8. Present the findings to advisors, co-workers and close
colleagues

9. Revise the preliminary report based on feedback from

advisors/ co-workers
10. Search the literature again, looking for reports that may have
been published since you first searched the literature
Scientific manuscript writing
The argument matrix to articulate the ideas of a

manuscript
 The IMRAD structure
• Introduction
• Why did you start?
• Methods
• What did you do?
• Results
• What did you find?
• Discussion
• What does it all mean?

Why?
• Make it easier for the reader to find what s/he
wants rapidly
 Linear construction to follow one idea
throughout the manuscript
• Introduction
• What was known before, the local context
• Methods
• The methods used to generate the finding
• Results
• The facts and figures
• Discussion
• Integration of all elements making the case
• Conclusion
• The point made
• Recommendation
• What the point calls in terms of action
 Argument matrix template to articulate the
ideas of a manuscript
Ideas Intro Methods Results Discussion

Points Limitations Conclusions Recommendation

s
Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3
Scientific manuscript writing
Writing the Title Page and Abstract
 Anatomy of a Research Paper

• The Title Page • The Methods Section

The Title Subjects
Authors Instruments/Questionnaire
Key Words Procedures
Corresponding Author Data Analysis

• The Abstract • The Results Section

• The Discussion Section
• The Introduction Section
• The Conclusions Section
• Acknowledgements
 The Title Page
The Title

A good title is important for several

reasons.

The title alerts the reader to the topic of

your paper. A well written or phrased title
creates curiosity and draws readers to
investigate the substance of your paper.

The main function of the title is to

describe your research.
 The Title Page

The Title . . . Guidelines !!!!!

Avoid long titles.
 The title should avoid overstating what resides within and of course should avoid
marketing themes.
 Read other titles on a similar topic. Make note of the wording, length, and
syntax.
 Be specific! The title should let the reader know if your paper is a human,
animal, or bench study.
 Respect the reader: briefly, but clearly, explain the paper’s content in the title.
 Authors

Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.

1) Substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis
and interpretation of data;
2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3) Final approval of the version to be published.

Individuals responsible
for data collection are not
justifiable authors.
 Authors

 Each author must have participated sufficiently in the research represented by the
report to take public responsibility for the content.
 An author must be able to defend the content of the report, including the data and
other evidence and the conclusions based on them.
 Generally speaking, the individual responsible for the majority of the work is the first
author.
Generally speaking, the
individual responsible for
the majority of the work is Authors are then listed in order of
the first author. contribution
 Corresponding Author

 The title page should give the full name and For the corresponding author, list:

affiliation of each author and specify which • His or her full name (including middle initial)

is the corresponding author; • Professional or postgraduate degree (eg,

“MD”), Title
 The corresponding author is the primary
• Department, Hospital, university (if
contact for the journal’s editorial office and
applicable)
the contact person for individuals who have
• Mailing address, telephone number, and e-
questions about the research. mail address.
 Keywords

• Keywords make your paper searchable and The keywords cannot be picked simply at
ensure that you get more citations. the author’s discretion; instead, they must
Therefore, it is important to include the most be terms that appear in the National
relevant keywords that will help other Library of Medicine’s list of Medical Subject
authors find your paper. Headings
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.
html).
 Abstract

An abstract is: • Helps reader decide whether to read

the article (ie, is this important to me?)
• An overview of facts, results, conclusions,
and recommendations
• Summarizes the manuscript • Provides reminders for readers after
they’ve read the article
• Usually placed near the front of a
manuscript
• Directs readers’ attention to the
highlights of the article
An abstract is not:
• The introduction
• The conclusion
• The report In general, the abstract reflects on the
professionalism and integrity of the work.
 Purposes of the Abstract

• Provides an overview of the article (readers may read nothing else)

• Provides context for those who do read the article
• Used by journals to assign reviewers
• Used by abstracting and information services to index and retrieve articles
• Used by translation services for foreign readers
 Content of an Abstract

• Introduction Why?
• Materials and Methods How?
• Results What?
• Discussion So What?
 Abstract: Writing Guidelines
Instructions to follow when writing an abstract:

• Make the abstract the best

• Never use “I” statements in the abstract Report as if
written by someone else part of the article

• Include title • Make sure it stands alone

• Don’t write over the required word limit (when • Double check every piece of
specified, i.e. 250 words) data

• Correct usage of grammar (check for grammatical errors)

• Write so readers can understand