Scientific Writing:Composing a Fulltext Article

Alireza Gholami

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Why learn scientific writing?

• You will have to write a master thesis

• You may want to write a scientific article

• You will be judged by what you write and what you present– Content– Structure– Style

Writing is learned by writing

• Practice, practice, practice

• Choose good role models

• Study good examples

• But there are also techniques and rules to learn

We can split the writing process into stages

Writing the First DraftWriting the First DraftGetting in the MoodGetting in the Mood

Revising, Revising, RevisingRevising, Revising, Revising

FinishingFinishing

The Strategy of Style

Beginning

Ending

Middle

If a man can group his ideas, then he is a writer.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Beginning

Ending

Middle

The organization of a scientific document can be viewed as a beginning, middle, and ending

TitleSummaryIntroduction

Middle Sections

ConclusionsBack Matter

Types of articles

• Original Articles

• Review Articles

• Case Reports

• Concise Reports

• Short (Brief) communications

• Letter to editor

• Correspondence

• Hypothesis

Structures of an Original Article

• Title page (Title, Authors, Corresponding author information)

• Abstract• Introduction• Materials (Patients) and Methods• Results• Discussion and conclusion• Acknowledgment • References • Tables• Figures• Cover Letter

Set organization named IMRD

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Introduction

Title and Title page

• A strong title orients readers to your area of work.

• A strong title also separates your work from everyone else's work.

A good title

Intravenous versus Peritonsillar Infiltration of Ketamine for Postoperative Pain after

Adenotonsillectomy: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial

Title and Title page

• Title• Authors’ name• Authors’ information, affiliation, highest

academic degrees• Running title• Keywords• Word count• Corresponding author’s information including

address, postal code, Email, phone number and fax number.

Abstract

• Objectives• To investigate….• To compare….• To determine…• To measure…

• Methods

• Results

• Conclusion

Beginnings prepare readers for understanding the work

Summarytells readers whathappens in document

Introduction prepares readersfor the middle

Titleorients readers todocument

Introduction

Topic?

Importance?

Introduction

Arrangement?

Background?

Introduction

The introduction defines the scopeand limitations of the work

Proposed Study on Effects of Alcohol

on Life Expectancy

Three classes of drinkers:non-drinkers moderate drinkersheavy drinkers

Ten-year study

Other effects,such as exercise,not considered

Medical historiesnot considered

Women may notexperience thesame effects

Men surveyed

scope

limitations

A strong introduction tells readerswhy the research is important

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-COA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are the rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis, and inhibition of this enzyme decreases cholesterol synthesis and a compensatory increase in the expression of LDL receptors in the liver. Statins reduce plasma triglycerides in dose-dependent fashion and also have a modest HDL-raising effect which is not dose-dependent. Furthermore, statins pose other cardio-protective properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.Some studies have reported that simvastatin decreases serum androgen levels in women with PCOS by inhibiting proliferation and steroidogenesis of ovarian theca-interstitial cells. According to these previous findings, we hypothesized that combination therapy with simvastatin and metformin will result in lower androgen levels and cardiovascular risk factors in women with PCOS.

importance

Methods and Materials

• Study population– Define the population– Inclusion and exclusion criteria– Time and place– Sample size calculation– Definition of the condition to be studied– Ethical issues including inform consents from and

Institutional review board (IRB) and ethical committee approvals.

E.g. The review board of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences approved the study and all recruited patients filled the informed consent form.

Methods and Materials

• Intervention or study protocol• Describe the study protocol in details• Describe the intervention • Comment on blinding (RCT)• Comment on randomization (RCT)• Comment on drug dosages (RCT) • Comment on root of administration of drugs (RCT)• Comment on follow-up duration (cohort)• Comment on matching (case-control and cohort)• Comment on gold standard method (test accuracy)

Methods and Materials

• Measurements and assays – Primary outcomes– Secondary outcomes– Define your scales– Define your variables– Explain the methods of measurements in

details– Describe the scales and instruments used for

measurment

Methods and Materials • Statistical analysis

• Report the software used for data analysis• Report the test used for each variable analysis• Report the way you are going to report the data• Describe your p-values

Thirty-seven patients were required in each group for a study to have 90% power to detect significant differences between corresponding variables (P=0.05, 2-sided). To compensate for possible non-evaluable data, we enrolled 42 participants in each group.

The Statistical Package for Social Science, SPSS for Windows, version 15.0 (SPSS, Chicago, Ill., USA) was used for data analysis. Paired-t tests were used to compare results within groups; independent t-tests were used to compare results between the groups; χ2 tests were used to compare proportions. Data are reported as means ± SD for 95% CI with 5% degree of freedom. A 2-sided p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

• Should be brief and include important variables.

• First report the demographic data.

• Then report the primary outcome.

• Then report the secondary outcomes.

• Then report the results of correlation. analysis.

• Use tables for summarizing the data.

Discussion and conclusion

• In the first part of the discussion you should report your results in brief.

• Compare your results with previous studies.

• Bring possible mechanisms for the findings of the studies.

• Bring a brief conclusion at the end of the article.

Acknowledgment

• The acknowledgment should include the sources of funding and persons who do not fulfill the criteria of authorship.

• Don’t acknowledge the well-known professors for increasing the value of your paper.

References

• Adhere to the journal’s guidelines (available at information for authors) for writing the references.

• Some journals have reference limitations.

• Use valid resources as references.

Tables

• Tables should include the demographic and primary as well as secondary outcomes of the study.

• They should be designed scientific and brief.

• Don’t use horizontal lines in tables.

Figures

• Figures can be:– Diagrams– Graphs– Pictures of own– Pictures of other articles– Handwritings– Drawings

• You need to get permission before publication of the others’ tables or pictures.