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Why is your research important? What is known about the topic? What are your hypotheses? What are your objectives? Materials and Methods 1. What materials did you use? Who were the subjects of your study? What was the design of your research? What procedure did you follow?
What are your most significant results? What are your supporting results? Discussion and Conclusions 1. What are the studies major findings? Open in a separate window Now that you have expanded your outline, you are ready for the next step: Many universities have a writing center where graduate students can schedule individual consultations and receive assistance with their paper drafts.
Getting feedback during early stages of your draft can save a lot of time. Talking through ideas allows people to conceptualize and organize thoughts to find their direction without wasting time on unnecessary writing. Outlining is the most effective way of communicating your ideas and exchanging thoughts.
Moreover, it is also the best stage to decide to which publication you will submit the paper. Many people come up with three choices and discuss them with their mentors and colleagues. Having a list of journal priorities can help you quickly resubmit your paper if your paper is rejected.
Create a detailed outline and discuss it with your mentor and peers. Continue with drafts After you get enough feedback and decide on the journal you will submit to, the process of real writing begins.
Copy your outline into a separate file and expand on each of the points, adding data and elaborating on the details. When you create the first draft, do not succumb to the temptation of editing.
Do not slow down to choose a better word or better phrase; do not halt to improve your sentence structure. Pour your ideas into the paper and leave revision and editing for later. Staring at an empty screen is frustrating, but your screen is not really empty: You have a template of your article, and all you need to do is fill in the blanks.
When scientists start writing a research paper, they already have their files with data, lab notes with materials and experimental designs, some visuals, and tables with results. All they need to do is scrutinize these pieces and put them together into a comprehensive paper.
Starting with Materials and Methods If you still struggle with starting a paper, then write the Materials and Methods section first.
Since you have all your notes, it should not be problematic for you to describe the experimental design and procedures. Your most important goal in this section is to be as explicit as possible by providing enough detail and references.
In the end, the purpose of this section is to allow other researchers to evaluate and repeat your work. So do not run into the same problems as the writers of the sentences in 1: Bacteria were pelleted by centrifugation.
To isolate T cells, lymph nodes were collected. As you can see, crucial pieces of information are missing: The sentences can be improved when information is added, as in 2a and 2brespectfully: If your method has previously been published and is well-known, then you should provide only the literature reference, as in 3a.
If your method is unpublished, then you need to make sure you provide all essential details, as in 3b. Stem cells were isolated, according to Johnson . Stem cells were isolated using biotinylated carbon nanotubes coated with anti-CD34 antibodies. Furthermore, cohesion and fluency are crucial in this section.The essence of writing for publication in the medical field is distilled into a dozen precepts to guide the anxious author.
These precepts focus on the attitude of the writer, rather than the mechanics of writing. Step 2: Write the Methods. This section responds to the question of how the problem was studied. If your paper is proposing a new method, you need to include detailed information so a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment.
There is always a danger in writing about writing. The effort can look presumptuous, in that few writers are truly in a position to tender advice; more medical writers are workmanlike than inspired.
Writing a paper about writing a paper can also seem futile because guidelines have to be so broad as to be vague. Beginning in , the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors began to set the rules for how authors, editors, peer reviewers, advertisers, and publishers ought to .
Nov 04, · How to Write a Medical Paper to Get It Published in a Good Journal. George D. Lundberg, MD, Editor-in-Chief; Beginning in , the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors began to set the rules for how authors, editors, peer .
Much has been done to improve medical writing. Editors reject ill-prepared manuscripts and attempt to improve those accepted. Referees provide a detailed criticism of the content of papers submitted, so that a journal retains its high standards in the face of the volume of work presented to it.