ICAN 2014, Harare Zimbabwe tips how to write a scientific paper

1. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
prof.
dr.
Andreas
Voss
RUNMC
&
CWZ
Nijmegen
The
Netherlands
www.aricjournal.com
www.biomedcentral.com
¤ A
major
task
you
fear?
Begin
with
small
steps
ICAN
2014
1

2. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
1. Look
around
and
reflect
on
the
ques$ons
that
arise
day
to
day
in
your
clinical
and
educa$onal
ac$vi$es.
Take
notes
and
jot
down
ideas
of
interest.
2. Consider
past
presenta$ons
from
different
venues,
such
as
case
conferences
or
grand
rounds.
Many
of
these
exis$ng
talks
can
be
transformed
into
a
targeted
review
ar$cle
that
might
help
launch
a
more
substan$al
original
research
project.
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
3. Reconsider
those
unfinished,
‘‘back
burner’’
projects,
such
as
preliminary
data
presented
as
a
poster
at
a
mee$ng
but
never
wrien
in
manuscript
form.
4. If
at
all
possible,
select
a
subject
of
personal
interest.
Are
you
willing
to
put
in
the
necessary
$me
reading,
exploring,
and
ul$mately
wri$ng
about
a
par$cular
subject.
Having
a
personal
interest
in
a
topic
can
improve
the
likelihood
of
success
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
5. Iden$fy
a
trusted
colleague
to
help
guide
the
process.
Success
with
wri$ng,
comes
easier
with
good
mentorship.
Having
mul$ple
mentors/
collaborators
with
different
skills
and
perspec$ves
is
useful.
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
ICAN
2014
2

3. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
Pree$
N.
Malani
Journal
of
Graduate
Medical
Educa$on,
December
2012
When
star1ng
any
research
project
you
should
(and
can)
already
write
most
of
the
paper:
¤ Research
what
is
done
already
(introduc$on
&
discusssion)
¤ Have
a
look
at
the
methods
used
by
others
(methods)
¤ What
do
I
want
to
“see”
(results)
²
tables
and
graphs
you
would
like
to
see
ICAN
2014
3

4. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
¤
What
journal?
²
Na$onal
versus
interna$onal
²
Specialized
versus
broader
²
Costs
/open
access
²
Impact
factor
versus
“influence”
o
NEJM,
BMJ,
…
have
both
o
Academically
achievable
o
Local
influence
¤ Title
¤ Authors
and
Affilia$on
¤ Abstract
¤ Introduc$on
¤ Methods
¤ Results
¤ Discussion
¤ Acknowledgments
¤ Literature
¤
Write
what
comes
into
your
mind
–
you
may
jump
back
and
forth
between
the
different
sec$ons
¤
Write/take
note
while
you
read
¤
Start
with
a
couple
of
sentences
² Aim
(This
paper
explores
…)
² Method
(This
study
was
conducted
…)
² What’s
new
(This
paper
contributes
to
…)
¤
Examines
/
analyses
¤
Reports
on
/
Outlines
¤
Argues
/
jus$fies
/
recommands
¤
Compares
/
contrasts
¤
Discusses
/
demonstrates
¤
Shows
/
refutes
¤
Highlights
/
illustrates
ICAN
2014
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5. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
¤
Start
with
…
²
Aim:
This
paper
explores
…
²
Main
argument:
In
this
paper
we
argue
…
²
Method:
The
study
was
conducted
…
²
What’s
new:
This
paper
contributes
to
…
¤
Put
a
lot
of
energy
into
the
“Abstract”!
²
This
is
your
first
impression
²
Make
it
interes$ng
²
Ensure
correct
use
of
language
¤
You
don’t
have
to
wait
un$l
you
think
your
first
dram
is
perfect
à
get
advice/comments
early
on
¤
Style
is
(in
part)
a
maer
of
taste
à
you
don’t
have
to
follow
all
suggested
changes
with
regard
to
“style”
¤
Do
I
have
enough
(new)
literature?
¤
Is
my
data
sufficient
to
the
claims
I
am
making
¤
Am
I
being
sufficiently
specula$ve
¤
Did
I
follow
the
authors’
instruc$ons
¤
Did
all
co-­‐authors
contribute
to
the
manuscript
¤
If
not
100%
sure,
never
start
with:
“This
is
the
first
case
…”
¤
First
thing
reviewers
might
do
is
to
prove
you
wrong
Never
copy
&
paste.
Editors
and
reviewers
will
recognize
the
change
in
style
and
start
to
distrust
even
your
own
text
Lile/sloppy
mistakes
make
a
big/bad
impression
!
ICAN
2014
5

6. Wri$ng
scie$fic
papers
04-­‐11-­‐14
Dear
Dr.
Voss,
Dear author,
Thank you for submitting your
manuscript. We are “sorry” to
say that we could not accepted
your attempt of an article.
Please find attached a rejection
letter for the present and your
future submission.
¤
Outrage
&
unprofessional
comments
¤
Incomprehension
&
complaints
to
colleagues
¤
More
outrage
¤
One
or
two
of
the
comments
might
make
sense
¤
There’s
a
bit
of
truth
in
that
one
¤
I’ll
just
have
a
go
at
doing
what
they
said
to
do
¤
Actually,
the
paper
is
a
whole
lot
beer
for
all
those
revisions
ICAN
2014
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