Professional Documents
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A SCIENTIFIC PAPER
Maisuri T. Chalid
POWER WRITING
Key questions
Why did you perform the study? (introduction)
What is the research question? (introduction)
What did you do? (Methods)
What did you find? (results)
What do your results mean? (discussion)
TITLE
Give your article a snappy title
Common faults:
Too short
Too long
Not specific
Ambiguous
The syntax is poor
Contains abbreviation or jargon
Elements of a good title
Easy to understand
Accurate promise the papers content
Specific concerning the scope of the study
Simple, short, concise
10-12 words long
Interisting
States the subject of the article, but not the
conclusions
Nondeclarative
Indicates the study design
Eye catching, a reader grabber
Begins with a key word
Gramatically correct
Worded appropriately for the target journal
audience
Authors
Deciding who should be listed.
Only those who actively contributed to the
design and execution of the
experiments=> public responsibility.
Is the list of contributors reasonable-20
authors for a small study?
Confilct of interest.
ABSTRACT
A miniature version of the paper.
A traditional => does not exceed 250 words
Should be written in the past tense.
It should not contain abbreviations or acronyms,
unless absolutely necessary
It should not contain anything that is not in the
paper.
Self contained
The language should be simple & clear
Writing Abstract
Take the time to polish the abstract.
Keep it short.
Dont shorten the abstract by excluding
key information
Briefly state your findings
Key words at the end. Use appropriate key
words among the MeSH (Medical Subject
Headings)
INTRODUCTION
The first section should:
Give the reader some background information
(context) on the study (the rationale).
State the purpose of the study.
Dont include any results or conclusions.
Providing adequate background
information
Begin with thunder
Start with a general, yet concise, description
of the problem that your paper will address.
In the next few sentences, reference previous
supports your assessment of the problem.
Early define the primary subject, define any new,
unsual or vague terms used in the title or
introduction. high risk, poor nutritional
Write a concise, focused introduction
Avoid too long, too much history, too many
references, verbose.
It is not necessary to give an extensive
literature review of the subject.
Articulate the purpose of your study clearly
The aim is to enable the reader to
understand what question you have
attempted to answer, and why and to
appreciate the significance of your findings
MATERIAL & METHODS
What you did, how you did.
The key: Should include sufficient detail to
enable to reproduce
Pay attention=> credibility of your results
depends to a large extent on the credibility
of your method.
Materials:
Give exact technical specification
Dont use commercial names
Methods:
The study design
Eligibility
Randomization & Blinding
Intervention & Compliance
Assessment of end points
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis:
Be precise, drugs => dosages, routes,
temperature
Be concise
RESULTS
The more important and is likely to be of
most interest to readers.
Organizing the results
Present your results enthusiastically
Dont overstate the results or repeat in the
tables
Present your data in a natural order
Start your results section with the major
positive findings; report the negative
association at the end
Include unequivocal statements; if
applicable, give some estimate of the
accuracy and precision of the results.
Avoid vague statements like there was a
general trend to or the tendency was
for
Dont include results not relevan to the
arguments
Presenting statistical information