PAPER WRITING
By:
Dr Saeed Akhtar Khan, Department of Pathology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
The following guidelines will be helpful in paper writing.
First thing you should remember is that while writing a paper, you will have to be brief. There is not much space available with the editors. First, you have to decide, in which journal you have to get your articles published. Some of the journals have a particular field of interest; others publish all types of biomedical articles. After you have decided the journal, you should go through the requirements of the journal. Journals publish detailed instructions to the authors. What should be the length of the article? How many figures and tables are allowed? What should be the shape of the tables and figures and how should they be prepared? How many references are to be quoted and how they should be written? All such details are given in each journal in the instruction to the authors.
Many of the journals follow uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. These uniform requirements were prepared by an international committee of medical journal editors. In January 1978, editors of medical journals had a meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. They decided on uniform requirements for manuscripts to be submitted to the medical journals. This style of writing has since then been called the Vancouver style. The detailed description of this style was first published in 1979. Subsequently a number of revisions have been made. A upto date version of these requirements is available on the said Committee’s website. Pakistani journals also follow these requirements and the details have frequently been published. You have to submit as many numbers of copies as is required by the journal. If you are a frequent reader of medical journals, you will find many articles that guide you how to get your research published.
After you have gone through the instructions to the authors by your chosen journal, you should prepare the manuscript accordingly. Most of the journals do not consider for publication a paper or work that has already been reported in a published paper. Therefore, you should note such a policy. You may be required to submit a certificate to that effect.
Since your research may contain work much more than a paper could possibly accommodate, therefore you can divide your work into two or more research papers. The parameters are divided. One paper describes one set of parameters and the other will describe the other parameters. In addition to your name, the paper may include other names as co-authors. See authorship criteria in the uniform requirements.
The articles are typed double-spaced on a computer or a typewriter. Since a typewriter cannot type italics, therefore such words, which are to be italicized, are underlined in the manuscript. Most of the journals now use references as number in the text as a superscript. Small Arabic numerals are placed at appropriate places in the sentence at the upper portion (as superscript). Since a typewriter cannot do that, in a typewritten manuscript it is replaced by such a reference number placed in parentheses. Nowadays most of the journals require the articles to be composed on a computer and submitted on a computer disk along with printed copies. Many journals require that the articles be submitted by email.
It is very rare that an article submitted will be accepted for publication as such. Usually some alterations are required or some queries from the editors are to be answered. Therefore, one of the authors will be responsible for correspondence with the editors. Some of the journals send proofs of the articles to the authors, therefore one of the authors is also required to read the proofs and approve them. Such information has also to be sent to the editors.
Since you may divide your work into two or more papers, therefore you will have to select appropriate title for each paper. The title should describe the contents of your paper. Again, it is a good exercise to write three or four different titles for each paper and then select the best one. You have to write a summary or abstract of the paper. If the journal requires that the abstract to be written in a paragraph then the number of words are usually given — the abstract should not exceed the limit. Nowadays most of the journals require that you write a structured abstract. Such an abstract is divided into a number of headings. Instructions for preparing the structured abstract are frequently given in JAMA. Brief instructions are also available at this website. The usual headings are objective, design, main outcome measures, results and conclusion. The objective describes the purpose and aim of the study. The design and settings you describe the study design. Whether it is a cross-sectional study, a hospital based study etc. Main outcome measures are the main parameters, which you will evaluate. In results, you briefly give the results and finally you give your conclusions. The journal may require key words at the end of the abstract. They are used for indexing purposes. Select key words from MeSH (Medical Subject Headings).
In the introduction, you start with the importance of the work. You summarize the rationale of the study. In this connection, you have to be brief and include only the pertinent references with a brief background. Do not review the subject extensively. Data and conclusion from your study will not be included in the introduction. In the final few sentences of the introduction, you describe the aim and the purpose of the study.
In materials and methods, describe the selection of the cases/experimental animals/controls. Describe the methods giving references to the established procedures. New methods should be fully described. Give procedures as to how the results were analyzed, giving appropriate references to the statistical procedures.
In results, the data is given in the tables and figures. The text is usually brief and further describes the results. The text should not repeat or duplicate the information given in the tables or figures, rather it should supplement the information. You should only describe the information obtained and not discuss it.
In the discussion, the emphasis is on new and important aspects and conclusions. Avoid repeating details of the material included in the introduction or results. You should relate your findings to other studies. Link the conclusions drawn with the purpose of the study. Describe the limitations of the study and discuss the future implications of the conclusions drawn from your work.
References are typed on a separate paper. They are usually given in the order in which they appear in the text of the article. They are not given alphabetically as in the thesis. (A few of the journals still follow the old style of giving references alphabetically. Therefore, you should note requirements of the journal).
Tables, figures, and photographs are prepared on separate papers. Legends of the figures and photographs are typed separately. Usually black and white photographs are required. Coloured photographs are usually not accepted or the authors may be required to contribute towards the expenses involved in printing the coloured photographs.
A covering letter is also included when submitting the article. It should state the additional information like financial support, a statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors. It should give any additional information that may be helpful to the editors.
After you have prepared the final version of the article to be submitted, you should critically review it. Let someone else also critically review the article. (See paper checklist on this website)
After you have submitted the article, the editors will evaluate the article. They usually send the article to the expert reviewers for their comments. The editors will inform you accordingly. They may send you an acceptance letter. In this case, they will tell you that the article has been accepted and it will be published in such and such issue. On the other hand, they may reject the article. Alternatively, they may send the article back to you requiring certain alterations. In such a case, you will be required to submit the article again after making the required alterations.
After the article has been published, the authors are supplied with the reprints of the article. The number of reprints supplied is usually already given in the instructions to the authors in the journal. Extra reprints can be requested when the article is being submitted.