An introductory presentation on Medical writing

1. Medical Writing www.cliniversity.com

2. Types of Medical Writing Editorial Original Article Review Articles Short Papers Case Reports Letter to Editor Personal Views Special Communication

3. The Basic Structure of Article TITLE (S)Summary (Structured Abstract) (I) Introduction (What Question was asked?) (M)Methods (How was it Studied?) (R)Results (What was Found?) (A)Analysis (How data was analysed?) (D)Discussion (What Do the Findings Mean?) Acknowledgements References

4. Title Should be specific But comprehensive Short But sufficiently descriptive No abbreviations Should be easy To catalogue

6. Design

7. Setting

8. Patients and methods

9. Results

10. Conclusions

12. Methods What Subjects/patients/animals/specimens techniques were used? Reason for selecting the experimental design of the study Statistical methods used for analysis The section should be called "Materiel and Methods" only if inanimate specimens have been used. (continue)

14. How are they grouped

15. (cases /controls)

16. Criteria

18. Statistics Clearly mention the statistical methods used for appropriate verification of reported results. (consult a statistician before starting the study)

19. Results Communication of facts, measurements, and observations gathered by the author Start with the results that are easier to interpret Results should be set out in tables and figures Do not duplicate illustrations

20. Discussion What gaps in knowledge remain to be filled? Main results should be summarised at the beginning of discussion Only mention previous results or comments which illuminate or which are illuminated by the present results. (continue)

22. References 1. Standard journal article Vega K., Pina I., Krevisky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreaticobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996 Jun 1: 124(11): 980-3 2. Books and other monographs Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Bremier BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. P.465-78.

23. References 3. Disertation Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: the elderly's access and untilizaiion (dissertation]. St. Louis (MO): Washington Univ: 1995. 4. Unpublished material Leshner AL. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine. N Engl J Med. In press 1996. 5. Electronic material Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious disease. Emerg Inftect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar (cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from URL: http:/www.cdc.gov/ncdod/EID/eid.htm

24. Summing Up In the words of Stephen Lock, “ A good article has a definite structure. Make its point and then shuts up”

25. Sending Manuscript to the Journal Required number of copies in a heavy envelop enclosing figures / photos / photo micrographics in card boards in separate envelop Covering letter signed by all co-authors Has not been submitted else where Approved by all authors Authors will bear the cost of colour illustration

27. Methods

28. Materials

29. Subjects

30. Patients

31. Results

33. Title Page (1st Page) Title of the article (concise information) Name of author(s) Highest academic degree(s) Affiliation Department Institution Disclaimers if any Name and address of author for correspondence about the manuscript Source of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs Short running head or foot line of no more than 40 characters

34. Abstract and Key Words (2nd Page) 150 words for unstructured abstract 250 words for structured abstract Abstract should be Purpose of the study Basic procedures (selection of subjects, observational and analytical methods) Main findings (Data and its significance) The principal conclusions 3-10 Key words Assist indexer and cross indexing Terms from medical subject heading (MeSH) should be used

35. Introduction (3rd Page) State purpose of the article Summarize the rationale for study or observation Give Strictly pertinent reference Do not include data or conclusion

36. Method (4th Page) Describe selection of the observational, Experimental subjects including controls Experimental method (reference for standard methods) Statistical methods Ethics

37. Results (5th Page) Logical sequence Text Tables Illustrations Do not repeat in the text all the data in tables / figures emphasize, summarizing important observations Tables - Number tables separate sheets Figures - Legends 5 x 7” or 8 x10” glossy prints (Black & white / coloured)

38. Discussion (6th Page) Emphasize new and important aspects of the study and conclusions that follow Do not repeat the data Include implications of the funding, their limitations and implications for future Research Relate observations with other relevant studies Recommendations when appropriate may be included

39. Acknowledgement (7th Page) Those who do not justify to be Authors should be Acknowledged Those who have provided technical help Financial and material support

40. Some Guidelines Choose an appropriate Journals Go through the “uniform requirements for Biomedical publications” Write simple grammatically correct sentences Brevity is the best practice Avoid irrelevant details Show the draft to colleagues Read final draft carefully Typographical and grammatical mistakes give bad impression Check tables and figures (Captions, size, clarity)

41. Authorship All person designated as authors should qualify for authorship Author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to: Conception Design Analysis & interpretation of data

42. Authorship Drafting, revising it critically, for important intellectual contents and final approval of the contents Participating solely in acquisition of funding, collection of data does not justify authorship General supervision of research group is not sufficient for authorship Order of the author should be a joint decision of the authors