Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
1093/intqhc/mzh053
Editorial
Table 1 Typical structure of a research paper Table 2 Common mistakes seen in manuscripts submitted
to this journal
Introduction
State why the problem you address is important The research question is not specified
State what is lacking in the current knowledge The stated aim of the paper is tautological (e.g. The aim of
State the objectives of your study or the research question this paper is to describe what we did) or vague (e.g. We
Methods explored issues related to X)
Describe the context and setting of the study The structure of the paper is chaotic (e.g. methods are
Specify the study design described in the Results section)
Describe the population (patients, doctors, hospitals, etc.) The manuscripts does not follow the journals instructions
Describe the sampling strategy for authors
Describe the intervention (if applicable) The paper much exceeds the maximum number of words
Identify the main study variables allowed
Describe data collection instruments and procedures The Introduction is an extensive review of the literature
Outline analysis methods Methods, interventions and instruments are not described in
Results sufficient detail
Report on data collection and recruitment (response Results are reported selectively (e.g. percentages without
rates, etc.) frequencies, P-values without measures of effect)
Describe participants (demographic, clinical The same results appear both in a table and in the text
condition, etc.) Detailed tables are provided for results that do not relate to
Present key findings with respect to the central research the main research question
question In the Introduction and Discussion, key arguments are not
Present secondary findings (secondary outcomes, backed up by appropriate references
subgroup analyses, etc.) References are out of date or cannot be accessed by most
Discussion readers
State the main findings of the study The Discussion does not provide an answer to the research
Discuss the main results with reference to previous question
research The Discussion overstates the implications of the results and
Discuss policy and practice implications of the results does not acknowledge the limitations of the study
Analyse the strengths and limitations of the study The paper is written in poor English
Offer perspectives for future work
adherence to such rules may not be necessary, following a keep an eye out for the most common mistakes (Table 2). If
plan such as that proposed in Table 1 may help the novice you avoid all those, your paper should be in good shape.
writer stay on track.
References should be used wisely. Key assertions should be Thomas V. Perneger
referenced, as well as the methods and instruments used. Quality of Care Unit, Geneva University Hospitals
However, unless the paper is a comprehensive review of a Geneva, Switzerland
topic, there is no need to be exhaustive. Also, references to Patricia M. Hudelson
unpublished work, to documents in the grey literature (tech- Department of Community Medicine,
nical reports), or to any source that the reader will have diffi- Geneva University Hospitals
culty finding or understanding should be avoided. Geneva, Switzerland
References
The basics
1. Huth EJ. How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences,
Having the structure of the paper in place is a good start. 2nd edition. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 1990.
However, there are many details that have to be attended to
2. Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research. Baltimore,
while writing. An obvious recommendation is to read, and
MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999.
follow, the instructions to authors published by the journal
(typically found on the journals website). Another concerns 3. Devers KJ, Frankel RM. Getting qualitative research published.
non-native writers of English: do have a native speaker edit Educ Health 2001; 14: 109117.
the manuscript. A paper usually goes through several drafts 4. Docherty M, Smith R. The case for structuring the discussion of
before it is submitted. When revising a paper, it is useful to scientific papers. Br Med J 1999; 318: 12241225.
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