Scientific Writing Easy when you know how Scientific Writing Easy when you know how Jennifer Peat Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney and Hospital Statistician, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia Elizabeth Elliott Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney and Consultant Paediatrician, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia Louise Baur Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney and Consultant Paediatrician The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia Victoria Keena Information Manager, Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney, Australia © BMJ Books 2002 BMJ Books is an imprint of the BMJ Publishing Group All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers First published in 2002 by BMJ Books, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JR www.bmjbooks.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 7279 1625 Typeset by SIVA Math Setters, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Spain by GraphyCems, Navarra Contents Introduction xi Acknowledgements xii Foreword xiii Scientific writing Reasons to publish Rewards for being a good writer Making it happen Achieving creativity Thought, structure and style The thrill of acceptance 1 Getting started Forming a plan Choosing a journal Uniform requirements Instructions to authors Standardised reporting guidelines Authorship Contributions 12 12 17 21 23 24 29 41 Writing your paper Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion Summary guidelines 48 49 51 54 63 85 89 Finishing your paper Choosing a title Title page References and citations Peer review 93 93 100 101 106 v Scientific Writing Processing feedback Checklists and instructions to authors Creating a good impression Submitting your paper Archiving and documentation 109 110 112 115 116 Review and editorial processes Peer reviewed journals Revise and resubmit Replying to reviewers’ comments Handling rejection Editorial process Page proofs Copyright laws Releasing results to the press Becoming a reviewer Writing review comments Becoming an editor 121 121 125 127 130 132 133 135 136 138 140 143 Publishing Duplicate publication Reporting results from large studies Policies for data sharing Fast tracking and early releases Electronic journals and eletters Netprints Citation index Impact factors 147 147 149 150 152 153 155 157 158 Other types of documents Letters Editorials Narrative reviews Systematic reviews and Cochrane reviews Case reports Post-graduate theses 165 165 168 169 172 176 178 Writing style Plain English Topic sentences Subjects, verbs and objects 188 188 189 191 vi Contents Eliminating fog Say what you mean Word order Creating flow Tight writing Chopping up snakes Parallel structures Style matters Grammar Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs Pronouns and determiners Conjunctions and prepositions Phrases Clauses Which and that Grammar matters 192 195 197 199 202 206 208 210 214 215 219 221 229 231 235 239 240 243 244 10 Word choice Label consistently Participants are people Word choice Avoid emotive words Because Levels and concentrations Untying the negatives Abbreviations Spelling Words matter 246 246 248 250 251 253 255 255 257 258 259 11 Punctuation Full stops and ellipses Colons and semicolons Commas Apostrophes Parentheses and square brackets Slashes, dashes and hyphens Punctuation matters 261 261 262 263 266 267 270 271 vii Scientific Writing 12 Support systems Searching the internet Writers’ groups Avoiding writer’s block Mentoring 273 273 274 281 282 Index 288 viii Introduction True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those who move easiest have learnt to dance Alexander Pope (1688–1744)* Everything is easy when you know how! The skill of scientific writing is no exception To be a good writer, all you need to is learn and then follow a few simple rules However, it can be difficult to get a good grasp on the rules if your learning experience is a protracted process of trial and error There is nothing more discouraging than handing a document that has taken hours to write to a coworker who takes a few minutes to cover it in red pen and expects you to find this a rewarding learning exercise Fortunately, there is a simple way into the more fulfilling experience of writing so that readers don’t feel the need to suggest corrections for every sentence in every paragraph Once you can write what you mean, put your content in the correct order, and make your document clear and pleasurable for others to read, you can consider yourself an expert writer By developing good writing skills, you will receive more rewarding contributions from your coauthors and reviewers and more respect from the academic community If you can produce a document that is well written, the review process automatically becomes a fulfilling contribution of academic ideas and thoughts rather than a desperate rescue attempt for bad grammar and disorganisation This type of peer review is invaluable for improving the quality of your writing If your research is important for progressing scientific thinking or for improving health care, it deserves to be presented in the best possible way so that it will be published in a well-respected journal This will ensure that your results reach a wide range of experts in your field To use this process to promote your reputation, you will need to write clearly and concisely Scientific writing is about using words correctly and *The opening quote was produced with permission from Collins Concise Dictionary of Quotations, 3rd edn London: Harper Collins, 1998: p 241 ix Scientific Writing finding a precise way to explain what you did, what you found, and why it matters Your paper needs to be a clear recipe for your work: • you need to construct an introduction that puts your work in context for your readers and tells them why it is important; • your methods section must leave readers in no doubt what you did and must enable them to reproduce your work if they want to; • you must present your results so that they can be easily understood, and discuss your findings so that readers appreciate the implications of your work In this book, we explain how to construct a framework for your scientific documents and for the paragraphs within so that your writing becomes orderly and structured Throughout the book, we use the term “paper” to describe a document that is in the process of being written and the term “journal article” to describe a paper that has been published At the end of some chapters, we have included lists of useful web sites and these are indicated by a reference in parenthesis (www 1) in the text We also explain how the review and editorial process functions and we outline some of the basic rules of grammar and sentence construction Although there is sometimes a relaxed attitude to grammar, it is important to have a few basic rules under your belt if you want to become a respected writer To improve your professional status, it is best to be on high moral ground and write in a grammatically correct way so that your peers respect your work You should not live in the hope that readers and editors will happily sort through muddled thoughts, struggle through verbose text, or tolerate an uninformed approach Neither should you live in the hope that the journal and copy editors will rescue your worst grammatical mistakes No one can guarantee that such safety systems will be in place and, to maintain quality and integrity in the research process, we should not expect other people to provide a final rescue system for poor writing The good news is that learning to write in a clear and correct way is easy By following the guidelines presented in this book, the reporting of research results becomes a simple, rewarding process for many professional and personal reasons We have x Scientific Writing Members of the group can bring along any inspirational material that they find They can also bring examples of writing that the group can review If writers can bring a tortuous title or a couple of foggy sentences that they have spotted in the journals or media, a 2-minute writing clinic to put things right is very satisfying Examples of 2-minute writing clinics to rewrite titles are shown in Box 12.3 In the first example, the word training is used twice and is a sure indication that the title could be shortened The second title can also be made much briefer Box 12.3 Examples of 2-minute clinics for rewriting titles ✖ Risk factors for training-related injuries among men and women in basic sports training ✓ Risk factors for injury during basic sports training ✖ Long-term risk of second malignancy in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated during adolescence or young adulthood ✓ Long-term outcomes in young survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia ✓ Risk of second malignancy in young survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia In addition to titles, examples of foggy writing to use in 2-minute writing clinics can be found from many sources as shown in Box 12.4 Example came from an in-flight magazine, example from a letter to hospital staff, example from the instructions on a pack of an over-the-counter medication, and example from a departmental email To remedy this type of writing, it is just a matter of writing tightly and writing clearly Neither the long nor the short version is right or wrong but the short versions are more readable They are also more easily understood, which is what we want for scientific writing In writers’ groups, you will discover that there may be several correct ways to write each sentence and choosing which one is best is often a matter of personal preference 278 Support systems Box 12.4 Examples of 2-minute clinics for rewriting text ✖ During long flights individuals are at risk of deep venous thrombosis and should ambulate regularly and ensure adequate oral fluid because immmobility and dehydration have been implicated in the aetiology of deep venous thrombosis ✓ Regular exercise and frequent drinks of water will decrease the risk of blood clots forming in your leg veins during long flights ✖ The administration acknowledges that car parking for staff at the Children’s Hospital is currently very limited and in this respect an action plan is currently being developed with a view to alleviating the problems ✓ We realise that car parking at the hospital is very limited and we are planing to improve the situation ✖ Alleviates the discomfort associated with internal and external haemorrhoids, pruritis ani and other related anorectal conditions Apply night and morning and after each evacuation Children: no dose recommended ✓ Relieves pain and itchiness around the anus caused by piles Use in the morning, at night, and after emptying your bowel Not recommended for children ✖ Before deciding on a proposed location for the new laboratories, we will need to conduct further investigations into the safety issues involved and make an economic assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the various sites available ✓ Before finalising a location for the new laboratories, we will investigate the safety issues and economic advantages of the proposed sites One exercise is to take any abstract from a paper on MEDLINE (www14) or any letter in a journal and reduce the word count by 20% without deleting any important information Such exercises, which take only 10 minutes or so, demonstrate how many excess words are used in published writing and how much clearer the text becomes without them It is also good fun to spend some time word spotting One week underline all the nouns in a paragraph and then identify the adjectives and discuss whether they add or detract from the clarity of the text At other meetings, the verbs and 279 Scientific Writing adverbs, nouns and pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions, etc These exercises will improve your grammar skills, and identify the parts of sentences and the types of sentence constructions that lead to writing problems Writers’ groups can also share ideas about how to create writing time and use it productively You may like to spend some time discussing how to manage “time thieves” Ask everyone in the group to list the tasks that occupy their average working week and divide them into the four quadrants shown in Table 1.1 in Chapter It is prudent to realise that every halfhour spent doing something unimportant can be converted to writing time Dealing with email is a common time thief but minimising this daily task is simple as shown in Box 12.5 You can also devise lists of how to manage other unimportant activities, for example by delegating work, limiting committee attendance, grouping tasks more efficiently, etc All of these are good ways to “make time” Box 12.5 Keeping email under control ❑ Check your email only once or twice a day at specific times and not spend more than 20 minutes reading emails and replying to them ❑ Select only the important messages to read immediately, delete the unimportant ones and organise a limited number to deal with later ❑ Disable the alert that flashes on your screen each time a new email arrives ❑ Filter personal emails into a different folder from group emails so that you can prioritise how you deal with them ❑ Remove your name from distribution lists that send you many messages that you don’t want or hardly ever read ❑ Do not save or file messages that you will never read Some teams find it very productive to conduct mini-writers groups when the coauthors of a paper meet to discuss data analyses and construct sections of the paper they are writing This approach requires a close working relationship between coauthors and a commitment to meet regularly to review and revise the paper If it is possible for coauthors to work in this way, a paper can be fast tracked because problems are sorted out quickly, interactively, and collaboratively However, 280 Support systems meetings such as this still require that one person has the responsibility of being the author and that the coauthors recognise that their role is to make an intellectual contribution and to provide support as a reviewer Avoiding writer’s block Create a ‘To-Don’t’ list that contains tasks, rituals, and meetings that you should never waste your time on again Then stick to it Tom Peters (Sydney Morning Herald) A surprising number of people have ‘writer’s block’ even though they may not admit it Such people keep themselves busy using diversionary activities so that they can put off writing It is good to discuss ideas in a workshop about how to combat such activities because there are many tried and tested remedies as shown in Box 12.6 To manage writer’s block, you need to be able to recognise it and deal with it To start with, try taking a few moments to sit at the computer, close your eyes, relax, and get the cricks out of your neck This will help you to focus on the task and feel relaxed about it However, you have to get yourself to the computer first If you are having problems, you need to have some tricks up your sleeve that can be used in times of need Box 12.6 Managing writer’s block Learn to recognise the signs and react to them Join a writers’ group and hold a brainstorming session or stressrelieving activities Seek help from your mentor or supervisor Take time out to let your brain debrief Look after your health, diet, and sleep patterns Have a life outside research with your family and friends Find inspiration in non-scientific activities (music, art, sport, etc.) Find a stress-release activity (exercise, walking the dog, movies, etc.) Ensuring that you quarantine specific time for writing and that you find skills to overcome writer’s block are the only 281 Scientific Writing ways to make your writing happen Developing good writing skills makes writing more enjoyable because you can use your time more productively and you will not have to endure endless negative feedback on your draft papers Mentoring A mentor is a kind of career therapist They are there to see their charges through the ups and downs of their work and help point them in the right direction when they get lost Karin Bishop (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 April 1999) Mentoring happens when a senior researcher shares his or her expertise with a junior researcher This method of passing on corporate experience to younger colleagues in a trusting way has been used widely over hundreds of years.2 The first mention of mentoring is in Homer’s myth of Odysseus in which Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, entrusts his son to a mentor Telemachus who instructed him for many years whilst Ulysses was fighting the Trojans.3 With such a well-tried and tested learning method available, it seems a shame not to use it Mentors come in many varieties and from many different sources In research teams, a mentor is often a senior researcher who finds it rewarding to provide advice, support, and encouragement to junior researchers.3,4 Mentoring is an essential skill for team managers The most successful researcher team leaders are people who can mentor their students and their junior research staff The responsibilities that mentors may take on board are summarised in Box 12.7 Box 12.7 Responsibilities of mentors Provide advice and support Impart knowledge, information, guidance, wisdom, and insight Provide access to research and financial resources Foster quality and integrity in scientific practice Promote excellence in scientific writing by reviewing writing regularly and providing timely feedback 282 Support systems Provide psychological, social, and emotional encouragement Motivate and inspire Provide advice and foster career development Organise celebrations of important achievements and successes Because senior researchers can use their corporate experience to contribute to the development of the next generation of scientists, being a mentor can be one of the most rewarding and noble aspects of the research process The most effective mentors gain satisfaction from helping junior colleagues to conduct research successfully and from guiding inexperienced writers through the writing, review, and publication processes Good mentors give priority to teaching and learning, agree on objectives, appreciate differences, and find rewards in seeing junior researchers move beyond the realms of their experience The characteristics of a successful mentor are shown in Box 12.8 Box 12.8 Characteristics of successful mentors Encourage excellence in research and scientific writing Focus on learning and passing on experience Promote recruitment to higher positions Provide introductions to new colleagues and networks Allow for independent development Help in times of stress or conflict Have your best interests at heart Are delighted by your successes For researchers, a mentor should be a familiar face to turn to in times of stress and a friendly person to rely on when you get stuck They should provide short-term advice to solve problems and long-term guidance for careers A mentor should also be a coach who provides pep-talks and is always focused on the goal.5 As a researcher or scientific writer, you should delight in having a mentor to emulate Your mentor should allow you to make mistakes in a safe environment while sharing their experiences in helping you to develop your career We all have our own strengths and weaknesses but to be successful we must build on the strengths and work on the weaknesses This is 283 Scientific Writing where mentors can provide insights in helping researchers to understand the areas that they need to improve and how to improve them Mentoring is important for teaching writing skills because these can only develop through interactive feedback By providing positive feedback and constructive criticism, a mentor can help you to become a good writer.2 A mentor will also help to increase your self-esteem and selfconfidence Most successful researchers have had at least one mentor to whom they attribute some credit for their progress If you can find someone to teach you politically savvy ways to become successful, you are much more likely to have a rewarding research career In recognition of this, professional organisations often have schemes to match junior researchers with a mentor, and web schemes for meeting up with other researchers or for building team work can be found on the internet (www15–17) Parties can meet by email or phone, but regular face-to-face contact to discuss and clarify ideas is essential.6 Building a relationship with a mentor requires a high level of commitment and honesty on both sides There is no loss of identity in a healthy mentoring partnership or sense of control on the part of the mentor When you find a mentor, you will need to work together to set realistic goals and expectations, to decide how frequently to meet and to agree on how your performance will be evaluated This will enable you to achieve goals that you may have thought were beyond your reach Box 12.9 lists some of the benefits of mentoring to both mentors and their research units Box 12.9 Benefits of mentoring Enhances teaching and leadership skills Creates a legacy Provides exposure to new literature and new research questions Facilitates coauthorship on journal articles and reviews Widens the professional network of colleagues and contacts Increases leadership and job satisfaction Fosters the development and retention of organisational talent Contributes to the quality of the scientific profession The selection of a mentor is an important choice in a research career If you not have a mentor in your own 284 Support systems research unit, you will need to search further afield You may find one person to mentor your career path, one to provide research support, and one to help you through the writing and publication processes If you want a mentor to further your career, you will need someone who is interested in your future If you want to improve your publication rate, you will need someone who may be a coauthor on your papers, who has an impressive publication record, or who teaches research or scientific writing skills It doesn’t matter how many mentors you have as long as you have all bases covered As your career progresses, you will find yourself separating from your mentor This can be an uncomfortable time but it is part of a natural progression By then, you will have acquired the skills to successfully mentor those who follow after you This graduation of junior researchers and sharing of skills and knowledge throughout a research unit can make a huge difference to the success of individual researchers and their research teams Acknowledgements The Newton quote has been produced with permission from Collins Concise Dictionary of Quotations, 3rd edn London: Harper Collins, 1998 (p 226) The Picasso quote has been produced with permission from the Picasso estate (Succession Picasso 2002) All other referenced quotes have been produced with permission Websites The Writing Program, University of Pennsylvania http://www.sas.upenn.edu/writing/services/docs.html Provides access to online reference texts and resources including Grammar Style and Notes by Jack Lynch, Strunk’s Elements of Style, Oxford English Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, citation styles, etc Yahoo http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Linguistics_and_ Human_Languages/Languages/Specific_Languages/English/ Grammar Usage and_Style/ Provides access to resources for grammar, English usage, and style, including books and rules of grammar, common errors, and tips to improve your writing Bartelby Online Books http://www.bartelby.com Access to online books such as the American Heritage dictionary, American 285 Scientific Writing Heritage book of English usage, Roget’s thesaurus, Strunk’s elements of style, Gray’s anatomy, etc Modern Language Association (MLA) of America http://www.mla.org http://www.mla.org/main_stl.htm#sources Information about the MLA style manual, which documents the style recommended by the Modern Language Association for preparing scholarly manuscripts and student research papers Concerns itself with the mechanics of writing, such as punctuation, quotation, and documentation of sources Also includes guidelines for citing sources from the World Wide Web Plain English Campaign http://www.plainenglish.co.uk Guides to writing medical information, letters, reports, alternative words, etc for writing in plain English Google http://www.google.com/ A unified global search engine Altavista http://www.altavista.com/ A unified global search engine All-the-web, all-the-time http://www.alltheweb.com/ A unified global search engine Google Help Central http://www.google.com/help/ Provides access to a range of search tips, features, and frequently asked questions 10 Altavista’s help site http://www.altavista.com/sites/help Help page with cheat sheets and various searching features 11 Altavista’s translation feature http://www.altavista.com/sites/help/babelfish/babel_help babelfish site that translates from one language to another Access 12 The Spire Project http://www.SpireProject.com/ Provides access to articles and techniques on internet searching 13 Bright Plant http://www.brightplanet.com/ Provides a guide to effective searching 14 National Library of Medicine, United States http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/medline.html Provides access to abstracts published in MEDLINE via PubMed 15 Massachusetts Medical Society http://www.globalmedicine.org 286 to Support systems Allows health researchers and providers worldwide to establish personal and professional contacts that may lead to cooperative relationships 16 TeamNet, University of North Texas http://www.workteams.unt.edu/teamnet/teamnet.htm Electronic community with more than 600 potential mentors who provide a sounding board for ideas and questions 17 Team Center, Washington http://www.teamcenter.com Offers articles and tools on effective team building including material on how to ask good questions during meetings, sources of stress in teams, and case studies on teams that work References Lammott A Some instructions on writing and life Peterborough: Anchor Books, 1994; p 153 Swap W, Leonard D, Sheilds M, Abrams L Using mentoring and story telling to transfer knowledge in the workplace J Manag Inform Systems 2001;18:95–114 Beech N, Brockbank A Power/knowledge and psychosocial dynamics in mentoring Manag Learning 1999;30:7–24 Gibb S The usefulness of theory: A case study in evaluating formal mentoring schemes Human Relations 1999;52:1055–75 McCabe LL, McCabe ERB Establishing personal goals and tracking your career In: How to succeed in academics London: Academic Press, 2000 Daft RL, Lengel RH Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design Manag Sci 1986;32:554–71 287 Index Page numbers in bold type refer to figures; those in italic refer to tables or boxed material abbreviations 257–8, 267–8 abstract in Cochrane review 174 conference, citing 105 rewriting in writers’ groups 279 your paper 49–50 acceptance 9–10, 112, 125–6 editorial decisions on 123, 125–6, 130–1, 132–3 rates 18, 19 accountability, author 35 acknowledgements 43–4 active verb 223 addresses, authors’ 100–1 adjectival clauses 240, 241, 243 adjectives 219–21 commas between 263 demonstrative 231–5 nouns used as 218–19 adverbs 229–31 age, participants 69 aims see objectives Americans comma use 266 spelling 259 annotations 170 anonymity, reviewer 124 apostrophe 266–7 appeals 133 appendices, postgraduate thesis 182–3 archiving 116–17 as 253–4 assertive sentence title 98–9 audience, scientific 13, 64 authors/authorship 14, 29–41 see also coauthors coauthors 20 “ghost” 40–1 “gift” 32, 40 “guest” 41 instructions to 14, 23–4, 110–12 numbers 34 order 30, 31–2, 36–40 standard guidelines/criteria 29–31 baseline characteristics 68 because 253–4 bias 62, 63, 82 bibliographic databases, authors in 38 brackets 267–9 288 case 248 case-control studies 58, 71–2 case reports 58, 176–8 central tendency, measures 82, 83 checklists 110–12 citations see impact factor; references; Science Citation Index clauses 240–3 adjectival 240, 241, 243 clinical assessments 62 clinical trials see trials coauthors 20, 33 meeting/cooperating with 280–1 order 30, 31–2, 36–40 peer review by 106–10 responsibilities 33 Cochrane Collaboration, review 29, 42, 57, 172–6 cohort study 57 colons 262–3 commas 263–6 communications 165–8 personal, citing 105 rapid 153 compound sentences 240 computers graphics generated by 80 word processing 13–14 concentrations 255 conclusions in abstract 50 postgraduate thesis 182 conferences/scientific meetings citing abstracts of 105 publication in conference proceedings 148 confidence intervals, 95% 82, 83 conjunctions 198, 230, 235–9 Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 24–5, 26–7, 71, 111 construction see structure contingency tables 85 continuity (flow) 199–202 contributions to paper 33, 35, 41–2 acknowledgement of 43 statisticians 36, 37 copyright laws 135 correlate and correlation 197, 219 Index coworkers acknowledgement or inclusion as authors or contributors 43 peer review by 106–10 creativity, achieving 7–8 credit point system, authorship 39 criticism letters offering 167–8 self 108 cross-sectional study 58, 66 dashes 270 data analysis 67–8 results v 65 sharing, policies 150–2 databases, electronic, reference management 102, 103 dates 265 definite article 220 “demographics” 69 design, study 56 statistical contribution 37 determiners 231–5 discussion 85–9, 90 checklist questions 112 in draft 14, 15, 16 material in introduction v 52 postgraduate thesis 182 in randomised controlled trials, reporting guidelines 26–7 verb tense in 224 documentation, archiving 116–17 double negatives 257 double-spacing 113 drafts 14–17 number 14, 15, 108–9 review 107–8 duplicate publication 147–9 early release 133, 152–3 ecological studies 58 editor/editorial team 121–3, 132–3 acceptance/rejection decisions by 123, 125–6, 130–1, 132–3 becoming an editor 143–5 review by 121–2 submission to see submission editorials 168–9 electronic databases, reference management 102, 103 electronic journal 153–7 electronic Science Citation Index 158 electronic submission 116 e-letters 153–5 ellipses 262 email, time management 280 embargoes 137–8 emotive terms 251–3 em-rule 270 Endnote 102 en-rule 270 epidemiological studies features 57–8 reporting guidelines 25 large studies 150 errors final check 134 references 103–4 type I and II 60–1 ethical approval 55–6 ethnic groups 219 exclamation marks 262 fast-track publishing 133, 152–3 feedback 9, 108, 109–10, 276–7 figures 78, 78–82, 90, 114 checklist questions 112 in Cochrane review 174 in draft 15, 16 final check 134 finishing your paper 93–120 flow of ideas 199–202 fog, eliminating 192–5, 211, 278 font 114 format and formatting 90, 113 postgraduate thesis 181–2 see also structure framework 14 full-stop 261–2 galleys 133–4 gender-specific pronouns 235 “ghost” authors 40–1 “gift” authors 32, 40 grammar 214–45 graphs/graphics 78–82 groups in tables 76–8 guarantors 41 “guest” authors 40–1 histograms, multidimensional 80–1 hyphenation 114, 270–1 ICMJE (International Council of Medical Journal Editors) 21–2, 24 impact factors 158–62 indefinite article 220 independence, author 35 Index Medicus, journals listed 17 infinitives 225–6 Ingelfinger rule 137 instructions to authors 14, 23–4, 110–12 intellectual contributions to paper 33 International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) 21–2, 24 Internet, searching 273–4 289 Index see also web; websites interquartile range 82, 83 interventions 61–2 introduction 51–4, 90 checklist questions 111 draft form 14, 15 verb tense in 224, 224–5 it 234 journals choice 17–21 electronic 153–7 impact factors 158–62 peer-reviewed 17, 121–4 rapid response features 154, 168 website see website justification, left 114 key words 101 large studies, reporting results 149–50 left justification 114 legends, figure 82 length abstract 50 sentence 203–4, 207 thesis 178 title 94, 95 whole paper 14–17 instructions to authors 23–4 word 250, 251 letters 165–8 levels 255 literature review article written as see narrative review in paper 52, 53 in postgraduate thesis 179–80, 182 log sheets, data sharing 151–2 materials see method mean 82, 83 meaning (words/terms), wrong 250 media, mass, releasing results to 136–8 median 82, 83 mentoring 282–5 Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology 25 method(s), materials and 54–64, 90 checklist questions 111 criticisms of 132 in draft 14, 15, 16 in postgraduate thesis 182 in randomised controlled trials, reporting guidelines 26–7 verb tense in 224 methodology studies 58 MOOSE checklist 25 multicentre studies, reporting results 149–50 290 multidimensional histograms 80–1 multivariate analyses 84–5 names, researchers’, citation 104–5 narrative review 169–72 postgraduate literature review written as 179–80 see also Cochrane Collaboration; systematic review negatives 255–7 netprints 155–7 nouns 215–19 antecedent 232 apostrophes in 267 verbs and, muddling 228 numbers participants (sample size) 59–61, 73–4, 75–6, 78 reporting 74–6 object(s) 191–2, 198, 209 pronouns as 232 objectives/aims in abstract 50 in discussion 86 in introduction 53 objectivity 72 observational studies, reporting guidelines 25 odds ratio, small 73–4 online information see Internet; websites and entries under electronic orphan lines 114 outcome measures in abstract 50 packaging 113 page proofs 133–4 paragraphs discussion 86–9 introduction 51 results 64 topic sentences at beginning 64, 66, 189–91, 199, 211 parallel structures 208–10 parentheses 267–9 participants 248–50 in abstracts 50 baseline characteristics 68 in methods 56–9 number (sample size) 59–61, 73–4, 75–6, 78 passive verb 223 peer review by coauthors/coworkers 106–10 electronic articles and 156 by journal 17, 121–4 of letter 168 pejorative terms 249 performed 229 Index personal communications, citing 105 photographs 81 phrases 195, 239, 242 long and redundant 203 pie charts 79 plain English 188–9 planning stage 12–17 plurals 216–18 apostrophes 267 postgraduate theses 178–85 power 61 precision measures 83 preposition(s) 235–9 verbs interchanged with 228 prepositional clause 240, 241 presentation 112–15 press, releasing results to 136–8 prestige, journal 21 probability (P) 61, 72, 73, 74, 84 pronouns 231–5, 243–4, 249–50 proofs and proofreading 133–4 public health actions recommended in discussion 89 Public Library of Science 155 publishing 147–64 fast-track/early release 133, 152–3 your reasons for 1–3 punctuation 261–72 title 97 “quadrant II activity” 5–7 quality see scientific merit and quality Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses (QUOROM) statement 25–8 question, in title 98 question marks 262 questionnaires 61 randomised controlled trials 71 baseline characteristics 69, 70 CONSORT reporting guidelines 24–5, 26–7, 71, 111 features 57 flow chart 28 range 82, 83 rapid communication 153 rapid response features of journals 154, 168 redundant phrases 203 redundant publication 147–9 reference(s) and citations 62, 90, 101–6 checklist questions 112 in Cochrane review 174 in draft 15, 16 see also impact factor; literature review; Science Citation Index Reference Manager 102 rejection 130–2, 133 appeals 133 repetition, avoiding 201–2 see also tautology reporting numbers 74–6 standardised guidelines 24–9 responsibilities, research conduct of research 35 postgraduate 178–9 resubmission 125–6, 132 results 63–85, 90 abstract 50 checklist questions 111–12 Cochrane review 174, 175 draft 14, 15, 16 figures explaining 79 interpretation 72–4 introduction 53–4 large studies, reporting 149–50 postgraduate thesis 182 press release 136–8 randomised controlled trials, reporting guidelines 26–7 reasons for publishing 1–3 verb tense in 224 review 121–46 letters 168 paper 112, 121–46 by coauthors/coworkers 106–10 electronic articles and 156 electronic post-publication 154 peer review see peer review writer’s group 277 see also literature review reviewer anonymity 124 becoming a 5, 138–46 checklists 110–11 comments 140–3 replying to 127–30 criticising methods 132 Review Manager (RevMan) 29, 173, 175 revision 125–6 running title 101 sample size, study 59–61, 73–4, 75–6, 78 Science Citation Index 157–8 scientific meetings see conferences scientific merit and quality evaluation 157, 160–1 reviewers on 112 search engines 273–4 semicolons 263 sentences adverbs at beginning 229–30 assertive, in title 98–9 compound 240 flow between 199–202 grammar 214–45 length 203–4, 207 291 Index parallel 208–10 punctuation see punctuation topic 64, 66, 189–91, 199, 211 transition words at beginning 198, 200 verbs at end 229 significance 61, 63, 72, 73, 74, 84 slashes 270 space, physical (for writing) 7–8 spelling 258–9 split infinitives 225–6 spread, measures of 82, 83 square brackets 269 standard deviation 69, 82, 83 standard error 69, 82, 83, 83–4 standardised reporting guidelines 24–9 statistician, role 36, 37 statistics 63, 82–4, 85 sample size calculations 60–1 in tables of baseline characteristics 69 storage 116–17 structure (construction) 9, 12–92 guidelines 90 planning 12–17 see also format and specific parts of paper study design see design style 9, 188–213 citations 102–3 writing reviewer comments 141 subject 191–2, 198, 209 pronouns as 232 submission 115–16 to another journal 126, 131 resubmission 125–6, 132 systematic review 29, 57, 172–6 tables 76–8, 90, 114 baseline characteristics in 68, 69, 70 checklist questions 112 in Cochrane review 174 in draft 15, 16 for response to reviewer comments 127–30 tautology 205–6 terms emotive 251–3 standardising 246–8 that 243–4, 249–50 theses 178–85 those 234 thought tight writing 202–6 time of day/week for writing management 5–7, 280 title 93–101 annotations/review 170 292 figure 82 letter 166 paper 90, 93–101 rewriting, in writers’ groups 278 table 78 title page 100–1 topic sentences 64, 66, 189–91, 199, 211 transition words 198, 200 trials 24–9, 71–2 characteristics 57–8 standardised reporting guidelines 24–9 see also specific types of trials typeface (font) 114 type I and II error 60–1 uniform requirements 21–2 unpublished work, citing 105 Vancouver guidelines/criteria 21 authorship 30, 31, 38, 39, 43 citation style 102, 103 verbs 191–2, 198, 209, 221–9 visual appearance 112–15 web, citing information on 105–6 websites see also Internet cited by this book documents other than papers 185–6 finishing your paper 118–19 preparation/planning stage 44–5 publishing 162–3 punctuation 271–2 review and editorial processes 145 search engine help 274 style 212–13 support systems 285–6 words 260–1 writing your paper 91 citing address of 105–6 journal early release on 153 rapid response on 154, 168 your, your paper on 135 which 243–4 withdrawal from a journal 126 word(s) 246–66 choice 246–66 order of 197–9 total number of see length transition 198, 200 unnecessary 205–8 word processors 13–14 writer’s block 281–2 writers’ groups 274–81 writing, principles 48–92 postgraduate thesis 181–5 .. .Scientific Writing Easy when you know how Scientific Writing Easy when you know how Jennifer Peat Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney and. .. learnt to dance Alexander Pope (1688–1744)* Everything is easy when you know how! The skill of scientific writing is no exception To be a good writer, all you need to is learn and then follow a... paragraph Once you can write what you mean, put your content in the correct order, and make your document clear and pleasurable for others to read, you can consider yourself an expert writer By developing