Post on 11-Apr-2017
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Elements of Scientific writingDr.Muhammad Attique
Khan Shahid Principa Govt CollegeJhang
Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas Edison
Outline Qualities of good writing Ways to improve Seven steps to success Common Problems Ethics in Publishing Tips on Graphics
Qualities of good writing
Some Qualities of good writing
• Reader-Based• Purposeful• Clear• Correct• Simple• No invented words• No Jargon• Few, if any, abbreviations
Ways to Improve Writing
Ways to Improve Writing
Practice: Set aside some time each day to write. WRITE WHAT ??????????? ANYTHING. What you write is not as important as that you write.
Model: Model your writing after a good writing. Use examples of good journals to begin to differentiate between writing that is easy to read and
writing that is painful to read
Seven Steps to Successful Writing
1. Prepare Identify your reader: Who is the reader? What does he already know? What are his priorities?
Establish your purpose:Clarify, Inform, notify, Convince, Justify
2. ResearchYou must understand your subject
Trying to write about unsure subject, will make it harder and time consuming
Sources of information are:DatabasesLibraryColleaguesProfessors
3. Free writeGet your ideas down on paperStart writing whatever comes into your mindIt is the best cure for writer’s blockFree writing for 10 minutes gets creativity goingThe more you write, the more ideas you’ll haveForget grammar, punctuation, organization and spellingGo back later to edit for clarity, conciseness and correctness
4. OrganizeMake an outlineLook over your free writingChoose main PointsArrange in order of importanceChoose supporting details for each point
5. Write• Follow your outline• Get the main ideas and supporting details
down on paper• Start with your most important
information first• You will polish up later
6. ReviseIt is the most important step; now check forthe following:
A. Unity: Do sentences in a paragraph contribute to the central idea?
B. Coherence: Is relationship between sentences and paragraphs clear to reader?Transitions connect ideas, indicate relationships and keep reader’s mind moving
Common Transitions include:Addition:
moreover, further, besides, and, likewise, also, nor, too, again, additionally, equally important, next
Comparison: similarly, likewise, in the same manner
Contrast: but, yet, however, still, nevertheless, on the other hand, on the
contrary, even so, in contrast to this, at the same time, otherwise, nonetheless
Place:here, beyond, nearby, opposite, adjacent to, on the opposite sideResult:
hence, therefore, accordingly, consequently, thus, as a resultSummary:
to sum up, in brief, on the whole, in short, as we have said, in other words, that isTime:
meanwhile, at length, soon, in a few days, in the meantime, afterward, later, now
7. ProofreadLOVE IS BLIND:Researched itWrote itRewrote itRevised itThus
You Will Have Hard Time to Find Errors
Tricks to Proofreaders• Enlarge the type
We see mistakes if they’re larger
• Read your writing out LOUD:We hear mistakes that we do not see
Common Problems
A. The Passive VoiceDr. Peterson wrote the abstract:
Active voice gives a sense of : strength, energy, vitality
and motion
The abstract was written by Dr. Peterson: Passive voice slows things down,
and it’s shorter
Debating the Active versus the passive voice
• Active: It is self-promoting and shows lack of humility
• Passive: If you did it, so say you did• Active: Scientist should stay out of the work• Passive: overuse of passive voice is
confusing, it promotes misplaced modifiers • Passive : makes the writers less accountable• Active : it does not make you less accountable
B. Long Sentences• Science is complex enough without using
overly complicated sentences to explain it• One enemy to clarity is long sentences• Meaning can get lost because too much is
going on in one sentence• Do not ask your sentences to do more
than they can
“Among good writers, It is the short sentences that predominates”
William Zinsser
Guidelines for Clearing out Clutter
Lack of clarity is No.1 problem for editors
Wordiness is an obstacle to readers Write to communicate NOT to impress Keep sentences short (>17 words discourage readers Avoid pompous or pretentious language
Guidelines for Clearing out Clutter; cont’d
Use specific words Reduce no. of words in a phrase:
In the near future soon is of the opinion believes a sizable percentage of manyOwing to the fact that since in spite of the fact that although
Guidelines for Clearing out Clutter
• Don’t repeat words or ideas (a palliative, non-curative treatment)
• Be aware of: who, which, and that (clutter the sentences)
• Avoid the careless use of the word this• Sharpen your words with precise meaning (Not
infrequently ????)• Get rid of excess words• Limit “To Be” phrases (is lacking lacks)
The Publishing Process
Major Journals rejects 60 to 70%
NEJM & JAMA: Rejection rate 90%
Journals do not reject good articles
Good Articles get accepted
The Most Common Reasons for Rejections
A. The manuscript is inappropriate for the journal and its audience
“Information for authors” :
The mission statementThe type of articles acceptedThe journal’s ReaderThe manuscript formatSpecific Instructions (abstracts, keywords, copyright, tables and figures, references, any charges
B. The Manuscript describes poorly designed
or poorly conducted studies: Inadequate samples Insufficient Information Biased samples Confounding factors Vague endpoints Straying from the hypothesis Poor control of numbers
C. The manuscript is poorly written
Editors: “ we have received a manuscriptthat was filled with errors that we could notEvaluate
Reviewers: “ Any time readers noticegrammatical or stylistic lapses, theirattention is drawn away from your message
Taking It Step by Step:
1. Should I Write an article for a journal?(New, True, Important, Comprehensible, useful)
2. Why do I want to write this article?3. What are the major pitfalls I might run
into ? 4. Did someone beat me to the punch?
5. How are my findings related to the existing body of knowledge?
6. What is the most appropriate journal?7. Did you read the “information for
authors” page in the chosen journal?8. Did you decide on the format of your
article? (IMRAD)
IMRAD FormatIntroduction
Why did you start?Present tense
ResultsWhat did you find?
Past tense
Methods What did you do?
Past tense
DiscussionWhat do your results mean?
Present tense
9. Organize your research (index card, references)
10. Construct the tables and figures (title, footnote, legends, labels for axes)
Make tables & figures fully informative
11. Develop an outline: arrange in a logical order Methods: chronological format is best Results: most important finding first
A look at each Section
Title: Catch the reader’s attention Short, specific and clear < 10 words Indicative rather than informative State the subject and not the
conclusion
Indicative: A Comparison of Paroxetine and Clomipramine in OCD
Informative:Clomipramine More Effective Than Paroxetine in OCD
Title: Avoid abbreviations, acronyms Choose carefully, titles provide information for data bases Be brief, be interesting, be concise Avoid the temptation to use cute, misleading, dishonest or too provocative titles
An epidemiological study of radiation received by male employees of a nuclear processing plant and other residents in the vicinity and its relation to the incidence of childhood leukemia
Toooooo longNot interesting
ClumpsyNot provocative
Title:“Radiation to residents near a nuclear
reprocessing plant and its relation to childhood leukemia: an epidemiological study”
Needs to be much shorter and more interesting
Title: Leukemia Shock from Nuclear Waste Dump
Should be left to tabloid professionalsStrayed into the world of
sensationalism
Title:“Nuclear reprocessing, radiation exposure, and childhood leukemia: an epidemiological study”
Tells what the paper is about not misleading
contain all key words for electronic retrieval
Easy to understandcatches the eye
provoke curiosity
The abstract Overview of an article Stimulate reader interest Self-contained: limit the length to 250 words or
less Read the guidelines for abstract Main pitfalls: no clear question, too
long, too detailed
Use verbal signals to indicate parts of abstractAvoid abbreviations when possible
Use present tense for the introduction and discussion
Use past tense for methods and results
Use active voice, short sentences, avoid jargon
Introduction: background and hypothesis or question
Materials & Methods: what, where, how, whom, when
Results: clearly and concisely what you found
Discussion: answer to the question & suggestion
to new study
The Introduction Should answer the question: Why was the work done? Should describe the problem of interest Should have prior work done Should have the research question No need for extensive introduction
Materials and Methods Should answer the question; How did you carry out the research ?
Should provide other researchers with a blueprints of the study to be replicated
It judges the quality of study design and procedures and validity of results
Materials and Methods Design: Randomized, controlled study, clinical trial, case
control Study population: complete description of participants,
how selected or assigned Setting: where the study population was selected Interventions: description of treatments, therapy or
measurements instruments Outcome Measure: How data were analyzed, and its
statistical analysis ( appropriateness ? Correct ?)Past tense
Results One of the editors at the New England Journal of Medicine says:
“In my opinion, the best results section would be “ The results of the study can be seen in Table 1.”
Results Don’t repeat what is obvious in tables &
figures
Present the data in straight forward, factual manner without comments or interpretation
Write it in the past tense
Discussion Assess the meaning of the results
Answer the question
Takes the most time
Present tense
Discuss controversial issues clearly
Stress (not conceal) anomalous results
OK to speculate
Mention how your study fits into the existing knowledge
Avoid unqualified statements not supported by data
Submitting your Manuscript
Suggestions from the Editors: Cover letter to the editor; why his journal Transfer of copyright signed by all authors Read “instructions to authors” and follow it Check references
Include only tables, graphs that show data efficiently more than text
Make captions clear, concise
Check tables against text, number each graph accurately
List authors’ affiliation
Key words for indexing (MeSH)
Ethics In Publishing
1. Authorship: It should be based on substantial contributions to:
Design and ConceptionDrafting article & revising it criticallyFinal approval of published version
Participation solely based on getting fund or collection of data does not justify authorship
General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship
Biostatistician; pay him/or include him on author’s list (design, evaluation)
2. Plagiarism:Everyone involved in the publishing process has a responsibility to maintain the highest standards of ethics
It is the act of submitting the work of others as your own work, in whole or in part
Avoid unintentional plagiarism
3. Fraud:Takes many forms. It ‘s fraud if you fabricate a report in whole or in part. It’s fraud if you suppress data that does not support your hypothesis or report good
news and omit the bad.
In order to avoid any possibility of fraud, insist on reviewing all protocols and data
Once you put your name on a report, you become responsible and accountable for every part whether you wrot
4. Duplicate Publication: If a journal unknowingly publishes a
previously published article, the journal will make a statement in an editorial or the letters to editor column.
Tips on Using Graphics Graph, table, chart, map or photo can inform
more effectively Needs to be absolutely accurate Use minimum number of graphics Make all parts of the graphic legible Make the terms used in the graphic consistent
with the terms used in the text Be consistent in format, size and terminology
Thank You for listening