Raoul Breugelmans

Preparing Manuscripts for Publication

How to Increase Your Chances of Acceptance

Department of Medical Education

Tokyo Medical University

Correct, clear, concise

Style conventions

General requirements

Cover letter and submission

Photo from iStockphoto.com (#1261482)

Plain English

approximately _____________________

provided that _____________________

in order to _____________________

prior to _____________________

subsequent to _____________________

by means of _____________________

at present _____________________

about

if

to

before

after

by

now

Simple words?

Subject-verb agreement

A subject and its verb must agree in number.

BUT...

The number of the subject is not always clear!

Subject-verb agreement

Administration and scoring are described.

subject + “and” + subject plural verb

“is” or “are”?

Subject-verb agreement

Saline or the test compounds were injected into

the rat's tail vein.

subject + “or” + subject number of the closer subject

“was” or “were”?

Subject-verb agreement

The test compounds or saline was injected into

the rat's tail vein.

subject + “or” + subject number of the closer subject

“was” or “were”?

Dangling modifiers

a. Using immunohistochemistry, CUP tumors

overexpressed EGFR in 66% of cases.

b. Using immunohistochemistry, we showed that

CUP tumors overexpressed EGFR in 66% of

cases.

c. Using immunohistochemistry, 66% of cases

showed overexpression of EGFR in CUP tumors.

d. Using immunohistochemistry, 66% of CUP

tumors showed overexpression of EGFR.

Which is correct?

Dangling modifiers

a. Using immunohistochemistry, CUP tumors

overexpressed EGFR in 66% of cases.

b. Using immunohistochemistry, we showed that

CUP tumors overexpressed EGFR in 66% of

cases.

c. Using immunohistochemistry, 66% of cases

showed overexpression of EGFR in CUP tumors.

d. Using immunohistochemistry, 66% of CUP

tumors showed overexpression of EGFR.

A modifier in front of the subject must modify that subject!

Which is correct?

Parallelisms and comparisons

The lymphocytes of treated patients were larger

than untreated patients.

Correct?

Lymphocyte of

treated patient Untreated patient

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Parallelisms and comparisons

The lymphocytes of treated patients were larger

than untreated patients.

The lymphocytes of treated patients were larger

than those of untreated patients.

The lymphocytes were larger in treated patients

than in untreated patients.

Comparisons must be made between likes!

Correct?

A was larger than B

A of X was larger than that of Y

A was larger in X than in Y

Parallelisms and comparisons

Correct, clear, concise

Style conventions

General requirements

Cover letter and submission

Units of measure

Correct?

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So what?

有意差わ認められなかった。

Units of measure

SPACING!

number + unit 25 cm

125 V/s

5 years

Exceptions: % C

45%

23C

Units of measure

Correct?

Units of measure

number + unit of measure:

all numbers numeral 5 cm

34 cm

number + regular noun:

0-9 spell out seven hospitals

10 and above numeral 24 hospitals

Spell out or numeral?

Units of measure

Correct!

Correct?

Units of measure

Abbreviations of units of measure

Always abbreviate:

e.g.

centimeter cm

liter L

deciliter dL

kilogram kg

Abbreviate only in a virgule

construction (e.g. 2 mm/h)

and in tables and figures:

e.g.

second s

minute min

hour h

day d

week wk

year y

Commonly misused words and phrases

result known “outcome”

result unknown but expected “prognosis”

Correct?

Commonly misused words and phrases

Correct?

0-1 month neonate, newborn

1-12 months infant

1-12 years child

boy, girl

13-17 years adolescent, teenager

adolescent boy, adolescent girl

18 years and older adult

man, woman

study group with mixed age groups “males” “females”

Commonly misused words and phrases

“case” = instance of a disease

“patient” = person

Commonly misused words and phrases

Correct?

Nominalizations

weak verb + noun strong verb

Correct?

Nominalizations

a. A biopsy of the mass was performed.

b. The mass was biopsied.

c. None of the above.

Which is correct?

Nominalizations

American Medical Association (AMA)

Manual of Style 9th Edition

Nominalizations

BUT

10th Edition:

9th Edition:

Nominalizations

Abbreviations

All patients underwent a CT (computed tomography) scan.

All patients underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan.

Correct?

Basic rules

Avoid non-standard abbreviations

Abbreviate only if the term appears several times

Avoid abbreviations in titles or headings

Define abbreviations at first appearance

Define both in the abstract and in the main text

Once defined, use only the abbreviation

Study the target journal!!

Abbreviations

1. calcitonin カルシトニン

2. cardiac tamponade 心タンポナーデ

3. cardiothoracic (ratio) 心胸〔郭〕比(係数)

4. Cardiovascular Technologist 心血管〔臨床〕技師

5. carotid tracing 頸動脈トレーシング

6. carpal tunnel 手根管

7. cationic trypsinogen 陽イオントリプシノーゲン

8. cell (cellular) therapy 細胞療法

9. center thickness 中心厚

10. cerebral thrombosis 脳血栓症

11. cerebral tumor 脳腫瘍

12. cervical traction 頸部牽引

13. chemotaxis 化学走性，走化性

14. chemotherapy 化学療法

15. chest tube 胸腔留置管

16. chloramine T クロラミンT

17. chlorothiazide クロロチアジド，クロロサイアザイド

18. cholera toxin コレラ毒素

19. chordae tendineae 腱索

20. chronic thyroiditis 慢性甲状腺炎

21. chymotrypsin キモトリプシン

22. circulation time 循環時間

23. classic technique 古典的技術

24. closed thoracotomy 閉鎖式開胸術

25. clotting time 〔血液〕凝固時間

26. coagulation time 凝固時間

27. coated tablet 被覆加工錠，コーティング錠

28. cobra toxin コブラ毒素

29. cognitive therapy 認知療法

30. coil test コイルテスト

31. collecting tubule 集合管

32. combined tumor 混合型腫瘍

33. compressed tablet 圧縮錠〔剤〕 34. computed tomography コンピュータ断層撮影〔法〕 35. connective tissue 結合組織，組合〔組〕織

36. continue treatment 治療を継続せよ

37. continuous-flow tub 持続流槽

38. contraction time 収縮時間

39. controlled temperature 調整温度

40. Coombs test クームス試験(テスト)

41. corneal thickness 角膜厚

42. corneal transplant 角膜移植〔片〕 43. coronary thrombosis 冠〔状〕動脈血栓症

44. corrected transposition 修正転位〔症〕 45. corrective therapy 矯正治療

46. cortical thickness 皮質厚

47. cough threshold 咳の閾値

48. cover test 遮へい試験

49. crutch training 松葉杖訓練

50. cystine-tellurite シスチン-亜テルル酸塩

51. cytarabine, 6-thioguanine シタラビンと6-チオグアニン

52. cytotechnologist 細胞検査技師

53. cytotoxic therapy 細胞毒性治療

What does “CT” stand for?

Abbreviations

New England Journal of Medicine

Correct, clear, concise

Style conventions

General requirements

Cover letter and submission

“Vancouver Style”

Use the “IMRAD” structure

for original research articles

(unless your target journal

gives other instructions)

IMRAD Introduction, Methods,

Results and Discussion

Subheadings may be needed

for long manuscripts

Double space the entire

manuscript

(including the title page,

references, and tables!)

Double spacing is needed

even for online submissions

Leave sufficient margins

(at least 2.5 cm)

Number all pages starting

with the title page

Concise title

Authors’ names and affiliations

Corresponding author

Sources of support

Running head (short title)

Word counts

Number of figures and tables

Title page

State： ・ Background and purpose

・ Basic procedures

・ Main findings

・ Main conclusions

Emphasize new and important

aspects

Abstract

Background

Purpose and hypothesis

Only pertinent references

No results or conclusions

Introduction

Only information that was known

in the planning stage

Detailed description of methods

and equipment

Others should be able to

reproduce the results

Methods

Effective use of text, tables, and

figures

Emphasize only the most

important results

Results

Emphasize the new and

important points

Avoid duplication with other

sections

State limitations of the study

Give implications for future

research or clinical practice

Only conclusions that are

supported by the data

Discussion

Correct, clear, concise

Style conventions

General requirements

Cover letter and submission

Statement about any potential redundant publication

Conflict of interest (COI) statement

Statement that all authors have approved the paper,

… that all authors qualify for authorship,

… and that the manuscript represents honest work

Contact information of the corresponding author

＋ e-mail！

www.ronbun.jp

Submit

Review

Revision needed Reject Accept

Revise, reply

Re-submit

Accept Reject Revise

Proofread

From submission to publication

Proofread

Published

Published

Journal

Author

Submit to other journal

Re-review needed

Correct, clear, concise

Style conventions

General requirements

Cover letter and submission