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Basic Science/Translational Research Original Article :

How to write the best manuscript for a

clinically-oriented journal

Christian GratzkeDept. of UrologyLMU Munich

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Why choosing European Urology as target journal for a basic science / translational manuscript?

What are the prerequisites you need to consider before submitting to Eur Urol?

How do I start?

Results / figures / tables

Introduction and discussion

At the very end

Content

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Why choosing European Urology?

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Impact Factor (2008)

Translational Research

JCO 17.1JNCI 14.9PNAS 9.3Clin Cancer Res 6.4

Basic Research

American Journal of Physiology (AJP)Physiology 7.1Cell 4.2Renal 3.8

Cancer Research 7.5American J. of Pathology 5.6

Int. Journal of Cancer 4.7British Journal of Cancer 4.8

European Urology 6.5

Urological Journals

JSM 5.3J Urol 3.9Prostate 3.5BJU Int 2.7Urology 2.2

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What are the prerequisites you need to consider before submitting to Eur Urol?

Study needs to be relevant for clinicians

If you don´t put basic research (even it is brilliant) into a clinical context, it won´t be suitable for Eur Urol

If the study is not of interest for a broad readership in Eur Urol, it may be more adequate for submission to a specialized journal (e.g. if you describe a new method or a specific technique)

Novelty of the technique / findings

Sufficient amount of data / convincing techniques to support the conclusion

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How do I start?

Describe what you did – lab note book recordings!

Antibody specifications, concentrations, dosages: the reader needs to be able to reproduce the method

If the technique is well-established, it may be referenced

Short passages for each technique employed

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How do I start?

Try to keep it simple, even if it is a sophisticated topic

Descriptions should be crisp and accurate (word count!)

Statistics need to be clearly defined

Don´t forget to mention the ethical permission

If the methods section is unclear, the ms will fail!

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Results / figures / tablesDefine the key message of the ms: this information needs to be highlighted by figures

Use different types of figures (pictures, original tracings/recordings, graphs

Describe your findings

Most important (significant) data belong to the text – tables are useful to provide moreabundant data

Sub-sections help to enhance readibility

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Pitfalls

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Pitfalls

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Introduction

General (clinical) background: what it is about?

What´s been done in this regard in recent years?

What´s promising (e.g. new targets, substances etc)

Clinical trials / studies

Hypothesis / goal of the current study

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Discussion

Short summary

Comparison of results to existing literature

Explain discrepancies („intellectual glue“)

Discussion of limitations / shortcomings

What´s next?

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...at the very end

ConciseAll relevant information to understand the message

Relevance of the topic

What´s new?

Keep it simple!

All relevant results must be mentionedThe objectives phrased above need to be met Limitations should be mentioned!

Conclusion and its implication / relevance

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Thank you!