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How should a scientific manuscript be written for publication?

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How should a scientific manuscript be written for publication?

In brief


Manuscripts may be divided into three categories: original scientific publications, reviews, and case reports. Even though case reports are at a lower level, a component of the evidence hierarchy in evidence-based practice and case series are included in a sizeable portion of health technology assessments. This article will discuss the various steps involved in writing original articles and reviews to give the reader the tools they need to successfully prepare, submit, and publish a manuscript.


Introduction


The first "modern" scientific articles, distinguished by their ad hoc structure and style, emerged in 1665, marking the beginnings and growth of the scientific and technical press. The peer-review procedure for scientific submissions was subsequently established in England and France over 300 years ago to guarantee that papers satisfied the journal's requirements for quality and scientific validity.

Published scientific publications and professional gatherings are essential to spread pertinent information and research findings. Although they can be published later as papers in peer-reviewed journals, most abstracts of presentations made at scientific meetings are often only available in conference proceedings. According to a recent Cochrane analysis, just 44.5% of over 30,000 abstracts from scientific meetings were turned into papers. Therefore, the open reporting of clinical trials is essential to advancing medical knowledge. Unfortunately, several investigations have shown problems with clinical study reporting.



Table I - International trial registries acceptable to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and relevant websites


Registry Website

Australian new Zealand clinical trial registry www.anzctr.org.au


ClinicalTrials.gov www.clinicaltrials.gov

International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register (ISRCTN) www.ISRCTN.org

University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN-CTR) www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm

Netherlands Trial Register www.trialregister.nl/

 

European Union Drug Regulating Authorities Clinical Trials (EudraCT) Database https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/


Any of the primary registries that participate in the WHO International http://www.who.int/ictrp

Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP)

 

Narrative reviews (which include editorials, comments, and narrative summaries or non-systematic narrative reviews), systematic qualitative reviews, and systematic quantitative reviews are the three primary types of literature reviews (meta-analyses)

Table II - Summary of the types of literature reviews

  •  Narrative reviews:
  •  Editorials
  •  Commentaries
  •  Narrative overviews or non-systematic narrative reviews
  • - Qualitative systematic reviews
  • - Quantitative systematic reviews (meta-analyses)

 

In conclusion, a good narrative review should be well-structured, synthesize the relevant evidence, convey a clear message, and reach conclusions supported by data analysis.

 

 

Table III - Main online libraries, catalogues and databases

  • MEDLINE/PubMed
  • Excerpta Medica/EMBASE
  • Scopus
  • Thomson Reuters' Web of Science
  • Cochrane Library
  • Database of Abstracts and Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE)
  • Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)
  • Google Scholar

 

Creating the document There are several models for the first draft. The method that O'Connor and Holmquist have developed helps produce scientific manuscripts. The creation of figures and tables, according to these authors, should come first, followed by the introduction, title, summary statements (conclusions that summarize the main contributions of the manuscript to the scientific community), audience identification, materials and methods, results, discussion, references, and introduction. This algorithm's goal is to provide the manuscript's structural framework. It was created to help scientists who don't speak English as their first language and to help them get beyond writer's block.

The authors of experimental or clinical reports involving patients or volunteers are required by the Uniform Requirements to disclose information regarding institutional, regulatory, and ethical committee approval, informed consent from patients and volunteers, and adherence to the most recent version of the Helsinki Declaration. They should refrain from using a lot of words and other common mistakes like I including information unrelated to the article's stated purpose, (ii) repeating the detailed data that was previously presented in the Results section, (iii) not critically analyzing and interpreting the findings of other studies that were reviewed and cited; (iv) presenting new data or new details about techniques and enrolment criteria; and (v) overstating the miscommunications.

Conclusion:

Many manuscripts are rejected simply because the authors did not follow a few easy criteria for writing a decent article. However, we believe that this article offers the reader the fundamental processes for creating a draft manuscript and an explanation of the procedure for publishing a publication. However, Table IV outlines the 10 principles we strongly recommend following to increase the chance of a scientific paper being published.


Table IV - Ten principles to improve the likelihood of publication of a scientific manuscript, suggested by James M. Provenzale.

1. Organize the manuscript properly

2. State the study question and study rationale clearly

3. Explain the materials and methods in a systematic manner

4. Structure the materials and methods, and results in sections in a similar manner

5. Make the discussion section concise

6. Explain if -and why- your study results are important

7. Avoid the interpretation of the results

8. Explain the limitations of the study

9. Account for unexpected results

10. Fully incorporate reviewers' suggestions into a revised

 

References

Provenzale JM. Ten principles to improve the likelihood of publication of a scientific manuscript. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2007; 188: 1179-82.

Oxman AD, Cook DJ, Guyatt GH. Users' guides to the medical literature, VI. How to use an overview. JAMA 1994; 272: 1367-71.

Liumbruno, Giancarlo Maria, et al. "How to write a scientific manuscript for publication." Blood Transfusion 11.2 (2013): 217.


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