Cách Viết Bài Báo Khoa Học (Scientific Paper Writing)

Writing the Abstract• Structured vs Unstructured • Structured Abstract outlines: – Purpose Aims os ojective/Background – Methods of the work – Important findings Results – Conclusion...

CÁCH VIẾT BÀI BÁO KHOA HỌC

(SCIENTIFIC PAPER WRITING)

Scientific Writing Workshop

HCM City, Vietnam, 26-27 Nov 2011

Organised by the Univerity of Medicine & Pharmacy, HCMC.

Endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Association

of Medical Journal Editors (APAME )

CÁCH VIẾT BÀI BÁO KHOA HỌC

Scientific Writing Workshop HCM City, Vietnam, 26-27 Nov 2011

- Professor Datuk Dr L.M Looi

Professor of Pathology, University of Malaya, &

Editor-in-Chief, Malaysian Journal of Pathology

- Professor Wilfred CG Peh

Singapore Medical Journal, National University of Singapore

- Professor JF Lapeña Jr M.A., M.D., F.P.C.S

Univerity of Phillipines Manila, The Health Sciences Center

- Professor Dr John T Arokiasamy

International Medical University, Malaysia

Editorial Advisor, Medical Journal of Malaysia

WHY WRITE?

WHY PUBLISH?

Writing is a way of life in Science:

• Search for knowledge & understanding

• Ideas & hypothesis testing

• Factual observations

• Accurate records

• Challenge & Debate

THE PURPOSE OF

PUBLICATION

• A scientific experiment is not

completed until results are published

• Inform peers of discoveries

• Allow other workers to verify findings

• Join the realm of scientists and

scholars

How to write?

A good paper has content, structure

and style

Basic Structure : IMRAD

I ntroduction : Why did we start?

M ethod ( M aterials & M ethods): What

Scientific Writing Style

• Factual, literal & unemotional

vs metaphorical & poetic

• Precise vs ambiguous

• Concise vs repetitive

• Formal vs conversational

– according to guidelines for the

specific paper type

American Journal of Roentgenology

11

Title, Abstract, Keywords

The Title

- It should be short, clear, informative,

precise and specific.

- It should have maximum information with minimum words

- It should attract readers with similar

interests to read the document

- The title is reviewed after the document being prepared is completed

The Title

• “Gastrointestinal manifestations of Dengue

infection in adults”

• Psychological Distress, Quality of Life, and

Coping in Cancer Patients: A Prospective Study

MJM Dec 2008

• May describe the subject of the article:

“Pattern of lung cancer in Malaysia”

• May describe the focus in a field of study:

“The relationship of obesity and exercise in Diabetes Mellitus”

• May describe the outcome of an experiment:

“Aflatoxin induces liver cancer in rats”

• This is most widely read

• Sometimes referred to as the summary

• Located at the beginning of the article

• It must be easily understood to one who is

not reading the whole article

• Conveys scope of the study

• Provides as much information as possible in

a limited space

Uses of Abstract

• Helps decide if the paper is worth reading

• Helps readers keep up to date with new

developments

• Available in on-line databases

Writing the Abstract

• Structured vs Unstructured

• Structured Abstract outlines:

– Purpose (Aims os ojective)/Background – Methods of the work

– Important findings (Results)

– Conclusion

UNSTRUCTURED ABSTRACT

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT

Writing the Abstract

• Use simple language

• Objective and factual

• Avoid abbreviations, references

• Maximum length is 250 words

• Followed by 3 to 10 keywords

• Inserted at the end of the abstract

• Helps compilation of index and cross

referencing

• Helps literature search

• Based on the focus of the study

• Captures main topics of the article

• 3 to 10 words

• Terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH

terms) list in Index Medicus are used

Writing the Introduction

What am I going to say?

• Introduce a specific topic

• Provide background information about what has already been done by others, supported

by a limited number of relevant references

• Inform about the purpose of the paper, what it will address, and how it relates to previous

work

3S: Short, Sharp, Swift

Writing the Introduction

The 3 paragraph rule:

• What is the problem? (1 st paragraph)

- Describe the problem to be investigated

• Why is it important? (2 nd paragraph)

- Review relevant research to provide rationale; show the gap

• What solution do you propose? ( 3 rd paragraph)

- Briefly describe your ideas: hypothesis(es), aim; research question(s)…

1st paragraph

2nd paragraph

3rd paragraph

Writing the Introduction

Common errors:

• Overlong and rambling introduction section

• Extensive listing of references

• Extensive critique of others’ work

• Important previous work missing

• Objectives not clearly stated

• Inclusion of data or conclusions from the work being reported

WRITING THE MATERIALS AND METHODS

Also known as

– Subjects and methods

– Patients and methods

– Methodology

– Methods

• Most important part of paper

• Flaws in this section will lead to rejection

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

Purpose of M&M

• Describe study in sufficient detail

• Other competent researchers are able to repeat the study

• Details are important

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

Components of M&M

• What was done?

• How was it done? • How was it done?

• How was the data analysed?

• Do not include data obtained during course of study (Results)

WRITING THE MATERIALS

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

MATERIALS

• How subjects were recruited

– patients, animals, controls

– genus, species, strain – genus, species, strain

– age, gender, nutrition, physiological and pathological status

WRITING THE MATERIALS

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

METHODS

Statistical evaluation

• Which test used?

• Why it was chosen

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Common problems

• Inappropriate subject population

• Bias not controlled for

• Insufficient number of subjects

WRITING THE MATERIALS

AND METHODS

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Common problems

• Inappropriate subject population

• Bias not controlled for

• Insufficient number of subjects

WRITING THE RESULTS

I ntroduction : Why did you start?

M ethod : What did you do?

R esults : What did you find?

D iscussion : What does it mean?

What did you find?

– The “Meat” of the paper

– Data should relate to Materials and Methods

• Common error: Data provided but no methodology

• Methods described but no findings

– Present findings in logical sequence

WRITING THE RESULTS

Organisation is important

• Organise data either in chronological order

according to the Methods or in order of

most to least important

• Summarise the findings and point readers

to the relevant data in the text, tables or

graphs

• Present the data in the text, or in a table, or

in a figure Never present the same data in more than one way

WRITING THE RESULTS

Write logically & accurately

• Short and sweet; no long descriptions

• Accuracy is important

– Do numbers add up?

– Are titles of tables and legends adequate and accurate?

– Do arrows point to the right feature?

– Statistical statements

• Effective use of tables and illustrations

WRITING THE RESULTS

Common faults

• Illogical sequence of data presentation

• Too much raw data

• Poor grouping of data

• Inaccurate data

• Repetition of data

• Inappropriate presentation of data

• Results do not match materials & methods

• Attempts to interpret and draw conclusions

- Present data in a summarized form

- Keep objectives in mind

- Avoid discussing results in the “Results” section.

- Significant results supported by e.g

p-value

Confidence interval

Statistical Presentation

• Decimals and digits

– P = 0.00254321 or p = 0.003 or p < 0.003

• Units are important

• Explain why a certain analysis is done

• Care with using numbers when

comparing groups: Rates are important

• Computing % - total n is important to

mention

– P values; confidence intervals

• Choice of tables and graphs

• Choice of tests; checking assumptions

Preparing the References

Quality of references

• Specific to the study topic

• Cite the most credible work

• Should have been read

• Accurately cited

• Conform to journal format

• Only work that are cited in the text should be listed

as references

• Cite accepted unpublished work as “In press”

• Citation of website and online journals: include URL and date of access

• Citation of books: include publisher, publication

date, edition, etc

3.Moon IK, Jarstfer MB The human telomere and its relationship to

human disease, therapy, and tissue engineering Front Biosci 2007;

12:4595-620.

4.Kim NW, Piatyszek A, Prowse KR, et al Specific association of human telomerase activity with immortal cells and cancer Science 1994; 266: 2011-2014.

5.Bodnar AG, Ouelette M, Frolkis M, et al Extension of life span by

induction of telomerase into normal human cells Science 1998; 279: 52.

349-6.Opitz OG Telomeres, telomerase and malignant transformation Curr Mol Med 2005: 5: 219-26.

Cheah PL, Looi LM, Ng MH, Sivanesaratnam V (2002) Telomerase

activation and human papillomavirus infection in invasive cervical carcinoma

in a set of Malaysian patients J Clin Pathol, 55, 22-6.

Fordyce CA, Heaphy CM, Bisoffi M et al (2006) Telomere content correlates with stage and prognosis in breast cancer Breast Cancer Res Treat, 99,

193-202

Giri D (2009) Recurrent challenges in the evaluation of fibroepithelial lesions Arch Pathol Lab Med, 133, 713-21

Hara Y, Iwase H, Toyama T et al (2001) Telomerase activity levels for

evaluating the surgical margin in breast-conserving surgery Surg Today, 31, 289-94

Harley CB, Fisher AB, Greider CW (1990) Telomeres shorten during ageing

of human fibroblasts Nature, 345, 458-60.

Authorship and Acknowledgements

Criteria for authorship

Made substantial contributions to the intellectual

content

– Concept and design

– Acquisition of data

– Analysis and interpretation of data

Certify that manuscript represents valid work

–Vouch for validity of data

– Take public responsibility for the work

–Involved in drafting or revising

the manuscript

Ethical issues in Publishing

STUDIES USING HUMAN & ANIMAL SUBJECTS

• Conform to Ethical Guidelines

• Animal Care Committee

FRAUD & FORGERY

• Falsified data & fraudulent results

– Most serious misconduct

– Swindled taxpayer

– Misleading information

• Misrepresent academic credentials

– Reviewers - articles sent for review

– Postgraduate students – published books

& papers

– Researchers – another’s grant application

AUTHORSHIP COMMON UNETHICAL PRACTICES

• Does not apply to secondary publication in different

language with permission of Editors

FAULTS: TITLE, TITLE PAGE, ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS

FAULTS: BACKGROUND, KEYWORDS

FAULTS: MATERIALS & METHODS, RESULTS

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