Paola De Castro. The formats of scientific papers

The formats The formats of scientific articlesof scientific articlesThe formats The formats of scientific articlesof scientific articles

How to write a scientific paperHow to write a scientific paper

Paola De Castro

Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma

P. De Castro • The formats of scientific articles • NECOBELAC T1 Course. Dublin - May, 9, 2012

NECOBELAC ModuleNECOBELAC Module

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FIRST STEPS: basic questions

WHAT are my resources? (budget and time)


WHY shall I write an article? (select target)

WHICH information will I share? (select information)

WHERE shall I publish it? (select journal)

WHOM shall I write it with? (select co-authors)

HOW shall I write an article?

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SELECTION

•Journals

(national, international, high IF, online,high rejection rate…)

•Books or chapters therein•Technical reports, conference proceedings•Leaflets•Posters•Conference papers/communications, PPTs•Web “documents” (blogs, wikis, answers, etc.)


Scientific content, authors, target…Track the latest results

Basic editorial rules and best practices applying to all publications Specific rules per publication type or discipline

Editorial style of the journal

Publication types BE FAMILIAR WITH RULES

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Contributions within a journal


• Editorials• Comments• Correspondence• Viewpoints• Original, research articles• Review articles • Case histories• Book reviews

Instructions to authorsTable of contentsPublished articles

REFER TO THE JOURNAL

55 P. De Castro • The formats of scientific articles • NECOBELAC T1 Course. Dublin - May, 9, 2012

NECOBELAC Topic maps


WRITING A JOURNAL ARTICLE…

TitleAbstractKey wordsStructure

IllustrationsReferences

AuthorshipConflicts of interestCopyrightPrivacy

Be aware of the responsibilities of editors, authors, referees, editorial staff

TECHNICAL ISSUES

ETHICAL ISSUES

ROLES

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Instructions to authors for over 6,000 journals in the health and life sciences

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORSFirst and last step for article writing.Submit to the right journal!


Authors’ guideswithin the journal

What can I deposit in a repository?

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BASIC SOURCESNECOBELAC pre-course reading

“Vancouver style”


WHY?

ConciseComplete

Easy

Last up-dating April 2010

EASE guidelines for Authors

in 19 languages


“ICMJE and Vancouver style”

In Vancouver

a SMALL GRUOP OF EDITORS (NEJM, BMJ, Ann Int Med, Lancet, etc.)met in 1978

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF MEDICAL JOURNAL EDITORS (ICMJE)

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Medical Journals:Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication

“Vancouver style”


What isthe “Vancouver style”?

INITIALLY…

Guidelines on standard formats of manuscripts and, in particular, bibliographic references

TODAY

“de facto” standard shared by the most prestigious medical journals (700)…

It includes both manuscript preparation, and ethical issues


Instructions for authors refer to the Uniform requirements (ICMJE)or “Vancouver style”


Contents of “Vancouver style”

I. Statement of Purpose

II. Ethical Considerations in the Conduct and Reporting of Research

III. Publishing and Editorial Issues related to Publication in Biomedical Journals

IV. Manuscript preparation and submission

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II. Ethical considerations

A. Authorship

B. Editorship

C. Peer-review

D. Conflict of interest

E. Privacy

F. Protection of Human Subjects and Animals in Research



A. Authorship

Authorship credit should be based on

1) Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis

and interpretation of data

2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content

3) Final approval of the version to be published.

Who can be defined as author in the by-line?

Funding , data collection or supervision does not allow authorship

Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.


WHICH ORDER for authors?

• Alphabetic order• First, the project leader or person in charge of the Dpt• Last , the person in charge• Other order

There must be agreement among authors

II. Ethical considerations A. Authorship

Guest, ghost, gift authors

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PubMED - Advanced searchallows search for last author


II. Considerazioni etiche. A. Authorship

Examples of “Group Authorship”

Name, surname, on behalf of the HPVPathogen-ISS StudyGroup*

IndicateALL names of the group membersin the Footnote or Appendix

On behalf of the... Study group

XXXXStudy group


Domino effect in error duplication

If group author is not clearly defined• wrong publication• wrong indexing• wrong citation

CREATE AWARENESS AMONG• authors• editors• indexers

II. Ethical considerations. A. Authorship


II. Ethical considerations. A. Authorship Searching Group authors in PubMed

Insert CN (collective name) In your query for group author



B. Editorship

Editorial Board – Advisory Board Collaborate with editors to establish and maintain the journal editorial policy

Editor (editor in chief)Person responsible for its entire content

Editorial Freedom– The editor in chief has full authority of the editorial content

Referees



C. Peer Review

“Extention” of the scientific procesIt applies to both traditional and OA journals

Peer review is widely debated topic, BUT there is no doubt that it helps - editors deciding which manuscripts are suitable for the journals -improving the quality of reporting

DEFINITION

Unbiased and independent assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts (peers) who are not part of the editorial staff

TYPES

Blindeddouble blindedopen

VARIABLES

No. of refereesTimesProcedures (online)

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Pre-publication history of an article in BMC Public Health


SubmissionReview reportRe-submissions

Note on PRIVACY

Reviewers’ comments should not be published

without authors’, reviewers’ and editor’s consent

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REVISION: different levels of responsibility

2. INITIAL EDITORIAL REVIEW after submission (before peer review)


3. PEER REVIEW

after submissionread instructions to authorsread again after some time (one-two days)use check lists

A paper may be rejected if it is not compliant with journal scope and formatsit has poor English

1. AUTHORS’ REVISION before submission

Minor revisionsMajor revisions

Revision improves quality and guarantees a learning opportunity

Authors! Take it seriously!Be prepared to answer all points raised by reviewers

4. TECHNICAL EDITING

after acceptance

Journal editorial staff



D. Conflicts of interestConflicts of interests exist when • an author• his/her institution• an editor• a reviewer• members of the editorial staff

have financial or personal relations

that inappropriately influence

their actions and decisions (bias)

These can have a negative influence on scientific judgement

EXAMPLE of“Disclosure of Conflicts”

2626P. De Castro • The formats of scientific articles • NECOBELAC T1 Course. Dublin - May, 9, 2012

Ethical considerations

E. Privacy and confidentiality

It not only applies to

PATIENTS and study participants Written informed consent

This picturewould not be suitablefor publication

but also to AUTHORS, EDITORS and REVIEWERS


III. Publishing and Editorial issues

Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

Editors-authors and scientific fraud (COPE)

The number of Retractions is dramatically increasing(PubMed)

Obligation to publish negative studies

provided that they are statistically significant


III. Editorial issues

COPYRIGHT

• Most scientific journals still ask for copyright transfer• OA journals follow a different policy• Authors should be able to negotiate their rights

Creative Commons Licenses

Copyright agreements strongly affects deposit in OA repositories


USEFUL TOOLS to manage copyright

SPARC Author Addendum to secure your rights

SHERPA/ROMEOpublishers’ copyright policies & selfarchiving


STRUCTURE of a scientific article

abstracttitle

introductionmaterials and methodsresultsdiscussionconclusions

plus acknowledgements, if anyreferencesappendices, if any

ATTENTION!Do not exceed the required number of words

IV. Manuscript preparation


THE IMRAD STRUCTURE

IntroductionBackground informationState specific purpose of the study Limit referencesDo not include data or conclusions

Material and methodsDescribe (patients, animals, etc.)Define material and equipmentIllustrate proceduresCompare with other methods

And

Discussion and conclusionsStress only new aspectsDo not repeat what was written in the methodsAvoid conclusions which are not associated to reliable data

ResultsShow results in logical orderPoint out only relevant data



Guidelines for the transparent reporting of health research

It includes the major reporting guidelines for scientific research and guides for authors


IV. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Abstract and key words

ABSTRACT

Be carefully that it reflects the content of the article

Report background, basic procedures , main findings in logical way

KEY WORDS

Use MESH terms (MEdical Subject Headings)

ALWAYS FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

TYPES: Descriptive, informative, structured, graphical


MESH terms from the NLM

MESH termsMEdical Subject Headings(NLM)



Bibliographic referencesGENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Include only essential references, “in press “papers may be accepted, but avoid “personal communications

Only some Journals check accuracy of the references

Authors are responsible for their correctness

REFERENCE STYLE AND FORMAT

Authors should consult NLM Citing in medicine

References should be numbered consecutively in the text


EXAMPLES for•Articles in journals•Books•Other published material•Unpublished material•Electronic material

NLM – Citing in Medicine


Basic elements of citation

• Author (personal or group)

• Title of the cited document

• Container (journal, book, etc.)

• Year of publication• Other data

publisher, city for books vol. and pages for journals


Tables and figures

FOR ALL IMAGES• Comply with instructions to authors• Verify that they are mentioned in the text• Check consistency of data with text• Include them in separate files• Number them consecutively• Make captions self sufficient• Check copyright• ….

Units of measurement (IS)Abbreviations and Symbols

WHEN AND HOW TO USE THEM?

Tables details

Graphs trends

Include only necessary data

A figure is worth 1000 words

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The cover letteryour chance to speak to the editor

Editor name(s)Originality of submission

No competing financial interestsDesired reviewersCorresponding author


BASIC INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED

Do not summarize the paper,

but say why it is special

for the journal

Last, but not least…

Any Question?Any Question?Any Question?Any Question?

Thank youThank you

Paola De Castro

[email protected]


Paola De Castro. The formats of scientific papers

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