Writing for Publication

James Munro University of Sheffield

Why write?
Fame and fortune Bolster the CV Pressure from above dissemination

So whats the problem?

No ideas Ideas but no writing Writing but nothing sent off Writing sent off but not accepted

The other problem

Time Writing is a lot of work Even academics dont have time

What well talk about

Writing an academic paper 10 ways to be rejected Magazines and books are a bit different

Any ideas?
Experience Everyday working Problems Costly activities

More ideas
Questions from clinicians especially those you cant answer Things that go wrong Things you disagree with

You already have something

But is it publishable?
Is it interesting? Could it affect practice or policy? Is it generalisable?

Almost everything is publishable

somewhere

Dont start writing yet!

Dont write yet!

Whats the context? Whats the story?

The context

Everybody needs a context

Context for a research paper

Whats already known? Whats unknown? Whats controversial?

The need to know

Providing a context and a question creates the readers need to know

Whats the story?

If this was a news report, what would the headline be? What is the central idea?

BMJ approach
What is already known on this topic? What does this study add?

Outline your story: 1

Context

Once upon a time there were 3 bears

Methods

Outline your story: 2

Results

and she ran home. never go into the woods alone.

Conclusions

Dont start writing yet!

Who is the story for?

Whod like to know? Who needs to know?

Reasons for rejection

The commonest reason editors give is that the subject matter wasnt suitable for their journal

So find the right journal

Get to know the journals in your area What are their interests? What are their styles?

So find the right journal

Where were other papers on this topic published?

Journalology
Refereed or not? Listed in bibliographic databases? Impact factor?

Write for a journal

Select one of the journals which might be interested in your story Write for that journal

Writing for that journal

Instructions for authors

Usually on the web Headings, weighting, referencing, interests

But you need to see a copy

Develop your outline

Introduction Methods Results Discussion

Introduction
What is the issue? What is already known about it? Set up a question in the readers mind Explain why your study is needed

Methods
What did you do? How did you do it? Have a logical order Dont report results here by mistake!

Results
Follow the order of the methods Who? When? What?

Discussion
Summarise the findings Draw out the lessons Acknowledge the limitations What should happen now?

BMJs suggested structure

Statement of principal findings Strengths and weaknesses of the study Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies, discussing particularly any differences in results Meaning of the study: possible mechanisms and implications for clinicians or policymakers Unanswered questions and future research

Structuring
Subheadings are essential For RCTs, use CONSORT For MA of RCTs, QUOROM For MA of observational studies, MOOSE

Macro-editing

Highlight the key sentence in each paragraph

Does the story flow? Give them a specific task

Ask others to read the draft

The little things

Spelling Grammar

Tense, voice, singulars and plurals

Consistent layout Page numbers References See bmj.com

When your paper is rejected

Dont be discouraged!

When your paper is rejected

Try to find out why Does it need revising? Send it off to another journal after checking for style

Referees comments
Dont be defensive You dont have to do everything they suggest But you do have to address each point

Dont!
10 ways to get your paper rejected

1: Choose a journal which has never shown an interest in this subject

2: Write well over the specified word length to show the importance of the topic

3: Try to include at least 10 key messages and some extra data from other studies

4: See if you can improve on the journals standard headings

5: Dont bother with any statistical advice, since nobody understands it

6: Dont worry too much about spelling or grammar

7: Ignore the journals own referencing style

8: Add a few new results in the abstract which you didnt have space for in the main text

9: Use different terms for the same thing interchangeably

10: For a more personal touch, send a handwritten manuscript

Good luck!

Q&A

Mas Candra : Apa yang harus dilakukan apabila ingin melanjutkan ke PTN? Tika Rostika: Dalam membuat CV hal apa saja yang perlu dihindari? Pengalaman relevan dengan CV?Sejauh mana kita boleh mengeksplore CV? Tika: Bagaimana kita FOKUS dalam menulis? Afit: menulis pake outline atau tidak?

Answer

Ibu Julie : Tidak usah disebutkan Curriculum Vitae, Bapak Syafiq: Boleh menulis menggunakan outline, dan jangan takut menulis melebar (baru setelah itu dipilah-pilah), itu lebih baik daripada tidak menulis sama sekali.

Chalida: Apakah faktor budaya mempengaruhipenerimaan motivation letter?

Answer:
Ada limitasi karakter Jelaskan tentang interest/cocern kita Gunakan kata-kata positif yang memperkuat posisi kita Jelaskan apa yang akan mereka dapat jika kita mendapatkan hal