The Write Stuff: Best Practices in Scientific

Writing for Peer Review

 How do we turn
data into an article?

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What we are Which data?
THE DATA: Which type of data?
going to
discuss today
Who are we
THE AUDIENCE: going trying to reach?

How does
THE CONDUIT:
peer-review work?

Which type of article

THE FORMATS:
are we creating?

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There are different types of primary biomedical data

PRECLINICAL CLINICAL

How does our How does our drug/device/service

drug perform perform in patients?
• In biochemical
assays? In early-stage In late-stage In the
• In cells? trials: trials: real world:

• • Proof of concept • Efficacy • Cost-effectiveness

In animal models?
• First in human • Tolerability • Outcomes
• Feasibility • Use case and pilots
• Production and
deployment
• API

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There are different types of study settings

PROSPECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE

Testing a hypothesis Interrogating an already closed data set for

established a priori ‘suspected’ findings

Study datasets Real world data sets

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Who are we trying to reach with a biomedical manuscript?

CONGRESS PRESENTATIONS FULL ARTICLES

Immediate reach Enduring reach

• Experts • Experts
• Physicians • Physicians
• Clinical • Clinical scientists
scientists
…who attend the
PR
Indirectly
PR congress • Journalists
• Analysts
Indirectly • Lay audience
• Journalists
• Analysts
• Lay audience

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The gatekeeper: Basic elements of the peer-review process

EDITORIAL OFFICES
OF A JOURNAL

DATA MANUSCRIPT Submission Publication

External reviewers
• Relevance to clinical sciences
• Scientific quality
• Apparent scientific integrity

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The gatekeeper: Basic norms of the peer-review process

EDITORIAL OFFICES
OF A JOURNAL
NOVELTY: respect embargo policies

DATA MANUSCRIPT Submission Publication

submit your own work to a
ORIGINALITY:
single journal

– Ensure authorship criteria is fulfilled

INTEGRITY:
– Ensure transparency in writing process
– Comply with Good
External Publication
reviewers
Practices
• Relevance to clinical sciences
• Scientific quality
• Apparent scientific integrity

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The gatekeeper: Basic norms of the peer-review process

AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICES

• Ensure that authors have access and • Ensure that all the steps in the manuscript
knowledge of the full original dataset preparation are conducted transparently
• Ensure that the authors are conceptually and • Ensure that all contributions from non-authors
intellectually responsible for the content of the have been vetted by authors
manuscript • Ensure that conflicts of interest are disclosed
• Ensure accountability • Ensure that the final manuscript corresponds
with authors’ intentions
http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibiliti
es/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
http://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2424869/good-publication-practice-comm
unicating-company-sponsored-medical-research-gpp3

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The gatekeeper: Basic elements of the peer-review process

EDITORIAL OFFICES
OF A JOURNAL

DATA MANUSCRIPT Submission Publication

The journal is the vehicle: select the right

one to make your data relevant to the right audience

– Translational scientists
– Generalists External reviewers
– Specialists • Relevance to clinical sciences
•
– High/low impact Scientific quality
• Apparent scientific integrity

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The gatekeeper: Navigating the peer-review process

An extensive review
process improves biomedical articles…. …even if painstaking

Reviewers may ask for

– Appropriate referencing
and form
– More data
– More critical
interpretation
– Better understanding of
the limitations

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Types of articles in the peer-review environment

Original analysis
1 DATA SET Primary
article/presentation

1 DATA SET 1 DATA SET Reanalysis

Pooled analysis
1 DATA SET 1 DATA SET
Meta-analysis

Primary presentation Interpretation

Primary article Systematic review
Primary article Narrative review
Pooled analysis
Opinion
PRIMARY ARTICLE/ Editorial
PRESENTATION/EVENT
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 Seek non-peer
What if what I review platforms:
want is……
State a specific point of view
White paper
Outline an agenda

Reach lay Press outreach

audiences directly PR efforts

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In closing The peer review system remains the gold standard
to disseminate biomedical data

A careful look at an article can tell us a lot about

the data behind it
– How relevant
– How reliable
– How comprehensive

The peer review system is often the starting point

for other types of communication
– To lay audiences
– To ignite research agendas

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