How to prepare your manuscript for submission

BJUI Author Workshop, Tuesday 23rd June 2009

Kilian Mellon

Should tell a good story

• Should have a good punch-line (have a message)

• Should not be long-winded

BUT

GETTING STARTED

Try proof reading backwards

• Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts

• Statement of Purpose• Ethical Considerations• Publishing and Editorial Issues• Manuscript Preparation• References• About the ICMJE• Authors• Use and Distribution• Inquiries• Frequently Asked

Questions• Journals that Follow URM

• Update on FDAAA from ClinicalTrials.gov

• ICMJE Editorials• June 2007 Update on Trials

Registration• May 2005 Update on Trials

Registration• 2004 Update on Trials

Registration• Clinical Trial Registration• Sponsorship, Authorship,

and Accountability

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical PublicationUpdated October 2008 Publication Ethics: Sponsorship, Authorship, and Accountability The following information is available to be viewed/printed in Adobe Acrobat pdf format.

International Committee of Medical Journal EditorsI. Statement of PurposeAbout the Uniform Requirements Potential Users of the Uniform Requirements How to Use the Uniform Requirements

II. Ethical Considerations in the Conduct and Reporting of ResearchAuthorship and Contributorship

Byline Authors Contributors Listed in Acknowledgements

Editorship The Role of the Editor Editorial Freedom

Peer Review Conflicts of Interest

Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Individual Authors' Commitments Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Project Support Potential Conflicts of Interest Related to Commitments of Editors, Journal Staff, or Reviewers

Privacy and Confidentiality Patients and Study Participants

Authors and Reviewers Protection of Human Subjects and Animals in Research

“IMRAD” structure: direct reflection of process of scientific discovery•Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion•Double space all sections•2 spaces between all sentences•Generous margins•Number all pages including title page•Make every word meaningful/no redundancy

General Principles

Title Page• Concise article title• Authors’ names and institutional affiliations

– NB: Author list and author order can cause embarrassment

• Disclaimers if any• Contact information for corresponding author• Name and address of author to whom requests

for reprints should be addressed• Source of support in the form of grants,

equipment, drugs• A running head• Word count

– Text only excl abstract, acknowledgements, references, legends

Abstract• Written last/read first• Maybe only bit read• Portal influencing reader’s decision to read full paper• Should provide

– The context or background to the study– Study’s purpose– Basic procedures– Main findings– Principal conclusions

• Reports of clinical trials should contain abstracts that include the items that the CONSORT group has identified as essential(http://www.consort-statement.org/?=1190)

Introduction• Provide a context or background for the study• State the specific purpose/research objective or

hypothesis tested• Main and secondary objectives should be clear• Only pertinent references• Do not include data or conclusions from the

work being reported

Methods• Selection of participants

– Inc patients, animals, controls– Inclusion/exclusion criteria

• Technical information– Identify methods, apparatus (manufacturer’s name and addresses in

parentheses)– Give sufficient detail for others to reproduce methods– Give references to established methods– Identify all drugs and chemicals used

Methods (contd)• Statistics

– Describe enough detail to allow a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results

– Quantify findings with appropriate measurement of error or uncertainty (e.g. CIs)

– Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as P-values, which fail to convey important information about effect size

– Specify the software used

Results• Present results in logical sequence in the text, tables and

illustrations• Give most important findings first• Do NOT repeat all the data in the tables/figures in the text• Supplementary materials and technical detail can be

placed in an appendix• Give numeric results not only as derivatives but also as the

absolute numbers• Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries

Journal of Negative Results

All those disappointed about

the outcome

Impact Factor could be very high

Volume xIssue xISSN xxxx xxxx

Discussion• Emphasise the new and important aspects of the study

and the conclusions that follow from them• DO NOT REPEAT IN DETAIL DATA given in the Results• Compare and contrast the results with other relevant

studies• State the study limitation• Explore the implications of the finding for future

research and for clinical practice• Avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not

adequately supported by the data• Avoid claiming priority/”this is the first....................”

References• Use direct references to original work rather than

review articles• Small numbers of references to key original papers

often serve as well as more exhaustive lists• Avoid using abstracts as references• Avoid citing ‘a personal communication’ unless it

provides essential information not available from a public source

• Authors are responsible for checking none of the references cite retracted articles

Try to avoid studies suitable for publication in these journals/personal view/not yet on Medline

• Journal of Anecdotes• Journal of Duplication/Journal of Duplication• Journal of Small Studies Warranting further

Investigation which We aren’t Prepared to do• Journal of Studies Completed Many Years Ago but

I’ve been Studying for the FRCS(Urol)