Alessandro Volpe SCDU Urologia Università del Piemonte Orientale AOU Maggiore della Carità Novara How to write a scientific paper Title, abstract, bibliography

The Title The title is very important First - often only - text of your paper that is read Must attract readers to read more Must clearly state what your paper is about Must have correct terms (i.e. online searches = MeSH terms)

New England Journal of Medicine –Concise and descriptive Lancet –Concise but informative Annals of Internal Medicine –As short as possible but explaining the essential content British Medical Journal –Concise The Title Guidelines for authors

Must be concise and informative –10–12 words or shorter –Accurately describe the findings of your paper –Use words that are essential, easily recognizable Must be clear, representative, interesting Avoid jargon, abbreviations, metaphors, creative words The Title

Describe the content of the paper in 2-3 sentences Make a summary: remove useless words and any reference to the results Write a temporary title Revise the title. You can split the title in 2 parts: 1) main topic 2) study type Checklist: –Is it accurate? –Can it be confusing? –Does it include all essential words? –Is it interesting? The Title Advice

The Title

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Define: Use few essential words that are easily recognized by readers, and accurately describe your findings. Attract: Your paper title is the first, and maybe only, part of your paper to be read. Use common MeSH terminology: Readers of search, indexing and abstracting services depend on the accuracy and recognition of your title. Wrong words lead to wrong readers. The Title Take home message

The abstract is very important !! It is the only part of the paper that is freely available to all readers on the web It is generally the first part of the manuscript that is read by reviewers and editors It is often the only part of the manuscript to be read It should be the last section of the manuscript to be written The Abstract

A well prepared abstract should enable the reader to: - identify the basic content of the manuscript quickly and accurately - determine its relevance to their interests - decide whether to read the document in its entirety The Abstract

Use short and clear sentences Comply with the journal’s rules (word count, structure) You can use sentences from the various sections of the manuscript For brevity, parts of the abstract may be written as phrases rather than complete sentences Be coherent! All information included in the abstract must be found in the text! Ask a colleague to read it: does he get the message? The Abstract

Standard IMRED (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) Generally more detailed for original paper => see Eur Urol –Background –Objective –Design, settings and participants –Measurements –Results and limitations –Conclusions Sections can be skipped if appropriate Structured abstract

Eur Urol structured abstract

Importance of the topic The abstract should begin with a sentence or two explaining the clinical (or other) importance of the study question. Background

20 What’s new in the manuscript State the precise objective or study question addressed in the manuscript (e.g., ''To determine whether...''). If more than one objective is addressed, the main objective should be indicated and only key secondary objectives stated Objective

State the type of the study (prospective/retrospective, RCT…) and the years of the study Describe the study setting (e.g. general community, primary care or referral center, private or institutional practice, ambulatory or hospitalized care – single institutional or multicentric) State important eligibility criteria and key sociodemographic features of patients The numbers of participants and how they were selected should be provided Keep it simple – Careful to word restrictions Design, setting and participants

The essential features of any interventions (surgical or medical) should be described The nonproprietary drug or device names should be used unless the specific trade name is essential to the study No interventions in our example Interventions

The essential features of any interventions (surgical or medical) should be described. The nonproprietary drug or device names should be used unless the specific trade name is essential to the study No interventions in our example Interventions

Indicate: –the primary and secondary study outcome measurement(s) –the main statistical analysis Outcome measurements and statistical analysis

The main outcomes of the study should be reported and quantified Complications or sequelae of the interventions used must be detailed The previously reported objectives need to be met Limitations of the study should be acknowledged Results and limitations

Provide only conclusions of the study directly supported by the results Explain relevance and implications of results for clinical practice Avoiding speculation and overgeneralization Indicate whether additional studies are required before the results should be used in usual clinical settings Give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit Conclusions

Review article structured abstract

1-2 sentences describing the clinical question or issue and its importance in clinical practice or public health Context

State the precise primary objective of the review. Indicate whether the review emphasizes factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention Include information about the specific population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes that are being reviewed Objective

Describe data sources, search strategies, years searched, and other sources of material, such as subsequent reference searches of retrieved articles. Methods used for quality assessment and inclusion of identified articles should be explained Evidence acquisition

The major findings of the review of the clinical issue or topic should be addressed The approach should be evidence-based, objective, and balanced, with the highest quality evidence available receiving the greatest emphasis Evidence synthesis

The conclusions should clearly answer the questions posed if applicable be based on available evidence emphasize how clinicians should apply current knowledge Conclusions

Up to date and selective –limit refs to 30 –Select only the most relevant and most recent papers Accurately support the statements made –Introduction (background literature) –Methods (previously reported techniques, laboratory methods, statistical tests, classifications…) –Discussion (support to the interpretation of results) Your reviewer knows the literature –If the refs are incomplete and inaccurate  will make the reviewer wonder about other sloppy details in the paper The Bibliography

Indicate each reference with a number and write down the final list at the very end of the drafting Use the proper format suggested by the journal for articles, book chapters, online publications, etc… To avoid mistakes and save time use reference management softwares such as EndNote, Reference Manager or ProCite (automatic numbering and format according to the jounal’s rules) The Bibliography