1. HOW TO READ AND WRITE A SCIENTIFIC PAPER
What type of paper do you want to read?
What is the purpose?
Education
Entertainment
Proposing to give a talk?

2. Literature Search Identify the subject of interest
Look for related topics
Read the abstracts
Identify the hypothesis if stated
Introduction- should tell you the magnitude of the problem and why research is necessary

3. Methods Method of the study is very important
It gives the an idea of the coverage of the research and the problems addressed
It gives idea about limitations
It addresses the hypothesis on which the study is based
You should also look at the possibility of replication of the study in your locality

4. Result Interpretation of the result is important.
Do the authors address the research question?
What about the statistical process
Do you understand the statistics, if not look up the references and read about the statistical method

5. Result contd
Are there issues with interpretation eg type1 or types 2 errors
What about the power?
How reliable is the instrument used?
How culturally relevant is the research
What about the procedure used? Eg studies in molecular psychiatry may present some problems with interpretation
Can you interpret the rating scales
If it is a study on validity or reliability- do you understand things like ROC curve

6. Discussion and Conclusion
Are the points raised in discussion reasonable?
Are there other explanations?
Has the paper thrown more light to problem being addressed
Does the research address boarder areas between psychiatry and other discipline eg depression in stroke Parkinson disease patients
Do you need to read these topics for better understanding
Are there ethical issues not addressed?
What are the future research issues to be addressed?

7. Writing a paper
All point above apply-from onset of study ensure the following issues are addressed
Power, hypothesis, relevant local literature
Proper statistical analysis
What audience do you want to address?
That will determine the journal you send your paper to
Most foreign journals have limits for papers to be published from outside their shore.
Ensure you are addressing an international audience