1. Writing your manuscript: Results and Discussion
Alyson Mahar, PhD
Department Community Health Sciences
Wednesday, August 15, 2018

2. results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example

3. results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example
Study participants
Descriptive statistics
Main findings
Secondary outcomes, sub-group analyses, sensitivity analyses
Purpose
Structure/Contents
Dos & Don’ts
Example

4. Reporting guidelines There’s a reporting guideline for that:
Your study design will determine much of what is critical to report
There’s a reporting guideline for that:
Meta-Analysis Observational Studies: MOOSE
Systematic Reviews: PRISMA
Randomized Controlled Trials: CONSORT
STROBE: cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies
Diagnostic studies: STARD
Prediction model studies: TRIPOD

5. Identifying Main messages
What were the a priori research questions?
If the reader knew nothing else that came from your study, what do you want them to walk away with?
What is practice or paradigm changing? Ground breaking? Different from the existing literature?
What are you the most confident in discussing? What do you plan on discussing?

6. results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

7. Example

8. Example

9. Discussion
Purpose
Structure/Contents
Dos & Don’ts
Example

10. Discussion Summary of findings Fit with existing literature Purpose
Alternate explanations
Big picture- implications
Conclusion
Purpose
Structure/Contents
Dos & Don’ts
Example

11. Journal/Discipline-specific guidelines
Often the journal or the discipline you work in will determine the key content, length, and style of your publication
Some journals can be very prescriptive and restrictive
BMJ
CMAJ

12. LIMITATIONS No work is perfect
Balance between transparency and being your own worst critic- remember, the results aren’t worthless
Key considerations: sample size, study power, selection bias, measurement bias, confounding
How could these limitations influence your results?
What mitigation strategies did you take to address each limitation? Is this limitation common to other studies?

13. example

14. EXAMPLE

15. Discussion Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA