Before you begin writing - Are you ready to publish? - Choosing the right journal - Different Journal at National and international level - Current Problem in Scientific Writing The Writing Process Scientific Writing - Writing to communicate, not impress Types of scientific papers, publication and communications Literature Review and Requirements of grammar and style Cultural differences to consider (when publishing in an English language journal)

1. Wednesday (5:00 pm to 6:00 pm)

2. The Writing Process
• Scientific Writing - Writing to communicate, not impress
• Types of scientific papers, publication and communications

3. Scientific Paper
• A Published Document
• Describe research results
• Written to communicate findings to scientific community/
policymakers and general public
• Involves systematic and rigorous writing exercise

4. Scientific Paper
• Scientific papers are for sharing your own original research work
with other scientists or for reviewing the research conducted by others
• They must be highly readable — that is, clear, accurate, and concise.

5. General considerations:
• Support everything with evidences
• Know your audience
• Never make your reader work harder than they have to.

6. Types of scientific papers

7. Original research
• This category of paper is usually
supported by in-depth statistical
analysis.
• Original articles should consist of the
following headings: structured abstract,
introduction, methods, results and
discussion (IMRAD)
• Discussion & Conclusions should be
supported by the data provided in the
results.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/314559
25/

8. Conditions1:
• It should be written by the researchers who actually
conducted the study.
• It should include the hypothesis or research
question, the purpose of the study, and the details
of the research methods.
• The research findings should be reported.
• These findings should be interpreted and possible
implications discussed.
1 https://www.editage.com/insights/a-young-researchers-guide-to-writing-an-
original-research-article.

9. Case Report
• This is a description of a single case with unique features.
• Case Reports are usually short and focused.
• Case Reports should consist of the following headings: short
unstructured (or no) abstract, brief introduction, case report and
discussion
• There is often a prescribed limit to the number of figures and
references, and sometimes, also the authorship
• Example: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-
017-2522-6.

10. Commentary
• This is a short article that describes an author’s personal
experience of a specific topic.
• The subject may be controversial and the author’s
perspective is provided.
• Commentaries should consist of the following headings:
unstructured (or no) abstract, introduction and
subheadings.
• Commentaries are usually invited by the editor (hence, are
also known as Invited Commentaries)
• Example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5826298/

11. Editorial
• The number and types of editorials vary according to the editorial
policy.
• Editorials are invited by the editor or written by the editor.
• Example: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-
6736(17)30325-2/fulltext.

12. Letter to editors
• Letters are usually short and can be written on any subject of interest
to the journal reader, including comments on previously-published
articles.
• This section may also be used for floating new hypotheses, and for
drawing readers’ attention to important hazards and points of interest
or relevance to clinical practice
• Example: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-
7917.ES.2016.21.21.30237.

13. Technical note
• This type of article is a description of a specific technique or
procedure, modification of an existing technique, or new
equipment applicable to a branch of medicine.
• Discussion is limited to the specific message.
• Example: http://www.jimmunol.org/content/160/9/4159.

14. Pictorial Essay
• This is a teaching article that
relies on the quality of its
images.
• The text is usually limited with
much of the message contained in
the figure legends.
• Example:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi
/10.1111/1754-9485.12158/full.

15. Review
• This type of paper does not
introduce new information and does
not include the author’s opinion or
personal experience.
• Example:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32
554521/

16. View point
https://pubmed.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/3233561
3/

17. Structure
• Introduction(What question was asked?)
• Methods (How was it studied?)
• Results (What was found?)
• Discussion(What do the findings mean?)

22. Level of evidence
EBM Pyramid and EBM Page Generator, copyright 2006 Trustees of Dartmouth College and Yale University. All Rights Reserved.Produced by Jan Glover, David Izzo, Karen
Odatoand Lei Wang.

23. http://jnhrc.com.np/index.php/jnhrc/about/submissions

24. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

25. • Literature Review and Requirements of grammar and style
• Cultural differences to consider (when publishing in an English
language journal)

26. Accessing Health
Information

27. Accessing Health Information
Accessing health information contains two larger
components:
• Literature Search
involves finding and read as many different
references as possible to correlate the search
query
• Literature Review
A literature review is an account of what has been
published on a topic by accredited scholars and
researchers.

28. Fundamentals of literature Search
• Define your search as clearly as possible.
• Write down a list of keywords and synonyms
• Plan where you can combine your searches to broaden or
narrow your results using OR, AND and NOT(Boolean
characters)
• Plan where you can use wildcards and truncation to make
your list of searches more concise

29. • Look at the limitation options available in the database

30. Literature Search
• There are various ways through which literature
search can be done
• Online
• PubMed
• HINARI
• Search Engines e.g. Google, Google Scholar,
Bing, Yahoo
• Offline
• Library
• Research Institutions
• Government Offices

31. Literature review
• A literature review summarises, critically analyses and
evaluates previous research available on the subject,
presenting this in an organised way. It should address a clearly
articulated question or series of questions
• It is NOT:
• A descriptive list or summaries of books/articles etc
• An exhaustive bibliography on everything ever written on the topic- you need to make
a decision about what to include
• Your arguments and ideas (like an essay)

32. Literature Review
• A literature review must do these things:
a) be organized around and related directly to the
thesis or research question you are developing
b) synthesize results into a summary of what is
and is not known
c) identify areas of controversy in the literature
d) formulate questions that need further research

33. Why do we write a literature review?
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of your topic area including
key concepts, terminology, theories and definitions
• Identify who the major contributors are
• Identify what research has been done in that area
• Find gaps in the research or current areas of interest to help you
formulate your own research question

34. • Identify the main research methodologies in your subject area
• Identify main areas of agreement or controversy

35. Strategies to write literature review
• Mapping the gap
• Knowledge claims
• Characterizing the gap
-a pure knowledge deficit
-a controversy
-a pervasive and unproven assumption

36. 36
Citation Sample Environment Method Conclusions
Colour
Bellizzi, Crowley and
Hasty (1983)
125 Adults Furniture store Laboratory
experiment
Photographic
slide
simulations
Warm and cool colours created different emotional
responses. Customers view red retail environments as
more negative and unpleasant than blue.
Bellizzi, & Hite
(1992)
70 Adult women
107 Students
Televisions
shown with
different colour
backgrounds
Furniture stores
Laboratory
experiments
Photographic
slide
simulations
Study based on PAD affect measures and approach-
avoidance behaviours.
More positive retail outcomes occurred in blue
environments than red.
Music
Smith and Curnow
(1966)
1100
Supermarket
shoppers
Retail store Field
experiment
Time in store reduced with loud music but level of sales
did not.
Milliman (1982) 216 Shoppers Supermarket Field
experiment
The tempo of background music influenced the pace at
which customers shopped. Slow tempo music slowed
customers down but resulted in increased volume of
sales.
Hui, Dubé and Chebat
(1997)
116 Students Bank branch
- waiting for
service.
Laboratory
experiment
Video
simulation
The positive impact of music on approach behaviours is
mediated by an emotional evaluation of the environment
and the emotional response to waiting. Pleasurable music
produced longer perceived waiting times.
Lighting
Areni and Kim (1994) 171 Shoppers Wine store Field
experiment
The investigation found that brighter in-store lighting
influenced shoppers to examine and handle more of the
merchandise in the store
Summers and Hebert
(2001)
2367 Customers Hardware store
Apparel store
Field
experiment
Confirmed Areni and Kims (1994) results. Increased
levels of lighting will produce arousal and pleasure and
increase the approach behaviours of customers.
Summary
table
of
literature
Atmospherics
in
service
environments

37. Add to an idea Introduces
info
Compare/contrast Make a concession
Furthermore For example Similarly Nevertheless
Moreover For instance In the same way Although
Also Including Conversely Even though
In addition As an illustration However Despite
Commonly used words

38. Neutral tag Proposing a new
idea
Adds/emphasizes Takes a counter-
arguement
Says,
Writes,
claims, comments,
notes, discusses
Contends,
suggests, asserts,
believes, proposes,
speculates
Point out,
emphasizes
adds,
agrees, confirms
Argues,
disagrees,
warns,
contends,
speculates

39. Structure of literature review
• Introduction
• Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the
central theme or organizational pattern.
• Body
• Contains your discussion of sources.
• Conclusions/Recommendations
• Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where
might the discussion proceed?

40. How to organize studies
• Chronological
• By publication date
• By trend
• Thematic
• A structure which considers different themes
• Methodological
• Focuses on the methods of the researcher, e.g., qualitative
versus quantitative approaches

41. Common mistakes
• Writing a summary of each article one by one, paragraph, by
paragraph, without integrating the material.
• Writing a whole history of this field, rather than identifying the
major issues/debates.
• Not having a clearly thought-out structure that leads to
identifying where your study fits into the literature.

42. Cultural differences to consider (when
publishing in an English language journal)

43. English and writing style in
Scientific writing

44. Most spoken languages in the world, 2018
• CHINESE (L1: 908.7 million)
• SPANISH (L1:442.3 million)
• ENGLISH (L1: 378.2 million)
• HINDI-URDU (L1: 329.1 million)
• ARABIC (L1: 290 million)
L1+L2 rank
• English (1.121 billion)
• Mandarin (1.107 billion)
• HINDI-URDU
• ARABIC
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers

45. “Newton’s Principia Mathematica was written in Latin; Einstein’s first
influential papers were written in German; Marie Curie’s work was
published in French”
• However, today most scientific research is published in ENGLISH.
• Even in non-English speaking countries, english-language academic papers
outnumber the publications in the country’s own language e.g. 40:1 ratio in
the Netherlands.
• To qualify for inclusion in SCOPUS, a journal published in a language other
than English must at the very least include English abstracts; of the total
articles in the database 80% were completely in English (2012 study)
• On SCImago Journal Rank, all of the top 50 journals are published in English
and originate from either the U.S. or the U.K; journals with highest impact
factors
• Non-English articles: limited audience, limited access to top journals, less
visibility of authors and their institutions
Source: Koros AH. The Hidden bias of Science’s universal language

46. Basic Principles of scientific writing
• KEEP READERS IN MIND
• There is only one chance to make
your good impression to reviewers:
Analogous to presentation of a
meal
•Bad writing may make a scientifically
good paper seem bad
• Avoid mistakes that could easily be
prevented
• Applies to all sections of the
manuscript

47. Common mistakes
1. Not readable (neither understandable nor enjoyable to
read)
2. Long paper (making readers read more)
3. Writing everything that you know (not what readers
need to know)
4. Using very short or very long sentences
5. Using imprecise words
6. Bad grammar
7. Misuse of words
8. Use of complex words
9. Voice, tense person
10. Use of hypens, commas, capitals, numbers,
abbreviations etc.

48. Simplify the language
• Original: "Numerous studies in recent years, such as
those by Miller (1995) and Smith (1998), have shown
that low salinities enhance oyster recruitment”
• Suggested: "Low salinities enhance oyster recruitment
(Miller, 1995; Smith 1998)."
Reduces your word count and length as well

49. Some commonly misused words
• The word data is plural, not singular
• The data show, not shows
• Significant
• Applies to data where p-value is significant
• Nothing can prove any relation
• Proof/prove
• Affect vs effect
• Effect as a noun: consequence or outcome, health is the effect of
multiple factors
• Effect as a verb: enhance e.g. improved health is effected by yoga
• Affect: Health is affected by several factors

50. Use precise words
• Several e.g. what is several hours?
• Frequently e.g. every 12 hours? Average? Range?
• With: multiple meanings
• e.g. in the company of, by the means of, attribute; use more precise alternative;
I washed clothes with soap vs using soap

51. Avoid sexism and racism
“Man is the only host for
this parasite”
“Every person has a right
to his opinion”

52. Bad grammar

53. Consistent English
American
• Program
• Edema
• Tumor
• Defense
• Aging
• Pediatric
• Modeling
• Analyze
• Enroll/fulfill
•British
• Programme
• Oedema
• Tumour
• Defence
• Ageing
• Paediatric
• Modelling
• Analyse
• Enrol/fulfil

54. Voice
• Active voice: Protein X activated transcription of gene
Y. (subject, verb, object)
Passive voice: Transcription of gene Y was activated
by protein X. (object is turned into subject)
• Passive requires more words, leading to lack of clarity
• I read the article
The article was read
• The subject of the sentence can be left out leading to
anonymity, boring and does not focus on actors
Write using active voice wherever possible

56. Tense
• Introduction
• Mix of present and past tenses—what is known already, what was
reported in previous studies,
• "Prestin is an important protein for hearing (a fact), and Hallworth et
al. showed it to be located in auditory hair cells (what they saw)."
• Methods
• Almost exclusively past tense—what was done in your studies
• Results
• Almost exclusively past tense—what was observed, what happened
• Discussion
• Again a mix of present and past tenses
• "Rho mediates this response (present tense conclusion), because it
was inhibited by C3 toxin (what happened in a specific experiment)."

57. Use of space and hypens
• Use space between number and their units e.g. 5 mm
diameter, 35 °C etc. (exceptions: angles 400 arcs 22’)
• Hypen if the number-unit is used as adjective e.g. 80-
kg man
• Use of hyphens and En-dash
oHyphen indicates breaks within words, connects grouped
number 977-9840-65
oN-dash joins numbers in a range, such as “1993–99”, pages
32–37, July–October etc.

58. Use of numbers
• Ages: use the figure, not the word
• The subject is 21 years old
• No hyphens in ages, years
• 1990s, 2000s
• The subject is in his 20s
• Never start a sentence with a figure (Two hundred participants
dropped out of the study), (not 5 mg of sediment were analysed)
• Spell out single digit numbers (below ten); Two or more digit
numbers should be expressed in numerals
• one, two, three; first, second, third; 11th 209th
• “four samples" or "25 samples”
• Exception: percentages (4%), measurement (6 feet tall), risk (1 in 10
women)
• In a sentence containing a series of numbers, at least one of which is more
than one digit, all of the numbers should be expressed as numerals. (Of the
21 samples, 1 was muddy, 6 gravel, and 14 sandy.)

59. Abbreviation
• Avoid acronyms except for when necessary
• Spell out full name at first, with acronym following; use
acronym alone after
• the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• If acronym only used a few times, consider using the full name
every time
• They should be defined on the first use in both abstract and the
main text
• Some journals even forbid the usage of abbreviations in the
abstract.

60. Special abbreviations
• e.g. : for example
• et al. : and others
• i.e. : that is

61. Use of contractions
• Do not use spoken abbreviations: "it's," "weren't,"
"hasn’t.”

62. Avoiding lengthy phrases/sentences
• In order to : to
• at this point in time: now
• during the period: during
• with the exception of: except
• Study previously found: found
• Our results reflect deviations…: our results deviate..
• Changeability of X occurs when Y is added: X can change when Y is added

63. Long sentence
• Original: The results of this study support the hypothesis that appetite
for protein is regulated by the synthesis of ghrelin.
• Suggested: This study’s results support the hypothesis that ghrelin
synthesis regulates protein appetite.

64. Examples of other redundancies
• (already) existing
• (basic) fundamentals
• Cold (temperature)
• First (and foremost)
• Still (persists)
• True (fact)
• The reason is (because)
• Future (plan)

65. Do not overuse intensifiers
• Always
• Actually
• Possibly
• Clearly
• Certainly
• Prove
• Greatly
• Seemingly
• Quite
e.g. figure 1 clearly shows….
Our results possibly indicate….
Our finding is certainly relevant for policy makes..
Expression of protein X was greatly reduced when cells were grown in a high-salt environment

66. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE JOURNAL Or THE
UNIVERSITY GUIDELINE

67. Reading link
• http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/house-style
• http://www.johnwiley.com.au/highered/eunson2e/content018/web_
chapters/eunson2e_web6.pdf

68. Thank you!
68