How to Write an Article Reporting Clinical Research

128 Pages·2009·0.22 MB·English

by  Tom Lang

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Tom Lang, MA
Tom Lang Communications
1
Science cannot exist
without writing!
Writing allows science to be distinct
from authority, intuition, and tradition
as a way of establishing truth
2
Science, to be science, must be public,
objective, predictive, reproducible,
systematic, and cumulative
The printed article is the only medium
that allows these characteristics to
exist
3
Publication is the final
stage of research
If the results are not published, from a
scientific standpoint, the research
never took place
Publication advances both science and
scientists
4
Milestones in the Development of
the Scientific Article
1658 First scientific journals, Journal
des scavans and the Proceedings of
the Royal Society
1779 First dedicated medical journal is
published in England; Foreign
Medical Review
5
1797 First American medical journal,
The Medical Repository, is published
in New York
1812 The New England Journal of
Medicine and Surgery and the
Collateral Branches of Science
begins publication in Boston; oldest
continuously published medical
journal in the world
6
1858 Pasteur introduces the methods
sections, creating the IMRAD format
(Introduction, Materials and Methods,
Results, and Discussion)
1957 JAMA begins to include abstracts
with articles reporting original
research
7
1972 American National Standards
Institute standard Z39 establishes
IMRD as a norm for reporting
scientific information
1978 Uniform Requirements for
Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals is released by
the Vancouver Group: the
International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (ICMJE)
8
1987 Structured abstracts for reporting
clinical trials are introduced by
Annals of Internal Medicine
1997 CONSORT Statement for
reporting randomized trials adopted
by JAMA.
9
What is the most important part of a
scientific article?
Title Results
Abstract Discussion
Introduction References
Methods
10