Issue 128 learning to write articles

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NHD-EXTRA: SKILLS & LEARNING

LEARNING TO WRITE ARTICLES Michèle Sadler RNutr Rank Nutrition Ltd Michèle is Director of Rank Nutrition Ltd, which provides nutrition consultancy services to the food industry. Michele has a BSc in Nutrition (University of London), a PhD in Biochemistry and Nutritional Toxicology (University of Surrey), and is a Registered Nutritionist.

Writing skills are a valuable asset for dietitians and nutritionists. Published articles, book chapters and scientific papers will raise your profile and help to establish your expertise. All such contributions will make a useful addition to your CV, and if freelancing is in your future plans, writing skills will give more options for potential work. Whether you are writing for fellow health professionals, research scientists, or the public, honed skills will help to get your message across. If you are a newcomer to writing, or time has passed since you last wrote for a publication, deciding where to start can be quite daunting. If you have been invited to write a book chapter, or are looking to contribute an article to NHD for example, this article aims to give some basic approaches and tips to help you get going. GETTING STARTED

Identifying the main message of the paper or article that you want to write is a good starting point. Try to express this in a concise sentence, as this will help you to communicate a clear message. Then outline the title to give you a clear focus - it can be changed later on if required. Where a literature search is necessary, this needs to be undertaken at an early stage. Otherwise, it is advisable to capture details of all the references you want to cite as you are writing. This avoids a separate, time-consuming job at the end to hunt down missing citations. If available, a reference manager programme such as Endnote is a great help in organising references. STYLE

Before you get started, look at some examples of previous articles, chapters or papers in the publication you are writing for and familiarise

yourself with the ‘house style’. If you are writing for a magazine or publication, you will be given a word count, or at the very least a guide to how many words are required for a particular topic. Take a look at various publications so that you can visualise how many words fit a page and how many pages make up an article. Find out if there is a ‘style guide’ that you can follow for the particular publication. This will cover details such as how to deal with numbers or numeric terms and use of abbreviations. Common conventions include spelling out numbers from one to 9, and using numerals for 10 onwards, though this varies between publications. In NHD, for example, units are spelt out from one to nine, e.g. six children, and numerals for 10 onwards, e.g.12 patients. Numerals are used with standard units of measure, e.g. 35mg, and percentages, e.g. 8%, but, Sentences should not begin with numerals, but with numbers written as words. Abbreviations should only be used if the term appears more than once in the text, in which case the term is provided in full on first use followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Some publications have a list of permitted abbreviations that can be used without providing the term itself, as they are universally understood. How to insert references within the text can vary from publication to publication too. With NHD for example, references are numbered in a list at the

www.NHDmag.com August/September 2017 - Issue 127

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