9789144156576

Writing, reviewing and publishing scientific papers JA N L E X EL L C HRIS T IN A BROG Å RDH

Original title: Skriva, granska och publicera vetenskapliga arbeten. © The authors and Studentlitteratur 2020

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Art. No 44925 ISBN 978-91-44-15657-6 First edition 1:1 © The authors and Studentlitteratur 2023 studentlitteratur.se Studentlitteratur AB, Lund Design: Sebastian Wadsted/Lyth & Co Layout: Team Media Sweden AB Cover design: Francisco Ortega Printed by Eurographic Group, 2023

CO NTE NTS

P R E FA C E T O T H E E N G L I S H E D I T I O N 9 F O R E W O R D 11

1. Scientific publication Scientific literature

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Good research practice vs. scientific misconduct

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International author guidelines

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Original articles

21

Structure – IMRaD

22

Other scientific publications

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Guidelines and checklists

27

From scientific publication to scientific writing

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2. Scientific writing Before you start writing

32

Central message and synopsis

32

Taking care of the writing

35

Processing the text

37

Developing as a scientific writer

38

From scientific writing to the scientific manuscript

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3. The scientific manuscript The parts of the manuscript

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The title and title page

43

Abstract and keywords

46

Introduction

49

Material and Methods

52

Results

61

Discussion

71

References

76

Acknowledgements

78

Other parts at the end of the manuscript

79

From manuscript to publication

80

4. The publication process Choosing a journal

83

Preparing your manuscript for submission

89

What happens when the manuscript arrives at the journal?

95

When you receive a response from the journal

104

Once the manuscript has been accepted

112

From manuscript to finished publication

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I N D E X 117

PR E FAC E TO TH E E N G LI S H E D ITI O N

However good a scientist you are, and however accomplished you are as a conference speaker, it is your writing – whether it’s books, original articles, reviews, or proceedings chapters – that is going to reach a worldwide audience. That will be your legacy and it may last for generations. But writing your first scientific article can be a daunting task. You’ve probably read a lot of other people’s work but what you really want to know is how to publish your own. And as English is the lingua franca of science the ­challenge is that much greater for those who aren’t native speakers of the language.

That’s where this book comes in. Jan Lexell and Christina Brogårdh have taught courses on writing, reviewing and publishing scientific work at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden since 2014. This book, originally written in Swedish, is based on those courses, and I’ve now had the privilege of preparing an English language version.

The authors break down the task of preparing the manuscript into manageable chunks, yet in a way that preserves the logical flow through the text. Although much of the content is focused on original articles it will also be applicable to other forms of scientific output.

What you will find here should encourage you to write accounts of your work that are worthwhile in terms of content, easy to read and follow, and unambiguous in meaning. If you can do this you

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will be contributing something of lasting value to the global scientific literature.

© T H E A U T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

Stanley Salmons Emeritus Professor of Applied Myology University of Liverpool, UK

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P r e fa c e t o t h e E ngl i s h e di t ion

FO R E WO R D

It takes time to develop as a scientific writer, but it helps if you can acquire an understanding of the process at the outset. That is the purpose of this book.

In the first chapter, we describe scientific publication and provide examples of the various forms it takes. Although we go on to focus on one form, the original article, much of our advice and many of our tips will be applicable to other types of publication.

In the second chapter, we focus on scientific writing. We discuss the formulation of a central message, the importance of having a plan, and the value of developing a synopsis and using it as you write.

In the third chapter we describe the structure of a scientific manuscript, from beginning to end – title page to reference list.

We provide examples of tables and figures, guidance on how to shape your introduction and discussion, and advice on producing a well-written abstract.

In the fourth chapter, we go step by step through the publication process: what happens when the manuscript is submitted to the journal, how the review of a manuscript is conducted, what to consider when responding to the reviewers’ comments, and what happens after the manuscript has been accepted.

The content is based on the postgraduate course (third cycle course) we have run since 2014 at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden, so it’s particularly well suited to students at the doctoral level in medicine, health sciences and biomedicine. We

Lund, 2023-02-01 Jan Lexell MD PhD DPhil h.c.

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Christina Brogårdh RPT PhD

F or e wor d

© T H E A U T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

believe, nonetheless, that the content will be relevant to readers at other stages of their careers, irrespective of their scientific field.

Our goal is to provide practical advice not only on how to write and publish a scientific article but also on how to develop as an author. We believe that everyone can learn to write in a structured and readable way, and have their work accepted for publication. It just calls for time, some guidance, and the will to improve.

The first edition of this book was published in Swedish in 2020.

It was well received, so we felt that it would be deserving of a broader readership. We are very pleased that the publisher Student­ litteratur has agreed to produce an English language version. We are also most grateful to Professor Emeritus Stanley Salmons for editing the book and writing a Preface. He brings to the text the perspective of a scientist with 50 years of experience of writing, reviewing and publishing scientific papers.

We hope that this book will inspire you to become an accomp­ lished and respected scientific writer.

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Scientific writing In this chapter, we focus on scientific writing, which is similar in many respects to other forms of writing but has its own character.

We provide advice on facilitating the work and tips on how to develop your skills as a scientific writer.

The quality of your published work will have an impact on how successful you become as a researcher, so writing skills are central to the career of anyone engaged in scientific endeavours. The process becomes easier as you develop your own approach to it, but it helps to have an understanding of the basics at the outset.

The primary purpose of scientific writing is to publish your research results rather than elevate the text to a literary level.

Anyone reading a scientific paper wants to understand what was done, what results were obtained, and what they add to current knowledge. There is therefore a particular emphasis on clarity, and this is achieved by giving the manuscript a structure and a logical flow. In this respect scientific writing differs from forms such as fiction-writing. At the same time there are some features in common. Novelists often wish to convey a message through their book. In the same way, scientific writers can formulate a message and focus on it as they prepare the manuscript.

Many fiction writers spend time and energy in planning their book, thinking through how it should begin, develop and end.

Creating a synopsis, an outline of the text, can facilitate that work.

In the same way an outline of a scientific manuscript will significantly facilitate the writing of it.

It takes time to develop the necessary skills, whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction or science, and few successful exponents are fully-fledged writers from the start. However, the ­problems are often the same, and you can develop as a scientific 31

writer by listening and learning from others. Ultimately, it’s about finding your own style and your own way of going about the task.

In the rest of this chapter we’ll discuss how to plan your writing, how to formulate the central message, and how to develop a synopsis and make good use of it. We will then take you, step by step, through the business of writing itself. Finally, we’ll provide general advice and tips on how to develop your skills further.

Before you start writing it’s worth spending time to prepare yourself for the task ahead, from the layout of the manuscript to practical preparations. If you’re early in your research career, you may need to discuss this with more senior co-authors and supervisors.

Among the first things to do is to choose where the paper will be sent, as the choice of journal will govern much of the writing itself. What message do you want to disseminate? What is the target audience? How can you maximise your readership? Should the article be open access? If so, what will it cost? (These issues will be considered further in Chapter 4.)

Once the journal has been chosen you will want to read their Instructions for Authors. Is there a limit to the number of words?

How many tables, figures and references are permitted?

In purely practical terms, it will be helpful if you collect together everything you’ll need, not only results but also refe­ rences, articles, instructions, notes made during the research project, and any other information. If you’ll be collaborating with other authors, you’ll want to determine who will be responsible for the various elements of the manuscript.

Central message and synopsis The next step is to formulate the central message and produce a synopsis. This will make the main task a lot easier. Through the 32

2 S c i e n t i f ic w r i t i ng

© T H E A U T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

Before you start writing

central message and synopsis you’ll start to see a clear structure and a logical thread connecting the different parts of the manuscript. Do it early in the writing process and you’ll reap the benefits.

If you’re a doctoral student you can save a lot of work by agreeing the central message and synopsis with your supervisors and co-a­uthors. This gives everyone a common starting point for the manuscript and provides a benchmark for feedback as the manu­script grows.

© T H E A U T H O R S A N D S T U D E N T L I T T E R AT U R

The central message – the “elevator pitch” International congresses are often held in large hotels, and in the lift (or elevator) you may encounter an unknown colleague who asks, “So what’s your research about?” You have just the time it takes before the elevator stops – between 10 and 15 seconds – to describe what you’re doing. If you succeed in capturing the colleague’s interest, they may even want to continue the discussion when you step out of the elevator.

That’s the nature of the central message. It’s a concise summary of your main findings, the important points that you want people to remember. It’s the “take-home message” people often talk about at congresses.

In practice you do this by listing the main findings as bullet points. You must then try to formulate these points in a single sentence. (If that’s hard to do, you could try two or even three sentences, but keep it to a minimum.) A well-crafted central message will be useful not only when you’re writing your article but also for your research profile, a CV, or a research grant application.

As an example, here is part of the text on the cover of this book where we tried to summarise the content in two sentences: In this book we examine what scientific writing entails, the structure of a scientific manuscript, and the process of publication. Tips and guidelines show the reader how to develop as a scientific writer.

2 S c i e n t i f ic w r i t i ng

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Jan Lexell is professor of rehabilitation medicine and senior consultant at Lund University, Sweden.

Christina Brogårdh is professor of physiotherapy at Lund University, Sweden.

Skriva, granska och publicera vetenskapliga arbeten

Both authors have extensive experience of scientific writing and publishing, postgraduate supervision, and involvement with international medical scientific journals. The authors have run courses in scientific writing, reviewing and publishing for doctoral students in clinical medicine, health sciences and biomedicine.

Writing, reviewing and publishing scientific papers

Scientific publication is the major route by which research is made available to a worldwide audience. Developing the skills needed to write, review and publish papers is therefore an important part of any research career.

In this book we examine what scientific writing entails, the structure of a scientific manuscript and the process of publication.

Tips and guidelines show the reader how to develop as a scientific writer.

The book is intended for anyone who writes, publishes, or supervises scientific work, from undergraduate and postgraduate students to senior researchers.

Art.nr 44925

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