Authors should identify a problem and then try to find a cost effective
indigenous solution which ensures addition to medical literature
Session at Shifa Internaitonal Hospital
ISLAMABAD: Dr. Muslim Atiq Head of the Department of Gastroenterology at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad organized a scientific session for faculty and Residents of the department on Scientific Writing. Dr. Faisal Chief Resident was the coordinator while Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid Chief Editor of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences was the guest speaker. He spoke on “Quality in Publications which attracts the Reviewers and Editors”. Prof.Maj.Gen. Muhammad Aslam former Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences who was also the first Vice Chancellor of Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University and Prof.Akhtar Sherin, Chief Editor of Khyber Medical University Journal also graced the occasion with their presence.
Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid in his presentation pointed out that Title and Abstract in a manuscript are both very important, which must be interesting and attract the editor as well as reviewers. Structured abstract in sub-headings like Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion should be engaging and should accurately reflect the contents of the study. Majority of the readers including the Editors and Reviewers first read the abstract and if they find it informative, interesting would decide to read the full text. Hence it is important that the abstract captures the attention. The authors should first identify a problem and then try to find an indigenous cost effective solution which should also add new information to the world medical literature. An original manuscript must provide some new ideas, insight or findings. It should also address gaps in the existing knowledge.
It should be novel which presents new perspective regarding already known facts, he remarked. He laid emphasis on the quality of tables, figures, illustrations which should enhance readability and impact of the manuscript. They must provide message in standalone positon and the readers should not need to read the text to find the message. In journals overseas who have large editorial teams and enough resources, there are copy editors who not only help the authors to improve the English language and Grammar but also design the tables and illustrations for which of course the authors have to pay. It is important that the objective should be clear which can be described in just one sentence. It should be directly linked to research question or hypothesis and must be focused.
Methodology should give minute details of the study conducted and others should be able to replicate that study. Many papers are rejected just because of flaws in methodology. In case a drug is used, it is essential to give the details about dosage, whether it was oral medication, parenteral and if some solution was used for laboratory studies, complete details should be provided how that solution was prepared. Methods used must be valid and reliable. If the methods are well known, one can just give the reference and no details are then needed.
Before starting writing it is also important to do comprehensive literature search. It should not only summarize what is known but also critically analyze it. Make sure that at least 30-50% of the references are latest from the last five years. Prefer references from peer reviewed medical journals, references from books should be sparingly used since when they are published the data and information is already four to five years old. Avoid reference of websites as far as possible as experience has shown that after few years most of the websites are not functioning. However, if a reference from website is added, it must be mentioned when it was last cited.
Organizing a Manuscript
Speaking about how to organize the manuscript he said that if the authors have conducted the study, it is not at all difficult to prepare a manuscript. One has to answer just five questions and the structured abstract will be ready which can later be enlarged adding information in different sections as desired. Why did you do it will provide the objective of the study, how did you do it will provide information needed in Methodology, what did you find will cover results and what is its importance and relevance should be covered in Discussion. What is the take home message of the study will form the conclusions. Discussion must be started with the findings of the study in brief in one or two sentences and then one should compare the results with other local, national, regional and Internaitonal studies. Similarities and differences in results are both important. If your findings are different, try to find out the reasons.
There may be difference in patient’s enrolment, there could be some dietary or cultural differences. Information regarding inclusion and exclusion criteria, ethical approval which needs to be mentioned with reference number and date of approval besides statistical analysis should be covered in methodology section with sub-headings so that it can be easily identified. Refrain from using too many un-necessary sub headings and avoid repetition. Information covered in tables and illustrations should not be repeated in the text. Select the right journal by looking at the type of studies it publishes and citations of studies already published in the journal to which you are submitting your manuscript will enhance the chances of acceptance. Editors bias does play some role in acceptance and one has to be careful while revising the manuscript.
Respond to each and every comment and suggestions and try to learn from these comments which will improve the quality of the manuscript. Carefully read and follow Instructions for authors of the journal to which you are submitting the manuscript which will minimize trauma to your manuscript. Follow the journal format, style, citations, word count and overall structure. Do not forget to mention source of funding, conflict of interest and acknowledge all those who have helped in the study but are not eligible for authorship as per guidelines of Internaitonal Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Avoid and do not encourage gift authorship which is an intellectual corruption. At the end of the manuscript do mention individual contribution of all the listed authors and also identify who is responsible for intellectual integrity of the study.
It was also pointed out that one can disagree with the reviewer’s comments but it must be supported with relevant references. The reviewers and editors appreciate it and they also learn from it. Quality, it was emphasized, has to be built in the manuscript and it has to be ensured at every stage of the study starting from the selection of topic, literature search, data collection, methodology, formatting, review, proof reading and publication. Only the one who has done the most work can be the first author and in case of multiple authors, they must decide before starting the study as to who will be first, second and third author. Editors have no role in this. Similarly, any one from the authors who regularly checks the e mail can efficiently coordinate with other authors and remains in contact with the journal staff can become correspondence author.
DISCUSSION
Most of the questions from the participants were related to authorship, time taken to process and publish a paper, selection of reviewers, how to retain quality reviewers, their recognition and offering some reward. The importance of Impact Factor, how it is calculated, difference between Impact Factor and Cite Score, different databases, difference between PubMed and PubMed Central, Digital Object Identifier and its importance. Apart from the speaker, Prof. Maj.Gen. Muhammad Aslam and Prof.Akhtar Sherin also responded to various questions. Editing a good quality peer reviewed journal in a developing country with scarcity of human and financial resources, it was pointed out is a very difficult task which is at times very stressful and frustrating. Editors have to work under lot of pressure and it is extremely difficult for them to please each and every author. Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid also shared the historical background of how the National Bioethics Committee was formed and now it is essential that every study should be approved from EC/IRB of the institution where it is conducted and no standard journal accepts manuscripts for publication if it is not accompanied with the Ethics Committee, Institutional Review Board approval. An ideal manuscript it was re-emphasized is always original, prospective, ethical, relevant and interesting but it does not minimize the importance of retrospective studies which are extremely useful in clinical audit and improvement of existing facilities, healthcare. The session came to an end with the concluding remarks from Dr. Muslim Atiq who thanked the speaker and other guests Prof. Maj. Gen. M. Aslam and Prof. Akhtar Sherin for their participation.
