Lessons from Magne Nylenna, Kunnskapssenteret:
The setup of a publication
- Introduction
- Three paragraphs:
- What is known
- What is unknown
- What is your plan
- Catch the interest of the reader and help him or her understand
- Start with a quote, a definition, a scenario
- Materials and methods
- Study design
- How, what, when, and where
- Data analysis
- Aim for six paragraphs
- Results
- Aim for six paragraphs
- systematic presentation of findings
- A logical order: general to detailed
- Use tables and figures; do not state the same facts twice.
- Discussion
- 6-7 paragraphs
- Structure:
- summarize main findings
- the limits and strengths
- interpretation of results
- importance of the study
- End with a clear message
"Kill your darlings"
- Make your title better.
- Informative and exciting
- be careful with conclusions
- wait until the final manuscript; use a working title
- A question in the title must be answered in the text
- Form example: "An exciting statement: An explanation of the text"
Lessons from Richard Horton, Editor of the Lancet
- The forces of publication
- Open Access: Science should be accessible for everyone, especially since the public paid for it by way of taxes
- Impact: Brand names of universities are built by publications. More publications mean better recognition.
- Liars, cheats & fraud: Science is not better than any other area, it has it's fair share of bottomfeeders.
- What do journals want in the articles they publish?
- Originality; is anything new brought to the table?
- Relevancy: is the disease discussed in media?
- Readership: are the main readers of the journal going to be interested?
- Then - and only after this - do the journals consider the truthfulness of the research.
- Open access publications like PLOS One have a bias to publish more, especially research that may have been turned down in higher impact journals like the Lancet or BMJ.
- Think about the message you want to convey
- Be actively engaged in the publishing process
- Convey passion for your work in in the paper and in the cover letter.