?
What is research?
• Research= Re+search
• Process must be replicable (Reliability)
• Process must generate information that
answers the research problem (Validity)
Types of research
Nature of data collected
1. Quantitative research
2. Qualitative research
Teuder de Silva
Theory
Generalization
Research Problem
Induction
Deduction
Data Collection
Teuder de Silva
Why is Publishing necessary?
Why is it necessary to “Let others
know what you did”?
How and Where to Publish ?
• Having stake-holder meetings or dissemination
meetings
• Leaflets and Posters
• Writing a Book
• Newspapers, Newsletters and Magazines
• Oral presentation at a conference
• Poster presentation at a conference
• Journal Article
Types of Journal Articles
• Scientific Paper / Research Article
• Short Communication
• Review Paper
• Practitioner Paper
How to Start?
Establishing the Mindset
• Remember that you are writing to
communicate, not to impress.
• Realize that those reading your work want you
to do well.
– Journal editors
– Peer reviewers
– Professors
The purpose of their constructive criticism is to
help you succeed.
Babara Gaztle
Knowing the Ethics
• Authenticity (not fabrication)
• Accuracy
– Providing complete data (not only those supporting your
hypothesis)
– Using appropriate statistical procedures
• Originality
– Not republishing the same findings
– Not submitting the same manuscript to two or more journals
at once
– Not over-dividing one research to many little papers
• Credit
– Citing sources of information , ideas and financial aid
– Avoiding excessive use of others’ words
• Ethical treatment of humans and animals (and
documentation thereof in publications)
Babara Gaztle
A Resource on Ethics
On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible
Conduct in Research, 3rd edition (2009)
– From the US National Academies
– Largely for graduate students
– Available online at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1219
2
– Video available at the same website
Babara Gaztle
Preparing to Write
• Use published items as models.
• Obtain and review instructions.
• Perhaps get a style manual—for example:
–
–
–
–
The ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Guide
AMA (American Medical Association) Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
The MLA (Modern Language Association) Style Manual and
Guide to Scholarly Publishing
– Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association
– Scientific Style and Format
Babara Gaztle
Preparing to Write (cont)
• While you are gathering content, write down
ideas that occur to you.
• Do lots of “prewriting”—for example:
– Stack papers in the order you plan to cite them.
– List points you want to make.
– Perhaps make an outline.
• If you’re having trouble formulating ideas,
perhaps do something else for a while.
Babara Gaztle
Doing the Writing
• Schedule specific times to write.
• Start with whatever part you find easiest.
• Don’t interrupt your writing to search for
small details.
• Realize that often in writing there is no “one
right way” but rather a series of problems
with more than one solution.
Babara Gaztle
Revising Your Work
• Note: Good writing is largely a matter of good
revising.
• First revise your writing yourself. Then get
feedback from others and revise more.
• Consider having an editor help you.
• Avoid the temptation to keep revising your
writing forever.
Babara Gaztle
TEN SECTIONS OF A RESEARCH
ARTICLE
Content of a journal article

IMRAD




Introduction
Methods
Results
and
Discussion and conclusion

Also at the beginning




Title
Author list
Abstract
Also at the end


References
Acknowledgments
?


Which are the three (3) most important components
of a paper?
Why are they important?
Cecilia Öman
The three most important components of a paper are
Title
Abstract
Figures
Why?
Why title, abstract, figures ?



This is what colleagues are reading, actually,
to identify the papers to include in their study
As we all have time constraints
After having selected the papers,
colleagues will go into details
Cecilia Öman
The Title
Concise yet informative
The first test the paper has to pass
Concise, specific, informative
not be overly general
key points of the work
not too long
Avoid questions
Can include a subtitle
The Abstract
The second test the paper has to pass
Summary of manuscript
Brief, 150-350 words
Self-contained
Organise like the paper
Include the most important points from the paper
Include only material that appears in the paper
Where to start


Use articles in your target journal as models
Begin by drafting whichever section you find easiest



often the Methods
and then the Results
followed by the Discussion
Cecilia Öman
Method - Results - Discussion

Method
 What

Results
 What

I did
I found
Discussion
 What
it means
Cecilia Öman
The Methods Section
What to consider?
Methods - content
Study design


Problem or condition studied
Study area


Where did I do the work ?
What are the relevant characteristics of the area?



Use previously defined or published case definitions
Sample


Study subjects, data, materials
How selected? - inclusion and exclusion criteria
Cecilia Öman
Method - content cont
Materials

What approaches/equipment/tools did I use ?
How did I use them ?
What did I do and how did I do it?



Procedures

Statistical methods, tools and analyses


Statistics





Sample size
Variables analyzed and types of analyses
Measures of validation, methods of verification
Names of all statistical tests
Names and versions of statistical software used
Cecilia Öman
The Results Section
What to consider?
Results


Structure in parallel with the Methods
Relevant to the research hypothesis
 in
order that methods were described
 data presented from broad to specific
Cecilia Öman
Results



Specific
Short
Concise
 still

reporting all results
An ideal paper’s results can be distilled into
 1-3
tables or figures
Cecilia Öman
Results - consider

Main outcomes provided and quantified
 Absolute
 not
numbers
relative numbers or percentages without denominators
 Figures
 text
and tables discussed and cited
should not repeat the details
 Measures
of
 statistical
significance (P values)
 variability (confidence intervals)
Cecilia Öman
Results - tables and figures




Avoid using tables or figures for information that can be
 presented briefly in the text
Present main points of tables and figures in the text
 rather than repeating information from them in detail
Decide thoughtfully between
 using graphs and using tables
Refer to each figure and table
 where readers would first want to look at it
Cecilia Öman
The discussion
What to consider?
The Discussion
Provide the answer to the research question /
hypothesis the research addressed
1.

2.
3.
4.
but do not re-report your results
Note and discuss limitations of your research
Relate your research to previously published
research (mainly cited in the Introduction)
Briefly mention future research
Cecilia Öman
Discussion - from specific to broad
The Introduction
What to consider
Introduction - Three main parts
1.
Purpose



2.
Why was the study conducted?
What is the problem?
What knowledge will the findings add?
Context

Background for the study or problem


3.
brief literature review
What are the limitations in previous research?
Hypothesis or research question
Cecilia Öman
Introduction – from broad to narrow
Conclusions
Conclusions

What are the implications
of my findings ?
Cecilia Öman
The References
What to consider ?
Next Presentation
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is a cited journal and citation index
How to access journals and web based
resources
Online journals and INASP
What is Author Aid?
What is given in the CD
1.
2.
3.
Presentations done by several experts and
academics on research writing and
publishing
Feel free to use these presentation for your
work
But Remember to Credit the Authors