Research4Life Publishing and Research Communications Short Course:

From idea to article: manuscript writing, journal selection, publishing in high impact journals

Webinar Two:
Strategies for writing successful research articles

6th June 2023

Research4Life is a public-private partnership of five programmes
Discussion Forum &
Supplementary study materials

Sample
Sample discussions,
discussions, Webinar 2
Webinar 1 Forum
Forum

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Outline

• Dissecting the anatomy of a research paper

• Identifying the key elements of each section of a paper
• Examining a paper through the eyes of a peer reviewer
• The dos and don’ts of article, including avert plagiarism

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Writing a research paper:
structure and content

Biliamin O. Popoola, CLN

Systems, Scholarly Communications & EBM Librarian
University of Medical Sciences
Ondo City, Nigeria
bpopoola@[Link]
Contents

• The anatomy and physiology of a research paper

• IMRaD: key elements
• The ‘main point’

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) June 2023
Let’s start with a poll ([Link])

● Why do you (want to) write

academic papers?
Introduction: academic publishing

Scientific knowledge is
“constructed… not just in labs or
field sites, but in arguments that
scientists conduct through the
medium of scientific papers.”
- Winsor 1993.
Keep the goal in mind

• Primary aim of writing academic

papers is to communicate

“Academic writing is no one’s first

language, and learning to get it right is
difficult for everyone who has to use it”
–English & Van Toder (2010)
Ref: V. McMillan (2011);
Penrose & Katz (2010)
Types of research papers

• Original Research
• Hypothesis – Intervention
• Descriptive, Surveillance
• Methods or Procedures
• Case Series/Meta-Analyses
• Case Reports
• Literature Reviews
Basic logical structure of a
research paper

• IMRaD

 Introduction
 Methods/Materials
 Results; and
 Discussion/Conclusion
There are 4 key questions on the
reader’s mind

How did you What did you

do it? find?

Why did you do What does it mean

the study? to the field?
Anatomy and physiology of academic papers

Funtion: Goal
Part to answer

Introduction Why did you Motivate reader

do it?
Enable replication
Methods How?

What did you Share data

Results
find out?

Discussion Significance? Suggest interpretation

Acknowledgments Who helped? Give thanks
References Sources cited? Give credit
Introduction: function elaborated

• What’s the problem or issue?

• How does it compare to what is currently

accepted?

• What is the importance of the problem or issue?

• What questions/hypotheses did you focus on?

Why did you do this study?

 Are you testing a hypothesis?

 Do people who have had hepatitis B virus have a higher
incidence of hepatitis C virus compared with people who
have not had a HBV infection?

 Are you improving a method?

 Faster, cheaper, more sensitive

 Are you performing a descriptive study?

 Characterizing the distribution of dengue viral infection
by geographic region
Introduction: Flow

General • Introduce the topic: broadly and generally

Known • Orients reader to the importance of topic

• Summarize what’s known about the topic

• Prepare the scene for your work: reveals
Other studies gaps and holes; raise a question

• What specific hypothesis are you testing?

Question • What exact process are you describing?
• What method are you trying to improve?

Approach
• How did you do study?
• BRIEFLY say this in 1 or 2 sentences.
Specific
Introduction: Length

 Keep it BRIEF

Check papers published by your target

journal for average length of introduction

Try to limit the introduction to 3 - 5

paragraphs
Methods

Introduction
HOW DID YOU DO IT?
Methods
● Describe your methods with enough
detail so that someone else can
Results
repeat it or build on what you have
done.

● Remember, the goal is to enable

Discussion reproducibility!
Methods: Format

● Look at examples in the journal you are

targeting

• Use of subheadings; bold, italics varies

greatly between different journals
• Determine the level of detail and style
• Be clear on acceptable abbreviations

Ref: K. LaMarco
& R. Ward
 Methods: format

General
Examples:
(Subheading* or the 1st sentence of the paragraph)

PCR reactions. A reaction mixture was

prepared containing 50 mM KCl, 10 mM Tris,
etc.

Sample collection. Serum samples were

collected from 300 pregnant adolescents (<19
Specific details years old) and 306 pregnant adults (>19 years
(rest of the paragraph) old).

*subheadings depend on the type of paper

Methods: organization

● In the same order that you present the results

● Chronological order
● Begin with what you did first…
● End with what you did last!

● Logical flow of the science (Thematic)

● Possibly in the order that experiments or other data appear
in the results
Methods: references

● You can refer to previous paper for methods

you developed. But be specific.

EXAMPLE "cells were lysed as previously described (9)."

BETTER "cells were lysed by ultrasonic treatment as

previously described (9).”

● Sometimes, it is good to briefly review the protocol.

“DNA was extracted as previously described (9). Briefly,

cells were lysed by ultrasonic treatment and then...”
Results

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion
Everything in your paper points
towards the results

Introduction: Methods:
Motivates readers for.. Tell how you obtained..

RESULTS

Conclusion:
Discussion:
significance of…
based on…
Results: purpose

1. Summarize the data

• Reduce the data to a manageable Summarizing your results
size. • AVERAGES AND RANGES
"The average number of cases
2. Lead the readers through the per outbreak was 4.8 (range 2
figures. to 25)."
• Point out important findings and
interesting aspects of the data. • PERCENTAGES
"Of the 80 serum samples,
3. Point out trends 25% (20) had the presence
of viral RNA."
Results: what to present?

• Data that supports your main

point
• Don’t present every experiment!
• More data is not always better
• Summarize!

• How to present the data?

• Use graphs, tables or figures
• Try to limit it to 5!
Results: percentages

 Always include the number of samples (N)

 Incorrect: A positive signal was detected in 75% of the blood samples.
 Correct 1: Viral RNA was detected in 75% (75/100) of the blood samples.
 Correct 2: Of the 100 blood samples, 75% had positive viral RNA.

 Be careful while using percentages or statistics with small numbers of samples

 Incorrect: "Sixty percent (3/5) of the samples from Asuncion and 20% (1/5)
from La Paz demonstrated drug resistance.“
 Correct: “Three out of 5 samples from Asuncion and 1 out of 5 samples from
La Paz demonstrated drug resistance."
Describing Results: Lead the Reader

• Each figure/table should have at least one paragraph

describing the results in that figure.

BE SURE TO REFER TO EACH FIGURE/TABLE IN THE TEXT

• Each paragraph should end with a sentence

summarizing (not repeat) the important result from
that figure/table.
Organization of results/figures

• Chronological/Historical
1st 2nd 3rd Lastly
Most important result, may be last

• Thematic
Most logical sequence

• Generalize from the data

Point out trends and patterns.
Tell the readers what to notice
But avoid bias or interpretation
Paragraph organization in results

• First sentence describes the experiment and why it is

important.

• Next sentences describe the results and any issues

about controls.

• Last sentence should be about the exciting findings

and their importance (be careful with making
assumptions or going into conclusions!).
[Link]

● In what tense should the results section

of a paper be written?

● A. In present tense
● B. In past tense
● C. In both tenses
Results: talk about what is important

• Point out similarities

"The distribution of occurrence of Delhi genotypes

by drug susceptibility status is shown in Table 2.
Similar frequencies of the Delhi phenotype were
found among resistant and susceptible isolates.“
Results: talk about what is important

 Point out differences: include details (numbers) and

refer to the figure

“Among the 83 isolates studied, 60 isolates belonging to the Delhi

genogroup displayed a distinctive set of sequences as shown in Figure 3.”

 While presenting results, be concise/brief when

describing a table or figure
Incorrect: It is clearly shown in Table 1 that nocillin inhibited the growth of
N. gonorrhoeae.

Correct: Nocillin inhibited the growth of N. gonorrhoeae (Table 1).

Results: describe statistics correctly

• If you ran a statistical analysis, make sure that you say what
type of test and what level of significance

● Correct: “X was significantly higher in males than in females (t-test, p-

value<0.05).”

• If you did not run a statistical analysis, be careful with saying

“x was significantly higher in males than in females”

– The word “significantly” implies statistical significance

– Don’t use the word 'significantly', if you did not run a statistical analysis!

● Correct: “There appeared to be higher levels of x in males than in females”

Results: scientific words

In describing the importance of your data, be

strong but cautious:

• Incorrect: "This definitively proves that drug

resistance is higher in Esmeralda.”

• Correct: "This suggests that incidence of

resistance to anti-malarial drugs is higher
in Esmeralda."
Discussion

This is YOUR opportunity to:

Introduction

• Put your data into perspective

• How does it fit into the field? Methods
.
• Propose a model Results

• Propose new experiments

Discussion
• Make your readers think
Discussion: Flow

Specific
• Consider your question: provide the
answers to it
Findings

• Provide some interpretations for the answer

Meaning • Use the statistical trends to conclude on the question

Other studies • Compare and contrast your result with

relevant existing literature

Implications • Describe the generalizability of your results

• State limitations and unanswered questions
General
First Paragraph of Discussion

State the main point in the first sentence.

(or last sentence). Power position!

Summarize only your major findings in terms of

how they support your main point.

Discuss subsequent points in order of

importance

Summarize how each point or result supports

your hypothesis or conclusion
Discussion points

Branson (2004)
[Link]

What is the most common mistake in the

discussion section of a research paper?

A. Not interpreting the results

B. Irrelevant citations
C. Unjustifiable inferences
The Conclusions Section

● -Must be stated in clear, simple language

● -Do not repeat data or discussion
● -Your hunches and inferences can be here, but distinguish
between speculations and facts
○ e.g., “Though the difference between the treatment groups was statistically
significant, we suspect that the difference will not influence hospital
mortality.”
● -Provide future direction for research
Final Words

● “Writing is a skill born from practice. The first

step to becoming a good writer is becoming an
avid and careful reader. A researcher’s early
experiments in writing should include multiple
rewrites, with constructive criticism from a
mentor.”

● - Richard Branson (2004)

Acknowledgements

• Branson, R.D. (2004). Respir Care, 49(10):1222–1228

• Global Health Network & Sustainable Sciences Institute (SSI)’s

Scientific Manuscript Writing Workshop (2021)

• McMillan, V. E. (2011). Writing papers in the biological sciences.

Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

• Penrose, A. M., & Katz, S. B. (2010). Writing in the sciences:

Exploring conventions of scientific discourse. Boston, MA:
Longman

• Winsor, D. A. (1993). Constructing scientific knowledge in Gould

and Lewontin’s ‘The spandrels of San Marco’. Understanding
scientific prose, 127-143.
 ● Thank you for listening.

● Biliamin O. Popoola
● Systems, Scholarly Communications and Evidence-
Based Medicine Librarian
● University of Medical Sciences, Ondo City, Nigeria
● bpopoola@[Link]
 Examining a paper through the
eyes of a peer reviewer

Blessing Mawire
Lead, Research4Life Country Connectors
Article Review

Main Review Areas:

• Structure of the paper

• Title

• Content

• Methodology

• Bibliography

• Contribution with existing research

• *Let us look at an example
Review example

● Yeoman M., 2013.

Annotated journal article. In
AuthorAID resources
[Internet]. Available
from [Link]
nfo/uploads/resources/annot
[Link]
 The Do’s and Don’ts of article
writing and Plagiarism
Gracian Chimwaza
Executive Director, Information, Training and Outreach
Centre for Africa (ITOCA)
Mercy Moyo
Deputy Director (Research & Training), ITOCA
Do’s

• Ensure clear and precise communication of your work, focusing on its

novelty rather than storytelling.
• Emphasize the ideas and methodologies employed, providing specific
justifications for your research.
• Verify the accuracy and correctness of the data you present, as your
innovative ideas and methodologies may guide future researchers.
• Present your materials comprehensively, covering all aspects of the
topic.
• Consult diverse sources of research to obtain trustworthy and up-to-
date information.
Do’s Continued

• Thoroughly examine your research materials and information for

reliability, and support them with ample analysis and logical
reasoning to demonstrate their relevance and alignment with your
research.
• Support your findings with solid evidence and compelling arguments.
• Utilize scientific terminology in your paper, while including only the
necessary level of detail about your research work.
• Keep track of your bibliography and references, organizing data by
source or marking notes to remember the origin of individual facts.
• Proofread your paper multiple times, and don't hesitate to seek
assistance from friends, peers, colleagues, or professional editors for
proofreading and refining the paper.
Article clearly defining method used and scope of study
Don’ts

• Be truthful when representing yourself to the readers and avoid any misrepresentation.
• Only include information that directly addresses the questions at hand. Irrelevant content
will not contribute to any new insights regarding your work.
• Avoid unnecessary lengthening of your paper. Instead, focus on providing relevant and
concise data to support your work and convey your point effectively.
• Refrain from disclosing incomplete or illogical reasons for conducting the research.
• Adhere to the recommended word limits and demonstrate your ability to follow
guidelines, work within limitations, and present your findings systematically.
• Avoid excessive generalizations in your paper, as it may imply a lack of substantial content
or meaningful contributions.
Don’ts Continued

• Ensure that each of your findings aligns with the overall objective of your research and
provides support for your argument.
• Remember to reference any relevant supporting material or related research conducted
by esteemed researchers. This will enhance and complement your research paper.
• Instead of citing Wikipedia, seek out unquestionably reliable sources for your citations.
• Refrain from plagiarism and always thoroughly proofread your work before submitting it.
How to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism must be avoided if you want to preserve your academic integrity and provide
due credit to the information's original authors or developers.
• Proper citation and referencing should be used when incorporating information from
sources. Follow the specified citation style guidelines provided by the Journal Publisher.
Use reference management software (Mendeley, Zotero, Endnote)
• Take careful and accurate notes when conducting research, ensuring you summarize
the main points or ideas in your own words. This helps prevent unintentional copying of
the original text.
• Use quotation marks and accurate citations when directly quoting a source.
• Attribute ideas and information to the original author or source, especially if they are
not common knowledge. This applies to both written and visual content.
How to avoid plagiarism Continued

• Understand and practice the skill of paraphrasing, which involves expressing someone else's
ideas using your own words. However, be cautious not to simply replace a few words or
sentence structures while retaining the original meaning. Instead, aim to comprehend the
information and rephrase it using your own language and sentence structure. Always cite the
original source when paraphrasing.
• Effective planning and time management are crucial to avoid rushed work and reduce the
likelihood of accidental plagiarism.
• Utilize plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin or Grammarly before submitting your work.
These tools compare your writing to a vast database of published works, assisting in identifying
any potential instances of plagiarism that might have been overlooked.
• Seek guidance and assistance if you are unsure how to cite a source or have any questions
about plagiarism.
Plagiarism and AI

• Plagiarism has been on the high due to popularity of AI tools such as ChatGTP
• There are software that can also detect if text is AI generated
• [Link] - Is a ChatGPT plagiarism detector, a GPT 3 content
detector, GPT 4 content detector, and a Jarvis AI content detector
Questions and Answers
Next webinar in 2 weeks: 20 June 2023 (Tuesday)

• Understand the perspective of various key constituents involved in the writing

and publishing process
• Gain additional insight into the dynamics of successful publishing
• Have an opportunity to submit questions to clarify specific points
• Review concepts discussed throughout the course

Open on the course platform 16 June 2023

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