Causes of Article Rejection & brief introduction to IMRaD Isnani AS Suryono Pelatihan Penulisan Artikel Ilmiah untuk Jurnal Internasional DRPM UI, IASTH

Causes of Article Rejection & brief introduction to IMRaD

Isnani AS SuryonoPelatihan Penulisan Artikel Ilmiah untuk

Jurnal InternasionalDRPM UI, IASTH Lt.2, 4 November 2009

Why was your article rejected?

• Administrative• Conformity to target Journal’s in-house style:– Language (US/UK English?)– Substance– Format

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In-house style, what is it?

• It’s a rule of the game of the target journal, a kind of manual, to be followed by contributing authors.

• It provides guides for authors on preparation, writing, manuscript submission, offprints, and costs

• The manual is usually called Guide for Authors (GFA) or Instruction to Authors (IA)


GFA is a need, why?

• Failur to comply to GFA may lead to rejection of the manuscript..

• It can be said that GFA is the skeleton of the scientific article.


Example of Instruction to Authors

Med J Indones: • Authors should submit 3 hard copies, and retain

a personal copy.Basic requirements:• Should be original work, • Never been published before• Obtained ethical committee approval• Researches involving human subject, should be

accompanied by signed informed consent• Subjected to peer and editorial review


Format example

• Articles in the Med J Indones used the 2008 version format of the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscript submitted to Biomedical Journals” established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

• Aims & scope can be read at the MJI website: www.e-mji.com

• Author should fill in copyright transfer form19/04/23 6DRPM/UI/iasth lt.2/ias

http://www.e-mji.com/

Forms to fill along with submission

Final checklist & submission form contains: • Acknowledgment of manuscript & CD submission• Guarantees:– participation & agreement of all authors involved;– the originality of manuscript, and that it has never

been published elsewhere before– acknowledgment & approval of every institution

involved– obtainment of ethical clearance


Final check list & submission form

• Conformation to IA of the MJI adopted from ICMJE 2008.

• Types of article:– Basic medical research– Clinical research– Community research– Medical education– Case report– Review article– Brief communication


Title page

• Title of the article• Full name(s) of author(s)• Academic degree(s)• Institutional affiliation(s) of author(s)• Communication address• Running title (maximum 40 characters)• Synopsis• Sponsor (if any)


Article is organized as follows:• Abstrak Bahasa Indonesia• Abstract in English• Introduction• Methods• Results• Discussion• Acknowledgment• References (maximum 25)• Table(s)• Graph(s)


Basic structure IMRAD:

• Introduction (what question was asked?)

• Methods (How was it studied?)• Results (What was found?)• And• Discussion (What do the findings mean?)

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Structure of a scientific paper.1,2

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INTRODUCTION

• Lindsay: 5-10% of pages • I dari I M R A D• Answers Why did you start? 3

– What do I have to say?– Is it worth saying it?– What is the right format for the message?– What is the audience for the message?– What is the right journal for the message?

DRPM/UI/iasth lt.2/ias

• Explain why your research question is – Important– Interesting, or – Controversial

• Do not include information available in textbooks..

• Include only: most relevant & significant points.. (Jangan pakai terlalu banyak)

Write a concise, focused Intro:3


If your sample is small/ your do not have ideal control group strenghten it by using a few well-selected findings from published studies.

Position your study, does your study have:◦ A larger sample size?◦ Better control of confounding factors?◦ Longer follow up?◦ More recent data?◦ More accurate measurements?

Summarize concisely, elaborate in the Discussion.

Use the Literature to enrich, do not over reference!3


• State the purpose of your study clearly..• The specific aim & hypothesis should be easy

to find & understand

• Be sure that the reasoning in your paper follows a straight line: – from the purpose (in the Introduction) to – the conclusion (at the end of the Discussion)

Explain how your study fills the gap in current scientific knowledge.3


• Authors are often not clear about what they want to say..

• Straying from the hypothesis or the objective of the analysis. [4]

• Authors regularly choose the wrong format.. • Not clear about the audience (Academician?

Practitioners? Researchers? Specialists? Generalists?)

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Common errors:3


• You must present a great deal of important information in just a few words! How few?

• Check recently published Introductions in the target journal make yours slightly less than, or equal to the average length..

Condense the Introduction.4


“To write an effective introduction you must know your audience, keep it short, tell readers why you have done the study and explain why it’s important, convince them that it is better than what has gone before, and try as hard as you can to hook them in the first line”

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Finally..3


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METHODS• Lindsay: Methods (& Results)

40-60% of pages.• M I M R A D• Answers: What did you do?• Most important part of the manuscript, since

is the most common cause of rejection!

DRPM/UI/iasth lt.2/ias

• Important part of the manuscript, since is the most common cause of rejection.

• Main purposes: to describe, sometimes to defend the experimental design, provide sufficient details, enough for others to repeat the study,

• Standard methods just give the appropriate reference .

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Methods: clear, detailed, concise.5


• Whenever “modifications” of standard methods are used, authors should : – Give complete details of any new methods used.– Give the precision of the measurements undertaken.– Use statistical analysis sensibly.

• Help of a statistician needed at the planning stage of study.

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Modification of standard Methods1


How the study was designed:

• Keep the description brief• Inform when the study was conducted & where?• Population & sample, sampling method • Say how randomisation was done• Use names to identify parts of a study sequence

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What to include.2,5


How the study was carried out:

• Describe recruitment (criteria of inclusion )• Give reasons for excluding subjects • Consider mentioning ethical features• Give accurate details of materials • Give exact drug dosages• Give exact form of treatment & accesible details

of unusual apparatus

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What to include?5


• Does text describe questions asked?• What was being tested? • How trustworthy the measurements of the variables

would be?• Were these trustworthy measurements recorded,

analysed, & interpreted correctly?• Would a suitably qualified reader be able to repeat

the experiment in the same way?

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Finally,2,5 Methods concluded


RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS combined..

Advantage • Simple• Only when problems

are simple• Appropriate for ‘note’

or ‘short communication’

Disadvantage• Sometimes difficult to

differentiate clearly between one’s own findings & those reported in the literature

• Author’s argumentation cannot be developed very well


R & D as separate sections

Advantage• Neat format• Some readers prefer to draw their own

conclusions without getting prejudiced by the author’s opinion, and later compare them with the author’s conclusion when they come to the Discussion section

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RESULTS

• Are the core of the paper• Presents the data the researcher has found• Whenever practical, should be organized in

tables, or interpreted through figures / diagrams

• If extensive data have been collected, often best to simply summarize the Result, augmenting the summary with representative examples


Common error

• Commonest faults: repetitive prose that is already clear to the reader from of the tables & figures

• Busy readers will be grateful for a guiding hand but should not be led as if blindfolded


Well presented results

• Simply & clearly stated• Representative rather than endlessly

repetitive data• Reduce large masses of data into ‘means’,

with the SE or SD• Repetitive data best presented as tables &

graphs, not as narrative text• Repeat text only when presenting most

important findings shown in tables/graphs


Well presented results

• Do include negative data– what was not found– if they affect the interpretation of results. Otherwise, negative data are best omitted

• Present only datas that relate to the subject of the paper as defined in the Introduction

• Refer in the text, to every table & figure by number

• Include only tables, figures, & graphs that are necessary, clear, and worth presenting


Things to watch..

• Unnessary words. Beware especially for sentences that begin with: “Table 5 shows that..”. Tables do not show anything. Put the reference to the table in parentheses at the end.

• The reader will usually follow the results more easily if they appear in the same order as the objectives given in the Introduction


After reading the Result..

• The editor usually judge whether at this point readers will say “So what?”

• If they do, than the author has not done an adequeate job of presenting the results..

Next comesDISCUSSION, is the most difficult part of an

article, and this part is where the editors most frequently ask to be revised..


DISCUSSION

• 7 to 8 paragraphs• Final sentence should be conclusive:–50% clear conclusion–25% “perhaps/possibility”–25% NO conclusions, only should carry on

with the work


DISCUSSION

Answers the question: What does it all mean?• First sentence plays a key role & describe main

findings.• Conclusions into context, each paragraph deal

with a different point:– Reasons for a link & how it relates to the existing

theory– Implications to medical science & society– Future direction of work– Day to day implications for clinical work.


CONCLUSION

• Collect and summarize the most important results & their implications

• The status of the problem should be briefly reviewed before the new findings are presented

• Should it be enumerated? (look at the GFA/IA!)

• Should be in line with the purpose stated at the end of the Introduction


CONCLUSION

When there is no separate conclusion (& suggestion) section

• Conclusion can be integrated in the Discussion section

• Conclusion as the last paragraph of the Discussion section

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Discussion & Conclusion combined

• Check again the GFA/IA..• After presenting one’s findings & elaborating

on their significance, a scientist is usually anxious to conclude by engaging in a certain amount of extrapolation, including suggestions for future studies..


1. Hall GH. Structure of a scientific paper. In: Hall GH, ed. How to write a paper. London: BMJ, 1994: p. 1-3.

2. Sastroasmoro S. Penulisan makalah ilmiah untuk jurnal: Sistematika dan Format Umum. Pada Workshop on medical report writing. The Second annual Jakarta International Epidemiology Course for Clinicians. FKUI & UICC. Jakarta: 25 Nov-6 Des. 1996

3. Smith R. Introduction. In: Hall GH, ed. How to write a paper. London: BMJ, 1994: p. 6-13

4. Byrne DW. Introduction. In: Publishing your medical research paper. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1998:p.101-4

5. Drummond G B. Methods. In: Hall GH, ed. How to write a paper. London: BMJ, 1994: p.15-8

6. Lindsay D. Penuntun Penulisan Ilmiah. A guide to Scientific Writing. Jakarta: UIP; 1986

7. Albert T. IMRAD STRUCTURE. IN: a – z of medical writing. London. BMJ Books. 2000; p. 62-3

8. Achmadi SA. Results & Discussion. Workshop on international scientific paper writing. Makassar, 22-25 Oktober 2009.

9. Gusli S. Familiarizing with In-House Style of selected journals. Workshop on International Scientific Paper Writing. Makassar Golden Hotel, 22-25 October 2009

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References


Documents

Causes of Article Rejection & brief introduction to IMRaD Isnani AS Suryono Pelatihan Penulisan Artikel Ilmiah untuk Jurnal Internasional DRPM UI, IASTH