Preparing a Scientific Article for Publication

Article OutlineI. Title

II. Abstract

III. Introduction (Why are you writing?)

IV. Data & Methods (What did you do?)

V. Results (What did you find?)

VI. Discussion (What does it mean?)

VII. References

The IntroductionOverall Purpose:

Convince the reader that your study will add knowledge or knowhow that is new and useful

The Introduction

Further Purposes• Stimulate the reader’s interest

• Provide background information which is pertinent to the study

• State the research question -- the most important part of the study

Outline of the Introduction • Identify topic of paper / General problem

statement• More specific problem statement with

literature background and highlights• Point out where important knowledge is

missing• Give relevant limitations of previous studies• Be clear that filling this gap will be useful• Give study purpose and hypotheses• Be clear that your approach is new and

addresses limitations of previous studies.

The Problem Statement

• What is the general problem of interest?

• Why is the problem important/significant? (Provide numbers, rates, costs, etc.)

• What specific populations are involved?

Problem Statement Example Policy discussions on children’s health insurance,

including the current debate over health care reform, have been devoted largely to reducing the number of uninsured children. Children lacking health insurance are more likely to have delayed or forgone needed care; less access to preventive, specialist or chronic care; lower utilization rates; higher financial burden; and poor health outcomes. Children with intermittent health insurance (i.e., periods without insurance throughout the year) are also at greater risk for delayed care, unmet health care needs, not having a usual source of care, and not receiving well-child care.

Highlighting the Literature / More Specific Problem Statement

• Moving from the general problem to the specific issue to be addressed, highlight the previous literature on the problem, thereby establishing the background for the study.

Background Information• Results of previous studies on this topic

• Areas of disagreement or uncertainty

• Contextual issues or other factors that affected study design

• Contextual information that is important for interpretation of results

More Specific Problem Statement Example

• Considerably less attention has been devoted to the problem of underinsurance, or having insurance that does not sufficiently meet the child’s needs. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) highlighted the importance of this issue with a policy statement. 9 The major problems cited were cost-sharing requirements that are too high, benefit limitations, and inadequate coverage of needed services.

Where is the Knowledge Gap?

• Provide an overview of existing theories, controversies and unresolved issues that are specific to the study and will be addressed by the manuscript.

Where is the Knowledge Gap Example• Although studies have addressed underinsurance

among adults,10-12 and some have addressed adequacy of coverage for children with special health care needs,13-16 none have assessed adequacy of health insurance for all children. A better understanding of the prevalence of underinsurance among children and its impact on families can help inform the current discussion on health insurance reform. In this paper we take a novel approach to measuring underinsurance that incorporates the multiple dimensions of insurance adequacy cited by the AAP: adequate coverage for needed services, adequate choice of providers, and reasonable coverage of costs.

Study Purpose and Hypotheses

• State the study purpose(s) and the hypotheses to be tested.

• Provide a clear description of what this study hopes to accomplish.

• Example: The purpose of this study is to explore the role of... . Specifically, we hypothesize that...

Study Purpose Statement ExampleWe use the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a nationally representative study of over 90,000 children to address: 1) the extent of underinsurance among continuously insured children; 2) sociodemographic and health factors associated with underinsurance and each component; and 3) the association between both the overall measure of underinsurance and each component, and measures of access and quality.

Common Problems: Introduction• Not having clear, answerable aims

• They are the backbone of the article, and provide the structure for all subsequent sections

• Vague purpose statements• Study question too vague

– Study objectives – No citations of other key studies on specific topic

• Background information too broad• Information too elementary (my dear Watson)• Information too detailed

• Don’t want a comprehensive literature review• Unpublished literature, theses cited• Understating the importance of the research question• Results given at end of Introduction section

•

Vague Purpose StatementsCompare these examples:• “This study reports our experience with two

types of mosquito feeding: direct feeding and membrane feeding.”

• “Our purpose was to determine seasonal infectivity rates by direct feeding among gametocyte carriers 18 years old and younger, and to compare malaria transmission-blocking activity via direct versus membrane feeding.”

Literature Review Within Introduction to Set Context

• Comprehensive review/assessment of the current knowledge (for YOUR knowledge, then…)

• Representative sample, not everything

• Describe relevant studies/theories

• Provide a theoretical/conceptual framework

Sources of Literature Review• Bibliographic databases

1. MEDLINE (PubMed)2. EMBASE3. AIDSLINE4. POPLINE5. JSTOR

• Specialized databases 1. American College of Physicians2. ProQuest Digital Dissertation3. US Gov CDC4. WHO

Other Resources• Experts/colleagues

1. Supplements specific points2. Cited as personal reference

• Internet (http:// www.); search engines include:

1. Google2. Alta Vista3. HotBot

Elements of the Introduction: A Summary

• GAP GB – Key BACKGROUND to the gap. GU – Why filling the gap will be USEFUL. GL – Key LIMITATION(S) of previous studies responsible for the gap.

• APPROACH AB – BACKGROUND to the approach AN – What is NEW about the approach taken in the current study. AL – How does this new approach address the LIMITATIONS of previous studies.

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