Section 4 - jp.edanzgroup.com · Introductions & Discussions [New paragraph] “We previously took the Raman profiles of…” Referring to previous studies in the Introduction “We

Section 4

Introductions & Discussions 2

Introductions & Discussions Correct verb tense

Present simple

Present perfect

Past simple

Stating an accepted fact or current implications

Referring to past studies that are still relevant

Reporting an account of what you did/showed

Introduction Discussion

Introduction Discussion

Methods Results

“Graphene is a promising material for...” “Our findings have implications for…”

“Group therapy has been shown to increase...” “In this study, we have shown that…”

“We used NMR to investigate the structure of…” “Sorafenib prevented tumor growth in HCC patients...”

Introductions & Discussions

[New paragraph] “We previously took the Raman profiles of…”

Referring to previous studies in the Introduction

“We have previously studied/reported the Raman profiles of…”

[Next sentence] “A red shift in the G and 2D peak positions is observed…”

“A red shift in the G and 2D peak positions was observed…”

“We observed a red shift in the G and 2D peak positions …”

Correct verb tense – Case study


“This result suggested that these peaks are from…”

Referring to your implications in the Discussion

“This result suggests that these peaks originate from…” “This result suggests that these peaks originated from…”

“These Raman spectroscopy results confirmed that…”

“These Raman spectroscopy results confirm that…”

Signal words for implications of results: confirm, demonstrate, show, reveal, support, indicate, suggest, imply



“Many researchers proved that certain grasses were not affected by the fungus…”

Referring to others in the Introduction or Discussion

[New paragraph; general news] …have concluded/suggested that certain grasses are not affected…

[Not new paragraph; past specific finding] …reported/found/showed that certain grasses were not affected…

[Not new paragraph; past implication/generalization] …concluded/suggested that certain grasses are not affected…


Human report verbs: report, state, find, conclude, demonstrate, show, advise, recommend, suggest, comment, argue, claim, contend


Common mistakes in the Introduction

Ideas are not logically organized

Important topics in the Introduction are not mentioned again in the Results/Discussion

Important topics in the Results/Discussion are not mentioned in the Introduction

Cited studies are not up-to-date

Cited studies are geographically biased

Why study needs to be done?

Keep focused

Write last

<5 years

International


Common mistakes in the Discussion

Do not restate your results or introduce new data

We showed that tumor volumes in Groups A, B, and C were 34.6, 74.2, and 53.9 mm3, respectively, after a 4-month drug treatment, reflecting only a 8.6% decrease. However, after a 12-month drug treatment, the tumor volumes in Groups A, B, and C were 16.3, 18.7, and 16.9 mm3, respectively, which reflects a 45.2% decrease (p<0.05). The results demonstrate that 12 months of treatment is necessary for Drug X to effectively reduce tumor size among the three groups.

The results presented in this study demonstrate that Drug X more effectively reduces tumor size after 12 months of treatment (45.2% reduction) than it does after 4 months (8.6% reduction).


Common mistakes in the Discussion

Do not overgeneralize your findings

In this study, we demonstrated that Drug A effectively reduced tumor growth. Therefore, this drug should have therapeutic applications in breast cancer treatment.

In this study, we demonstrated that Drug A effectively reduced the growth of various breast cancer cell lines. Our findings suggest that this drug may have therapeutic applications in breast cancer treatment.

Result: Drug A reduced breast cancer cell growth in vitro


Makes readers think others’ words or ideas are your own

Copying published text (even with a citation)

Stating ideas of someone else without citing the source

Plagiarism


Copying text that you have written and published before into your manuscript

Self-plagiarism

May violate copyright

Makes readers think you are presenting something new


Expressing published ideas using different words

Paraphrasing

Tips on paraphrasing:

• Write the text first into another language, and then later translate back into English

• Verbally explain ideas to a colleague • Name a published method and cite it • Consider text location

– Introduction vs. Discussion

Introductions & Discussions Good paraphrasing

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are altered over time under different land uses.”

The size of the carbon storage change depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24

How differing land uses gradually affect biological, chemical, or physical processes changes how much carbon can be stored.24

• Nouns verbs • Prepositional phrases Adverbs • Passive Active voice

• Synonyms, word order

Introductions & Discussions Paraphrasing tips

Vary sentence structure to avoid patchwriting or listing

Change voice, rhythm, style

Separate/join sentences

Discourse markers Coincidentally; Also in agreement; Indeed

Join 2 sentences (semicolon, colon for a reason/list, or by subordination); alternate short/long sentences

Active to passive, or passive to active; negative to positive, or positive to negative;

invert word or sentence order

Sentence logic Either/or; neither/nor; not only, but also

Introductory phrase According to X’s method,…; In X’s study,…; X

showed/reported…; When X…

Change word class An altered direction -> A directional change

Activity 4

Please see Activity 4 in your workbook

Section 5

Checking your written work

Editing and proofreading

Don’t use numbers to start a sentence

50 participants were recruited.

We recruited 50 participants. / In this study, 50 participants were recruited.

Fifty participants were recruited.

Avoid mistakes 9


Don’t use new words; use “that” for defining terms

Some of the data from the last 2 years, which we

inputted into the analysis, impacted on the overall calculation.

Some of the data from the past 2 years that we entered into the analysis affected the overall

calculation.

Avoid mistakes 10


Avoid biased or offensive language

The doctor must treat his patient with care.

The doctor must treat the patient with care. The doctor must treat his or her patient with care.

Doctors must treat their patients with care. Doctors must treat patients with care.

Police officer, firefighter, person with epilepsy, person with diabetes, person with asthma

Avoid mistakes 11

Policeman, fireman, epileptic, diabetic, asthmatic


Patient parameters …improved significantly; it is significant that… X was correlated with Y The risk* of developing X in this case-control study…

Patient variables …improved considerably/markedly; it is important that… X was associated with/related to/linked to Y The odds of developing X in this case-control study…

Don’t misuse statistical words

* OK in a retrospective study if disease is rare and causality is assumed; risk=x/total, odds=x/(total–x)

Avoid mistakes 12


2 categorical endpoints

Paired (within sample)

Unpaired (between sample)

McNemar’s test

Fisher’s exact test 2 treatment groups

*for sample sizes > 60

Chi-square test* >2 treatment groups

du Prel et al. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107: 343–8.

Common complaints – Statistics


Continuous endpoints

Parametric Nonparametric

Paired Unpaired Paired Unpaired

2 groups: Paired t test

>2 groups: Repeated-

measures ANOVA

2 groups: Unpaired t test

>2 groups: ANOVA (F test)

2 groups: Wilcoxon signed-

rank test

>2 groups: Friedman

one-way ANOVA

2 groups: Mann–Whitney U test (Wilcoxon

rank-sum test )

>2 groups: Kruskal–Wallis

test

Lang and Secic 1997; 71.

Common complaints – Statistics

Editing and proofreading Qualitative studies

Rich data: sufficient, systematically collected,

high-quality Quantity (breadth/depth) depends on existing knowledge, size of knowledge gap, agree/disagree with current theory

Research question: appropriate and focused

Keep a “how” research question in mind when coding and when reporting how you contribute to theory

Grounding: relevant or closest literature

Introduction: show that there are knowledge gaps and a need for theory development; may include Literature Review section; check validity/reliability

Transparency: explain methods and show

systematic work

Give references of accepted methods; how did you identify/refine themes and identify outliers? Table of quotes (n>1) or in-depth theme boxes (n=1)

Reay. Fam Bus Rev. 2014;1–8, DOI: 10.1177/0894486514529209

Editing and proofreading Qualitative studies

Tell an intriguing empirical (not

theoretical) story Engaging and interesting, surprising and new; short version in Introduction and long version in Results; “tell” & “show”

Tell a convincing theoretical story

Discussion: clearly explain how your study connects to literature; refer to references from Introduction

Show clear contribution to target journal

Clearly explain how your analysis/model advances or changes theory, or where current theory doesn’t hold; keep to target journal aim/scope

Ethically conducted and reported/published

Informed consent, confidentiality, avoiding harm, research integrity (www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk)

Reay. Fam Bus Rev. 2014;1–8, DOI: 10.1177/0894486514529209


Check target journal about:

(1) format/style, (2) word counts, (3) referencing, (4) documents to be submitted, such as title page and declarations, (5) cover letter

Check relevant international guidelines in Equator Network

Check use of passive, or I/We or This author, This study, These results

Check logic and consistency

Check all data and display items; check reference to figures

Find a colleague for presubmission peer review advice

Check idiomatic language and parallel constructions; remove repetition

Clarify referents of pronouns such as It and This

Check subjects are close to verbs; check verb tense and agreement

Check spelling and grammar; ask a native English speaker to help

Before submission

Activity 5

Please see Activity 5 in your workbook

Section 6

Promoting your research after publication

Coverage and Staffing Plan

Publicize your work Three missions

Education/

Training

Research

Knowledge Exchange


Publicize your work Match your audience

Pre- and post-publication impact

IMRaD research article

(journals,

posters, slides)

Hard news

(conclusion as “lede”)

(press

releases)

Hard news, delayed

lede

(implication at start)

Soft news/

Feature story

(news-letters)

Hard news, delayed lede + kicker

(implication at start &

end)

Only after journal publication!



Writing for the public

Hard news

Heading

• Can say “new”; can use subheading • Name the source/people

Conclusion first (lede/top line) • Name the source/people; 6WHs give key

facts • Implications or importance as a quote

Results before Methods; use bullets Background last; end with a quote



Tips

Hard news

Give only important details Include definitions, and synonyms, in

introductory or incidental phrases/clauses Check all data, details, and names Grab attention Write for the layperson; use analogies Avoid jargon and technical language Be concise! Short paragraphs Be interesting! What is different/new? End with Call to action, or a quotation



Elements of a press release

Hard news

Use letterhead FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (or Embargo date) Short title; dateline, city name Quotations on insights from named experts;

no repetition! Include keywords Include full citation; name journal / evidence

level in the text End with END or ENDS or ### or -30- Contact info, institution info, explanations,

photo available, in “Notes to Editors”

S

Abstract Simulating the impact on health of internalising the cost of carbon in food prices combined with a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages Rising greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) have implications for health and up to 30% of emissions globally are thought to arise from agriculture.…In order to address this,…we model the effect on UK non-communicable disease mortality and GHGEs of internalising the social cost of carbon into the price of food alongside a 20% tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs)….

Example: Publicizing your work

Press release A combined carbon and sugar tax could have environmental and health benefits A combination of a carbon tax on food and a tax on sugary drinks in the UK could lead to health benefits, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise up to GB£3.6 billion revenue, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. Lead researcher, Adam Briggs from the University of Oxford, said: “Agriculture is responsible for up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions”…

Based on: http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/3-feb-2016;

http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-2723-8;

Please see Activity 6 in your Workbook

Activity 6

S

Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to be published, but also to be widely read and cited

Planning well and developing advanced writing skills

Logically communicating your ideas in your manuscript

Checking your work carefully

Promoting your research findings to different

audiences

Thank you!

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Trevor Lane: [email protected] Julian Tang: [email protected]

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Section 4 - jp.edanzgroup.com · Introductions & Discussions [New paragraph] “We previously took the Raman profiles of…” Referring to previous studies in the Introduction “We