For Authors

Order and comments for writing an original manuscript

1.       Tables and Figures

a.       Tables and figures should stand alone and tell a complete story, the reader should not need to refer back to the main text

b.      Use the fewest figures and tables needed to tell a story

c.       Do not present the same data in both table and figure

d.      Keep the table title brief

e.      Follow the journal format

2.       Results (Not Raw data)

a.       Summarize what the data show

                                                  i.      Point out simple relationships

                                                ii.      Describe big-picture trends

                                              iii.      Cite figures or tables that present supporting data

b.      Avoid simply repeating the numbers that are already available in tables and figures

c.       Break into subsections with heading

d.      Complement the information that is already in table and figures

e.      Repeat/highlight only the most important numbers

f.        Don’t forget to talk about negative and control results

g.       Reserve the term “significant” for statistically significant

h.      Reserve information about what you did for the methods section

i.        Reserve comments on the meaning of your results for the discussion section

j.        What type of verb tense should be used

                                                  i.      Use past tense for completed action: We found that…

                                                ii.      Use the present tense for assertions that continue to be true, such as what tables show, what you believe, and what the data suggest: Figure 1 shows…

3.       Methods

a.       Give a clear overview of what was done

b.      Give enough information to replicate the study

c.       Be complete, but make life easy for your reader

                                                  i.      Break into smaller sections

                                                ii.      Cite a reference for commonly used methods

                                              iii.      Display in a flow diagram or table where possible

d.      Who, what, when, where, how, and why? Let try to answer these question by your statements

4.       Introduction

a.       Typically 3 paragraphs long (should be from 2 – 5)

b.      Should focus on the specific hypothesis / aim of your study

c.       Structure of introduction:

                                                  i.      Background, known information

                                                ii.      Knowledge gap, unknown information

                                              iii.      Hypothesis, question, purpose statement

                                               iv.      Approach, plan of attack, proposed solution             

d.      Tips for writing an introduction

                                                  i.      Keep paragraphs short

                                                ii.      Write for a general audience

                                              iii.      Take the reader step by step : known->unknown-> question/hypothesis

                                               iv.      Emphasize how your study fills in the gaps

                                                 v.      Explicitly state your research question

                                               vi.      Summarize at a high level

5.       Discussion

6.       Abstract