Writing Clinical Research Papers for Publication

Abstract

Objectives: This paper is written to serve as a guide to young medical specialists and academics who must master the ‘art' of writing clinical research papers in reputable peer reviewed journals early in their careers.

Results: Important aspects of style, grammar, structure, illustrations, title, statistics, abstract and references are discussed. Potential minefields of academic research and writing such as authorship, plagiarism, duplicate publication and ‘salami-slicing' were highlighted.

Recommendation: Education in the ‘art' of writing and presentation of scientific papers and the critical appraisal of scientific literature need to be included in our undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula.


Keywords: Clinical Research Writing Ethics, Publications

NQJHM Vol. 15 (1) 2005: pp. 1-8