st catherine’s hospice how to write a paper and get it published…

ST CATHERINE’SHOSPICE

How to write a paper

And get it published…

http://www.stcatherineshospice-nyorks.org/History/Logo.JPG


Questions before you begin

•Why write?

•What do you want to say?

•Who do you want to write with?

•Where do you want to be published?



Why write?

• Because you have too For your trainingo A “moral obligation” to make data publico To be ahead of the gameo Because you are compelled to by your

message

• You can directly benefit the patient sitting with you in the consultation

• You can benefit more by teaching

• You can benefit immeasurably more patients by publishing



What do you want to say?

•Letter in response

•Book review

•Case report

•Book chapter

•Study report – “writing a paper”



Who do you want to write with?

• As a general rule get someone to write with who’s done it before

• As a general principle the person who has had the idea, has done the bulk of the work and did the first draft of the paper is the first author although this is sometimes not the case if agreed by the whole group

• As a general principle the last author is the person who is the senior researcher who has carried overall responsibility for the quality of the work

• If you can – agree up front – it saves arguments later



International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: agreement on

authorship

• Three areas: 1) conception/design, acquisition or analysis or interpretation of data; 2) drafting or revising article 3) final approval of the version to be published. o Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.

• Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.

• Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.



Where to send it?

• Who is your audience?

• UK?

• Doctors?

• Multi-professional

• Palliative care

• Primary care

• A bit of inside knowledge never goes amiss- take advice

• Read the signs (eg PTP paper)



examples

• GP registrars: single practice audit on DS1500 in patients died from HF or cancer

• Scope – simple

• Audience – primary and secondary, non palliative care

• Preferred peer review

• Helped along by a bit of inside knowledge

• British Journal of Cardiology



examples

•Medical student study

•Relevant for all palliative physicians working in hospices involved in undergraduate education

•National palliative medicine journal

•Good quality method

•Aim for peer review, medline linked with an impact factor and a full paper



example

•Opioid pilot in heart failure

•Palliative physicians aren’t the problem, so aim for a cardiology audience

•Want credibility so need reasonable authority journal

•Methodology was sound and based in department with international reputation

•So went for EJHF



examples

•Don’t be afraid

•E.g. BMJ rapid responseso Some have had online rapid

response publishedo Also keep an eye out for JAMA clinical

case history rapid responses

•Why not ask the editor?



Other ways to get started

•Make it known you’re interested

•There are educational supervisors with editorial responsibilities from time to timeo Fiona Hicks (clinical medicine)o MJ (BJHM)

•Many of us get asked to write articles or book chapters – offer to help co-write

•Get end note or reference manager and learn how to use them



Having decided

• Look at the instructions to authors and stick to it like glue

• Be aware of standard conventionso Numbers one to ten are written as wordso Numbers 11 and above as numbers unless

they are at the beginning of a sentenceo Data should be given as numerator and

denominator followed by % unless good reason not to

o Referencing; harvard, vancouver



Online submission

• This is not done because the journal hates you

• Set aside time to do it unless you have become practised at it – it usually goes wrong first time

• Don’t have any gin till afterwards

• Check what type of file it will accept for figures before you start

• Colour will be expensive

• Simple word figures come apart at the seams

• You can then track online what is happening



instructions

1. Review Articles. 5,000 – 10,000 words (75 – 150 refs)

2. Original papers. 1,500 – 3,000 words with up to six tables or figures

3. Original papers using qualitative methodology. 2,000 to 6,000

4. Short reports or case reports. 1,500 words with one table or figure

5. Letters to the Editors. 750 words. 6. Book Reviews. 250-400 words. A list of up-to-date

books for review is available from the Journal's Editorial Manager. Please contact the Editorial Manager if you are interested in reviewing a particular article.



General

• Letter to editor – sell it!

• Conflict of interests

• Ethical issues

• Study design and reporting standards(e.g. if reporting a randomised clinical trial, it must be registered prior to recruitment and reported using a standardised system as outlined http://www.consort-statement.org



Other useful websites

• http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/reporting-guidelines/

• The PRISMA or MOOSE guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/reporting-guidelines/systematic-reviews-and-meta-analysis/

• The STROBE guidelines for observational studies in epidemiology http://www.strobe-statement.org

• The COREQ guidelines for reporting qualitative research http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/reporting-guidelines/qualitative-research/



Usual pattern

• Abstract and Key words

• Introduction – set the scene, acknowledge work done already – say why this needs to be done – write with reviewers in mind

• Method – somebody reading the paper should be able to repeat your work

• Results – use tables/Figs to keep word count down and present data visually. Stick to results. Don’t drift to discussion

• Discussion – include a section on weaknesses of the paper to pre-empt snotty reviewers



then

•Acknowledgements

•Conflict of interests

•References o get it right first timeo don’t guess/pretend/copyo check with source papero get reference manager to improve

your psychological wellbeing



Why the first author credit?



Get the first draft going

• Learn how to use track changes

• Work from the outset in the journal style

• Keep to word limit as much as possible from the start

• Have one person who keeps a handle on which version you work from

• Agree a time scale and stick to it

• Agree an author for correspondence (usually first author – but may be the person who is geographically stable – ie the last author)

• Ready to submit the paper?



Ready to submit?



Once submitted

• Nervously await whether it gets chucked out

• Hopefully sent out for peer review

• Develop thick skin very quickly

• Never respond immediately to reviewers’ comments

• But aim to respond within the week

• Take point by point and show the editors how you have addressed each – either by revising text or arguing your point

• Re-submit

• Rejoice, gloat and feel smug

• Update your cv



If it gets rejected

• When the pain settles

• Look at the reviewers comments and see if there are constructive comments

• Regroup

• If you feel there is valuable and important message to “get out there”

• Revise and resubmit elsewhere

• Sometimes papers have been submitted several times before published


st catherine’s hospice how to write a paper and get it published…

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