Abstract
Corresponding Author(s)
Dr. Jay H. Shubrook, Jr., Family Medicine, Ohio University COM, Grosvenor Hall 349, Athens, OH 45701-1902.
E-mail address: shubrook@ohio.edu.
Read the article
The purpose of this article is to help osteopathic family physicians prepare a scientific article and show all the steps from the rough manuscript to the published paper.
Medical writing is one component of the comprehensive skill set that medical school faculty members develop over many years. However, the vast majority of physicians have minimal or even no formal instruction in the discipline and art of medical writing. Yet, physicians rely on the medical literature as a primary source of new information that in turn affects how we think, how we practice, and, ultimately, patient care and patient outcomes. The development and honing of the skills necessary for writing and interpreting medical literature should be mandatory in both undergrad- uate and graduate medical education curricula. Ensuring a solid foundation in this discipline would allow the busy practicing physician to more efficiently keep abreast of the medical literature throughout his or her career.
In this document, the editors of Osteopathic Family Physician (OFP) have provided a brief introduction to authoring a medical article for the novice writer. The material outlined herein is meant to be relatively generic, allowing for submission to any medical journal. When specifics are provided, they relate to OFP requirements for publication. Most peer-reviewed journals offer easy access to submission requirements on their websites, and these often need to be strictly followed to ensure acceptance of a manuscript.
In every issue, the editorial committee strives to publish an original research article, at least one review article, and a case report. Additional material might include articles on issues such as medical education, health policy, and public health reporting.
In an effort to present a streamlined approach to writing a scientific article, we will focus on the following keypoints:
- Select an article type
- Know the intended audience
- Choose a journal
- Know the journal requirements and communicate with the Editor
- Organize the writing
- Submit
- Expect revisions
- Revise and resubmit
- Ensure success and avoid rejection
When giving consideration to various medical journals, itbecomes evident that certain publications provide a nichefor a particular article genre. For example, theJournal of theAmerican Medical Association(JAMA) is populated pre-dominantly by original research articles. JAMA is an idealresource to find the latest research on a specific topic butmay not be the best choice to find a thorough review on thecurrent treatment approach to acne. On the other hand,American Family Physician(AFP) is predominantly com-posed of short review articles focused on providing keysconcepts for the busy practicing family physician. Thesejournals tailor their content respectively, to appeal to awell-defined readership, each fulfilling a distinctively dif-ferent agenda.OFP strives to provide a varied selection of article typesto meet the needs of the diverse background of osteopathic family physicians. In every issue, the editorial committeestrives to publish an original research article, at least onereview article, and a case report. Additional material mightinclude articles on issues such as medical education, healthpolicy, and public health reporting.
Select an article type to write
This step is somewhat reflexive, because the author typically has an article loosely outlined in his or her mind when considering putting pen to paper. If one has completed original research, a paper will likely be submitted reflecting these efforts. Original research may represent the highest “level” article in the academic world; however, this form of medical literature may or may not be the most appropriate medium to communicate the message the author wishes to deliver to his or her audience.
For example, for many physicians the luxury of having someone else file through the medical literature and com- pose a concise summary on a disease or treatment may actually be more important. These review articles do the work of interpreting the available evidence and provide the practical “take home points.”
Finally, a case report, the description of an unusual clinical situation, often discussed in a narrative format, provides a description of an unusual presentation of a common problem or an unusual condition that is not typically seen in clinical practice.
If you are unsure how to begin, go to the next step— know the intended audience—to help decide the best way to communicate with your audience.
Know the Intended Audience
This may be the most crucial step. Who do you want to read your article and what do you want them to gain? For example, if the issue is an important bill up for Congres- sional vote, then you want to reach a wide range of physi- cians and the message needs to be disseminated quickly. In this scenario, a journal is probably the wrong format be- cause most journals are working 6 to 12 months in advance and the bill will have come and gone before the article reaches publication.
You may want to reflect on where you go when you access the medical literature. You may also want to ask your colleagues what journals they read. Once you know who you want to read your manuscript then you can ask what medical sources they use. There are so many specialty journals today that many physicians may only look at one or two in a month. Knowing what your audience reads will narrow your choice of journals and may even narrow your article type.
OFP Tip: The audience for OFP is primarily osteo- pathic physicians specializing in family practice.
Choose a Journal
Once you have determined who your target audience is and what journal(s) they read, we recommend that you review a couple of copies of the journal in question. What kinds of articles are they publishing? Have they already published an article like yours? These are very important questions to answer. You do not want to invest in developing and for- matting your article if it does not have a chance at the journal you are selecting.
OFP Tip: Review a sample issue of OFP online at www.osteopathicfamilyphysician.org.
OFP Tip: Review past issues for published article topics at www.osteopathicfamilyphysician.org/issues.
Know the journal requirements and communicate with the editor
If the journal does publish articles like yours but has not published your particular topic, you may be in good shape.We suggest that you contact the Editor to determine whether your topic is of interest for this journal. You are not asking if they will accept your paper, but if they think the concept fits with the current journal editorial timeline. It is possible that a very similar article is already in the pipeline. Some journals will accept only articles that meet a specific call for papers. This is important, because it is plausible if you submit to a journal that only uses “A call,” you may not get reviewed despite writing an excellent article. However, if you contact the journal ahead of time, the editorial team may be willing to let you know whether your topic will be among a future call for papers.It is important to remember that there are many reasons the editors may discourage submission of a particular sug-gested article. It may be that they do not like the idea, but it is also possible that they do not publish that kind of paper ,or will soon publish a similar paper that would make a new submission redundant.Once you know the editor is interested in your concept ,it is critical that you review the guidelines for authors. Not following submission guidelines is a very common reason for having a paper rejected or not even reviewed. We wills pend more time on this later. Read the instructions a fewt imes and make sure you can meet each of the guidelines—these are not negotiable! Further, you may want to print them so you have them handy when you are ready to submit
OFP Tip: Run your article idea by the OFP Editor atshubrook@oucom.ohiou.edu.
OFP Tip: Review author guidelines athttp://ees.elsevier.com/acofp.Organization of the writingOnce the content has been determined, the writer mustconsider the form of the article. Readability is essential. It is149Shubrook et al How to Write a Scientific Article
Organization of the writing
OFP Tip: OFP Authors have access to the search engine Scopus. Use this resource. Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources with smart tools to track, analyze, and visualize research. Updated daily, it includes the abstracts and references of 15,000 peer-reviewed jour- nals from more than 4000 international publishers, en- suring broad interdisciplinary coverage.
Submission
Revision and resubmission
OFP Tip: Review past issues for published article topics
www.osteopathicfamilyphysician.org/issues.
OFP Tip: Run your article idea by the OFP Editor:
shubrook@oucom.ohiou.edu.
OFP Tip: Review author guidelines at http://ees.elsevier. com/acofp.
OFP Tip: When submitting to OFP, the images and charts are uploaded separately, so save them as separate image files.
OFP Tip: Submit your manuscript at www. osteopathicfamilyphysician.org.
OFP Tip: First time authors submitting for publication in OFP will need to select Register from the menu at the top and enter the requested information.