Transcript آموزش چگونگي انتخاب عنوان، چكيده و كلمات كليدي

In the Name of God
Topics
•
Title
• Abstract
• Keywords
By Afsaneh Shirani
Title
• Importance
• How to write
• Features of ideal title
- content
- length
- style
- Uniform Requirements
- CONSORT
- Different Journals’ format
Abstract
•
•
•
•
•
•
Article Abstract vs Seminar Abstract
Structured vs Non-structured
Importance
Ideal abstract
Uniform Requirements
Samples
Keywords
•
How to choose ?
• Number
Title
• Importance
• How to write
• Features of ideal title
- content
- length
- style
- Uniform Requirements
- CONSORT
- Different Journals’ format
Importance of Title
First level regarding :
Reviewrs
Readers
“Thousands read titles ,
few read papers”.
Researcher
Do not neglect the title !
How to write a title ?
• Focus on research question
I am studying ….
My study looks at ….
• Focus on result
My study showed that …..
• Appearance of key features in title
Example
I am studying wheather treatment with
mouthwash is effective in reducing the
incidence of oral candidiasis
or
My study showed that treatment with
mouthwash reduces the incidence of oral
candidiasis
Key feature of your study : randomized , blinded
Title : A randomized Blinded Trial of Mouthwash
in the Prevention of Oral Candidiasis
Formula for Title of Hypothesis Testing
Papers : Effect of X on Y in Z
X = independent variable
Y = dependent variable
Z = animal/population or material ( on
which the work was done )
eg The Effects of Estrogen on NoseTwitch Courtship Behavior in Mice
Another formula :
Effect of Y in Z
Example :
Platelet Activation in Patients with Angina
Ideal title
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–
–
–
–
–
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Informative vs Indicative
Simple , unambiguous and understandable
Specific
Self explanatory
Catchy
Containing keywords describing the work
Concise , no unnecessary detail
No waste words or redundancy
Avoid abbreviation & chemical formulations
Avoid jargon
Is it always easy to completely identify
the main topic of paper in title ?
No , sometimes difficult !
Especially if the paper has multiple
dependent variables.
So focus on the main ones or use a
category term eg extrapulmonary
tuberculsosis
Example
• My study showed that women were
more likely than men to discuss diet ,
sleep , exercise with their doctors
• Effect of Patient Gender on PatientPhysician Communication About
Lifestyle
Specificity of Title
Example :
• Actions of Antibiotics on Bacteria
• Actions of Streptomycin on
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Inhibition of Growth in Mycobacterium
tuberculosis by Streptomycin
Consice
The fewest words to adequately
convey contents
How many words in title ?
• Very few good titles can be expressed in fewer
than 5 to 8 words.
• Try to keep the total number < 20
• If possible at most 100 letters ( 8 words )
• 7 to 10 words
• 8 to 12 words
• 10 to 12 words , although shorter or longer titles
are permissible
• Not longer that 2 lines
Put an important word
first in your title
Exampel 1:
Absence of an effect of liposuction
on insulin action and risk factors
for coronary heart disease
New England Journal of Medicne
June 2004
Put an important word
first in your title
Example 2 :
Regression of carotid atherosclerosis
by control of postprandial hyperglycemia
in type 2 diabeted mellitus
Circulation July 2004
No waste words !
So avoid phrases such as :
– Observations on……
– Investigations on…..
– Using a……
– Aspects of…..
– A study of…..
– The influence of
– The analysis of
– The effect of
– Action of….
– New method ….
The effects of ?
• The Effects of Estrogen on NoseTwitch Courtship Behavior in Mice
A method for ?
• A method for purifying GPIIb/IIIa from
platelet membranes
• Noninvasive method for monitoring
blood gasses in the newborn
Using ?
Using child reported respiratory
symptoms to diagnose asthma in
the community
Archive of Disease in Childhood June
2004
Study population in title ?
Mention if
• A unique population is studied
• It’s a population based studies
• It really matters
• Human subjects assumed unless stated
otherwise
Example
Change in suicide rates for patients with
schizophrenia in Denmark, 1981-97:
nested case-control study
BMJ 2004
Study design in title ?
• A title shoud indicate the study’s
design
• Necessary about randomized
controlled trials
Example
Does the cannabinoid dronabinol
reduce central pain in multiple
sclerosis? Randomised double blind
placebo controlled crossover trial
BMJ 2004
Examples
Prospective cohort study of retinal vessel
diameters and risk of hypertension
BMJ June 2004
Example
Correct use of the Apgar score for
resuscitated and intubated newborn
babies: questionnaire study
BMJ 2004
Project name in title ?
Example 1 :
Randomized controlled trial of effects
of Helicobacter pyroli infection and its
eradication on heartburn and gastrooesophageal reflux : Bristol
helicobacter project
BMJ 2004
Project name in title ?
Example 2 :
Intracoronary autologous bonemarrow cell transfer after myocardial
infarction: the BOOST randomized
controlled clinical trial
Lancet 2004
How about an assertive title ?
• Increases reviewer’s skeptisism
• Decreases objectivity
However it’s a matter of style .
Question as title ?
• Catchy
But
• Better not to use at least for
non senior investigators
Examples
Topical capsaicin for chronic pain ?
Is lactulose effective for hepatic
encephalopathy ?
How promising is hematopoetic stem
cell transplantation in multiple
sclerosis ?
Question as title ?
Does article type play a role ?
Abbreviations in title ?
• Sometimes seen !
examples :
vs. , versus
CD4
OTC
HIV
TB
DOTS
Do not use words arousing emotion !
eg : x disaster / tragedy vs x war
Uniform Requirements and Title
Concise titles are easier to
read than long , convoluted
ones . Titles that are too short
may , however , lack important
information, such as study
design ( which is particularly
important in identifying
randomized controlled trials ).
Uniform Requirements and Title
Authors should include all
information in the title that will
make electronic retrieval of the
article both sensitive and
specific.
Avoid abbreviations in the title.
Title and CONSORT Statement
How participants were allocated to
interventions
eg “ random allocation” ,
“randomized” ,
or “randomly assigned”
Instruction for Authors
Nature
Titles do not exceed 90 characters
(including spaces), and do not
normally include numbers, acronyms,
abbreviations or punctuation. They
should include sufficient detail for
indexing purposes but be general
enough for readers outside the field to
appreciate what the paper is about.
Recommendations from a
Technical Writers’ Handbook
• Do not overuse prepositional phrases
• Consider using modifiers
Example
• Analysis of Hydroelastic Vibrations of
Shells Partially Filled with a Liquid ….
• Hydroelastic Vibration Analysis of Partially
Liquid-Filled Shells ….
Recommendations from a
Technical Writers’ Handbook
A string of unit modifiers can be
as awkward as
a series of prepositional phrases
Recommendations from a
Technical Writers’ Handbook
Changing verb-derived nouns to
verbals
- Livening up the title
- Removing prepositions
eg Alleviation of x vs Alleviating x
Title for descriptive papers
• For a descriptive paper that describes a new
structure or function, the title names the
structure and describes its function.
• The structure is the first word of the title,
followed by a comma, a colon or the rest of a
sentence.
• Example :
CDC20 and CDH1: a family of Activators of
Anaphase-Promoting-Complex-Dependent
Proteolysis
Other examples for use of colon
• Sex matters: secular and
geographical trends in sex differences
in coronary heart disease mortality
• Depression as a risk factor for
ischaemic heart disease in men:
population based case-control study
• Doctors' perceptions of palliative care
for heart failure: focus group study
The ideal Title - a personal view
• Informative
– subject matter
– study design
– study population
• Information clearly presented
• NO unnecessary detail
So ,
Craft an informative ( but non-cute! )
title that uses keywords that tell the
reader what the paper is about .
Finally ,
• Read through your title and think about
how it might be interpreted
• Ask
Colleagues
Coauthors
Coinvestigators
Persons not familiar with your study
And remember that
Revision does not always make
your title shorter!
Sometimes adding two words can
make your title more consice ,
because it may say so much
more with only two more words !
!
messanger
“The
can hide
the message !”
‫‪Before taking a break ,‬‬
‫! ‪lets do an exercise‬‬
‫‪• Let’s write a title for the following‬‬
‫‪research topic :‬‬
‫بررسي صحت عاليم باليني در تشخيص ضايعات‬
‫كنتراانديكه پونكسيون لومبر در بيماران مشكوك به‬
‫مننژيت حاد‬
Now
Let’s have a break !
Abstract
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•
•
•
•
•
Article Abstract vs Seminar Abstract
Structured vs Non-structured
Importance
Ideal abstract
Uniform Requirements
Samples
Abstracts
Article Abstract
vs
Seminar Abstract (more important)
Article Abstract
• Precedes the original paper
or
• Stand alone in a publication
designed specifically for
abstracts eg chemical abstarcts
Importance of Abstracts
Second in importance to the paper title
For many published papers, this may
be all anyone ever reads as it’s the
preview of what’s to come
Importance of Abstracts
They allow other scientists to quickly
scan the large scientific literature,
and decide which articles they want
to read in depth.
An interesting exemplification !
• You read down the titles. Like a fish at bait,
you 'nibble' at an interesting one by
flipping to the article itself. Then, you read
the abstract. Here is where the author
'sets the hook'. If it's interesting, you read
the article. If it is not, the author has lost
you and you start to nibble on other titles
again.
A hint !
• The abstract should be a little less
technical than the article itself
Article abstracts
Structured
vs
Non-structured
( usually in 1 paragraph )
In any case ,
brevity is essential.
So be selective.
The craft of writing
an abstract
as
an article’s miniature
Abstract is very difficult to write;
it will take more time to write
than any other paragraph in the
whole paper.
Structured Abstracts
• Introduction
• Methods
• Result
• Conclusion
NEJM Abstracts
• Backbround
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
BMJ Abstracts
• Objectives
• Design
• Setting
• Outcome measures
• Results
• Conclusion
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
Abstracts
• Objective
• Design
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
Introduction
• Answer why was it important to do this
study ?
• Do not assume that the answer is obvious.
• Sometimes stating limitations of previous
studies helps .
• No jargon , no run-on sentences
• Preferably no abbreviations or acronym
• Write in plain English
Methods
• Describe
Study design
Who was studied
What you measured
How you analysed the data
• Specify number of subjects , by group
if appropriate
Results (meat of experiment)
• Emphasize the main finding of the
study.
• Make sure your effect size is clear.
• State your key results in words
followed by the numbers.
• It is better to be thorough than broadbased.
Example
Suppose you find that hypertensive patients who
take calcium channel blocker are more likely to
have strokes. It is more important to present
your results by type of calcium channel blocker
( long-acting vs. short-acting ) and by type of
stroke ( ischemic vs. hemorrahgic ) , and to
show that patients taking other antihypertensive
medications did not have an increased risk ,
than to present extraneous data with small P
values such as finding that “ patients who took
diuretic medications had more gallstones
( p<.01).”
Conclusion
• What do you think your results mean ?
• Make a reasonable statement about the
implications of your results.
• If another study is needed , then state
what sort of study it should be.
• One quick test : If you could have written
your conclusion before you knew your
results , then you have not concluded
anything. Start over.
When to write ?
Last !
Because it will summarize the paper
A suggested order :
1) Methods
2 ) Results
3 ) Introduction
4 ) Discussion
5 ) Abstract
Preferred Style
• Past tense
• Passive voice
• However , present tense and
active voice may be used.
How lenghty ?
200 – 300 words
( a typical standard lengh for journals )
Roughly 3% of length of paper
A suggested propotion for
sections of abstracts
1.2.2.1
eg 40 , 80 , 80 , 40
One abstract or two ?!
• There are no established guideline .
Common sence and talking with mentors
can provide some guidance.
• One abstract per research question , and
one research question per abstract
• If two abstracts have similar background
and methods section , they probably
should be combined.
Example 1
Change
1. Diabetes increases morbidity
following carotid endarterectomy
2 . Mortality after carotid artery surgery
is related to preoperative cholesterol
level
To:
Effects of diabetes and
hypercholesterolemia on outome after
carotid surgery
Example 2
Change
Psychological and hematological
predictorsof survival with leukemia
To :
1. Psychological factors associated
with poor prognosis in leukemia
2. Survival with leukemia :
hematological markers
Abstract is only text
• No reference
• No table
• No figure
• It should stand alone without
any footnotes
Be careful about these Do Nots!
•
•
•
•
No number , all talk
All number , no words
Too many abbreviations , too much data
Overuse of respectively
Example
Do not write :
• “The risk of glaucoma in white men ,
black men , Asian men , white women
, black women , Asian women were
8% , 12% , 6% , 4% , 6% and 3%,
respectively. “
• This phrasing slows down and
confuses the reader.
Example
• Instead you can write :
“ Glaucoma was more common in men
than women, and in blacks than in
other racial groups . The risks in men
were 8% in whites , 12% in blacks ,
and 6% in Asians ; in women , they
were 4% in whites , 6% in blacks ,
and 3% in Asians.”
Uniform Requirements and Abstract
• An abstract (requirements for length and
structured format vary by journal) should follow
the title page. The abstract should provide the
context or background for the study and should
state the study's purposes, basic procedures
(selection of study subjects or laboratory
animals, observational and analytical methods),
main findings (giving specific effect sizes and
their statistical significance, if possible), and
principal conclusions. It should emphasize new
and important aspects of the study or
observations.
Uniform Requirements and Abstract
• Because abstracts are the only substantive
portion of the article indexed in many electronic
databases, and the only portion many readers
read, authors need to be careful that abstracts
reflect the content of the article accurately.
Unfortunately, many abstracts disagree with the
text of the article (6). The format required for
structured abstracts differs from journal to
journal, and some journals use more than one
structure; authors should make it a point
prepare their abstracts in the format specified
by the journal they have chosen
What to do if your abstract
is too long ?
1 . Does it requires a major surgery ?
2 . Is it possibe to eliminate some
words , combine two sentences or
make some words hyphenated ?
Example
Change
We enrolled 124 subjects with rheumatoid
arthritis from the rheumatology clinic. They
were randomly assigned to an intervention
group (n=63) or a control group (n=61).
To
Rheumatoid arthritis patients followed in the
rheumatology clinic were randomly assigned
to an intervention (n=63) to control group
( n=61).
Example
Change
In order to accurately measure
vitamin C levels in subject’s serum ,
we used a modification of the Bryant
Technique.
To
We measured serum vitamin C level
by modifying the Bryant Technique.
Example
Change
“Some previous studies have found that
exposure to sunlight in infancy is
associated with the subsequent
development of melanoma. Other studies
have not confirmed this effect. We
prospectively studied ….”
To
“To determine whether exposure to
sunlight in infancy is associated with the
development of melanoma , we
prospectively studied….”
Does your abstract offer
enough information ?
Imagine you are another
researcher doing a similar study .
Would you be happy with the
information presented there ?
Keywords
• Number :
3 to 10 words or short phrases
3 to 5 words
Uniform Requirements & Keywords
• Some journals request that, following
the abstract, authors provide, and
identify as such, 3 to 10 key words or
short phrases that capture the main
topics of the article. These will assist
indexers in cross-indexing the article
and may be published with the abstract.
Uniform Requirements & Keywords
• Terms from the Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus
should be used; if suitable MeSH terms
are not yet available for recently
introduced terms, present terms may be
used.