Writing Successful Scientific Papers A User’s Guide

By Ho-Young, Song

This book is an English book written by domestic and foreign authors that clearly summarizes the tips of writing papers in English and various things to know.

The journalist, who has published a number of SCI papers and has extensive experience in international societies, explained the entire process from writing to presenting the paper through various tips and examples. In addition, effective learning methods can be referred to through the cases of several authors who have experienced the Author's Ship Conference.

It will be a useful reference book for students, nurses, engineers, doctors, clinical instructors, and professors majoring in medicine who have to write and present papers in English.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PANMUN
• Release date: Mar 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9791159433597

Book preview

1670211832682_80

A User's Guide

WRITING

SUCCESSFUL

SCIENTIFIC

PAPERS

| Ho-Young Song, M.D., PhD |

Professor of Department of Interventional Radiology, the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou City, China

Emeritus Professor, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

| John A. Walker, Jr, M.D., PhD |

Department of Radiology and Interventional Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, USA

| Jiaywei Tsauo, M.D., PhD |

Department of Interventional Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong, China

Writing Successful Scientific Papers: A User’s Guide

Copyright © 2022 by Ho-Young Song, John A. Walker, Jiaywei Tsauo, Eugene Choi, Han Kyu Na, Hong-Tao Hu, Jae Yong Jeon, Jung-Hoon Park, Manuel E. Zeledón Ramírez, Matthew D. Parker, Nader Bakheet, Panmun Education Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

This book is protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 979-11-5943-359-7

Printed in South Korea

Publisher : Panmun Education Co., Ltd. 

                Sung Kwon Liu 211, Mokdongseo-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 07995, South Korea

                http://www.medicalplus.co.kr

Managing Editor : Jai Seon Lee

Editor : Sun Hee Shin

Marketing : Tae Wan Lim, Ho Chul Kim, Sung Gue Choi, Jin Hyung Kim, Myoung Han Jung,Tae Su Han, Ye Ryun Noh, Mo Ran Kim, So Young Park

Design : Wooilmedia Digitech

1670211822886_5

SECTION

Contributors

IEugene Choi, M.D.I

Body and Nonvascular Interventional Radiologist in private practice in Los Angeles, USA

IHan Kyu Na, M.D.I

Clinical Fellow, Department of Neurology, Severance Hospital College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

IHong-Tao Hu, M.D., PhDI

Professor, Vice Director, Department of Minimal-Invasive Intervention, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou City, China

IJae Yong Jeon, M.D., PhDI

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center,

University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

IJung-Hoon Park, PhDI

Biomedical Engineering Research Center,

Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

IManuel E. Zeledón Ramírez, M.D., PhDI

General Surgery and Surgical Oncologist, Max Peralta Hospital Cartago, Costa Rica

Staff of the Faculty of General Surgery, University of Costa Rica

IMatthew D. Parker, M.D.I

Department of Radiology, Tulane University, USA

INader Bakheet, M.D., PhDI

Assistant Professor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cairo University, Egypt

1670211822886_5

SECTION

Foreword

This is a book assembled by a man of seemingly infinite energy. I first met Professor Song nearly two decades ago in New York and, somehow, we have maintained a warm, collaborative and mutual admiration-based friendship that spans two hemispheres. This is hardly surprising, as Dr. Song is a natural communicator and ‘connector.’ He establishes and maintains friendships and relationships across the planet. His reach is truly such, having travelled and taught in all hemispheres, and jungles. His contributions to image-guided medicine are marked by the long-view on innovation: a dogged commitment to ideas that were ‘early’, and decades of generational device enhancement, revision, development, and testing. Good ideas seem obvious and simple—in retrospect. The field of non-vascular stents, one of his pioneering achievements, has granted endless patients palliative and therapeutic treatments that saved them from complex and likely ineffective surgeries. This alone would fill a life’s plate of academic work.

Yet, this is just one aspect of his gaze. Dr. Song has also focused his pedagogical lens on training generations of scientist authors in the East and West. My Editor’s Writing Club, a small in-person and web-based seminar on writing, reviewing, and analyzing scientific papers, a course I’ve taught to near 1000 students, is but a copy of the regular authorship conferences I witnessed Prof. Song holding during his tenure at Asan Medical Center. There is a reason the interventional radiologic papers from Asan Medical Center always came in ‘clean.’ He realized, early, that this form of close quarters teaching was—and remains—critical yet absent in most academic universities. In November 2020, I published an Editor’s column calling on Deans, Professors, and Chairs to form such formal training, in the JVIR. Trainees are left to figure it out on their own; or as was said during my Radiology residency: Learn by Knowing.

I have shared the honor of teaching such sessions with Ho Young during the Society of Gastrointestinal Interventions annual scientific meetings, and have sought to carry this forward wherever I can. This book is but a natural extension of his efforts. Prof. Song has partnered with the excellent Drs. Tsauo and Walker to present a comprehensive guide to preparing scientific authors, designing sustainable curricula to carry forward such collective learning and apprenticeship models for nurturing new faculty and trainees. It will be much, to many. And somehow, the Professor continues to honor me by the appellation ‘Mentor.’ Can two people equally consider each other their mentor? Apparently so.

Prof. Ziv J Haskal MD FSIR FACR FAHA FCIRSE

Professor of Radiology/ Interventional Radiology Division

Emeritus Editor, Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology

University of Virginia School of Medicine

1670211822886_5

SECTION

Preface

One truth holds true for all scientists: publication is hard currency. It is the means for disseminating ideas and results, it is critical for academic success, and it remains a difficult skill to master. It is equally hard to methodically teach these skills. In 1994, I established an ongoing interdisciplinary research meeting to generate ideas, projects, and publications. In 2001, I formed the Authorship Conference, in Korea, to specifically teach junior professors, fellows, residents, students, technologists, and nurses how to prepare scientific papers. This spread to Authorship Conferences in universities in Japan and China, until my retirement in 2019. Thereafter, I ran similar conferences at the University of Texas in San Antonio and at the Hospital Max Peralta in Costa Rica for two years.

During my academic career, I have mentored more than one thousand doctors, medical students, technologists and nurses through lectures and Authorship Conferences. This approach has proven repeatedly successful at improving the writing productivity and publication of scientific colleagues. Publication drives scientific progress. Training colleagues in research and publication, launches the next generation of scientists and extends the future lifespan of publications. To that end, the objective of this book is to provide readers with a sort of Authorship Conference course of their own-- a practical guide to developing their own scientific writing careers, unhindered by a potential lack of local mentoring.

I am enjoying my post-retirement life, learning new things from smart people, and using my own experiences and expertise to benefit young doctors and students abroad. I have realized that any place where enthusiastic doctors and students are found can be my home, and I am devoted to improving humanity by improving scientific communication and inspiring future researchers. I humbly hope this book will serve you in advancing your own endeavors.

This book is divided into six sections:

Section 1: How to Write a Scientific Paper

Section 2: Examples of Writing a Research Paper

Section 3: Seven Tips on Writing Scientific Papers in English

Section 4: How to Conduct Authorship Conference

Section 5: What I Have Learned from the Research and Authorship Conference with Prof. Song

Section 6: From Submission to Publication.

I am delighted to write this book together with 10 of my great mentees. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor, Prof. Ziv J. Haskal, who wrote the Foreword.

Ho-Young Song, M.D., PhD

1670211822886_5

SECTION

Contents

Contributors iii

Foreword v

Preface vii

SECTION 1 How to Write a Scientific Paper

1-1 How to Write the Title

1-2 How to Write the Abstract

1-3 How to Write the Introduction Section

1-4 How to Write the Materials and Methods Section

1-5 How to Write the Results Section

1-6 How to Write the Discussion Section

1-7 How to Prepare Tables and Figures

1-8 How to Cite Sources

SECTION 2 Examples of Writing a Research Paper

2-1 An Example

2-2 An Example

SECTION 3 Seven Tips on Writing Scientific Papers in English

TIP 1 Listen to Your Patients

TIP 2 Try to do Collaborative Research

TIP 3 Find mentors and Keep in Touch with them

TIP 4 Take a note of Useful English Phrases

TIP 5 Write a Short Paper in a Short Period of Time

TIP 6 Train New Doctors and Cooperate with them

TIP 7 You Need Strong Motivation

SECTION 4 How to Conduct Authorship Conference

4-1 What it is and How to Set it up

4-2 How to Lead your Authorship Conference

4-3 Four Examples of Working Conferences

SECTION 5 What I have learned from the Research and Authorship Conference with Prof. Song

5-1 As a Professor

5-2 As an Associate Professor

5-3 As an Assistant Professor

5-4 As a Fellow

5-5 As a Gastroenterologist

5-6 As a Surgeon

5-7 As a Resident

5-8 As a Radiological Technologist

5-9 As a Medical School Student

5-10 As an Engineering Student

SECTION 6 From Submission to Publication

6-1 Submission of a Manuscript

6-2 Acknowledgement Receipt

6-3 Revision and the Role of Reviewers

6-4 Result Notification

6-5 Correction of Proofs

6-6 Publication

1670211822733_41670211822886_5

SECTION

1670211823186_7 Key takeaways

01.The title is the most important element of your research paper;

02.Titles should accurately describe the scope of the study;

03.Titles should be written using contemporary terminology in the field of study in focus;

04.Titles should be short and to the point (less than 130 characters with spaces);

05.Titles should not include any abbreviations;

06.The aim of your study could normally be modified into the title with little effort;

07.The title of your research paper could also be in the form of a question;

08.Subtitles could be added by using a colon after the title.

The title is the most important element of your research paper because, unfortunately, most papers do judge a book by its cover. That is, most readers decide whether they are going to read or skip your research paper by its title. Therefore, the title of your research paper should indicate what your study is about in a clear and concise fashion. In addition, it should be eye-catching so that the readers feel the desire to read your research paper. To achieve this, the title of your research paper should: (i) accurately describe the scope of the study; (ii) be written using contemporary terminology in the field of study in focus; (iii) be short and to the point (less than 130 characters with spaces); and (iv) not include any abbreviations. For example, Stent placement for the treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice is a better title than A single-center retrospective study evaluating the effectiveness and safety stent placement for the treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice in 60 patients, and Transarterial embolization for the treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a better title than TAE for the treatment of blood coming from the upper GI tract.

Some researchers may notice that the aim of your study could normally be modified into the title with little effort. This is because the aim of a study establishes the scope of the research. To modify the aim of your study into a title for your research paper, simply remove the elements that make the aim of your study a complete sentence and omit any words that are not key to the scope of the study or that readers would not likely use in a search of the literature. For example, if the aim of your study was To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of stent placement for the palliative treatment of malignant esophageal obstruction in patients with esophageal cancer., then the title of your research paper could be Stent placement for malignant esophageal obstruction in patients with esophageal cancer. Likewise, if the aim of your study was To identify the factors influencing the outcomes of stent placement for the treatment of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction secondary to pancreatic cancer., then the title of your research paper could be Factors influencing the outcomes of stent placement for malignant gastroduodenal obstruction secondary to pancreatic cancer.

The title of your research paper could also be in the form of a question to draw the readers’ attention by getting them to think about the subject matter. For example, if the aim of your study was To assess the effectiveness and safety of fluoroscopy-guided balloon dilation for the treatment of Eustachian tube dysfunction., then the title of your research paper could be Is fluoroscopy-guided balloon dilation effective and safe for Eustachian tube dysfunction?. Likewise, if the aim of your study was To determine if sirolimus-eluting biodegradable stent could suppress granulation tissue formation in a rat esophageal model., then the title of your research paper could be Could sirolimus-eluting biodegradable stent suppress granulation tissue formation in a rat esophageal model?.

Subtitles could be added by using a colon after the title to draw the readers’ attention or to differentiate your research paper from other papers of the same subject matter. For example, if the aim of your study was To investigate the effectiveness and safety of stent placement in patients with malignant rectal obstruction within 5 cm of the anal verge., then the title of your research paper