Writing your manuscript: Results and Discussion Alyson Mahar, PhD Department Community Health Sciences Wednesday, August 15, 2018

results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example https://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-14053993/writing-scientific-papers-14239285

results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example Study participants Descriptive statistics Main findings Secondary outcomes, sub-group analyses, sensitivity analyses Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example

Reporting guidelines There’s a reporting guideline for that: Your study design will determine much of what is critical to report There’s a reporting guideline for that: Meta-Analysis Observational Studies: MOOSE Systematic Reviews: PRISMA Randomized Controlled Trials: CONSORT STROBE: cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies Diagnostic studies: STARD Prediction model studies: TRIPOD

Identifying Main messages What were the a priori research questions? If the reader knew nothing else that came from your study, what do you want them to walk away with? What is practice or paradigm changing? Ground breaking? Different from the existing literature? What are you the most confident in discussing? What do you plan on discussing?

results Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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Discussion Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example

Discussion Summary of findings Fit with existing literature Purpose Alternate explanations Big picture- implications Conclusion Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example

Journal/Discipline-specific guidelines Often the journal or the discipline you work in will determine the key content, length, and style of your publication Some journals can be very prescriptive and restrictive BMJ CMAJ

LIMITATIONS No work is perfect Balance between transparency and being your own worst critic- remember, the results aren’t worthless Key considerations: sample size, study power, selection bias, measurement bias, confounding How could these limitations influence your results? What mitigation strategies did you take to address each limitation? Is this limitation common to other studies?

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Discussion Purpose Structure/Contents Dos & Don’ts Example This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA