1. Methods Christian Gratzke LMU Munich Department of Urology
London, March 2017

2. Material and methods section is the core of each paper
Material & Methods
Material and methods section is the core of each paper
It describes how the study was designed, and performed as well as the way the data were analyzed
It has to provide all the elements to allow other authors to reproduce the study

3. It is the easiest part of the manuscript to write
Material & Methods
It is the easiest part of the manuscript to write
Writing this section of the paper in the most complete way before starting the study can help to discover methodological biases in a moment when they are easily fixed!

4. Period of enrolment/evaluation
Material & Methods
Period of enrolment/evaluation
Type of study (retrospective; prospective;
controlled; randomized)
Inclusion criteria / patient selection
Exclusion criteria / reasons to exclude patients

5. Details on used materials or technique
Material & Methods
Details on used materials or technique
- report in detail original methods/techniques
- cite (and reference) known methods
Ethical issue

6. IRB approval
Clinical setting
Quality control
Inclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
Detail on centers
involved
(added on reviewer’s
request)

7. Description of surgery of the primary
tumor and lymph node
Description of pathology procedure
TNM staging system and grading system
Describe in detail what is of central
relevance or not standardized or not
well known

8. Material & Methods Description of follow-up protocols
Definition of the events (disease
recurrence and death of disease)

10. Equator Network
International initiative seeking to enhance reliability and value of medical research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies
Raising awareness of the crucial importance of good reporting of research
Becoming the recognised global centre providing resources, education and training relating to the reporting of health research and use of reporting guidelines

14. Material & Methods section in RCT –
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort)

15. Material & Methods – basic research
Describe what you did – lab note book recordings!
Antibody specifications, concentrations, dosages: the reader needs to be able to reproduce the method
If the technique is well-established, it may be referenced
Short passages for each technique employed

16. Material & Methods – basic research
Try to keep it simple, even if it is a sophisticated topic
Descriptions should be crisp and accurate (word count!)
Statistics need to be clearly defined
Don´t forget to mention the ethical permission
If the methods section is unclear, the ms will fail!

17. What Methods should NOT include
Study results (by definition, they go in the “Results” section)
Comments on patients characteristics, indications, inclusion and exclusion criteria (they go in the “Discussion” section)

18. Thank you