1. How to write a paper (and communicate scientific information)
Michael Pignone
UNC Division of General Internal Medicine

2. Outline What’s the goal? Poster presentations Oral presentations
Writing a scientific paper
How to get better

3. What’s the goal? Introduce yourself Communicate what you have learned
Get feedback
Affect practice or policy
Prepare for the next study

4. Poster presentation Most common format early in one’s career
Able to reach lots of people
Competing with lots of other posters
Limited time to “hook” audience
Hard to communicate nuance

5. Optimal poster design Less is more! Bulleted text
Emphasize figures over text or tables
Be sure to reinforce the key message(s)

6. Oral presentations Typically 10-12 minutes High visibility
Limited time
Difficult to communicate nuance / complexity
Chance to formally address questions
Can be scary!
Practice essential!

7. Oral presentation tips
1-2 slides per minute
6 or fewer lines per slide
Mix text-based and graphic-based slides
Focus on clarity over nuance
Shorter talks- write out / memorize text
Practice!

8. Writing the (peer-reviewed) paper
Permanent record of the science
Typically words
Variable visibility (depends on journal)
Able to communicate nuance and complexity
Scrutiny will be higher
Important to get feedback

9. Scientific paper - structure
Title page with author list
Abstract
Introduction / Background
Methods
Results
Discussion
Tables and Figures
References

10. General Tips Use active voice, first person plural
“We examined”
Avoid absolutes, adjectives, and adverbs
Keep paragraphs to 5-6 sentences with a clear topic sentence
Ensure proper referencing
Proof-reading essential!

11. Title page Descriptive titles better
Make sure authorship issues worked out early in the research process!
Acknowledge funding sources / previous presentations

12. Abstract Single most important section
May be the only part read by most people
Needs to be succinct
Some wait to write at the end, but I like to do it early on

13. Background
Provides context (what was known before and what will this study attempt to answer)
Should be brief (in medical writing)
Starts broadly, gets more specific
Ends with single sentence on study purpose
Doesn’t need to be written first

14. Methods Record of what was done Needs to be clear and specific
Start with greater detail, may edit down later
Extra detail in Appendices
Can be written while study is being conducted!

15. Results Focused around key tables and figures Shouldn’t be text heavy
Start with sample characteristics
Report most important outcomes next
Secondary analyses last
Don’t repeat information directly from tables

16. Discussion First paragraph: restate main results
Second: interpretation / expansion
Third-Fourth: acknowledge limitations
Fifth-Sixth: place in context
Final: summarize again, indicate next steps

17. Pitfalls Never getting started Unsupported conclusions
Lack of awareness of context
Over-stating results

18. Conclusions Multiple formats for presenting scientific research
Goals: disseminate work, get and utilize feedback – science is a “team sport”
Focus on clarity and context
Practice and solicit feedback