1. The Anatomy of a Scientific Article: IMRAD format
Mwachaka

3. INTRODUCTION What we know What we don’t know What we need to find out
Limit to only pertinent references
What we don’t know
What we need to find out
Primary and secondary research objectives
Preplanned subgroup analyses

4. Number of paragraphs per section:
Introduction - 2
Methods - 7
Results - 7
Discussion - 6

5. INTRODUCTION
ESTABLISH what gaps exist in knowledge, that this new research will answer
Most authors follow one of a few approaches to the INTRODUCTION:
The SEMINAR approach
The ALARMIST approach
The MUCH DISCUSSED RECENTLY (MDR) approach

6. METHODS section ANSWERS THE QUESTION, 'What did you do?'
Describes the methods that you used.
explicit, open to criticism, and reproducible by other investigators.
enough detail to enable your readers to:
judge whether the methods were appropriate for answering the study question
judge any weaknesses in methodology that could influence the interpretation of the results
repeat the study if they wish to do so.

7. METHODS Participant selection
Variables and procedures for each primary and secondary objective
Analytic methods
Study design – Case report/series/Review/RCT/Meta-analysis etc
Subject selection
Source population
Inclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
Rationale for inclusion/exclusion criteria

8. RESULTS section Should give a factual account of what was found:
the recruitment of study participants,
the description of the study population
the main results and ancillary analyses.
Should be free of interpretations and discursive text reflecting the authors’ views and opinions.

9. RESULTS
Decisions in presenting the results stem from the following questions:
which data should be presented (and which omitted)?;
in what sequence should the data be presented?; and
what should be stated in the text vs tables and figures?
In general, the most important results should be shown first, the least important last.

10. Tables and Figures Purpose May aim for about 3-4 total
Concise display of information
Provide several levels of detail
Reduces length of text
May aim for about 3-4 total
Table 1: Patient characteristics
Table 2-4: one for each research objective

11. Results NOT all data collected may need to be reported.
Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations.
Do not repeat in the text all data in the tables or illustrations; emphasize or summarize only important observations.

12. DISCUSSION a brief synopsis of the key findings;
consideration of possible mechanisms and explanations;
comparison with relevant findings from other published studies
limitations of the study; and
implications of the work for practice and research.

14. Summary Introduction Methods Results Discussion What we know
What we don’t know.
What we did to find out
Methods
Participant selection
Variables and procedures for each primary and secondary objective
Analytic methods
Results
Patient recruitment and characteristics
Evidence for first objective
Evidence for second objective
Evidence for third objective
Discussion
Summarize main finding
Summarize supporting findings
What are the implications/how does it change practice?
Limitations
Summary/conclusion