Academic Writing Guidelines
1 Contents
2
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 2
3
Turning an idea into a research project................................................................................................. 2
4
Evaluation vs research ........................................................................................................................... 4
5
Ethics ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
6
5.1
Consent......................................................................................................................................... 5
5.2
Confidentiality .............................................................................................................................. 5
5.3
Applying for ethical approval ....................................................................................................... 6
5.4
Conflicts of interest ...................................................................................................................... 6
Academic writing skills ........................................................................................................................... 6
6.1
Citations and reference managers ............................................................................................... 6
6.2
Use of Imperial services ............................................................................................................... 7
7
Journal Content type ............................................................................................................................. 7
8
Choosing appropriate journals .............................................................................................................. 7
9
Authorship ............................................................................................................................................. 8
9.1
Who should be an author? ........................................................................................................... 8
9.2
Who decides who can be an author? ........................................................................................... 9
9.3
How is the order of authorship decided? .................................................................................... 9
9.4
Where should I get advice for disagreements about authorship? .............................................. 9
9.5
What is the corresponding author? ............................................................................................. 9
10 Poster and oral presentation guide .....................................................................................................10
10.1
Choosing your conference .........................................................................................................10
10.2
How to create your poster/presentation ...................................................................................10
10.3
Top tips for creating posters and presentations ........................................................................11
11 Funding, grants & awards ....................................................................................................................11
11.1
Funding for conferences ............................................................................................................11
11.2
Prizes and awards .......................................................................................................................11
12 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................12
13 References ...........................................................................................................................................13
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2 Introduction
The short document aims to provide guidance and clarity regarding common challenges faced by
students wishing to write and submit an article for publication. It is particularly useful for students
wishing to do this for the first time as there are many important factors to consider that may be
overlooked such as ethics and confidentiality, funding, and authorship.
Much of the guidance here is general and applicable to most manuscripts and whilst this guide provides
several answers and resources, it is by no means a replacement for the help available by the expert
supervisors and faculty staff, who should be your first point of contact with any specific queries.
If you plan to present or publish work that you have completed as part of your Imperial
undergraduate primary care placement and intend to refer to affiliation with Imperial College
London or being an Imperial College London medical student, approval is required from the relevant
primary care Course Lead and GP tutor. Any material for presentation or publication as a minimum
should be reviewed and approved by the relevant primary care Course Lead, and where input is
significant, discuss with the Course Lead possible co-authorship.
Any publications from work completed with the Undergraduate Primary Care department should include
the following statement:
‘This report is independent research [funded by/ supported by] (delete as appropriate) the National
Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London. The views expressed
in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health
Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.’
3 Turning an idea into a research project
Once you have an idea for a research project, Figure 1 advises on the approach you might take in
developing this idea into a research project.
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1
• Discuss your idea with a supervisor and faculty staff to get approval/advice of suitability
to develop it into a formal research project
• Write a first draft research project proposal
2
3
•This will often require significant work
•Conduct a brief literature review and consider the problem, gap, hook (1)
•Identify a research question and appropriate research method
•Consider issues of time, resources, skills, and where you plan to present or publish your work
•Identify the Project team you will be working with
• Review your research proposal with an appointed supervisor for the project
• Complete an ethics application for research projects
4
•Determine which ethics panel you will apply to (see section 5)
•Check submission deadlines
•Evaluation projects may not require ethical approval (see section 4)
•Seek support for this from your supervisor
• Carry out your research project
5
•Faculty staff may be able to provide training support for methods and analysis (e.g. conducting
interviews, analysis of data)
• Draft a formal authorship agreement with Project team/collaborators
6
7
8
•All authors agree and sign
•Decide with Project team plans for dissemination
• Agree with project team plans for publication or presentations at conferences
• Disseminate your work
•Conferences- review written abstract with all authors
•Publications- all authors must contribute to and approve drafts.
•Inform project team and supervisor or faculty staff of any rejections, or acceptance, for
publication or presentations
Figure 1: Starting your research project
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4 Evaluation vs research
Defining whether your project falls within ‘evaluation’ or ‘research’ will have implications for protocol
generation and requirements for ethical approval.
Table 1 outlines the differences between research and service evaluation (2-4).
Generates new knowledge in fields where there
is limited or/no current research available
May be designed to test or generate a hypothesis
Service evaluation
Conducted in order to measure or critique a
current service or care
Aims to answer, ‘What standard does this current
service achieve?’
Information will often be transferrable and
generalisable
The information gathered will be of local
significance and inform local decision making
Research participants, patients, volunteers or
service users may be allocated to an intervention
and this might involve comparison with a placebo
group
Participants, patients, volunteers or service users
are not allocated to an intervention. They are part
of the intervention or service prior to evaluation
without change of care or services due to the
evaluation
Usually incorporates analysis of existing data but
can include collection of data, for example
administration of a questionnaire
These may be exempt from ethical approval
depending on methodology, but you must check
with your supervisor
Clinical audits require registration with the quality
improvement department of the healthcare trust
Research
Usually incorporates collecting additional data
than data routinely collected within a service or
as part of usual patient care
Will require ethical approval
Table 1: the differences between research and service evaluation (1,2).
This educational leaflet from NHS England contains a useful table comparing the differences in types of
projects (3).
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership also published a document to help you establish the
remit of your research and the relevant ethical principles that apply. It contains easy-to-use checklists
for you to answer and determine the category that your project falls under (2).
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5 Ethics
Imperial College London has very detailed guidelines about research integrity and support on their
website (found here) (5).
The GMC has also provided guidelines about ethical practice in research (6).
Ethics are a key part in conducting research. Within the healthcare profession, it is our duty to uphold
integrity in research and serious breaches may lead have implications on your fitness to practice.
5.1 Consent
•
•
•
•
•
•
If your project involves human participants, you must gain valid consent from participants
before their involvement.
You must ensure that participation is voluntary and there is ability to withdraw consent without
any impact on patient care (6).
Provide participants with sufficient information prior to their consent, as well as contact details
for them to ask for more information or to withdraw.
The BMA has produced a consent toolkit which details the information that patients require in
order to be consented into research (7).
Imperial College London have a template for informed consent for educational research that can
be found here.
If you are involved in a service evaluation project, discuss with your supervisor regarding the
need for consent and ethical approval.
5.2 Confidentiality
Maintaining patient confidentiality means that there should not be any identifiable information within
the data collection which is not relevant for the project.
Steps should be undertaken to remove identifiable information such as name, address, date of birth.
Please be aware that hospital numbers (such as patient MRN) are considered pseudo-anonymised data
and therefore is not sufficient to fully anonymise the participants.
This resource provides information about maintaining confidentiality within the research field (7).
Ensure that you use your Imperial or NHS email address when communicating and sharing files within
the research team and consider the use of password protected files. Files containing patient information
or sensitive information should be sent using your NHS email address. There is more information about
storage and sharing of research data here. If you are unsure about how to appropriately share
information within the research team, please check with your supervisor or a faculty member.
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5.3 Applying for ethical approval
•
•
•
•
There are several research ethics committees at Imperial College London. The process through
which ethical approval is granted for a research project depends on the nature of the research
questions (educational or clinical) and the participants being recruited. The process varies
depending on whether the study participants are faculty staff, students or patients. To
determine which committee to send your proposal to, please consult this diagram (8). Your
supervisor should be able to advise you on the appropriate ethics pathway if you are unsure.
Ethical approval is usually not required for evaluation projects.
Universities and other organisations may have a gatekeeping process you also need to adhere to
which involves gaining permission from the ‘gatekeeper’ in order to contact potential research
participants. If conducting research at the hospitals affiliated with Imperial College London, you
should seek ethical approval from the Trust’s research ethics committee.
Ensure you apply for ethical approval in advance of your scheduled project time to avoid delays
in starting your project.
5.4 Conflicts of interest
•
•
A conflict of interest is when a person ‘may act in a certain way due to personal interests’ (9).
This could be due to several reasons including personal and financial gain.
When submitting abstracts for conferences or publishing work, you may be asked to declare any
conflicts of interest that you or your research team may have. It is important to fill this section in
accurately.
6 Academic writing skills
6.1 Citations and reference managers
Referencing throughout your manuscript is important as it gives credit to authors you have cited and
demonstrates that your literature is thorough and accurate. Not acknowledging another author’s work
may lead to accusations of plagiarism and even fitness to practice claims.
There are two parts to a reference: the in-text citation and the reference list. There are many reference
styles such as Vancouver, Harvard, American Psychological Association (APA) and Chicago to name a
few. Using a reference manager ensures that you do not miss a citation, allows for making changes at a
later date and easier switching between references styles. The most commonly used reference
managers are EndNote, Zotero, RefWorks and Mendeley. They have add-ons for browsers to easily enter
journal article details in one click and add-ons for word processors to quickly add the citations to your
work. The Imperial Library service has a table comparing the different services (10). These software are
simple to use and detailed tutorials can be found on the Imperial Library website or on YouTube.
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6.2 Use of Imperial services
The Imperial library site has many resources on research and writing skills. They also run several
workshops on several aspects such as using reference managers, academic writing, conducting
systematic reviews. If you need specific help related to your specific work, contacting a librarian should
be one of your first ports of call (11).
Use of the Imperial virtual network (VPN) will allow you to access most online articles and journals free
of charge from home. Information for setting it up can be found here or by searching “Imperial College
VPN”.
7 Journal Content type
Journals will publish many different types of articles. Most articles can be grouped within the following:
Original Research, Review Articles, Short reports or Letters, Case Studies, Methodologies. All journals
will have different names and requirements for these, more information can be found by looking in the
‘Information for authors’ page of a website and looking at ‘what we publish’ or ‘types of submission’ or
equivalent (12,13). The most common are summarised in Table below.
Original research (also
called original article or
research article)
Letter (also called short
communication or short
report)
Review articles
Case studies
Methodologies
Used to publish complete data from research and trials
These include clinical trials, observational studies, modelling, and
meta-analyses.
Usually, 2,000-5,000, but can be up to 8,000 words
Communicate time sensitive research or a reader’s perspective on
recently published material.
Short articles usually <500 words
Provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic or
definitive overview of a major topic.
Come in the form of literature, and more specifically systematic
reviews.
Usually, 1,000-5,000, but can be up to 10,000 words
Report specific instances of interesting phenomena in medicine e.g.
a rare disease, rare presentation or novel treatment
Describe a new experimental method, test or procedure.
Table 2: Summary of content type adapted from “What We Publish”, The Lancet (12).
8 Choosing appropriate journals
Choosing a journal to submit your manuscript to can be difficult. Here are some important points to
consider when looking for a journal:
•
Journal aim and scope: journals will have specific instructions on what topics/research they will
publish, before submitting a manuscript you should verify that the research you have performed
falls within the scope of a journal, or look for another journal to submit to.
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•
•
•
•
•
Types of articles published by journals: different journals will publish different article types - see
above in ‘Content type’.
Journal author preference:
o some journals may give priority to medical students or have specific article types for student
led research e.g. BMJ Student (14), International Journal of Medical Students (15) and
American Medical Student Research Journal (16).
o Journals that focus on medical education such as Medical Teacher (17), Medical Science
Educator (18) and Advances in Medical Education and Practice (19) are also a great place to
start looking.
Index preference: Do you want your article indexed in a certain database such as MEDLINE, Scopus
or EMBASE? Not all journals are indexed in every database. This information can be found in
‘Indexing’ usually in the ‘Information for authors’ page of a journal.
Impact factor: an index that reflects the yearly number of citations an article in a journal receives. It
can be thought of as a proxy for the relative ‘importance’ of a journal in a field. Generally, the higher
the impact factor the higher the scientific rigor, editorial quality, and number of readers. It is worth
bearing in mind that this is not always true, for example, a journal covering a niche subject will
inevitably have less readers but can be just as important as bigger journals.
Cost: some journals are free to publish in, others charge a fee to publish. This fee may only apply to
all or some article types and should be checked in the ‘Information for authors’ page. Imperial
Library may have arrangements with some publishers, so it is worth speaking to the librarians if you
unsure about costs and fees. Some journals have the option of submitting an open access article.
This allows readers to view the article at no cost.
Predatory journals
Predatory publishing involves a journal charging fees to an author, without providing quality editorial
services such as peer review and editing. These journals tend to contact authors directly by email
offering the chance of publication. Before submitting an article to a journal that you have not heard
before it is worth checking if the fees are clearly listed, checking the names on the editorial board and
glancing at the quality of previous submissions (20). A list of predatory journals can be found on
predatoryjournals.com (21). If unsure you can always check with a librarian or your supervisor.
9 Authorship
9.1 Who should be an author?
Authorship is important for ensuring the correct people are given credit for the work that they do. It also
ensures that researchers act responsibly and are held accountable. General rules for authorship criteria
have been developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (22). The ICMJE
recommend authorship is based on the following criteria in Box 1.
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1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or
interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the
accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Box 1: ICMJE authorship criteria (22)
All individuals that meet all four criteria should be identified as authors. Members that meet the first
criterion must be provided the opportunity to contribute to drafting and reviewing the final manuscript.
Members who do not meet all criteria should be identified or recognised within the
‘Acknowledgements’ section of the article.
9.2 Who decides who can be an author?
It is the role of the authors to determine whether all named authors meet the four criteria. Early
communication and discussion are encouraged. It is recommended that before starting a piece of work
for submission, groups should discuss authorship and check the criteria above before submission.
9.3 How is the order of authorship decided?
ICMJE (21) suggest the order by which authors are listed should be decided within the group. There are
several ways of deciding this. Traditionally this is done by level of contribution with the first author
having contributed the most. Occasionally the most senior authors name will be put last, if they are not
the largest contributor. This method may cause disputes to arise and the Committee on Publication
Ethics recommends that authors discuss this matter from before the project starts up until manuscript
submission, revising as necessary, and recording each decision in writing (23,24).
9.4 Where should I get advice for disagreements about authorship?
Any disagreements regarding authorships should be discussed with a named supervisor where one is
available, or guidance should be sought from the relevant department. For research projects relating to
work undertaken as part of your undergraduate primary care placement, guidance should be sought
from the relevant Course Lead in the first instance. The Committee on Publication Ethics suggest that
contributions could be quantified, such as based on a points system to ensure the order is appropriate.
In an article where groups contribution is largely equal, using other fair methods such as alphabetical
order of names may be appropriate (25).
9.5 What is the corresponding author?
One author should be identified as the corresponding author. This person will be responsible for the
communication during submission of a piece of work to a journal, as well as for queries following
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publication. The corresponding author does not need to be the first author or the person who has
contributed most.
10 Poster and oral presentation guide
10.1 Choosing your conference
There may be several factors to consider before choosing where to present your work:
•
•
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•
•
Abstract deadlines
Timing of the conference
Location
Cost
Aims and scope of the conference e.g. international medical education vs UK primary care
Field of research
Some things to consider when choosing where to submit your abstracts:
•
•
•
•
National vs international conferences: depending on the location, you may require leave during
term-time for travel and presentation. Please follow College guidelines to request leave. Flights
and accommodation should be booked early to avoid difficulties in attending.
Student run conferences: many student university societies hold their own conferences and
invite students to submit work to their conferences. Whilst this is an excellent opportunity to
showcase your work and win prizes, be wary that student-run conferences will not count
towards poster/presentations in the Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) application.
Indexing: Some conferences will publish abstracts in conference proceedings; some of which
may be published within PubMed and provide you with a PubMed indexed publication. This
should not be your sole aim when choosing a conference.
Be wary of predatory conferences: always check with your supervisor that you are submitting
your work to a creditable scientific organisation.
10.2 How to create your poster/presentation
•
•
•
•
Check the conference guidelines for details about poster sizes/presentation length and content.
Ensure you meet the deadlines for uploading slides or posters.
If your poster is to be printed - ask your supervisor if they are able to print for you. There are
multiple websites/print rooms offering poster printing, and Imperial College also have an on-site
print room in the South Kensington campus (which requires a fee). Ensure you leave enough
time before you depart for the conference to send your poster to the printers and collect it (25).
This BMJ publication is a good resource providing guidance on how to produce a scientific poster
(26).
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10.3 Top tips for creating posters and presentations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Less is more - try to limit the amount of text on slides and posters.
Use diagrams, tables, and illustrations to highlight your results and main points.
Avoid lengthy prose and keep to shorter sentences and bullet points.
Posters and presentations have limited space so highlight your main findings that you wish to
convey.
Use professional colour schemes to keep your slides and poster looking smart.
Ensure your font size is large enough for people to read.
Correspondence address - avoid using a personal email and instead use your Imperial or NHS
email.
11 Funding, grants & awards
11.1 Funding for conferences
Once you have your abstract accepted for conference, Imperial offers several opportunities to fund or
partially fund conference expenses. Ask your project supervisor whether there are any opportunities for
their department or research institute to fund or partially fund for the conference.
Imperial General Fund
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•
•
Open to all Imperial students
You must apply several months in advance of your conference date.
Apply here.
ICSM Fund
•
•
Open to Imperial Medical students
Apply here
11.2 Prizes and awards
The Royal Society of Medicine offers several awards throughout the year for student research projects
(27).
Most Royal Colleges have dedicated sections for student research awards. A list can be found here
alternatively, a quick internet search for the relevant specialty website can also take you to the awards
(28).
Some conferences may have abstract categories/prizes aimed for young researchers and students.
Check the conference website for detailed information regarding research prizes and grants.
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12 Conclusion
Becoming involved in evaluation, quality improvement and research projects can be particularly
rewarding. It is a great opportunity to pursue your interests, develop your knowledge and skills, and
contribute to new knowledge and improvement in education and healthcare. We hope this guide
supports you in developing your research career.
Authors: Anas Khan, Anita Bolina, Dr Katie Scott, Dr Renee Ewe
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13 References
1. Lingard L. 2015. Joining a conversation: the problem/gap/hook heuristic. Perspectives on medical
education, 4, 252-253.
2. HQIP. A Guide for Clinical Audit, Research and Service Review. [Online] Healthcare Quality
Improvement Partnerships. Available from: https://www.hqip.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/02/hqip-guide-for-clinical-audit-research-and-service-review.pdf [Accessed:
8th February 2021]
3. NHS National Patient Safety Agency. Defining research. [Online] Available from:
http://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/media/1572809/defining_research_leaflet_1_.pdf [Accessed: 8th
February 2021]
4. Health Research Authority. Defining research. [Online] Available from: http://www.hradecisiontools.org.uk/research/docs/DefiningResearchTable_Oct2017-1.pdf [Accessed: 19th April
2021]
5. Imperial College London. Research integrity. [Online] Imperial College London. Available from:
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/
[Accessed: 8th February 2021]
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February 2021]
7. BMA. Guidance for doctors on patient consent. [Online] The British Medical Association is the trade
union and professional body for doctors in the UK. Available from: https://www.bma.org.uk/adviceand-support/ethics/seeking-consent/seeking-patient-consent-toolkit [Accessed: 8th February 2021]
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https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/research-and-innovation/educationethics/public/Ethics-process-map.pdf [Accessed: 11th March 2021]
9. Muth CC. Conflict of Interest in Medicine. JAMA. [Online] 2017;317(17): 1812. Available from:
doi:10.1001/jama.2017.4044
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January 2021]
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12. The Lancet. For Authors: What We Publish. [Online] Available from:
https://www.thelancet.com/what-we-publish [Accessed: 23rd January 2021]
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2021]
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[Accessed: 8th February 2021]
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https://www.amsrj.org/index.php?journal=amsrj [Accessed: 8th February 2021]
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https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=imte20 [Accessed: 25th
February 2021]
18. Springer. Medical Science Educator. [Online] Springer. Available from:
https://www.springer.com/journal/40670 [Accessed: 25th February 2021]
19. Dove Press. Advances in Medical Education and Practice - Dove Press. [Online] Available from:
https://www.dovepress.com/advances-in-medical-education-and-practice-journal [Accessed: 25th
February 2021]
20. University of Cambridge. Predatory publishers. [Online] Available from:
https://osc.cam.ac.uk/about-scholarly-communication/author-tools/considerations-when-choosingjournal/predatory-publishers [Accessed: 25th February 2021]
21. Stop Predatory Journals. List of Predatory Journals. [Online] Available from:
https://predatoryjournals.com/journals/ [Accessed: 25th February 2021]
22. ICMJE. Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors. [Online] Available from:
http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-ofauthors-and-contributors.html [Accessed: 6th January 2021]
23. Albert T, Wager E. How to handle authorship disputes: a guide for new researchers. [Online]
Committee on Publication Ethics, 2009 Sep [Accessed: 24th January 2021]. Available from:
doi:10.24318/cope.2018.1.1 [Accessed: 24th January 2021]
24. AJE. The Ethics of Manuscript Authorship: Best Practices for Attribution. [Online] Available from:
https://www.aje.com/arc/ethics-manuscript-authorship/ [Accessed: 24th January 2021]
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February 2021]
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26. BMJ. How to make a scientific poster. [Online] Available from:
https://www.bmj.com/content/346/sbmj.f297 [Accessed: 8th February 2021]
27. RSM. Prizes for Students | The Royal Society of Medicine. [Online] Available from:
https://www.rsm.ac.uk/prizes-and-awards/prizes-for-students/ [Accessed: 8th February 2021]
28. Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. Competitions and awards. [Online] Royal Medical Benevolent Fund.
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