Writing for Publication
DR JULIE NIGHTINGALE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RADIOGRAPHY
Introduction
 Publication options
 Constructing an article
 The publishing process
 Why publish in Radiography?
Radiography
 An international, English language, peer-reviewed
journal of radiographic imaging and radiation therapy.
 Promotes excellence in the profession of radiography
by its commitment to the publication of original
research, encouragement and dissemination of best
clinical, scientific and educational practice
 The official professional journal of the Society and
College of Radiographers and is published quarterly
by Elsevier Ltd.
Radiography: Background Information
 Published four times a year
 Regular special issues – e.g. paediatric imaging / dose
optimisation and image quality
 23,000 hard copies plus on-line access
 73 countries
In 2013:
Approx 130 articles submitted
Approx 475 reviewers invited to review
More than 170,000 downloads
More than ¼ articles published are non-UK
Why Publish?
 Add to an evidence base to improve and expand
knowledge
 Promotes deep understanding and learning
 Develops confidence to challenge traditional
practice
 Employer or funding body may require publication
 Publication profile for CPD and CV
Key Questions
 What steps do I need to take before I write my
paper?
 How can I ensure I am using proper manuscript
language?
 How do I build up my article properly?
Determine if you are ready to publish
Do you have information that advances understanding
in a specific research field?
This could be in the form of:
 Presenting new, original results or methods
 Rationalizing, refining, or reinterpreting published results
 Reviewing or summarizing a particular subject or field
Successful publication is a lot more difficult if:
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Your report has no scientific interest
The work is out of date
You would be duplication previously published work
Your conclusions are incorrect / not acceptable
Ready to publish?
If you are ready to publish, a strong
manuscript is what is needed next
Publishing process
 Find a suitable journal (aims and scope)
 Prepare your manuscript following author guidelines
 Submission
 Peer Review
 Publication
Find a journal
- Search through Elsevier or other publishers’ journals
- Check the aims and scope of the journal to see if your
article is a good fit
- Check if the journal is invitation only
- Submit to only one journal at a time
- Check the Guide for Authors:
the type of articles accepted / article length
editorial team contacts
graphics specification
Prepare your paper - types of article
1.
Original full length research papers
(2500 words / 4000 words qualitative )
2.
Review Article
3.
Guest Editorials (1000 words)
4.
Technical notes (1000 words)
5.
Case reports
(800 words)
6.
Book Reviews
(300 words)
7.
Letters to the Editor (500 words)
(3000 words)
Full Length Research Articles
 Clear but catchy title
 Abstract not to exceed 250 words
 Article approximately 2,500 words
 Typically comprise empirical research following the
standard scientific article format
Scientific article format
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusions / Recommendations
 Literature cited
N.B. Differences for some qualitative articles and
literature review articles
What is a strong manuscript?
 Has a clear, useful, and exciting message
 Presented and constructed in a logical manner
 Reviewers and editors can grasp the significance
easily
Editors and reviewers are all busy people –
make things easy to save their time
Manuscript Language – Overview
Write with clarity, objectivity, accuracy, and brevity
Key to successful manuscript writing is to be alert
to common errors:
Sentence and paragraph construction
 Incorrect tenses
 Inaccurate grammar and punctuation
 Inconsistent use of English
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Check the Guide for Authors of the target journal
for any language specifications
Practical tips
 Avoid abbreviations by writing out in full but can use
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acronyms for a term that is repeated often
Avoid jargon and slang
Do not capitalise common nouns; e.g. radiologists,
radiographers, ultrasound, radiography.
Do not start a sentence with a number e.g. 12 images …
would be: Twelve images….etc
Do not shorten e.g. didn’t for did not
Note that ‘data’ is plural
Proof read and spell check
Use past tense when describing methods and results
Distinguish between ‘practice’ as a noun and ‘to practise’
as a verb
Abstract
Title and abstract - must make an impact!
‘Shortened’ version of the article – written last
 what the objectives of the study were;
 how the study was done;
 what results were obtained;
 the significance of the results.
Introduction
 Why is this study of interest and what is your
objective?
 Discusses the results and conclusions of previously
published studies.
 Explains why the current study is of scientific interest.
 Organized to move from general information to specific
information.
 The last sentences of the introduction should be a
statement of objectives and a statement of hypotheses.
Method
 Provides all the methodological details necessary for
another researcher to duplicate your work.
 It should be a narrative of the steps you took in your
experiment or study, not a list of instructions
 Provide a description of statistical tests you used
(statistics are methods!)
 Confirmation that research complies with ethical policies.
Ethics Committee approval
 Experiments on humans or animals must follow
applicable ethics standards
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e.g. most recent version of the Helsinki Declaration and/or relevant
(local, national, international) animal experimentation guidelines
 Approval of the research ethics committee,
university ethics committee and/or R+D
department is required, and should be specified in
the manuscript
January 2012
Results
 This section presents the results of the experiment.
 Do not attempt to interpret their meaning.
 Know what information to include or exclude.
 No need to present the raw data
 Summarize the data with text, tables and/or figures.
 Do not include the same data in both a table and a
figure
Discussion
 Do not simply re-state the objectives.
 Do not introduce new material or facts.
 Make statements that synthesize all the evidence
(including previous work and the current work).
 Do not make statements that are too broad
 If necessary, note problems with the methods
and explain anomalies in the data
Conclusions/Recommendations
 Draw out conclusions
 Suggest future directions for research
Accurate citations
Check the journal referencing style, and follow closely
Medical journals follow the Vancouver style:
Example:
"The author has discussed the implications of these proposals on the
National Health Service in another paper.1 Other writers have
commented on related issues, notably Lane 2, 3 and Annas 4.”
Annas GJ. New drugs for acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J
Med. 1997;337:435-9
Common pitfalls
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Badly written abstract
Inadequate or absent introduction
Raising questions which are then not addressed
Poor sentence structure
Inaccurate content
Missing or inaccurate references
Jumping from idea to idea
Making assumptions not based on the data
Inadequate or absent conclusion
Waffle!
Ethical publishing
 Accurate account of work performed / objective discussion of significance
 Sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work.
 The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works,
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and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has
been appropriately cited or quoted.
Avoid multiple, redundant or concurrent publication (duplicates)
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given
Authorship limited to those who made a significant contribution to the
conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
All co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and
have agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be
construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript
Obtain permission sought for copyrighted material (? Images)
Manuscript ready?
 Submission – via EES system
 Designated corresponding author
 Submission letter – first submission or revision / statements
 Title page (with author details)
 Abstract saved separately
 Select key words
 Manuscript (without author details)
 Figures and Tables saved separately
 Approval – author approved PDF / journal checks
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Peer review (double blind)
Decision (Minor / major corrections / accept / reject)
Copy editing / proof copies
Publication online then in print – N.B. Copyright
http://ees.elsevier.com/radiography/default.asp
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.
authors
One last word...copyright
Once your article is accepted, the publisher will hold copyright:
You can:
 share your article PDF internally in your organisation
 use your article in your work (eg. to support a lecture)
 paste a link to your article from your own website
 You can publish the final accepted manuscript (before any
copy-editing and type-setting performed)
You cannot:
 post the full copy-edited PDF version on a public website or
social media – eg. university repository or Researchgate
 make profit from the article (eg. sell it)
Author submits article
via the web
http://ees.elsevier.com/radiography/
Process Analysis
Elsevier staff check
article is complete
create pdf documents
email Editor in Chief
Editor in Chief
Scan-reads the work
Invites reviewers, or
Passes it to an Associate Editor, who
Invites reviewers
Reviewer(s) says “no”, cannot
review
Reviewer says “Yes”
Article is reviewed and
comments given back to
Review Editor / Editor in
chief
This continues until
enough reviewers
accept to review
Reviewer meets unexpected
time management problem and
cannot do it
Editor in chief / Associate Editor
Reads reviewer comments
Makes decision
(accept/revise/reject)
Informs author of decision and
reviewer comments
Revise - author will
Address reviewer comments
Reject - author could
rework article complete, or
submit to another journal
Process Analysis
Accept
Article is accepted in
current form
Resubmitted
Review editor /
Editor in Chief
Reads work against reviewer
comments
Article requires further revision
Editor may ask for work to be
revised again, or
Editor may ask same reviewer(s) to
review the work, if this then…
Reviewer provides comments
Author informed if further work is
required on their article
Steps to publication
type-set
proof read by author
published online immediately
published hardcopy when
space permits
Useful information sources
Manning, D. Hogg, P. (2006) Writing for publication.
Radiography 12, 77-78
A Guide to Writing in the Biological Sciences
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/S
cientificPaper.htm
Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical
Publication
http://www.icmje.org
Instructions for authors - any journal