Medical Writers Skills
Workshop
Nancy B. Clark, M.Ed.
Director of Medical Informatics Education
FSU College of Medicine
Fall 2009
All recources are available online at
http://www.med.fsu.edu/informatics/research.asp
1
Objectives
Attendees will
Identify good references
Perform a MEDLINE search effectively
Find full text journal articles
Find info in online textbooks
Find online health stats
Use EndnoteWeb to manage citations and
references in a defined style
2
Tutorials
Tutorials at Pubmed (assigned)
Searching PubMed
Using Mesh Terms
My NCBI (optional)
Tutorials on Medical Library page
Using EndnoteWeb (4)
Finding e-Journals (3)
Tutorials at EndnoteWeb.com
3
Essential Software
MSWord 2007
Endnote Web Cite While you Write plugin
http://www.endnoteweb.com
Stedman’s Medical Spellchecker
4
Prerequisite Word Skills
 Headers and footers
 Page numbers
 Fonts and sizes
 Paragraph formatting
 Page Breaks
 Tables and captions
 Page layouts
Numbering or bullets
Single/double spacing
Hanging indents/first
line indents
Word Document Properly Formatted at
http://www.med.fsu.edu/informatics/SampleTitlePage.doc
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Research Paper
 Research Paper: In the Fall there will be a research paper that
should be based on your thoughtful assessment of the readings,
lecture material, assimilation with other assignments in other Year 2
classes, and class discussion. Topics for the term paper will be on
health policy or patient safety/medical errors. Topics for papers are
chosen by students but must be approved by the course director.
 One possible format for the research paper could be as follows:
 Part I, write an opening statement that explains why the issue
you have chosen is important;
 Part II, provide an overview of the most important arguments and
concepts supporting your topic;
 Part III, provide your assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of the positions reflected in Part II;
 Part IV, draw conclusions about the issue.
 The body of the paper will be 10 pages (double-spaced).
 The paper will require the use of “Endnote” and should have both
primary and secondary references.
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Find the References
What are the best?
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Levels of References
 Primary:
Peer Reviewed
journal articles
 Secondary:
Primary
Not peer reviewed
Secondary
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Levels of Peer Reviewed Information
 Primary: original
research
Primary
 Secondary: review
articles
Secondary
 Tertiary: textbooks,
summaries
Tertiary
9
Clarification for Paper
Primary means original research on
topic
Secondary means everything else
No set number of references requires
Quality over quantity
Grade not dependent on number of references
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Primary Peer Reviewed Literature
Original Research
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Secondary Peer Reviewed Sources
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Periodical Databases
See FSU Databases A-Z
ERIC (education journals)
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (business,
government, medical, legal...)
Newspaper Abstracts (25 major newspapers)
PsychINFO (social sciences)
Web of Science (science, social science, arts and
literature citations)
MEDLINE (medicine)
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What is MEDLINE?
 produced by the National Library of Medicine
 electronic version of Index Medicus,
International Nursing Index, International Dental
Literature
 1966 – present
 4,000+ international biomedical journals
 includes journal articles, reviews, letters,
editorials, comments
 does NOT include books, conference papers,
meeting abstracts, theses
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MEDLINE Fields
 Author
 Title
 Date
 Type of publication
 Journal, Volume,
Issue
 Page numbers
 Abstract
 Institution
 MeSH Headings
 A lot of cataloging
numbers
Typical Entry
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What’s a MeSH Heading?
 "Medical Subject Headings"
 vocabulary terms from subject analysis of
literature
 indexing journal articles for Index Medicus® and
MEDLINE
 cataloging books and audiovisuals
 controlled vocabulary
 arranged in a hierarchical MeSH Tree Structures
 updated annually
16
Examples of MeSH Headings
Pubmed MeSH Database
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Where is MEDLINE?
Pubmed (NLM)
OVID
MD Consult
Google Scholar
Links to
Full text journal
articles
Books
EBM databases
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PubMed MEDLINE
Entering PubMed
Type search
terms
Tutorial
Save searches
in your custom
‘cubby.’
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PubMed MEDLINE
Preliminary Results
Large number of hits.
Click on ‘Details’ to show how PubMed translated the
search. (You can modify the search by typing in the
text box.)
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Boolean Operators
AND
OR
NOT
Parenthesis
*
quotes
“medication errors” AND
“quality improvement” NOT
(ambulatory OR “nursing
home”)
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“medication errors” AND “quality improvement”
NOT (ambulatory OR “nursing home”)
Ambulatory
Medication errors
Quality improvement
Nursing home
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PubMed MEDLINE
Limit Results
Click on ‘Limits’
Limits added in
this search:
- Indexed in the
last 2 years
- Human subjects
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PubMed MEDLINE
Refined Results
Number of hits is still
quite large. (361 from
previous 92,441)
Add ‘AND diet
therapy’ to the search
terms. (AND, OR, &
NOT operators must
be in all capitals.)
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PubMed MEDLINE
Combining Searches
 Use History
 #2 AND #3
 Click on number of
hits to see results
25
PubMed MEDLINE
Getting the articles
Select ‘Abstract’
view and click on
‘Display’
Click on FSU icon
to link to full text.
26
Related Articles
AbstractPlus View
Link to full text FSU subscriptions
27
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Tricks
Find one good article
Look at MeSH headings in MEDLINE view
Pick similar articles
Search same MeSH terms
Use Related Articles in PubMed
29
Too Many Hits:
Increase Specificity






Use more specific terms in free text search
Use mesh search rather than text word search
Combine searches
Use more specific mesh headings
Add terms (using AND)
Limit
 language of article
 human or animal subjects
 publication types (e.g. randomized controlled trials, reviews,
etc.)
 country
 year of publication
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Too Few Hits
Increase Sensitivity
 Find more search terms from good articles
 Try different combinations of terms
 Use truncation (*) in Text word OR Subject
(ie immunoglob* )
 Use OR to add and combine terms
 Use combination of Text word and Subject
searches
 Select All Subheadings with Subject MeSH
terms
 Search further back in time
31
Find Good Articles
Recent
Applicable
Relevant
Good research criteria
Not just first full text article you find
32
PubMed MEDLINE
Getting the articles when there is no FSU icon
4
If there is no FSU icon, there are
other options:
1. Check the FSU COM ejournals page.
2. Check the FSU University
Library Serials Solutions
Page.
3. Check the online library
catalog. If in paper, hoof it.
4. Request an Inter-Library
Loan (ILL).
1
3
2
33
E-Journals
In electronic less
than 10 years
Each journal
different
Digitizing old
issues slowly
34
Finding Full Text Articles
1. Pubmed Linked to full text? No…
2. E-Journals list from library webpage?
Not listed…
3. FSU Serial Solutions from library
webpage. In electric format? No...
4. Online Library Catelog. Owned in
print? No…
5. Interlibrary loans for titles not owned
by FSU (link at top of Library Webpage)
35
Recommendation
Create folder for articles in My Documents
Save PDF of article, Creating a library of
articles
If no PDF, Print Preview, Copy and paste
into Word document and save
Add link in Endnote (Later...)
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Searching Electronic Textbooks
WebFeat
Book link in PubMed
37
Librarian Consults
Set up an appointment
Attend group help sessions
Schedule to be announced
38
Finding Health Statistics
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Types of Health Statistics Questions
Fact lookups
Research
Presentations
Social and Policy indicators
40
Strategies for Finding Health Stats
Google Search
Use Portal
Start at Internet site
Start with book or article
41
Internet Portals of Health Stats
Lists of links that provide starting points for
browsing or searching
Keyword search in portal vs Google
General idea what you want
 The National Center for Health Statistics portal:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
 DHHS Gateway to Data and Statistics
 Health Services Research Information Central
(NLM)
42
Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe
Subscription resource
Searches stat data
Subject List
Limit search
Reports or tables
http://web.lexisnexis.com/statuniv?B1=Connect+to+Statis
tical+Universe
43
MMWR
Morbidity – illness
Mortality – death
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
Disease Trends
Tables - searchable
44
Health Care Data
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
HCUPnet
Hospital discharges
Ambulatory service
Costs
Amount of care
By diagnosis and procedure
Surveys of hosp, physicians, nursing homes
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Health Consequences
Costs to society, individuals
Cost from care
Costs of illness
Impact on infrastructure
HCFA=>CMS Health Accounts
http://cms.hhs.gov/
46
State and International Data
Floridahealthstat.com - Where Florida
Health Data Resides
KFF State Health Facts Online
United Nations Statistics Division
World Health Organization Research
Tools
47
Citations and References
Note: Endnote Web Camtasia
Tutorials on Library Tutorials Page
49
Style Guides
AMA Style Guide*
Examples of AMA Citations
Other Style Guides
What do I mean by Style Guides?
Format required for submitting articles to journal
http://www.med.fsu.edu/informatics under Research
50
APA Style
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their
country.(Alpay & Russell, 2002) Four score and seven
years ago our forefathers brought forth a new nation
conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.(Balen & Jewesson, 2004)
References
Alpay, L., & Russell, A. (2002). Information technology
training in primary care: the nurses' voice. Comput
Inform Nurs, 20(4), 136-142.
Balen, R. M., & Jewesson, P. J. (2004). Pharmacist
computer skills and needs assessment survey. J Med
Internet Res, 6(1), e11.
51
JAMA Style
This is the style to use.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of
their country.1 Four score and seven years ago our
forefathers brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.2
References
1. Alpay L, Russell A. Information technology training in
primary care: the nurses' voice. Comput Inform Nurs.
Jul-Aug 2002;20(4):136-142.
2. Balen RM, Jewesson PJ. Pharmacist computer skills and
needs assessment survey. J Med Internet Res. Mar 29
2004;6(1):e11.
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Paper Format
 Margins 1”, top, bottom, left and right
 8 ½ X 11 inch white paper
 Portrait orientation
 Font:
Normal: Times New Roman, 12 point
Document title, Heading 2 style: Arial, 14 point, bold,
italics
Section titles, Heading 3 style: Arial, 13 point, bold
Subsection titles, Times New Roman, 12 point,
underlined
Download Sample Title Page
53
Recommendation
1. Use Pubmed to find articles
2. Save PDF, Print out, read, keep or pitch,
highlight
3. Do web search for government reports…
4. Print out, read, keep or pitch
5. Do eBooks search, etc
6. Find appropriate statistics
7. Other databases (newspapers)
8. Once you have all items to cite printed out…
54
EndnoteWeb
Stores your references on the web
Runs in Word
Manages Citations
Creates References
Automatically formats JAMA style
55
Research Paper
Endnote Library
of References
Now is the time for all
good men to come to
the aid of their country.
(citation)
Stack of
References:
Journal articles
Book chapters
Web sites
Monographs
References
- Bibliographic citation
-
Word Document
56
First Time You Start Endnote Web
1.
2.
3.
4.
www.myendnoteweb.com
Set up Account
UserID: email
Password (must have at least 1 letter, 1
number, 1 symbol)
57
Start Endnote Web in Word 2007
X
Endnote Web Tool Bar on Ribbon
Will ask you to sign in
58
Use Endnote Web in Word
1. Create an Endnote Library online
2. Add all cited articles, books, websites,
etc. to library
3. Set the Format to JAMA
4. As you type, Find and insert citation
•
Pick reference from library
5. Endnote creates the bibliography
59
Organize Your References
 Create New Group for this paper
60
How to Populate the Library - Options
Endnote Web References
 Manually enter
references
 Connect to Pubmed or
other database and
capture
 Search Pubmed or other
DB and save results then
import (see tutorials on
Library website)
 In Google Scholar, WOS
or OVID, search and
export directly to Endnote
61
Add Citations to Library
Type them in
Book chapters
Newspaper articles
Statistical Reports
Websites
Let Endnote Web grab from PubMed,
PsychLit, OVID, etc.
Journal articles
62
How to Type in Citation
 In Endnote Web
Collect Tab
Select New Reference
 Pick reference type
 Type in fields
 Pick Group to save
to
 Click SAVE
63
What Fields Do You Need to fill in?
Look at or print our
http://med.fsu.edu/informatics/Research.asp
Examples AMA Citations
64
How to Capture References
 Collect Tab
 Online Search
 Pick a source
 Pubmed [NLM]
 Connect
65
Perform Search
 If article known
 Use Author and Title word
 Search
66
Perform Search
 Retrieve Articles
found
 Pick article(s)
 Add to Group
 Pick group
67
Cite While You Write
 In Word
1. Put Cursor on spot
2. Endnote Web
Ribbon
 Find Citation
3. Type author
4. Click Find
5. Click citation of
choice
6. Click Insert
Insert
68
Citation and Reference Appear in Word Document
69
Set AMA Style
 In Endnote Web
Ribbon
 Style: dropdown
 Find JAMA
 If not there…
 Open Bibliography
dialog box
 Pick JAMA under
output style
70
Export References
PowerPoint
Reference Slides
JAMA format
Format >
Bibliography
Save as RTF
Open in Word
Copy and paste in
PowerPoint
71
Hands on practice
Do a few on your own.
If you are missing Endnote Web or
Stedmans, go by IT office or tell Help
Desk and get them installed.
72