Personal Development

Decide your structure

Depending on what sort of article you are writing (research, review, case report), the structure of it may already be clear. If you are writing up a research article, then the structure will be introduction, methods, results, discussion. Using this structure gives a clear, logical way to present your findings and makes it easy for readers to compare them with other work in the field. It is important that your methods section is sufficiently detailed that if someone wanted to replicate your research they could do so. Similarly, case reports and quality improvement projects have a fairly set structure, so that should be easy to follow.

If you are writing up a different sort of article, it is helpful to work out the structure first. The aim of a review article is to summarise the research findings in this area, including all important references, outline both areas of agreement and areas where there is still controversy, clarify any unanswered questions and suggest areas for future research. You may also want to include some practice recommendations if appropriate for the journal you are writing for – what changes should the reader consider making to their clinical practice once they have read your article?

Start writing

It might feel like you had to do a lot of work to get to this point, but this preparation will pay off. Now, start writing. You don’t necessarily have to follow the structure in order – often people write up the methods section first, for example, as that is a fairly straightforward section to do.

If you are writing this article on your own, you’re in charge of the whole process. However, if you are writing with one or more colleagues, it is a good idea to agree the process and timelines between yourselves first – will different people write each section, or will one person write the initial draft and then the others will comment on that. It is now possible to just have one version of the document using software like OneDrive or Google Docs – this makes version management much easier, as it helps to make sure that everyone is able to see and comment on any changes being made and prevents the problem of multiple versions of the document existing on different people’s computers.

Make sure you keep a note of the references you are using as you go – ideally using specific software such as Zotero or EndNote. This will make it easier when you are finalising the article and ensure you don’t forget or lose any references.

Take a break

Once you have finished the first draft, if time allows, give yourself a bit of space from the article. This will help you to look at it with a fresh perspective, letting you see any parts that are missing or sections that aren’t needed. After you have re-read the article and amended it as necessary, it is really helpful for someone who hasn’t been involved in the writing process to read it. They can give you a clear view of whether it makes senses flows properly and if anything is unclear. Be clear about what feedback you want – whether it is to do with style, wording or specific aspects of content. Allow reasonable time for whoever is giving the feedback, and for you to take it into consideration.

Ready to submit

Before you submit your article for peer review, reread it looking for typos and grammar issues, and to check that the sense is correct. Also make sure that you check the word count is appropriate for that journal – many journals will automatically reject any article that is too long or too short. You are now ready to submit – the next article in this series will look at the submission and peer review process.