Writing a scientific manuscript: Some formal and informal proposals

European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 5 (2006) 185–187www.elsevier.com/locate/ejcnurseEditorialWriting a scientific manuscript: Some formal and informal proposalsWriting an empirical, scientific manuscript is one of themost important and yet daunting tasks facing the researcher.Writing, editing and publishing are the final steps in theresearch process [1] and mean deciding on a location andtime dedicated entirely to the process [2]. When planning amanuscript it is important to make a consistent effort todesign its structure in line with the selected journal'srecommendations, which must be followed meticulously.Most journals follow the so-called IMRaD principle(Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion), withevery section supporting the key point [3]. The manuscriptusually consists of two main parts; theoretical and empirical(see Fig. 1). The theoretical part is the Introduction, whichincludes several key points: the main one of which concernsthe subject, i.e. the problem to be discussed and studied. Theproblem area should be descriptive and analytical as well asproviding definitions and epidemiological figures in order tofacilitate understanding of the target group and its extent,range, proportion, etc from an international as well as anational perspective. A second key point in the Introductionsection is the epistemological standpoint — as a researcherwhat is my attitude to available scientific knowledge? Aqualitative researcher takes an emic perspective, which is aninsider's point of view, as opposed to the etic perspective,which concerns the quantitative researcher and outsider view[4]. A third key point is the theoretical standpoint — is thestudy to be inductive or deductive? A study that is inductivehas a more open-minded approach while one that isdeductive has a more fixed framework [5]. The sub-headingof Theoretical base is quite inductive compared toConceptual framework and Theoretical framework, both ofwhich have a fairly fixed approach. A theoretical standpointis very useful in order to facilitate an understanding of theforthcoming empirical part, as it illuminates “what” and“why” I have chosen the measurements I have, such asinterviews and/or instruments. A fourth key point involves adescription as well as an analysis of the degree to which theproblem is known today and from what perspectives. It isuseful to report this literature review under a sub-heading,but in all cases it should be broken down by means ofanalysis in relation to the problem in question. Most journalsprefer the introduction section to end with the Aim; i.e. thatthe Aim captures and summarises the problem under study.Accordingly, this theoretical part of the manuscript is funnelshaped,leading up to a well-defined aim and one or severalresearch questions or hypotheses. The aim — usually writtenin the past tense — should contain “a scientific verb”, suchas conduct a survey or map out (inductive and observationaldesign), test or evaluate (deductive and experimental design)as well as target group, theoretical area of interest, andsometimes outcome variables [5]. An example each is “todevelop a grounded theory of nurses caring for palliativecancer patients in hospital care. The research questionguiding the study was: What is the main concern for nursescaring for palliative cancer patients in hospital care, and howdo they resolve it” [6] or “to compare persons who attendedthe Heart and Lung School after a cardiac event and thosewho declined participation, with regard to health aspects, lifesituation, social network and support, clinical data, rehospitalisationand mortality” [7].The empirical part contains five sections including theliterature used; Material and methods, Results, Discussion,Conclusions and implications and References. The Materialand method section provides information by which thevalidity and reliability of a study is judged [8]. As illustratedin Fig. 1, a classical way of presenting this section is by meansof sub-sections organised chronologically in order to presenta precise description and rationale for the study. The Designand setting sub-section provides information about whetherthe study was inductive or deductive as well as whether it hada quantitative or qualitative approach. Several journals alsodemand that this sub-section contains information showingthat the study was planned and implemented in compliancewith common ethical principles of clinical research [9]. Themost salient ethical issues are informed consent, confidentiality,researcher-participant relations and approval by anEthics Committee. The Setting should include where andwhen the study was performed. If the study had aninterventive design, an Intervention sub-section is essentialdescribing both standard and intervention care in order tounderstand the differences between organisation, content,structure, time interval, participants etc. Participants, also1474-5151/$ - see front matter © 2006 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2006.07.001Downloaded from cnu.sagepub.com by guest on May 31, 2014