Winning the Publications Game - 4th Edition (2016)

Know the game 5
can use to master scientific articles, and that you can also
use for all other types of writing, including reports, letters,
memos, grant submissions and patient information.
This book will apply those principles.
Scientific articles have a long history. The first reviewed
paper is generally considered to date from the middle of
the 17th century, and a series of developments since (see
Figure 1.3) has led to a process that is complex, sophisticated
and international. The basic form of a scientific
article consists of a 2000- to 3000- word report that
normally addresses a single research question. It uses
a standard structure of Introduction, Methods, Results
and Discussion (the ‘IMRAD’ structure, of which more
FIGURE 1.3 Some key dates in the evolution of scientific
publishing
1665 First scientific journals in France and the UK
1820s First specialist journals
1870s References began to be collected at the end of articles
1920s First summaries appeared at the end of articles
1930s First papers on the use of statistics
1950s Widespread acceptance of the IMRAD format
1960s Summaries at the end became abstracts at the
beginning
1970s Databases introduced
1980s First international conference on peer review
1990s Introduction of electronic journals and electronic
submission
2000s Growing concern about publication ethics, open access
2010s Open access journals became established