Research Paper Template & Guide

Title

(The title should clearly describe the subject of the study, including the study method.)

Abstract

             An abstract is a synopsis of the key messages of the article.  One should include a summary of the background and aims, methods, results, and conclusions and should not use footnotes or references.  The abstract's word limit is 350.

Introduction

            The introduction should be brief and set out the purposes for which the study has been performed along with references to previous relevant studies.  References should be numbered in the order cited as Arabic numerals and superscript.  Only cite literature that is published or in press (with the name of the publication known).  Abstracts and letters to the editor may be cited, as well as appropriately-referenced websites or (rarely) personal communications.             

Materials and Methods

            The materials and methods section should be sufficiently detailed so that readers and reviewers can understand precisely what has been done without studying the references directly.  The description may be abbreviated when well accepted techniques are used.  Describe ethical guidelines followed, for human or animal studies.  Cite approval of institutional human research review committee (IRB), if appropriate. 

            Outline the location of the research and research population to which the article relates.  Describe the sample selection techniques.  Outline statistical methods used.  When describing the results of hypothesis testing, report P values and/or confidence intervals.  Using phrases such as “not significant” is not sufficient.  For program implementation papers, include a program description.  For reviews, describe the research process (e.g., Medline search with date range).

            Sub sections (if needed)

 Results

             Results should be presented precisely and directly in narrative format and tables, picture, charts, or graphs.  Do not include a discussion of their importance in this section. 

            Please follow these guidelines:

  • Use abbreviations sparingly (spell out first use unless the abbreviation is a well-established abbreviation).
  • Give all measurements in standard international (SI) units (except blood pressure, which is mmHg).
  • Provide reference intervals when reporting laboratory findings.
  • Refer to drugs by their generic (no proprietary) names.
  • Provide absolute numbers (with denomination) in addition to percentages. Do not use percentages if the denominator is <100.  Round up percentages to one decimal place for denominators of 100-1000 or two decimals places for denominators greater than 1000.
  • Report P values to two decimal places unless P<0.01, in which case use three decimal places. Do not express P values as anything smaller than P<0.001. 

            Tables can be integrated into the document or uploaded as a supplementary file.  The table must include a title and be referenced in the narrative.  They must be numbered and appear in the heading of the table.  Explanatory notes can be listed below the table. 

Table 1.  Disease X Incidence in X Country

Region

New Cases

Survivals

Change

Northeast

110

103

+7

Northwest

223

214

+9

Southeast

197

120

+77

Southwest

134

121

+13

Total

674

548

106

   Your brief notes can be placed here.

            Images can be clinical, pathologic (gross or microscopic), endoscopic, or radiographic, maps or photos.  They should be of high quality (300 dpi or greater, clear, and in good focus) and should well illustrate the diagnosis or concepts.  If your figures include text, a font of 8 or 10 should be used.  Images should be labeled, as are figures.  Photographs of identifiable patients must have written permission from the patient to publish.  Any graphs or line art you submit must be at a minimum of 300 dpi to ensure readability.  We support the following file formats:  bmp, gif, and jpg.  All illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end. Equations should be centered, emboldened, and numbered.  The number should be right justified in parentheses and italicized. 

Discussion

            Your discussion should be directly related to the study reported with an overview of the findings.  Do not include a general review of the topic only.  An in-depth and insightful discussion regarding the implications of the new findings is encouraged.  Please relate the findings to other literature on the topic by comparing and contrasting.  State the limitations of the study. May add a separate Conclusion section and include calls for actionable implementation and specific recommendations for further study.

References 

            1. Please refer to ICMJE  recommendations for reference style.  Citations are numbered by superscript consecutively. The same citation number is used to cite the same reference if used multiple times in the paper, rather than creating a new citation number each time.  DOI links to published articles are requires in the format of https://doi.org/....

Appendix (if applicable)

Acnowledgements & Disclosures (conflicts of interest)