How to Write a Paper

Abstracts are usually the only part of the paper freely available via electronic search engines and are read by many more people than the rest of the paper. It is crucial, therefore, to sum up your paper in 200–300 words. Structured abstracts are now the norm for papers that report original research. These provide a format that requires authors to summarise their work systematically by disclosing context, objectives, design, setting, participants, interventions, main outcome measures, results, and conclusions. Structured abstracts thus are informative and help peer reviewers and readers. The abstract format is based on the standard IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, And Discussion) structure of papers, but it is more detailed – for example, design, setting, participants, and interventions are sub-sections of the methods – so writing the abstract should ensure authors include essential detail in the main paper. Abstract headings vary a little between journals and for different types of research. Not all research includes an intervention, and clinical research needs to describe participants, whereas meta-analyses include data sources and study selection. Unstructured abstracts are often required for papers that do not describe original research. Structures based on the IMRAD format do not suit all types of work. Quality improvement work that includes repeated cycles of measurement and change cannot be easily expressed in the standard formats. To help authors express what matters in this type of work, the editorial team of Quality and Safety in Health Care devised a structure that reflects important aspects of quality improvement work. The format includes, for example, strategies for change, lessons learned, and messages for others (see Box 6.4). Although the structure is different, the process and guidance for writing the abstract are the same.s are usually the only part of the paper freely available via electronic search engines and are read by many more people than the rest of the paper. It is crucial, therefore, to sum up your paper in 200–300 words. Structured abstracts are now the norm for papers that report original research. These provide a format that requires authors to summarise their work systematically by disclosing context, objectives, design, setting, participants, interventions, main outcome measures, results, and conclusions. Structured abstracts thus are informative and help peer reviewers and readers. The abstract format is based on the standard IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, And Discussion) structure of papers, but it is more detailed – for example, design, setting, participants, and interventions are sub-sections of the methods – so writing the abstract should ensure authors include essential detail in the main paper. Abstract headings vary a little between journals and for different types of research. Not all research includes an intervention, and clinical research needs to describe participants, whereas meta-analyses include data sources and study selection. Unstructured abstracts are often required for papers that do not describe original research. Structures based on the IMRAD format do not suit all types of work. Quality improvement work that includes repeated cycles of measurement and change cannot be easily expressed in the standard formats. To help authors express what matters in this type of work, the editorial team of Quality and Safety in Health Care devised a structure that reflects important aspects of quality improvement work. The format includes, for example, strategies for change, lessons learned, and messages for others (see Box 6.4). Although the structure is different, the process and guidance for writing the abstract are the same.