What is the Method Section of a Research Paper?

The method section represents the various procedures used to prove the research question or hypothesis.  It represents the experimental procedure conducted during the course of study in a detailed manner so that the reader can understand and if needed can reproduce. The method section is a specific and integral part of a research paper.

  • Importance of method in a research paper?

It provides the opportunity to judge the authenticity and reproducibility of the experimental procedures.

  • The framework of Method Section

The integral components that make a method section are participants, apparatus, and procedure.

Participant: It represents the animal, human being, or every specific substance on which experiments were conducted. It also represents the structural, functional, or any specific attribute of any entity that is examined.

Apparatus: It is the instrument used to conduct the study.

Procedure: It’s the step-by-step process of doing some activity to obtain results. The outcome whether positive or negative is reported. Generally, the procedure is repeated multiple times to ascertain the reproducibility of the results.

  • An important point to be mentioned while writing the methods?

Experiments conducted on human subjects should have clearance from the ethical committee. Some journals ask for ethical approval numbers as a mandate criterion for the submission of the article. Also, informed consent from the patient is a mandate in the case reports and other types of manuscripts as it may contain pictures from recognizable parts of the body.

Also, the Manuscript should comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and IRB guidelines. The former is a set of ethical guidelines from the world medical association while the latter protects the rights of human subjects participating in any research venture.

  • Extensive Literature searches

Databases such as Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar are pioneer repositories to get explore relevant Methods as per the research question of your article. The collection of context-specific and precise keywords is the important component that ascertains successful outcomes without being carried away from the topic.

  • What should be incorporated in a Method Section

Provide in-text citation

The past work that has been referred to for using a particular method should be cited in the method section to give due acknowledgment to the concerned author.

Source of participants

The details from where the non-human subjects came from should be mentioned. Details such as the total number of animals, Number of male/ female counterparts, sex, age, mating history, medical history are few attributes that should be mentioned. In the case of human subjects, the place of study such as hospital, medical college details should be mentioned. If any database or repository was used to procure medical records of participants then the details should be provided.

Inclusion / Exclusion

The basis for the elimination or incorporation of any parameter should be mentioned.

Grouping of participants or subgroup formation

Any subgroups that were formed for specific testing or any modification of protocol to emphasize some facts are also mentioned in the method section.

Study Design

An author should in detail, describes the step-by-step preparation conducted during the course of the study. The particular chemicals, Drugs, instruments, kits, dyes used along with their brand details should be mentioned. It should give a detailed overview of each and every step such as the number of washings, incubation time, amount of solvent, etc. The aim is to provide necessary details so that the study can be reproducible.

Statistical analyses

Details of statistical tests used in the study should be mentioned.

  • Pits fall in writing Methods

Unnecessary information should be avoided. The background of the study should be in the introduction and not in the methods.

An author should emphasize how the methods helped them to address the research question.

Any hindrances that were faced while performing the experiments and how modification helped to overcome the same should be mentioned.

  • Conclusion

During the course of experimentation, an author should not overemphasize the instruments and should write the methods as and when the experiments were performed to avoid missing any details.

Publications of Clinical trials in Scientific Journals – Mandatory

A large number of clinical trials are conducted every year however researchers get limited excess of these data.

  • What are clinical trials?

These are the study conducted on a large group of people to evaluate the efficacy of drugs in a particular disease or test a particular surgical procedure or even in behavior analysis. They are effective means by which scientists understand the pros and cons of any drug or treatment strategy.

United States Food and drug administration (FDA) initially gives the approval to begin the clinical trial. The texts are performed in the laboratory animals to get a preliminarily set of information pertaining to the study; subsequently, human trials are followed based on efficacy and safety.

Publishing Clinical trails

Conducting clinical trials is aimed to get the needed scientific intervention within a requisite time period to acquire sufficient scientific evidence which can shape our scientific understanding. Clinical trials are published in medical journals or are part of clinical trial registries.

However, as per reports around 50 % of trials remain unpublished post-completion.

  • Clinical trials on kids and young subjects to evaluate a drug should not just remain as a piece of data in gov. It is due to the potential value of the information that cannot be accessed by the general public until it gets published. Also, the due repotting of clinical data in the context of kids can be lifesaving also.
  • The publishing of Clinical trials should be a mandate, as the scientist by delaying or not publishing the data are predisposing the life of many innocent people especially if a drug is investigated for studies for its potentially dangerous side effects.
  • Also, companies conduct clinical trials to hype up their products. If the company product is not performing well then most likely they keep hanging around.
  • Clinical trials not getting published as the researchers don’t find the results very interesting to be part of a peer-reviewed journal. Results having novelty or not should be a part of a publication.

Duplicate or Simultaneous Submission and Publication

It is mandatory for authors to agree with the publication ethics while submitting their research papers for peer review to a journal. The articles submitted for publication must be original and must not have been submitted to any other publication. However, it is often seen that the authors disregard this requirement and submit the same research paper (or with minor modifications) to two or more journals. Like plagiarism, the duplicate submission can be of different types: exact duplicate, partial duplicate (substantial), or duplicate with minor changes (article title, references, or authors).

Issues with Duplicate Submission

Duplicate submission is an unethical practice and violates the copyright norm. It leads to the wastage of editorial and review resources. The publication record of the author includes misleading information. The same research paper appearing in two journals raises questions about the reputation and peer review policy of the journals. Another similar practice involves splitting up a single study to publish multiple articles (salami-slicing), to increase the number of publications.

Avoiding Redundant Publication

For authors: If the two research papers are not the exact copy of each other and the author wishes to submit them to two different journals, then the author must:

  • Disclose the details of each paper to both the journals
  • Inform both the handling editors (managing editors) that a similar research paper is under review in another journal (use cover letter to inform).
  • Explain the distinct difference between the two research papers and why two research papers were produced instead of one from the same topic
  • Do not replicate content from other published paper
  • Each paper must address separate research questions.

 

For journal’ reviewers:

  • Always use text-matching or plagiarism tools for screening redundant publication
  • Check the extent and nature of overlapping
  • Major overlapping: identical or very similar findings and/or evidence that authors have sought to hide redundancy e.g. by changing the title or author order or not citing previous papers)
  • Minor overlapping: overlapping in the methodology section or re-analysis of the data
  • Inform the editor about the redundant publication

 

Dealing with Dual Submissions

While working on two different manuscripts that use the same dataset, or if the article is going to be published in different languages, always let the editors know about the plans.

Contact corresponding author in writing, ideally enclosing signed authorship statement (or cover letter) stating that submitted work has not been published elsewhere and documentary evidence of duplication.

Contact author in neutral terms/proceeds with review expressing concern/explaining journal’s position. Explain that secondary papers must refer to the original and request a missing reference to the original and/or remove overlapping material.

In conclusion, ultimately, there’s no need to send out the same manuscript to multiple journals at once. It’s against most publishers’ policies and will only cause delays or even retractions.

How to publish your research paper in a journal indexed under SCOPUS database?

Founded in 2004, SCOPUS is one of the largest indexing databases for journals and books in the medical and life sciences field. Over 25,000 journals and 200,000 books are indexed under the SCOPUS database. Publications are the primary metric for success in the research field. Publication in a high-impact and peer-reviewed scholarly journal is the ultimate aim of a researcher to demonstrate his/her credibility. Popular and reputed databases such as SCOPUS indexes the journals by considering several factors; regularity (issue release frequency), type of review process (peer-reviewed or not), and reputation of the journal. Hence, publication in a SCOPUS indexed journal can be challenging. The following section describes a step-by-step process that will help you to publish your research paper in a suitable journal indexed under the SCOPUS database.

Performing search in the SCOPUS database

It is effortless to search for SCOPUS indexed journals under a specific category or with a keyword on the homepage (https://www.scopus.com/sources.uri). One can search for a specific journal just by providing simple details such as –

  • The specific subject of interest,
  • Title or Keyword of the specific journal/publication,
  • Name of the publisher, and
  • ISSN code

However, if one is not sure of these details, he/she can perform a broader search by selecting the specific subject area of the research.

Identifying the target journal

Check for the aim and scope of the journal, examine the nature of the journal, and ensure its peer-review process. Research about the journal performance and understand the review and publication timelines. Confirm whether your target journal is indexed in SCOPUS by performing a search in the database, as mentioned in the above section. Keep ease, quality, reach and impact at the forefront of your mind and look for the appropriate publishing models (Open Access or Subscription-Based).

Preparing the research paper based on journal guidelines

Author guidelines are made available by the author in the author’s information or about the journal section. Follow the guidelines provide while formatting your paper and attach a cover letter (must) and mention the reason if any of the given instruction is not followed. Always limit the number of tables and figures and remove additional information to concise the data. Prepare figures and tables carefully and format exactly as mentioned in the guidelines. The length of the manuscript must be considered while formatting. An ideal length for a manuscript is 25 to 40 pages, double spaced, including essential data only. Write a concise and straight-to-point conclusion. Do not just repeat the abstract; the conclusion should explain the novelty of the research and the future aspects.

Submitting Your Paper

The final step is to submit the final formatted paper to the target journal via the submission portal. A good and complete understanding of the journal’s terms and conditions is required while submitting your paper. One should be aware of where to submit a paper, submission deadlines, submission fee, or open access fee, and any other procedural necessities to follow before submission.

In conclusion, having a research paper published in a Scopus indexed journal is of great importance for researchers. Researchers require carefully preparing and understanding all the requirements for formatting and submission. The requirements for scientific publication in a SCOPUS indexed journal are very high, and every researcher must understand this before submitting their work for review.

ManuscriptEdit helps authors and researchers at every step of their publication journey by offering dynamic and customizable editorial services including Proofreading, Formatting, and Journal Recommendations and Submission.

Publishing your article after Acceptance

What is an Accepted Manuscript?

The version of the manuscript that has been peer-reviewed is the accepted version. The simplest permitted versions are files that are effectively just plain text with no layout characteristic. This is how the vast majority of accepted papers appear. The Accepted Manuscript should be identical to the final published edition, but there should be no logo, citation details, copyediting, formatting, or copyright marking from the publisher. The document might be in PDF or Word format. Keep a copy of your Accepted Manuscript for any future postings after you receive the acceptance email from the Editorial Office.

What documents do you receive after acceptance?

When your paper is accepted for publication, the proofs are sent to the corresponding author. A paper is subedited (copyedited) after it is accepted to achieve optimum clarity and reach. Ensuring the accuracy of references is vital as published papers should not contain errors. Your paper is combined into an issue of the journal and published in its final form once the associated author approves them.

  • An acceptance letter from your journal’s editorial system.
  • When the object is passed to production, the Production Tracking System (PTS) sends an acknowledgment letter with the following information:
  • The reference code for the utility to track your accepted article.
  • Offprint Order form link to order Proofs and reprint of your article.
  • Copyright, sponsorship and funding, and open access are all covered in the Rights and Access form.
  • A link to a colour figure reproduction form, if applicable.

What to do after Research Paper acceptance?

There are still things that you must-do if you truly want to benefit from your publication.

  • Get an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) as it assigns a unique identification to each research output, ensuring that your work is not mistaken with that of others.
  • Making the accepted work online provides some advantages, including:
  • Earlier access to research that can be read and cited
  • Authors can promote their work as soon as it is acknowledged by their peers, keeping the publication process moving forward.
  • Share it with people as possible to recognize and respond to your work. Breaking down technical and language barriers is another powerful and effective strategy to increase public interest in your work. The way different publishers and periodicals address the problem of sharing differs.
  • Researchers will have more prospects for grant acceptance because they would be able to list their work early.
  • After all of your time and work has gone into publishing and promoting your paper, it only makes sense to keep an eye on it and assess the feedback.

Conclusion

The length of time it takes to prove an article varies by journal. Most journals will send you proofs within two weeks of receiving your acknowledgment letter. Many papers are published online one week before they are printed, and the corresponding authors of these papers will be notified via e-mail when the online publishing date is confirmed. It takes roughly 4-6 weeks for an article to be published after it has been accepted. After that, you can unwind, relax, and reward yourself for your work until the next piece.

How Open Access Publication is sustainable?

The desire of scientists and academics to report the results of their study in academic journals is an ancient practice. For the sake of investigation and education, articles are published without charge. The internet is the latest technology. Reporting practice and publishing technology is useful for future purposes.

 What is Open Access?

Open Access is the free availability of Research Articles on the public internet, allowing anyone to read, download, print, scan, and use without any difficulties. OA journals are expected to become more prevalent in the academic market in terms of both articles published and journal titles, as the scholarly community around the world accepts OA publication formats.

What are the benefits of open access with Global Sustainability?

  • Articles are immediately available online after they are published, offering them the opportunity for increased exposure and dissemination. Gold open access permits anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the globe to view published research without having to pay a subscription fee.
  • A high-quality scholarly journal can be published at a low cost to the scientific community. Not only is all of the material on the website open to view, but the broad range of media, multilingual content, and unlimited existence of the journal’s copyright license allows for the free flow of scientific communication, which is ultimately beneficial.
  • All contributions will be peer-reviewed by Editorial Board before acceptance. Scientific journal publishers, especially medical publishers, have a duty to ensure that the material they publish is as rigorously peer-reviewed as possible and as easily shareable as possible for scientists and society as a whole.

 

Seeking Sustainability in OA

  • Varied firms have different aspects, but the majority agree that you must pay for validation, suitable copyediting, presentation, sustainability, and functionality. Publishers are dedicated to ensuring that their material is widely distributed and accessible. Any long-term access options that protect the scholarly record’s integrity and permanence should be supported. They collaborate closely with funders, universities, and governments to make this possible. A subscription-based journal, hybrid publishing choices are examples of such choices.
  • Payment for open access publishing is made upfront via article processing charges (APCs). APCs might be considered as a more equitable payment mechanism if the charges are based on costs that reflect the services delivered.
  • Gold open access is one strategy for achieving our common aim of increasing access to peer-reviewed scientific works and maximizing the value and reuse of scientific research findings. Institutions and donors play an important role in ensuring that public access regulations enable the funding of peer-reviewed publications and service offerings in any journal that an author chooses. Publishers are eager to collaborate with organizations to achieve this goal and enhance scholarly communication.

 

Conclusion

The researchers, the users, and the funders are all involved in the publication of research. Publishing is a competitive industry. Authors fight for journal space, publishers compete for articles, and library budgets compete with one another. For authors who want to bring the decisions about where to publish and how to pay closer together, Open Access and APCs are a viable option.

APA Style Guidelines

APA Style is American Psychological Association and is one of the most widely used Styles in the Academic World. The author’s last name and the year of publication are used in the APA in-text citation form, for example: (Canon, 2007).

What are the Mistakes made in APA Style?

The following are some of the most common mistakes people make when submitting a manuscript for publication.

Page Numbers – The page numbers and the brief title, commonly known as the running head, are either missing or incorrectly formatted in most research papers.

Abstract – Some Manuscripts fail to properly style the ‘Abstract’ part, while others fail to even mention this area in their study. The title of the abstract is bold or italicized.

Keywords– The abstract part does not include a list of keywords.

Headings – The majority of the papers contained inaccurate or improper headings that were either at the incorrect level or poorly formatted.

In-text Citation formatting – Spelling abnormalities, incorrect use of ‘et al.,’ erroneous use of commas and ampersands, and jumbled placement of several citations in a single parenthesis are the most typical problems detected in in-text citations. There are references in the document that aren’t on the reference list, or references on the reference list that are never referenced in the paper.

Quotations – Direct quotations without page numbers are provided.

References – Not giving References will lead to Plagiarism.

Single Spacing is incorrect. Not Indenting after the 1st line.  Indenting the 1st line.  Not including the right number of Authors.

How to avoid mistakes in APA Style?

The running head, or abbreviated title, appears in the header of all numbered pages.

The first impression of your paper is the ‘abstract.’ It is strongly recommended that you include an abstract as much as feasible. The abstract is placed on a separate page, with the heading centered and formatted in the same manner as the remainder of the material.

Search engines use keywords to find the information that the reader is looking for. The abstract is followed by a list of keywords formatted according to the APA style guide.

In APA style, headings can be difficult to format. The title of a research article is much easier to format than the heading of a literature review piece, which is a little more difficult.

In-text citations must be correct and reliable. Citations should have the same name and year of publication throughout the work. Multiple citations within a single parenthesis should be organized alphabetically.

It is recommended that page numbers be provided for direct quotation since this will save time and energy spent searching for the page from which the quotation was obtained.

All APA citations should be Double Spaced. All lines after the 1st should be indented. The first line should not be indented.

Conclusion

Even though the fact that the APA essay format is demanding and requires intense attention to detail, it becomes much simpler once you learn each feature separately and follow all of the Submission Guidelines steps.

Management of Multiple Projects In Medical Writing

What are Medical writing services?

Medical writing services deals with Medical Science which includes clinical research reports, content for healthcare blogs, newsletters, newspapers, and news. Writing a research procedure and/or a clinical study report (CSR) for a project is part of regulatory medical writing. In a Clinical Research Organization (CRO), a Regulatory Medical Writer is normally involved at the beginning (writing a study protocol) and/or end (writing a clinical study report (CSR)) of a project. When the team works together to reach critical deadlines at the start and end of a clinical trial, it may be the most difficult time for them.

 How to manage multiple projects efficiently in Medical Writing?

 Priority to Documents

Determine which documents are the most important and have the greatest effect on a report. Give them priority over those with the smallest effects.

Timeline

Draw a timeline of all of the overlapping tasks. Manage the time efficiently by determining which documents are the most critical (and therefore have the greatest impact in a study) and which can be postponed with the least impact.

Document Completion Process

At the start of the research, explain the entire document completion process to the study team and ask them if any improvements need to be made. Show them how major changes, ad hoc evaluations, and other factors will impact schedules in vital QC time.

CSR Methodology

If the client has finalized the protocol and statistical analysis strategy, write the methods portion of the CSR. Do as much work as possible off the critical path.

Meeting with the Research team

Hold a results analysis meeting with the research team to show them how you expect to present the data while writing CSRs. This will help you understand exactly what the research team is looking for and how it should be portrayed.

 Assistance

If deadlines are approaching, make use of your colleagues. As the lead medical writer, you will, for example, write the efficacy findings more accurately when delegating a huge in-text table or the protection section to a colleague.

 Discussion

Call the research team for a live meeting and discussion once you’ve finished the first draft of your paper. Any changes in the timeline should be communicated to the QC and peer reviewers. If you want to deliver all of the documents on time, make sure that all of the testers are aware of when they must complete the work, how long it will take, and how urgent the project is.

Feedback

Finally, no matter how much work you have, be frank with your clients; if they have unreasonable standards, work with them to improve them. Wait until you’ve received all of the client’s feedback before responding, and double-check that you know who the signatories are. A consumer is more likely to make changes to ensure that the document is delivered on time

Conclusion

When a team is dealing with several submissions in a short amount of time, or even simultaneous submissions, confusion about timetable organization, Medical Writing Publication can be dealt efficiently with the above steps.

How To Write A Highly Citable Journal Article?

Publishing Research Work is essential for a Researcher. How many times the paper is cited after it is published is also very critical. The worthiness of the Research Paper is determined by the Citations.

What is a Citation?

A Citation can be stated as a Reference to the Source of Information used in your Research Paper. Write the Papers and publish them with proper Citation. During the Publication, you cite different references which you have followed.

Why Citation matter?

  • Quality of your Research
  • H-Index – If the Article Citation is increased, H-Index also increases. It is a number that gives the Researcher Efficiency and Impact. The number depends on the papers a researcher publishes, and the citation it gets. It measures the Efficiency and Reference of the Publication of a Researcher.

 

Importance of Citation

When you are a Researcher who has published a Paper recently and thinking about how to increase your citation, these are the steps to increase the visibility of the Published Paper among the Research Community.

  • The best way is to upload your Scientific Journal Article on Social Platforms such as Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube where you can attract an audience from different backgrounds. Let people know what your Research is about.
  • Publishing Lots of Papers, if you have good data and planning to publish your data then make a Schedule, Plan your writing and Publish your Research Articles regularly. Cite your previous works and also your Colleague’s Work. Share part of your data with the Public.
  • Update your Profile on different Platforms like Google Scholar, Academia, Scopus. Use a Consistent form of your paper on all of your forms.
  • Publish more Review Articles. Review Papers get more citations than Research Articles.
  • Use Short Attractive Titles to get more Citation.
  • Use unique, Trending Keywords in the Abstract.
  • Collaborate with different Scientific Communities. Make Collabs to become Co-Authors of the Research Paper.
  • Work as a Volunteer in Journals where you can Review Papers and also upgrade your Scientific Knowledge in a particular field.
  • Target your Journals. Focus on New Journals, Open Access Journals, and Journals that offer Free Publication have greater impact.
  • Publish in Special Issues – You get wide publicity which attracts more Audiences.
  • Socialize and try to attend more Conferences where you can meet the scientific community who are working on different aspects of Science and participate by publishing your Research Paper.
  • Expert Advice is highly valuable to get Citation. Cross Check your data before you publish.
  • Target High Impact Factor for Paper Publication. Impact Factor decides the Quality of the Research Journal.
  • Use the Image Search Option. Make attractive Graphical Abstracts which is engaging and informative.
  • Try to cite Recent and Relevant Papers alone.
  • Cite a Renowned Person in your field of research that will make your paper a reputed one.

 

Conclusion

A High Citation Score is one of the Parameters to get a Postdoc Position. By following the above ways, your work will be visible and your citation score will increase. The most important way of getting citations lies in the contribution of the Research Excellence.

How to Overcome Journal Rejection?

Publishing Papers after rejection could be a long time-taking process that holds the ability to share our work with the Public. If you don’t succeed at first, revise and resubmit.

A Paper rejected doesn’t mean the research is always bad.

 Reasons for Rejection of Academic Papers from Journals

These mistakes are consistently made by different people. These mistakes are non-fatal which creates a bad impression about the paper Many non-fatal mistakes can lead to rejection of the Paper.

The submission of Paper takes almost 1 to 1.5 years, so avoid making these deadly mistakes.

  • Formatting Issues
  • Choosing the wrong Journal
  • Grammatical Errors
  • References (Many or Few)
  • Revealing the Author’s Identity
  • Missing Tables & Figures
  • Missing Abstract
  • Writing Style

In some cases, the Paper may be rejected even after major revisions. Most researchers believe that the data and assumptions will be accepted with minor revisions, but when they get a negative response, they become low.

What are the things that you should not do after Paper Rejection?

  • Complaining to the Editor
  • Posting the Reviews Online
  • Writing a letter with Anger
  • Discarding the Reviews
  • Giving up

 

Researchers Perspective after Rejection

  • Upset about the outcome – Give yourself time and go back to the feedback. Read the letter when the anger stage is off.
  • Look for Valuable Feedback – Review the Feedback in detail. The feedback can be helpful with a lot of clues as to how to improve the paper. Some feedback seems to be unhelpful but when looking it deeper, there will be a different perspective which turns out to be good.
  • Resubmit the same Journal – Some Journals reject the Paper but invite you to resubmit it later. If you do decide to submit on that Journal, you can choose this option.
  • Make Changes & Submit to a New Journal – The most common Chosen option is considering the comments, improving the manuscript, and submitting it to a New Journal. Must ensure the details of the Cover Letter, Reference Format. Deciding what to Change – Address all the comments. Minor comments are also needed to be addressed.
  • Make No Changes & Submit to Another Journal – This is an easy option but is not at all effective. Reviewers may identify the same feedback that you received earlier.
  • File the Manuscript & Never resubmit – Choosing a new paper for Advanced research so deciding not to submit the paper in any journal. Instead of posting it in a scientific community where your Research data might be useful to others. Making it as a Blog or Workshop for Practitioners. The outcomes might be surprisingly good. Have multiple projects, when something is messing up, you have another in hand which can lift you.

 

Conclusion

Rejection is a natural part of Academic life. Persistence and Willingness are the keys to Success in Paper Publication. Rejection as Redirection by looking at it as an opportunity redirected to something more suitable. Rejection makes us improve and strengthen our work before submitting it to another set of Audiences.