Abstract Writing

1. Abstract Writing Nuts and BoltsResearch Methods SymposiumSeptember 29, 2006 Mukta Panda MD, FACP Transitional Year Residency and Department of Internal Medicine University of TennesseeCollege of Medicine Chattanooga

2. Goals How to write an abstract • For a case report • For a scientific research paper

3. Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead ~ Gene Fowler

4. Case Reports • What is a case report? • Why to case report? • When to case report? • How to case report?

5. What is a Case Report? Report of an instance of disease with its attendant circumstances

6. What is the place of case reports in an evidence-based world? • Case reports are a necessary complement to the aims of evidence-based medicine • The First Line of Evidence -Recognize the unexpected -Report a rare event

7. Strength of Evidence in Case Reports • High sensitivity in detecting novelty • Lesser specificity for medical decision making • Detection of adverse or beneficial effects by case reports and series may lead to action

8. Why to Case Report?What are the Benefits of Case Reports? • Recognition and description of new • diseases • Detection of drug side effects • Study of mechanisms of disease • Medical education • Recognition of rare manifestations of • disease • Case reporting is great fun

9. When to Case Report • To describe a new or innovative treatment • or approach to a particular disease • Address a rare condition • Highlight an unusual manifestation of a • common problem

10. How to Case Report? • Clear about the single message that you • want to bring • Emphasize why the message is important • Emphasize what the message teaches • Does it affirm or contradict a previously • cherished truth? – if so, explain how • Emphasize the unexpected association if • present

11. Abstract for a Scientific Research Paper Objective is to provide a document which contains sufficient information to enable readers to: • Assess the observations you made • Repeat the experiment if they wish • Determine whether the conclusions drawn are justified by the data

12. How to Write an Abstract • Narrate your thought process crisply, openly and • precisely • The abstract should contain the essence of the • whole paper and should stand alone

13. Four Basic Parts of an Abstract • Title • Follow the “IMRAD” format -Introduction (What question/ message) -Methods (How was it studied/identified) -Results (What was found/concluded) -And -Discussion (What do the findings mean)

14. The Title • The simpler the title, the better • Concise summary of abstract • Demonstrate that the work is important, relevant and innovative • Consider the target readership • Be brief – short titles are clearer and more arresting • Avoid excessive adjectives and noun stings • Do not be a sensationalist

15. Short, Descriptive, Eye Catching • An epidemiological geographically based study of the quantity of ionizing radiation received by male employees of a nuclear reprocessing plant and nearby male residents working elsewhere in the same vicinity shows an increased risk of childhood leukemia in the children of the nuclear workers only. • An epidemiological study of radiation received by male employees of a nuclear plant and other residents in the vicinity and its relation to the incidence of childhood leukemia.

16. Be Brief, Be Interesting! • Radiation to residents near a nuclear reprocessing plant and its relation to childhood leukemia: an epidemiological study. • Nuclear reprocessing, radiation exposure, and childhood leukemia: an epidemiological study.

17. Eye catching! • Ventricular fibrillation, a cardiac arrhythmia caused by ingestion of poke weed salad in a patient with no underlying cardiac history. • Poke weed salad associated cardiac arrhythmias. • Not all salads are good for the heart.

18. Introduction • Before beginning, answer the following questions • Be Brief • What do I have to say • Is it worth saying • What is the right format for this message • What is the audience for this message • What is the journal for this message

19. Introduction • State clearly the question you tried to answer • A review of literature should not appear in the introduction • Tell the readers why you have undertaken the study • Clarify what your work adds

20. Several studies have shown that regular Ecstasy use creates anesthetic difficulties, and several others have shown that it does not. We report 2 further patients, one of whom experienced problems and one of whom did not, and review the literature. • Many studies have addressed the problem of Ecstasy and anesthesia.

21. Two previous studies have reported that regular Ecstasy use may give rise to respiratory problems during anesthesia. These studies were small and uncontrolled, used only crude measurements of respiratory function, and did not follow up the patients. We report a larger, controlled study, with detailed measurements of respiratory function and two year follow up.

22. Four Basic Parts of an Abstract • Introduction (What question/ message) • Methods (How was it studied/identified) • Results (What was found/concluded) • Discussion (What do the findings mean)

23. Methods How the study was designed: • Keep the description brief • Say how randomization was done How was the study carried out: • How subjects were recruited and reasons for exclusion • Consider mentioning ethical features • Give accurate details of materials used • Give exact drug dosages, form of treatment or unusual apparatus How the data were analyzed: • Give the exact tests used for statistical analysis (chosen a priori)

24. Four Basic Parts of an Abstract • Introduction (What question/ message) • Methods (How was it studied/identified) • Results (What was found/concluded) • Discussion (What do the findings mean)

25. Results • Provides the answers to the questions you pose in the introduction • Tell the story of how you arrived at the answers • Develop the story in a number of ways, add tables and illustrations when necessary • State and explain the unexpected results • Statistical presentation-so much information so little space, present enough for the intelligent reader to believe what you are saying

26. Four Basic Parts of an Abstract • Introduction (What question/ message) • Methods (How was it studied/identified) • Results (What was found/concluded) • Discussion (What do the findings mean)

27. Discussion • State the main findings • Highlight any shortcomings of the methods • Compare the results with other published findings • Discuss the implications of the findings

28. Authorship • All authors should have made “substantial contributions” to all three of the following • The concept and design of experiment or analysis • Drafting of article or revising it critically • Final approval of the version to be published

33. References • RB Hayes, MD, PhD; CD Mulrow: More Informative Abstracts Revisited • GM Hall MD; How to write a paper • JR Hoffman, MA, MD; Rethinking Case Reports

34. Summary Care for your Readers, your Editors, and Yourself Remember the following points: • Provide short interesting titles • Painstakingly construct concise readable, and informative abstracts • Share the credit but ensure that all co-authors contributed

35. Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple , that’s CREATIVITY! Charles Mingus