Secrets to Publishing Your Research…

Hulley et al. suggest FINER criteria for a good research question to aid the development of a good research question:

Figure 1: FINER criteria for a good research question

Source: Hulley S, Cummings S, Browner W et al.

Before writing a research paper, it is highly recommended to develop a strong research question. The strength of a Fine-tuned question paper would lead you to produce a research paper which tend s to be published in a high profile research journal. Many researchers raise question the how to publish their research. This article is addressing the issue. Publishing paper might be an objective, but the strategy to publish a paper is significant to develop in order to achieve this very objective. We are considering the model provided by Hulley et. Al. (2013). It is an incremental process when you kick off the process of publishing your research with the scratch means develop a strong question; leading to a commendable research work, highly desired by authentic journals to be published.

Hulley et al.’s FINER criteria highlight useful points that may generally increase the chances of developing a successful research project. A good research question should specify the population of interest, be of interest to the scientific community and potentially to the public, have relevance and further current knowledge in the field.

 Top tips to prepare for writing in order to Publish your Research!!

• Know the objective of the paper – identify two or three important findings and make these the central theme of the article;
• Gather important data, perform any analyses and make rough data plots and tables beforehand. These can then be refined for inclusion or submitted as supplementary information if needed;
• Establish your results to flow in a logical sequence;
• Target a journal or proceedings you are intended to send your research for publication
• Know the structure and requirements of your target journals (check websites and author guidelines, as well as published articles);
• Think about the style of the piece and look to pitch the article at the level of the intended audience;

Title, Abstract and Keywords- A Milestone in Publishing Your Research

Publishing research is an art…starting with the title, abstract and keywords are essential to the successful communication of research. Most electronic search engines, databases, journal websites extract words from them to determine whether your article will be displayed to interested readers^..

Introduction: inevitable beginning to publish your research

The introduction should provide the background and context to the study. Two or three paragraphs can be dedicated to the discussion of any previous work and identification of gaps in current knowledge. The rest of the introduction should then outline what this piece of work aims to address and why this is important, before stating the objectives of the study and the research question^.

Research Methods: One of the key areas, significantly focused if research is considered to be published

The context and setting of the study should be described and the study design specified. The section should further describe the population (including the inclusion and exclusion criteria), sampling strategy and the interventions performed. The main study variables should be identified and the data collection procedures described. Authors should provide specific, technical and detailed information in this section.

Statistics

Foremost thought to REMEMBER; quantitative and qualitative, both methods seek same level of attention and expertise if you are seriously targeting to publish your research.The statistical methods employed should be described with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to be able to judge its appropriateness for the study and verify the results. Findings should be quantified and presented with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty. Authors, keen to publish their research should avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as P values, because these fail to convey important information about effect size and precision of estimates^[3]. Statistical terms, abbreviations and most symbols should be defined, and the statistical software package and versions used should be specified.

Results

The results section should be straightforward and factual and all of the results that relate to the research question should be provided, with detail including simple counts and percentages. Data collection and recruitment should be commented on and the participants described. Secondary findings and the results of subgroup analyses can also be presented. It tends to add value in consideration of your work for publication.

Discussion and conclusions: Last impression, lasts longer; Publish your Research

The discussion section should state the main findings of the study. The main results should be compared with reference to previous research and current knowledge, and where this has been extended it should be fully described. It is important to include an analysis of the strengths and limitations of the study and offer perspectives for future work^. Any conclusions should include the major findings, followed by a brief discussion of future perspectives and the application of this work to other disciplines.