Publication policy
This section contains
the following:
Introduction
The policy for publication of both interim reports and final scientific
papers should be clarified and documented initially at the trial
protocol stage..
No publications, either in writing or orally, should be made before the
definitive manuscript has been agreed and accepted for publication,
without the prior approval of the Trial Steering Group.
It is common practice to set up a sub-group of the Trial Steering Group
as a ‘Writing Committee’. Both interim and final
reports are then
reviewed/approved by the full Trial Steering Group.
Arrangements for authorship should be agreed and documented in the
protocol. Many large trials have group authorship with a list of
contributors at the end of the paper, giving details of who did what in
the stages of the trial, eg. the Trial Steering Group, collaborating
clinicians etc. and not forgetting the participants.
A common format for reporting randomised trials has now been widely
adopted. This is known as the CONSORT statement and provides a
checklist consisting of 22 items that relate mainly to the methods,
results and discussion of a Randomised Control Trial report and
includes key pieces of information necessary to evaluate the internal
and external validity of the trial.
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Things to
consider
- Describe the policies and guidelines governing the
publication of
scientific and technical results from the trial.
- Be sure the policy is designed to promote the scientific
and
technical accuracy of any publications and ensure that fair credit is
given to the authors and to other individuals who have contributed to
the trial.
- Consider all types of publications including: papers
submitted to
electronic archives and refereed journals; scientific or technical
books or book sections; conference presentations; conference
proceedings papers; and theses.
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Additional resources
The CONSORT statement is an important research tool that takes
an
evidence-based approach to improve the quality of reports of randomized
trials. The statement is available in six languages and has
been
endorsed by prominent medical journals such as The Lancet, Annals of
Internal Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Its critical value to researchers, health care providers, peer
reviewers, and journal editors, and health policy makers is the
guarantee of integrity in the reported results of research.
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How
to write a paper in a scientific journal
This guide has been compiled, edited, and revised by Greg Anderson
and is intended to provide general content, style, and format
guidelines for students learning to write papers in a standard,
scientific journal style and format that can be easily adapted to
specific journal requirements or disciplinary conventions.
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This website details the uniform requirements for manuscripts
submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical
Publication and was updated in October 2007
The EQUATOR Network is a new initiative that seeks to improve
the quality of scientific publications by promoting
transparent and accurate reporting of health research.
Further reading
Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, DeAngelis CD. Authorship for
research groups. JAMA. 2002;288:3166-8.
McMillan, V.E. 2001. Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences. 3rd Ed.
Bedford Books, New York.
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This page was last updated July 2008.