In the competitive world of manuscript publishing, editors reject around 70% of submitted articles.1 While these odds appear stacked against the writer, a well-written manuscript has the best chance for success. Knowing what to include (or exclude) can ensure that medical professionals worldwide will read your manuscript. NAMSA’s world-class team of clinical medical writers have compiled a few recommendations for getting your manuscript accepted.
Know Your (Specialized) Audience
Your target journal and audience matter when deciding what to include or exclude from your manuscript. Take time to consider the best journal for your unique manuscript. Write for its audience and follow its style guidelines. As medical journal manuscripts cater to a distinct specialization, explaining ubiquitous topics can come across as condescending. Don’t explain the basics of superficial femoral artery stents to an audience of vascular surgeons. On the other hand, background information on novel concepts or devices is important to include. Explaining how an artificial intelligence algorithm identifies suspicious lung lesions is helpful for most radiologists. Be aware of what your audience already knows and what they want or need to know.
Pay Close Attention to Your Title and Abstract
Physicians often skim a journal’s Table of Contents, searching for titles relevant to their specialty. The manuscript’s title contributes to the paper’s visibility and impacts a physician’s decision to delve deeper into the article.2 Ideally, the title and abstract will provide all key points without the granular detail and drive the physician to read the full manuscript. Describe the type of study in the abstract, however, do not inflate with redundant terms. A non-randomized, non-blinded single-arm study is overkill as the first two terms never apply in single-arm design. The purpose of the study listed in the abstract must match exactly what is stated in the last sentence of the introduction. There should be no gap between these sentences.
Focus on the Presentation of Data and Data Analyses
Data are the backbone of your manuscript and are the main source of interest for the physician after the title and abstract have caught their attention. The figures and tables are the anchors of the manuscript. They must be pertinent, clear and carefully constructed. In fact, the manuscript must be built around figures and tables. The prose must supplement and explain the figures and tables by providing details. Pertinent, clear, carefully constructed tables and relevant figures should supplement the prose, and the prose should not redundantly explain the tables and figures. Explain complex data analyses in the text so readers without a statistical background can understand them. Suppose a satisfactory explanation takes more than one or two paragraphs. In that case, it may be possible to write a separate supplement to the manuscript with those details, minimizing the likelihood of losing the more sophisticated reader. These details help the reader trust the validity of your conclusions. Proactively addressing possible criticisms in the discussion section will do even more to boost credibility, and it will help get the article through the peer review process.
Teach Them Something They Don’t Know
Physicians are attracted to articles because they want to learn something. The title and abstract provide them with the value statement, and the methods, data and discussion prove it. For example, what sets this device or drug apart from what is on the market or makes it entirely novel? How will this device or drug help them and the patients they treat? How does your manuscript impact the accepted body of knowledge and clinical practice?
How Can NAMSA Help?
NAMSA’s global medical writing services team expert at identifying, organizing, interpreting and presenting data accurately and professionally that is highly recognized and trusted by medical device manufacturers and global regulatory entities.
Working in close partnership with NAMSA’s Regulatory, Clinical and Biostatistics Teams, our medical writers are highly responsive to individual needs and are instrumental in helping clients achieve commercial objectives.
If you are interested in speaking with us about how we can support your medical writing needs, or about our other service capabilities, please Contact Us or learn more about our experts at namsa.com/subject-matter-experts.
- Journal Acceptance Rates: Everything You Need to Know. Elsevier Author Services. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://scientific-publishing.webshop.elsevier.com/publication-process/journal-acceptance-rates/#:~:text=your%20paper%20to%3F-,What%20Our%20Research%20Shows,over%201%25%20to%2093.2%25.
- Liumbruno GM, Velati C, Pasqualetti P, Franchini M. How to write a scientific manuscript for publication. Blood transfusion = Trasfusione del sangue. 2013;11(2):217-226.
Áine Mary Duffy
Áine is the Manager of Regulatory & Medical Writing Services with postdoctoral experience and a PhD in neuroscience. After an academic career and serving as an adjunct professor at New York University, she joined NAMSA's Syntactx in 2017. In her current role she leads medical and regulatory writing projects, develops clinical evaluation plans and reports, conducts systematic literature reviews, and prepares various documents for regulatory submissions, including collaborations with the FDA.