Main goals of course
- Understand how to correctly structure a research report
- Know how to strategically choose the best presentation of data in graphic form
- Experience writing and revising, as well as working with a medical editor
- Write a publication-quality research paper according to the latest international standards
Didactic strategies
- Alternation between lectures (1 h) and small group work (2 h)
- Lectures provide strategies for writing each section of a research paper
- Small group work: problem-solving exercises
- Homework writing assignments (to be delivered by email before the next session) bring participants through each step of writing a brief report of their own research
- Each writing exercise is returned, fully corrected, at the next session
- At the end of the course, participants will have written a publication-quality brief communication
- The set of students' reports will be formatted in journal style and presented to the head of department.
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Main course topics
- Fundamental aspects of scientific writing: the sentence, the paragraph, the section, the verb, word choices and style
- The writing process: all the steps from writing an outline and a first draft to preparing the final, revised text
- Defining the article: study hypothesis, scopes, actions
- Graphic elements (figures and tables): roles, choice, design, legends; when to choose supplementary online material
- Writing the various sections of an article: roles, structure and contents of the Introduction, the Materials and methods, the Results, the Discussion
- Completing the text with an abstract, a title, closing notes, references
- Revising your own manuscript to ensure internal coherence
- How to anticipate reviewers' criticisms
Prerequisites for participation
- University degree in medicine, biology or related biomedical field
- Ability to read and write English (this is not a language course)
- Ability to understand lectures given in English by a native speaker (however, class discussion may be in Italian or English)
- Prior participation in the course Effective Medical Reading
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