A brief guide to the science and art of writing manuscripts in biomedicine

Abstract

Publishing articles in international scientific journals is the primary method for the communication of validated research findings and ideas. Journal articles are commonly used as a major input for evaluations of researchers and institutions. Few articles have been published previously about the different aspects needed for writing high-quality articles. In this manuscript, we provide an updated and brief guide for the multiple dimensions needed for writing manuscripts in the health and biological sciences, from current, international and interdisciplinary perspectives and from our expertise as authors, peer reviewers and editors. We provide key suggestions for writing major sections of the manuscript (e.g. title, abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion), for submitting the manuscript and bring an overview of the peer review process and of the post-publication impact of the articles.

Keywords: Abstracting and indexing; Biological science disciplines; Peer review; Publications; Writing.

Fig. 1

A graphical overview of the general structure of research articles

Fig. 2

An overview of the different dimensions and components of Open Science