Clinicians who do research: 
Hands-on scientists
Caroline Bowen

Clinicians who do research become accustomed to varying their literary style as easily as they switch from talking to colleagues in professional terms, to conversing with clients and their families in a language they understand and relate to. These hands-on scientists are already professional writers. They know that there are marked differences between the tenor and style of well-constructed clinical notes, letters and reports, and the conventions used in academic writing. The IMRaD format: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, is the basic structure for writing a research paper for publication in scientific journals internationally. It is a familiar, comfortable format within which to conceptualise and organise the research process for empirical studies, case reports, discussion papers, literature reviews, and theses. In this edition of Webwords IMRaD provides a useful framework for a brief exploration of the array of Internet resources available to clinician-researchers who want to do more than simply talk about their findings and who want to publish their work, and some of the issues they will encounter. 

Introduction

An effective introduction is relevant, brief and enticing. The aim is to say (succinctly) why the research was done, review the related literature highlighting key issues, and draw the reader in. If the study included one or more hypotheses, they will be described in this section in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms, indicating the outcome the researcher anticipated from the investigation. This sounds straightforward enough. But it is the part of a paper most likely to induce that bi-polar condition that even prolific and polished academic writers dread. It manifests in seemingly endless procrastination or the production of lengthy waffle, leading nowhere. The antidote may be found in the Academic Writer Contents and augmented by the unpretentiously titled Writing Tips, and measured doses of APA or other more general writing style guides. Expert advice on academic writing, and some guided searching on CD-ROM (Stamps and Barach, 2001) may also help the literary juices to flow.  

Methods

The methods (or methods and materials) section details precisely how the study was conducted, including the experimental design, and how the data were collected, classified and analysed. The chapter on methods in George M Hall's (1998) invaluable How to Write a Paper  (3rd Ed) is particularly helpful and the remarkably accessible. The Read this first! web site contains more detailed guidance and resources.

Results

The element of surprise is usually missing from the results section because the abstract pre-empts the announcement of what was found. None-the-less, this is where authors describe in detail their research findings. When deciding on the most powerful and transparent means of displaying data it is worthwhile exploring the SPSS site and the Minitab Homepage. 

Discussion

Now the writer can go to town! Let rip! Have a field day! Really get stuck into it! Provided he or she remembers not to use expressions like that. A formal, respectful (of the reader), and scholarly tone must be maintained throughout (Phillips and Pugh, 2000). This is the section of the paper devoted to a detailed, and hopefully interesting, discussion of the overall finding, the strengths and weakness of the study compared with other studies, an exploration of why the study's results were different from its predecessors, the clinical and policy implications of the work, what questions are unanswered, and directions for further research. 

The three A's

The little "a" in IMRaD reminds the author to fine-tune the abstract, include necessary acknowledgements to colleagues, sponsors, funding agencies, participants in the research, and reviewers who provided constructive criticism prior to publication, and to organise and write up any appendices.

References

Hall, G.M. (1998). How to write a paper (2nd ed.). London: BMJ Books.
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Phillips, E.M., & Pugh, E.S. (2000). How to get a PhD: A handbook for students and their supervisors (3rd ed.). Buckinghamshire: Open University Press.
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Stamps, R.F., & Barach, P.M. (2001). The Therapist's Internet Handbook. New York: W.W. Norton. 

Links

A few MORE words about plagiarism
APA Style Manual 5th Edition
Australian Libraries Gateway
Alley Dog
CSR Referral and Review  
Center for social research methods
Clinical Trials: Linking Patients to Medical Research
Copy-Cats, Copyright and Clones
IIQM
NH&MRC
Netting the evidence
Noodletools
QSR International and AQR
Research Proposals
SLP Around the World
Scholarly research and academic writing (OWL)
Some observations on copyright law
Speech & Language Therapy Research Unit
Technical writing
The SLP "Start Page"
Web Resources for Students
Writing | handouts | resources | resumés (OWL)

...and more about IMRaD!

Page updated May 12, 2009

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