HOW TO SET UP , CONDUCT AND REPORT A SCIENTIFIC STUDY
Original Articles
Lowest EVIDENCE
Figure 2 . Pyramid of Evidence .
Highest EVIDENCE
the mentor has enough time to deal and consult the mentee . A good mentor should always be accessible and available to read every document / draft submitted within a rather short time ( better days than months ) and return feedback with detailed comments . It would be beneficial for the mentee , if the mentor could provide guidelines , instructions for use and templates . On the other side the mentee cannot expect from the mentor that he / she would do the work . All he / she can do is to consult , open doors and provide connections . As a mentor I like it very much , when the mentee comes up with his / her own idea for a project .
2 . Structure of a scientific paper A scientific paper always has the same structure : 2 After the title with the authors and their affiliations and contributions usually the paper should start with an “ Abstract ”. The body of the paper is opened with an “ Introduction ”, followed by “ Materials & Methods ”. Then a chapter “ Results ” should be followed by a “ Discussion ” and “ Conclusions ”. Finally a “ Literature ” list should complete the paper . This basic framework can be modified depending on the type of publication . In a thesis the introduction serves more than introducing the reader into the topic . The other purpose is that the author must demonstrate his / her competence in the field . Therefore the “ Introduction ” includes usually an extensive literature review , that may be structured as a subchapter . Also “ Materials & Methods ” is usually more detailed than in a paper published in a scientific journal . If a thesis deals with multiple experiments it is highly recommended to treat every experiment like a single publication and use a general “ Introduction ” at the beginning and an allover “ Discussion ” with conclusions at the end as a big clasp to keep the whole project together . Finally Industrial Reports have slightly different objectives . Usually the manufacturer wants an answer to a specific question , such as the in vitro wear rate of a material and / or the failure rate
Meta Analysis Systematic Review
Random Controlled Trial
Cohort Study Case Control Study Cross Sectional Study Case Reports and Series Animal Research In Vitro Research Opinion of Experts
and reasons after a specific clinical service time . The “ Introduction ” of an Industrial Report can be very brief , because one must be assured that the financing partner has done its homework before agreeing to spend money on a study . On the other hand , the chapter “ Materials & Methods ” cannot be detailed enough . This is important to realize , because if poor results occur it is important to know exactly what has been done . This is the only way to improve the material or the procedure .
3 . Creative phase The creative phase is usually the most thrilling part but usually the most difficult as well . It starts with an idea , which most of the time is quite vague . Therefore the first step is to write it down as precisely and clearly as possible . “ An idea that cannot be put on paper is not a good idea ”. 1 The next step is to collect information about this idea . See if someone else had exactly that idea or a similar idea . Determine what is really new with the idea and where from the idea can be developed further . The answers to these questions lie somewhere in the world literature . Therefore a literature search is unavoidable . The literature found should flow into the personal data bank of the researcher . Modern computer programs like Endnote are very helpful , because they allow easy insertion of literature quotes into a manuscript . Usually such a search starts on the internet and may yield much more papers that one can read . Therefore the search strategy may be refined , which usually parallels refinement of the idea . Once an overseeable number of papers has been found , the articles must be checked whether they are within the scope of the idea , which is usually done by reading the abstracts . The ones that were positively selected should be read . Most information can be extracted from the chapters “ Materials & Methods ” as well as from the “ Result ” section . However reading the “ Introduction ” may reveal more information about the topic of interest and the “ Discussion ”
92 Stoma Edu J . 2017 ; 4 ( 2 ): 90-101 http :// www . stomaeduj . com