Yearly Archives: 2018

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Medical Editing Tips
Categories Scientific Communication

Medical Editing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Edit your Document

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Whether you have written a manuscript, thesis, or a dissertation, it needs to be edited and proofread. You can’t publish your research without this revision process.

In fact, good papers always stem from good editing.

You have to edit and proofread your own writing and make sure it is clear, correct, and consistent throughout. This is crucial to establish an authority with your audience and communicate your message clearly.

But, the biggest dilemma! How easy it is to pick up your own mistakes?

Not really! Isn’t it?

Thus, medical editing should always comprise of three passes of your document.

  1. First pass to catch major errors
  2. Second pass to catch minor errors and
  3. A final proofread

Let’s see each step of medical editing in detail!

1) Conduct a First Pass

        a) Ensure effective organization

An organized document ensures that the message is presented in the most logical and clear way. Depending upon the type of document you are writing, check whether it’s properly structured.

Check each paragraph, headings, and lists. Make sure their format follows your required style guide. The line spacing, page margins, capitalization, font size, color, and spacing between sections should be consistent.

        b) Check the flow and tone

Flow and tone are the hardest elements of the English language. Read out your sentences aloud and you will be able to pick up any awkward sentence constructions.

Avoid writing long sentences. Check the transitions between paragraphs and sentences whether they flow into the next and make sense in succession.

        c) Check for grammar and spellings

You can use an automatic spell-checker to catch these types of problems, but they are not perfect. You must review your writing word by word to ensure that the spellings and grammar are perfect. Plus, make sure you are consistent in the spellings according to the type of English you have chosen. For example, organization (US English) or organisation (UK English).

Also, make sure that the tense and voices are consistent throughout.

        d) Ensure concision

Avoid any redundancy in the content. If you’ve already covered a topic, do not write about it again. Also, make sure that no word is overused or too repetitive in your document.

        e) Check your punctuation’s

The specific punctuation issues to check are the exclamation marks, comma, semicolon, and a full stop. Consider the conventions of the English language to check these.

         f) Review your citations and references

Make sure the formatting of your citations and references complies with the required style guide.

In addition, cross-check the in-text citations against the reference list. If you miss out a reference in the list, but have cited in the text, add it to the list. Check all the author names, years, and add the necessary reference information to avoid accidental plagiarism.

         g) Check the figures and tables

If your document includes figures and tables, review them and their description in the text. Make sure you have mentioned them in the text prior to their placement. Avoid using acronyms in figures and tables or their titles.

         h) Check the lists and equations

If your document has any lists/ equations, format and number them consistently through the document.

         i) Refer to any specific instructions

Do you have any specific journal guidelines to follow in writing your medical document?  If yes, ensure you follow them completely, whether it’s regards to the word count or the document format.

          j) Take notes about the document

While you are conducting the first pass of your document, write notes about the areas that need rectification. For example:

  • Elaboration of a particular idea
  • Clarification of a particular context
  • Specifying the subjects in a sentence
  • Rearranging/ deleting any sections

These notes will help you turn your first draft into a second draft on which you can conduct a second pass.

2) Conduct a Second Pass

In the second pass, review the entire document once again, paying attention to the details outlined above, especially the clarity and the flow. Correct any errors you might have missed.

 3) Conduct a Final Proofread

After the second pass, it’s time to review the whole document for the final time, checking for any missed or introduced errors. And Voila! You have finished your medical editing process and have a document that is ready to submit to the journal.

Conclusion

Medical editing is more of an art and can’t be learnt overnight. It’s easy to make mistakes or skip your own errors in writing, especially if English is not your first language. If medical editing is not your cup of tea or you have deadlines to meet, get it done from a professional medical editing services. But, never take the process of medical editing lightly. The final quality of your document depends upon it.

Scientific Editing
Categories Scientific Communication

Scientific Editing: 10 Common Errors you Should Look for in your Manuscript

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Writing, whether scientific or otherwise, can’t be devoid of errors. However expert you may be, you tend to make mistakes while writing your document. And that’s why scientific editing becomes necessary.

Like every process, scientific editing too has a strategy: A strategy on what errors to look for while editing the scientific manuscript.

So, here are the 10 common errors you should look for while editing your document.

1) Check for spelling mistakes

You may be a language pro, yet it is surprising to find many spelling mistakes in your manuscript. To make your work easier:

  • Use the spell check feature of the Word file and make sure it is applied to all of the text in the file.
  • Choose the correct language for your manuscript (US/UK English) before you begin writing.

2) Length of your sentences

Long sentences that continue to ramble and keep talking frustrate the readers. They get bored, confused, and just quit. In such a case, your written message won’t be communicated effectively or understood by the person reading the page.

Therefore, write short sentences as they are much easier to understand. Always break up a long sentence into two.

3) Check the text on the graphs

Many manuscripts contain graphs with a tiny text. When you are not able to read it clearly, how will the readers? And they will receive a printed copy of your manuscript. Nobody wants to use a lens to read the text. So, make sure the headings and other text on the graphs are big enough to read with a normal eye.

4) The names of the group

When you name your groups and treatments, keep them as close to the original treatments as possible without using abbreviations. This makes it easier for the readers who don’t have to “translate” your results and figures.

5) The size, text, and alignment of the table

This gets easier if you use the Table feature of your Words file rather than laying out the text using space bar. So, even if you change the text, it won’t misalign the rows and columns of the table.

6) Number of values after the decimal point

If you measure all the values to the same level of accuracy, report them as 42.35 m, 46.90 m and 22.00 m instead of 42.35 m, 46.9 m, and 22 m respectively. The zero after the decimal point is as valid as the other numbers.

7) References to other sections of the paper

Provide the specific location, section number, or page/line number while referring to the other sections of your paper. Don’t make the readers read through the whole paper to find a little piece of information.

8) All abbreviations are well defined

In general, you should define all the abbreviations at first use in the abstract and the main paper even if they are standard abbreviations. Check if you have done so while editing your paper.

9) Format of the units

Units are always written in the singular form, for example, mL, cm, mM (not mLs, cms, mMs).

Plus, there should be a single space between the number and the unit, for example, 2 µM, 3 cm and 5 mL. Check their formats during scientific paper editing.

10) Consistency

Be it the language, spellings, or values, it’s important to be consistent in their use. Scientific editing of your document ensures you have maintained this consistency.

These all seem like minor errors which won’t affect the meaning of the text. In fact, many readers won’t even notice them. However, if you check for these errors in your scientific paper editing, it will make your writing more professional, and the readers will enjoy your manuscript.

Scientific Writing
Categories Scientific Communication

Make your Scientific Writing Productive with 6 Awesome Strategies

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

As a scientist, you must excel at different skills, all at the same time. The lab work, data analysis, sitting in committees, faculty meetings, attending conferences and what not! Plus, publish papers and apply for grants. So, you are always under tremendous pressure.

It’s natural to get overwhelmed because scientific writing requires time, focus, and creativity. Writing at the last minute won’t give you a quality paper.

Well, there are six strategies you can implement right now to stay productive in your scientific writing. By implementing these strategies, you can get your paper done in less time and feel good about it.

So, here are those 6 strategies:

1) Get plenty of sleep

Haha! Only if you could get it!

Though it’s hard to find more time to sleep, being rested increases your productivity. If you write with a tired mind, it will take longer and affect the quality of your document. On the other hand, adequate sleep keeps you focused on your writing.

2) Set your goals

Why do you want to write a scientific paper? To get your doctorate degree or a promotion in your lab?

Be clear about your immediate and ultimate goals; see whether your writing project gets you closer to these goals. Once you commit to a writing task, it means you say no to the other tasks. So, be mindful on how you spend your time.

3) Plan your writing

Scientific manuscript writing differs from normal writing. In Science, you can’t foresee your findings; your article may take a different direction than you had planned. But still, you can have a plan and change it with time. A plan is always useful as it keeps you on track.

To create a writing plan:

  • Include all the members of the writing project in the plan and agree on the deadlines.
  • Make sure the people whom you need feedback form will be available at the desired time.
  • Know how long it will take to complete the various tasks in scientific writing.

4) Give yourself deadlines

Deadlines keep you focused on work. That’s why they should be a part of your writing plan. Besides the final deadline for submission, include several deadlines for the specific goals in your writing plan.

We usually take the final deadline seriously but tend to put other things off.  Therefore, involve other members while setting a deadline so they can keep you focused.

5) Find your ideal writing time

Getting up at 4 am every day and writing for two hours may seem ideal for some people, but not for many including you. So, don’t pressurize yourself.

Try writing at different times of the day for two weeks and assess at what time you were most focused and efficient. That’s your ideal writing time.

 6) Make a daily to-do list

Don’t just write “Write Paper” in your to-do list. Instead, put the daily tasks of scientific writing that you will be able to finish that day. For example, “writing the discussion section”, “cross-checking all references” or “proof-reading the results section” etc.

Finally, know that productivity in scientific writing is all about planning your tasks. Plan your writing tasks in bits and keep a check on how you spend your time.

Histopathology Laboratory
Categories Histology Services

Histopathology Laboratory: How to Choose the Best Stain for your Slides?

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Using stains in microscopy is a routine part of the daily operations in a histopathology laboratory. The purpose of using these stains is to enhance contrast and highlight the structures in the slides, and thus to get accurate results in the tests.

However, choosing the best stain for accurate results isn’t always easy. This is because there are numerous stains in histology and selecting the best is cumbersome.

Besides the commonly used ones, many other stains are used for studying specific tissue types to give you better images. Further, using specialised stains also help in reaching a more accurate diagnosis or further differentiate the components seen on the histology slides.

So, here we give you a glimpse of the commonly used, and some specialised stains, their purpose, and utility to guide you in selecting the right stain for your histology slides.

The Most Commonly Used Stains

Haematoxylin and eosin are the first and most common stains used in most histopathology labs. Both these stains are used for routine tissue study where you don’t need much detail.

  • Haematoxylin stains all the nucleic acids (like DNA and RNA), and eosin stains the basic structures like muscle or red blood cells.
  • Haematoxylin stains the cell nuclei as bluish purple while eosin dyes other cell structures pink or red.

Specific Stains

1) Gram Stain

Developed by the Danish scientist Hans Christian Gram, it is a popular alternative to haematoxylin and eosin stains. It helps to detect bacteria in the study tissue and determine their characteristics. Follow these steps for Gram staining procedure:

  • Stain the slide with crystal violet and let it stand for a minute.
  • Gently rinse the slide with tap water or distilled water from a wash bottle and smear it with Gram’s iodine and potassium iodide solution. Let it stand for one minute.
  • Gently rinse the slide with tap water or distilled water from a wash bottle and decolourise with alcohol and acetone.
  • Follow this by counter-staining with a red or pink stain and let it stand for 45 seconds.

2) Congo Red

A stain which was once used in textile industry has now become popular in the histopathology laboratory for detecting amyloid fibres. These fibres get stained as a pale orange-red colour with the Congo stain.

Detection of amyloid fibres is important for the diagnosis of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Diabetes.

With routine stains like haematoxylin and eosin, it’s not possible to detect bacteria, amyloid fibres and other details in the study tissue. Thus, these specific stains must be a part of your histopathology laboratory.

If you don’t have accesses to these stains or get stuck with any process in the lab, feel comfortable to outsource your work to a knowledgeable lab. Exploit the histology services of a reputed lab to save money, time, and get high-quality slides with accurate results. Competent histology services have an experienced lab team to assist you in your daily microscopy operations and make your investments worthy.

How to avoid Duplicate Publication
Categories Scientific Communication

Medical Journal Articles: How to avoid Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission?

Author krishna kumar 652 Comments on Medical Journal Articles: How to avoid Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission? Posted on

For an honest and scholarly scientific research, you must follow the ethics of research and good publication practices. All the reputed journals expect the authors to know and comply with the ethics in publication.

Here, in this post, we discuss the two common and unethical publishing practices – duplicate publication and simultaneous submission, and how to avoid them with your manuscript.

1) Duplicate Publication

What is it?

When you publish a new paper similar to a published paper by another author or yours without acknowledging the source and without getting the permission of the original author, it is called a duplicate publication. Even if you change the title or the abstract, the data and the results remain the same.

Why is duplicate publication a problem?

Duplicate publication is unethical because:

  1. It violates the copyright for the paper.
  2. Researchers who study the subject may count the same set of results twice, and thus distort the empirical evidence. Since empirical studies form the base of many health policies, it becomes a serious problem.
  3. Republication of your own work without attribution surmounts to “self-plagiarism”.
  4. It leads to the wastage of editorial and review resources.
  5. Republication of the same work unjustly takes up the limited journal space and denies other authors’ right to publish their work.

What do journals say about the issue? 

The editorial committees of the academic journals instruct the authors do not submit the papers or variations of papers already published elsewhere. They design stringent policies and ask the authors to send copies of older, related articles along with their submitted paper.

However, republication is allowed in some cases:

  • A follow-up on a published preliminary report (e.g., an abstract, poster, or conference presentation)
  • A paper with a list of the guidelines prepared by professional societies or governmental agencies
  • A paper that re-analyses or re-interprets the findings of the study for a different audience
  • A translation of the original paper
  • e-prints of the paper in repositories

Despite these exceptions, authors must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Get permission from the copyright holders.
  • Get approval from the editor of the journal in which the paper was first published and the editor of the journal in which they will republish it.
  • Acknowledge the source of your republication by providing its full citation.

Dos and don’ts to avoid duplicate publication

  • Do not replicate content from any of your other published papers.
  • Do not offer preliminary reports about the published papers to any company without the permission of the journal.
  • When quoting data from your published work, include only a few sentences, and place the text in quotation marks and cite the source.
  • If you write more than one manuscript by using a single dataset, ensure:
    • Each manuscript addresses separate and important questions
    • You cross-reference the manuscripts
    • Inform the journal editors about this in a cover letter
  • While submitting your paper to the journal editor, provide copies of your published and related papers for complete transparency.

2) Simultaneous Submission

What is it?

The practice of submitting the same manuscript to two or more journals at the same time without informing the respective scientific journal editors is known as simultaneous or multiple or dual submission.

Why is simultaneous submission a problem?

The journals consider simultaneous submission as unethical because:

  1. If more than one journal publishes the paper, it can lead to a copyright dispute.
  2. Since two publication houses will carry out the same task, it is a waste of academic and scientific resources.

However, simultaneous submission is acceptable in following cases:

  • When the editors of the two or more journals agree to publish the paper simultaneously or jointly in the larger interest of the society.
  • When scientific conferences allow the authors to simultaneously submit their papers to other meetings with overlapping submission periods.

Dos and don’ts for the authors 

  • Do not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal.
  • If you wish to submit a paper that is “under consideration” at one journal to another journal:
    • Get a written consent from your co-authors.
    • Inform the first journal editor asking about the paper withdrawal.
    • Do not submit unless you get a formal notification from the first journal editor regarding the paper withdrawal.
    • Submit this notification to the second journal along with your paper.
  • If you have written two related papers and wish to submit them to two different journals:
    • Disclose the details of each paper to both the journals.
    • Inform both the editors that you have a similar paper under review at another journal (even if they are in different languages).
    • Enclose the copies of both the papers along with your submission.

Conclusion

Thus, duplicate publication and simultaneous submission are a serious offence and you can spoil your research career by indulging in such practices. We recommend you to contact our professional journal publication services experts to understand and follow ethical submission practices for the welfare of the society and your career.

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