Yearly Archives: 2018

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Toxicity Testing Lab
Categories Toxicity Testing

The Difference between a Drug Confirmation and Toxicity Testing Lab

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Nowadays, the state governments lay more stress on prescription monitoring programs (PMPs). In such a scenario, the healthcare facilities have to test and prevent the abuse of commonly prescribed medicines.

However, they have one major dilemma. Whether to work with a drug confirmation or a toxicity testing labs?

Here, we tell you the difference between the two lab services and what each of them accomplishes.

A drug confirmation lab only verifies the drug usage

The facilities of this lab are used by public safety personnel or the potential employers to check for the use of illicit drug substances in an individual. However, these labs provide none information on the following aspects:

  • They don’t cover all the commonly abused prescription medicines
  • How much of a substance has been ingested by an individual?
  • Information about individual substances in a combination drug

A toxicology lab measures the extent of the drug use

Toxicity testing labs use a combination of testing methods to detect illicit drugs, prescription medications, and even those substances which cause a cross-reaction. They can also provide information on how much of the drug has been absorbed or metabolised in the patient’s body.

Thus, the initial screening process can be carried out in a drug confirmation lab followed by advanced testing in toxicology labs. When both are used together, it will help the physicians to create economical and effective PMPs.

Common Barriers to Preclinical Studies
Categories Preclinical Research

Common Barriers to Preclinical Studies and How to Overcome Them

Author krishna kumar 1 Comment on Common Barriers to Preclinical Studies and How to Overcome Them Posted on

The scientists, physicians, and academicians who investigate the preclinical studies are busy individuals. They do not involve themselves in one study at a time but in multiple studies. Plus, they have their own clinical duties and responsibilities. This gives them little time to stay engaged in any of the preclinical studies. Thus, a preclinical research study suffers from a poor engagement by its investigators and its progress gets delayed. It can further impact the quality of the research results negatively.

So, how can you improve the investigator’s engagement in the preclinical studies?

Let us first see what are the common barriers to the investigator’s engagement in preclinical studies?

  1. Conflicting demands of multiple job duties
  2. Lack of enjoyment in preclinical studies
  3. Lack of a sound and supportive research infrastructure
  4. Complexities associated with the preclinical research

A comprehensive solution to preclinical research barriers

1) Outsource your lab services to a Contract Research Organization (CRO)

An experienced and a competent contract research organization have the necessary tools and resources to process your research study with accuracy and on time. Thus, investigators who are busy and unable to devote much time to their preclinical studies can avail the services offered by CRO.

However, choose an organisation which has a minimum of 10 years experience in handling scientific research in every domain, can strike a perfect balance between the quality of results and their timely delivery, and observe the best practices and ethics of research.

2) Use a mobile platform to access the research data

In the era of smartphones, investigators can use their personal mobile devices to access the research data and communicate with their team quickly and as per their convenience.

3) Take part in online study-specific communities

Online forums dedicated to your specific research area are available to discuss the research results, share ideas, and stay connected with other like-minded people. They are an excellent medium to share preclinical research data between the institutions and prevent duplicate research.

4) Hire a courier service to pick up study materials

Hire a courier service which can retrieve the study materials from your place and deliver it the off-site for professional processing. After the process is complete, the courier returns the materials to your facility along with a report of the study results. This can save yours and your team’s time so you can focus on your preclinical studies.

The best way to overcome the barriers of your preclinical research study is to take the help of the leading preclinical research services or CRO. Make a list of the services offered by the CRO in your area. By doing so, you can drive maximum engagement from the research investigators and improve your research results.

Medical Dissertation Writing Tips
Categories Scientific Communication

Medical Dissertation Writing: What Makes a Quality Dissertation?

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

If you look at the several medical dissertations published across the world, you find that they are not of the same quality. Some of them are poor in terms of quality because of no transparency of results, no explanation of details, unclarity of conclusive remarks, and poor structure of information.

The authors or the institutes who publish such dissertations can perform a quality research and write a quality medical dissertation. However, they are not aware of the factors that make a quality dissertation. Carrying out research doesn’t make a quality dissertation. You have to document the entire work in a proper and presentable format.

Before we proceed to the tips of writing a quality dissertation, let’s see the features of a quality dissertation.

A quality dissertation has:

  • A clear aim of the study
  • Clear statements about the research gap (s) filled by the current study
  • A full explanation of the research methods
  • Description of the statistical tools applied in the study
  • Details about the data collected
  • Detailed analysis of the data
  • A relationship between the results and the existing body of knowledge
  • The relevance of results is clear to the readers
  • A statement about the implication of the study
  • Consideration of the academic and real-world scenario

With these features in mind, here are the quick tips to write a quality medical dissertation.

1) Title

Write the title of your dissertation in upper/lower case and within 65 characters.  Choose the title that reflects the content of your dissertation. In simple words, the readers must come to know what they will read about in your dissertation from the title itself. Don’t leave them guessing.

2) Abstract

Keep in mind the objective of your study i.e. why you undertook this study to write the abstract. Keep your abstract short, within 250-350 words and use double line spacing.

3) Introduction

In this section, introduce the readers to the background of the problem, what are the gaps in previous research work, and how you intend to solve the problem with your study. This will clearly define the purpose of your study. Also, define the scientific terms you use in your text in the introduction.

4) Literature review 

Here, acknowledge the research projects you have used as a reference source for your study.

5) Methods 

This section focuses on what resources you used in the study, how you collected the resources, and how you used them to derive your results. For writing a quality dissertation, keep your focus on the research questions, and give details about the experiment settings, participants, data collection, and data analysis processes.

6) Results/Findings

Restate your research question (s) and discuss your findings in detail. Keep in mind that the results must answer the questions you intended at the beginning of your study.

7) Conclusions

In the final chapter, summarize your study and its key findings. Remember to explain how your findings will make a difference in the academic community and how to imply them in practice.

Also, include a “Recommendations for future research” section at the end. Here you can propose future research to clarify the issues of your study further. Explain why you suggest this research and what form it should take.

8) Bibliography

Cite all the references you used for your research and writing your dissertation.

Writing a quality dissertation not only requires a competent research, but also time management to focus on the writing process and complete each section one-by-one.

So, stay away from the distractions, make your own timetable, follow this dissertation guideline, and write a quality dissertation.

Get an expert help for quality medical dissertation writing ping us!

Submitting your Research Paper
Categories Scientific Communication

Dos and Don’ts when Submitting your Research Paper

Author krishna kumar 3 Comments on Dos and Don’ts when Submitting your Research Paper Posted on

Do you think journal publication is an easy process?

You write a research paper, submit it to the journal office and Voila! The editors will publish your paper.

If you think so, you are mistaken. Submitting your paper for publication in your desired journal can be tedious as many things need to be taken care of.

Therefore, we are here to make your journal publication easy and successful through our publication support services experts. By keeping in mind a checklist of do’s and don’ts when submitting your paper, you can register as a good author in the eyes of the journal editors.

Do’s

  • Examine the scope of the journal and the description of its contents. The Homepage of the journal gives you an idea of its scope. Still, you must scroll through the articles published in the journal and see whether they match yours. If in doubt, send the title and the abstract of your paper to the journal office for their quick opinion.
  • Read the “Instructions for Authors” section carefully.
  • Evaluate the format of your paper. Do not keep the formatting for the last stage. Give regards to the appropriate format as per the journal guidelines right from the beginning to reduce your burden.
  • Clarify with your journal about the expenses on paper submission, coloured photos, or reprint charges.
  • Write an appropriate cover letter. A cover letter is not only for saying you are submitting a paper, but it should also contain a summary of your novel findings and why you consider your work as appropriate for the journal. Do not forget to cross-check that you address the editor of that journal only where you are submitting your paper.
  • Make sure you submit all the required items with your paper at the journal office.
  • Enlist the name of your English-speaking colleague if you take his help in preparing your manuscript.
  • Proofread your manuscript several times before you submit.
  • Include the names of all the authors with their comments on the manuscript before submitting. Set a deadline for all the co-authors to give their comments on the manuscript.

Don’ts

  • Assume things and sit back after submitting. After submitting your paper, wait for few days. If you don’t get an acknowledgement about the reception of your paper, email the journal office. Similarly, if you get no status update on your paper in 6 weeks to two months, contact the journal office.
  • Take the reviewer’s comments personally. Peer reviewers are not your critic but help to give your research paper a finishing touch. Usually, they don’t use personal language to comment on your paper but sometimes it slips through. So, don’t take their comments to heart.
  • Delay the revision of your paper. Most journals follow a two-month rule where they require you to submit your revised paper. Take the reviewer’s comments seriously and make the necessary changes as early as possible.
  • Confuse the editors and the reviewers with your revisions. Thank them for their suggestions and respond to each point in a clear and logical way so that they don’t have to fish about whether or not you adequately addressed the issues.
  • Include the data that has been published previously except when citing their reference.
  • Rely heavily on the grammar and plagiarism checking tools. Use a human eye for the second opinion.
What do Journal Editors Hate about the Research Papers
Categories Scientific Communication

What do Journal Editors Hate about the Research Papers?

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

You have written a good research manuscript; also proofread and edited it to present an error-free paper in front of the medical journal editors.

However, few mistakes are still lurking in your paper which may irritate the journal editors?

Know what these mistakes are?

If no, then it’s time to read further:

1) The opening line

Isaac Newton discovered gravity after an apple fell on his head in 1664.  This is a known fact and doesn’t interest the editors to read further. So, always begin your paper with a sentence that provokes the editor to take an interest in your work.

2) Claims of originality

Sentences in the manuscript like “We were the first to…” puts off the journal editors. They expect you to write what you did and what were your findings. The results of your research will depict the originality of your work, you need not claim it.

3) Disregard for the word count

Every journal mentions its acceptable word limit in the “Instructions for Authors”. Read them carefully and stick to the recommended word limit when you write the different sections of the manuscript; abstract, methods, results, etc. Prioritize what is important for the readers to know and omit the unnecessary information.

4) Unnecessary digits

Do not confuse the journal editors with large numbers like 25. 4,532,785%. Limit the digits to whole numbers for percentages greater than 10.

5) Comparatives without a comparison

If you compare your work with some previous work in the same domain, write it clearly and precisely how your technique is better and with whom you compare.

6) Use of the wrong terms

“This technique is workable…..

“This technique is absolutely accurate….

If you use such statements in your manuscript, the journal editors do not like it. They look for clear terminology such as “sensitivity” and “specificity”.

7) Figure and table legends are incomplete

When you include any figure and table in your research manuscript, make sure to write their legends. Legends must provide complete information about their source and significance. If the editor has to flip through the pages to search for the desired information, he will put aside your manuscript.

8) Citing figures and tables in the discussion

Do not mention specific figures or tables in the Discussion section. It does not require referencing other sections of the paper in the Discussion.

9) Abbreviations without definitions

Do not assume that the medical journal editors will understand the meaning of the abbreviations or acronyms you use in the paper. Therefore, you should define when you mention them in the paper, both for the first time and also in the Abstract, Introduction, and Figures/Tables.

10) Excessive use of acronyms

Though you define the acronyms used in your paper, it doesn’t permit you to use them in excess.  Use acronyms judiciously so that the editors can enjoy your writing and focus on the main message of your research.

Take care of these common mistakes during your medical manuscript editing and impress the journal editors with your well-written document.

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