Developing the Skills to Write for Publication

A well-reasoned, coherent thesis is not enough to convince editorial gatekeepers to accept your article. Consider these additional suggestions.

By Paul Cerrato, MA, senior research analyst and communications specialist, Mayo Clinic Platform, and John Halamka, M.D., Diercks President, Mayo Clinic Platform.

“Strange isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Frank Capra’s observation, which of course applies equally to women, is a line from his famous movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. That comment is even truer for writers who are privileged enough to see their work published. However, it’s a mistake to assume that good quality writing is easy.  Frank Bruni, a well-known columnist with The New York Times, describes writing this way: “The act of wrestling your thoughts into logical form, distilling them into comprehensible phrases and presenting them as persuasively and accessibly as possible is arguably the best test of those very thoughts. It either exposes them as flawed or affirms their merit and, in the process, sharpens them…  Writing is thinking, but it’s thinking slowed down — stilled — to a point where dimensions and nuances otherwise invisible to you appear. ”

We each have our own process for putting pen to paper, but even if you are writing the most brilliant, insightful scientific paper, you will still need to start with the basic steps that all successful authors follow. Among the basic questions to think deeply about:

  • What do you want to say?
  • What’s the best vehicle to say it?
  • Who is your audience?
  • What’s the best way to say it?

At first glance, the question about what to say may seem straightforward, but many healthcare professionals cannot give a precise description of what they want to communicate in a scientific paper or consumer-focused article. As Bruni points out, writing involves “wrestling your thoughts into logical form, distilling them into comprehensible phrases and presenting them as persuasively and accessibly as possible.” Notice he didn’t say putting your thoughts into logical form but wrestling with them. The process of organizing your thoughts is often challenging, but it can help turn a vague concept into a coherent, plausible thesis, which then becomes the jumping off point for the rest of your paper.

Of course, it would be naïve to think that a carefully reasoned coherent thesis is enough to convince an editor to accept your paper. One needs to understand the mind of the gatekeepers who review your article, and whether it meets the needs of their audience. As Joseph Kvedar, MD, Editor in Chief, npj Digital Medicine, points out: “Many research projects are born of sincere curiosity, but we tend to think we’re the only ones with a bright idea.  If your work is not novel, it will still get published, but not in a high-impact journal.”

With that in mind, when developing your paper, start by reviewing the Guide to Contributors for whatever publication you believe might have an interest in your original research, analysis, or opinion.  Nature Medicine’s Guide, for example, lists all the things authors need to know before initial submission. It explains the journal’s aims and scope, the types of content it accepts, and editorial policies. The journal also offers to review presubmission enquires if you’re not sure whether your paper fits their needs.

After comparing your thesis to the guidelines of the journals that interest you, you may realize that biomedical journals are not the best fit.  Once again Dr. Kveder had some sage advice during our recent email exchange: “Is a peer-reviewed journal the right place for you to communicate your innovation?  The average peer-reviewed article is read a few hundred times at best.  Peer review adds credibility to the work, but these days, with social media, publishing the paper is only the beginning.”

Regardless of the vehicle you choose, the next challenge is developing your thesis into a full article. One of the top priorities is clarity, which may be harder to achieve than you first imagine. Writers suffer from the same shortcoming as musical artists. No doubt you’ve listened to many songs and wondered: What is the singer actually saying? Having worked in the music industry for several years, one of us (Paul) is aware of the tendency of singers and producers to listen to their mix and jump to the conclusion it’s understandable. However, because they already know the lyrics so well, their memory fills in the blanks during parts of the song that are too quiet, or masked by the instruments. A similar phenomenon occurs with writers. Angelika Hofmann, an expert of scientific writing explains: “Scientists who write unclearly rarely think they do, much less intend to... The reason for this insensitivity is simple: anyone who writes about something and understands its content is more likely to think the passage is clearly written than someone who knows less.”

As you contemplate submitting an article to a professional journal, it’s also wise to anticipate the critique it is likely to receive from the editor and any peer reviewers he or she will send it to. Depending on whether the paper describes original research, is a review, or an opinion piece, you’ll need to take a close at your methodology, the statistical analysis, and any citations to the biomedical literature you include. Reviewers for high impact journals will likely look up the citations you use in your paper. Are the sources you cite credible; do they actually support the argument you make? Are your findings not only statistically significant but clinically significant?

Frank Capra was right. We each touch many lives. Sharpening your writing skills may help you touch even more.


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