From Poster and/or Presentation to Paper: How Do We Get Through the Process?

1. From Poster and/or Presentation to Paper: How Do We Get Through the Process? The Editorial Board and Editors’ Joint Session Michael Kogan, PhD Mary E. Northridge, PhD MPH Elizabeth Fee, PhD Theodore Brown, PhD M. Lyndon Haviland, DrPH Gabriel N. Stover, MPA

2. What do we hope to accomplish in this session? • Learn or rethink ways of developing posters and presentations into research and practice papers • Develop an appreciation of the importance of wider dissemination efforts using peer reviewed journals • Explore writing for diverse departments, disciplines and journals using Public Health History as an example

3. Turning a Poster/Presentation into a Scientific Paper American Public Health Association Conference November 2004 Michael Kogan, Ph.D. Director U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Office of Data and Program Development

4. Why Should You Turn a Presentation into a Paper? Reasons: • You will reach a larger audience • It carries the weight of being peer-reviewed • It can be more easily found and referenced by other scientists • Studies have shown that people who publish a lot have: • Whiter teeth • Greener front lawns • Fewer hemorrhoids

5. Picture of People who Turned Their APHA Presentation into a Scientific Publication

6. Picture of Someone who Did Not Turn APHA Presentation into Scientific Publication

7. Influence of Publication Productivity on Happiness (AJPH. 2004;31:2089-2097)

8. Questions to Consider When Deciding Where to Send Your Paper • Does the journal employ blind peer-reviewing? (AJPH – yes, JAMA – no, MCHJ – yes, Pediatrics – no, NEJM - no) • How often do articles appearing in the journal get cited? (Check the ISI Citation Index) • Are there a large number of subscribers? • Is the journal listed in Index Medicus?

9. Questions to Consider When Deciding Where to Send Your Paper • Does the journal process manuscripts in a reasonable amount of time? (About 8 days for an initial decision at AJPH) • Is there a long lag from acceptance to publication? (About 8 months for AJPH) • Is the journal’s subject matter, methodological, and theoretical orientation appropriate?

10. Resource for Investigating these Questions • http://www.mco.edu/lib/instr/itoaA.html • This is a listing of “Instructions for Authors” from over 3500 journals in the health sciences • NOTE: ALWAYS FOLLOW THE SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR EACH JOURNAL

11. Preparing a Scientific Article for Publication

12. Article Outline • Abstract • Introduction • Data & Methods • Results/Findings • Discussion/Conclusions • References

13. The Abstract Outline of Abstract • Statement of the question asked (present tense), and what was done to answer question (past tense) • Research design • Population studies • Independent and dependent variables • Findings that answer the question (past tense) • The most important results and evidence • The answer to the question (present tense)

14. The Introduction Purpose • Stimulate the reader’s interest • Provide background information which is pertinent to the study • Statement of the research question is the most important part of the study

15. The Introduction Outline of Introduction • General problem statement • More specific problem statement with literature background and highlights • Point out where important knowledge is missing • Give study purpose and hypotheses

16. The Introduction Problem Statement: • What is the general problem of interest? • Why is the problem important/significant? (Provide numbers, rates, costs, etc.) • What specific populations are involved?

17. The Introduction Problem Statement Example: • Despite programs and policies in a number of countries designed to lower the incidence of preterm birth and low birthweight, these adverse birth outcomes have not decreased in the last 10 to 15 years. In some countries they have actually increased substantially.

18. The Introduction Highlighting the Literature: • Moving from the general problem to the specific issue to be addressed, highlight the previous literature on the problem, thereby establishing the background for the study. • Example: Over this same period, the rates of multiple births have risen in many countries. Because multiple births are at high risk of resulting in preterm birth or low birthweight, their increasing incidence affects the overall rates of both conditions. Previous studies on the effects of multiple births have shown their important influence on pregnancy outcomes.

19. The Introduction Controversies & Unresolved Issues: • Provide an overview of existing theories, controversies and unresolved issues that are specific to the study and will be addressed by the manuscript. • Select references in an impartial manner. • Example: No study has explored the independent effect of twin and triplet deliveries on trends in preterm birth and low birthweight from an international perspective; that is, in countries with different health indicators and health care systems.

20. The Introduction Study Purpose & Hypotheses: • State the study purpose(s) and the hypotheses to be tested. • Provide a clear description of what this study hopes to accomplish. • Example: The purpose of this study is to explore the role of... . Specifically, we hypothesize that...

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22. The Methods/Data Purpose • Ensure that enough detail is provided to verify the findings. • Enable replication of the study by an appropriately trained person.

23. The Methods/Data Provide details about the data or data base: • Source of data • Description of data base. • Example: Data were obtained through special analyses of birth certificate data from Canada, England and Wales, and the US from 1981 to 1997. In France, data were obtained both from birth registration and national surveys.

24. The Methods/Data Provide details on case selection criteria: • mode of selection (random, matching, convenient, etc.) and sampling frames, • number of cases, • eligibility criteria. • Example: The analysis was restricted to live births. In Canada, we excluded data from Newfoundland and Ontario because of documented problems in the quality of the data.

25. The Methods/Data Provide details on the study sample: • drop-out rate, • missing cases and data, • representativeness of sample.

26. The Methods/Data Provide details on the study methods: • Study design (e.g., case-control, randomized trial, cross-section, etc.); • Main outcome measures; • Human subjects concerns; • Operation definitions and instrumentation (validity and reliability) of major variables, scales and tests.

27. The Methods/Data Provide details on the study analysis: • Statistical tests and procedures used for each phase of the analysis. • Example: We first analyzed the temporal trends in rates of twins and triplets in each country. Relative risks and population attributable risks for preterm and LBW, together with their confidence intervals, were then calculated for twins and triplets with singletons as the reference group.

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29. The Results Purpose • Report the results (past verb tense) of the procedures described in the methods. • Present the data in the form of text, tables or figures, that supports the results.

30. The Results Provide in order (as appropriate): • Descriptive data by study group. • Description of results as they relate directly to study question. • Bivariate crosstabulations of independent and dependent variables. • Multivariate analysis.

31. The Results Tone for writing: • Describe key results, but do so dispassionately (Nobody likes a Mr/Ms Smartypants tone). • Reserve comments and interpretations for Discussion section. • Use the text to succinctly point out key findings in the text.

32. The Results Tables & Figures: • Usually, plan for no more than 5 tables/figures. • Use figures to provide visual image. • Use tables to provide exact data. • Don’t duplicate tabular data in the figures.

33. THE LAST 10 NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS PUBLISHED IN AJPH

34. The Discussion / Conclusions Purpose • It’s the heart of the paper, but keep it as short as possible. • Answers the question posed in the Introduction. • Explains how the answers fit in with existing knowledge. • Author can express his/her opinions.

35. THEREFORE, LOGICALLY, IF YOU PUBLISHED IN AJPH…

36. The Conclusions What to provide: • A one paragraph summary of findings in relationship to the earlier stated hypothesis. • How the findings agreed or disagreed with those of similar previous studies. Why? • A speculation on what impact of study findings may have on current research controversies and theories.

37. The Conclusions What to provide: • A review of the study limitations and the generalizability of the findings. • The relevant program and policy implications of the findings. • The implications for future research with specific recommendations. • Final concluding comments and the quotable main "take-home" points.

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39. Acknowledgements • Greg R. Alexander, ScD. “A structural approach for preparing a scientific manuscript”. • Fred Rivera, MD and Peter Cummings, MD. “Writing for publication in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine”. • Sue Jenkins, PhD. “How to write a paper for a scientific journal”.

40. Contact Information Michael Kogan, Ph.D. HRSA/MCHB Director, Office of Data and Program Development 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18-41 Rockville, MD 20857 301-443-3145 mkogan@hrsa.gov

41. Working in CollaborationMary E. Northridge, PhD MPHEditor-in-Chief AJPH

42. Negotiation of Authorship • Agreement at beginning of Project • Acknowledge vague discussions • Include level of involvement

43. Authorship Credits • Contributions to conception and design • Acquisition of data • Analysis or interpretation of data • Article drafts • Whomever needs to give final approval

44. Acknowledgements • If contributors who do not meet authorship criteria • Persons who provided technical help • Department chairs, data collectors • Financial and material supporters

45. Duplication Issues • How to submit to 2 or more journals • Submitting from published papers • Multiple manuscripts (milking data)

46. Editorial Independence • Editors-in Chief have full authority over the editorial content of a journal. • Owners should not interfere in the evaluation, selection or editing of individual articles.

47. History Through Pictures AJPH History Departments Elizabeth Fee and Theodore M. Brown

48. Remembering inspiring times • The March on Washington • “I have a dream”

49. W. E. Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) • Historian, economist, editor, activist • The Health and Physique of the Negro • American, 1906

50. John Harvey Kellogg MD (1852-1943) • Vegetarianism, exercise, fresh air • No coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco