Section outline

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  • Tuesday, April 11, 2017; 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

    Lecture:

    Introduction to Publishing & Presenting Clinical Research

    and

    Preparing Research Abstracts: Few Words, Big Impact


    Faculty:  Alison Huang, MD, MAS
     
    Location:      Mission Hall 1400

    This session will focus on preparing structured abstracts for scientific conferences as well as for full-length manuscripts. We will review strategies for crafting the introduction, methods, results, and conclusions of an abstract to highlight the strengths and significance of the research and adhere to rigorous scientific reporting standards, while staying within required word or space limits. Examples of effective and ineffective abstract sections will be reviewed, with students being encouraged to critique examples and suggest improvements. We will also discuss factors that should be weighed in deciding when and where to submit an abstract; examine the process used to evaluate abstracts for poster, oral, or plenary meeting presentations; and discuss common mistakes that can result in abstract submissions receiving less consideration than they deserve.

    • Prospectus:

    • Prospectus for 2016-2017 course File

    • Session Slides:

    • Course Introduction and Preparing Abstracts slides File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

      Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapters 1 and 2

    • Optional Reading:

    • Lara Varpio, et al. Writing competitive research conference abstracts. Medical Education 2006; File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Assignment #1: Submit an abstract prepared according to the submission guidelines of the annual meeting of a professional or scientific society - due by 5 pm on April 24

    • Assignment 1 template File
    • Assignment 1

  • Tuesday, April 25, 2017; 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

    Lecture:

    Good Beginnings and Endings:

    the Introduction, Methods, and Discussion of a Manuscript

    Faculty:  Alison Huang, MD, MAS

    Location:       Mission Hall 1400

    This session focuses on writing the introduction, methods, and discussion sections of research manuscripts. We will examine strategies for drafting an introduction that offers a compelling rationale for the research and provides necessary contextual information to frame the research goals, while staying within space limits. We will also discuss how to prepare a methods section that provides all critical information about the design and implementation of a study and anticipates readers' questions about the conduct of the research, but avoids unnecessary detail. Finally, we will examine strategies for drafting a discussion that highlights the most important study findings without restating information from the results, acknowledges the limitations of the research without undermining its strengths, and guides readers in interpreting study findings in the context of previous work.

    • Session Slides:

    • Lecture slides: Good Beginnings and Endings File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

      Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapters 3, 4, and 8

    • Optional Reading:

    • Manuscript Preparation and Publication" by David Holmes, et al. in Careers in Circulation, 2009;120:906-913 File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Assignment #2: Submit the title and a ~3-paragraph introduction for a manuscript based on a research project that you are conducting or have recently completed - due by 5 pm on May 8.

    • Assignment 2 template File
    • Assignment 2

  • Tuesday, May 9, 2017; 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

    Lecture:  

    Research Results: the Visual Display of Data

    Faculty: Vivek Jain. MD, MAS

    Location:       Mission Hall 1400

    This session is designed to guide students in preparing visually compelling tables, graphs, and figures to present their research data clearly and effectively in manuscripts, posters, or oral presentations. Examples of more and less effective presentation of research tables and figures will be provided, and students will be encouraged to critique examples and discuss strategies for improving the format or presentation. Tips for developing written text that frames and/or highlights the visual display of important data from research projects may also be presented.

    • Session Slides:

    • Presenting Research Data slides File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

      Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapters 5, 6, and 7

    • Optional Reading:

    • Excerpts from Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Assignment #3: Submit a table and a figure that present the same research data in two different ways – due by 5 pm on May 22.

    • Assignment 3 template File
    • Assignment 3

  • Tuesday, May 23, 2017; 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

    Lecture:

    Poster and Oral Research Presentations

     and

    The Elevator Speech: the Art of Self-Promotion

    Faculty:  Alison Huang/Urmimala Sarkar


    Location:       Mission Hall 1400

    This session will prepare scholars to give poster and oral presentations as well as discuss their overall scientific mission at research or professional meetings. The first half of the session will focus on strategies for creating visually appealing slides and posters, preparing talking points that complement visual content without being overshadowed by it, and responding to questions and criticisms during presentations. The second half will guide scholars in developing a concise, focused, and flexible "elevator speech" to introduce themselves to potential mentors, collaborators, and employers, in order to create a memorable and positive impression as well as open the door to future rewarding conversations.

    • Session Slides:

    • Lecture slides-- Oral and Poster Presentations File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

      Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapters 11 and 12

    • Optional Reading:

    • Kwok R. Communication: Two minutes to impress, Nature, 494, 137-138 (2013) doi:10.1038/nj7435-137a URL
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Resources:

    • Elevator speech 1-page template File

    • FINAL PROJECT: Choose one of two options: 1) Submit a research poster or oral presentation slide set that you could use to present at a scientific or professional meeting in your field of study; or 2) submit a full-length draft research manuscript that has not already been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal– due by 5 pm on June 5.

    • Final project instructions File
    • Final Project Assignment

  • Tuesday, June 6, 2017; 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

    Lecture:

    Running the Gauntlet: the Manuscript Review Process

     and

    Special Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor Roundtable

    Faculty:  Alison Huang. MD, MAS

    Journal editor roundtable: (Jay Levy, MD; Mitch Feldman, MD; Deborah Grady, MD, MPH; Michael Callaham, MD; Phil Rosenthal, MD)

    Location:   Mission Hall 1400

    The final session will address the manuscript submission and review process, including expectations for acceptance versus rejection for initial and resubmitted manuscripts, insights into the perspective of reviewers who critique manuscript submissions, and strategies for responding to reviewer critiques in order to increase the likelihood of acceptance. The majority of the session will take the form of a special, interactive "editor-in-chief roundtable" in which a panel of 4 to 5 senior UCSF professors who are also editors-in-chief or deputy editors at major peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals will be asked to speak briefly in response to several pre-established questions (see below), in addition to taking additional questions from students.

      Possible questions:

        1. "In your experience, what is one of the most common mistakes made by authors in preparing or submitting research manuscripts that result in their manuscripts not being given the consideration they deserve?"
        2. "Can you think of an example of a manuscript that was turned down by your journal that you feel should have been accepted, or an example of one that was accepted that you think should have been rejected, and explain why?"
        3. "Aside from the reviewers' critiques, what other factors do you as a journal editor weigh in deciding whether to accept or reject a manuscript?"
        4. "Are there circumstances in which it may be appropriate or feasible for an author to appeal a decision to reject made by a journal; if so, what are they, and how should authors go about this?"

        • Session Slides:

        • The Manuscript Submission and Review Process File

        • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

        • Required Reading:

          Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapters 10 and 13

        • Optional Reading:

        • Preparing Reports for Publication and Responding to Reviewers’ Comments" by Gordon H. Guyatt and R. Brian Haynes, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 2006;59:900-906 File
          Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02