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The IMRaD format
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Philip Abraham
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K E M Hospital, Mumbai
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Why IMRaD
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“The man of science appears to be the only person
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who has something to say just now, and the only
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man who does not know how to say it.”
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by – Sir James Barrie
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WWWHWAW
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“I keep six honest serving-men
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(They taught me all I knew)
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Their names are What and Why and When
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And How and Where and Who”
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What is IMRAD?
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Results
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Methods
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Discussion
Introduction
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History
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1665 Origin of scientific papers
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1600s and 1700s Letters and experimental (descriptive)
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formats coexisted
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1800s (second half) Increasing Methods description (“theory
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– experiment – discussion”)
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according to subject)
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• Up to 1945 Titles as in book chapters
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• 1950 to 1960 IMRaD structure partially adopted
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• After 1965 IMRaD began to predominate
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• 1979 by
IMRaD introduced as standard by
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• Considered ideal outline in early 1900s
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• Physics adopted IMRaD in 1950s
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• After World War II, international conferences on scientific
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publishing recommended IMRaD
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Late 1970s, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
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Bradford Hill’s questions
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Introduction Why did you start?
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Methods What did you do?
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Results What did you find?
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and by
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A: What’s news, babe?
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B: You know that guy Rakesh … done a lot of work on hepatitis E
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… I think he’s asked good questions … but, you know what …
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you and I can find holes in his arguments and come up with a
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shocker …
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• Brief and arresting
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• Define nature and scope of problem, but
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• Do not hide inconvenient facts
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Introduction
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• Adequate information to allow reader to understand and
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evaluate present study without referring to previous publications
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• Define lacunae and shortcomings in current state of knowledge
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Key references to support background information provided
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• Provide rationale for current study
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– What gap in knowledge did you try to fill?
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– What controversy did you try to resolve?
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• State aim of study
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• May briefly state study group, design and methods used,
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The three questions
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• What has been done?
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• What did you look for?
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• How was it done? by
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• Study design (drug trial / intervention; prospective / retrospective;
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randomized, blinded; sensitivity of method; questionnaire; case report;
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guidelines; meta-analysis)
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• Setting
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• Who is the study about?
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– Participants and control subjects (in animal studies, specify genus,
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species)
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– Intervention
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– Follow up
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– Outcome measure
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Methods: details
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• Inclusion criteria
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• Exclusion criteria
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• Sample size calculation
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• Circumstances under which intervention done
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– Lab settings by
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• Consent
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• Ethics clearance
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• If standard, give reference
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• If new or modified, provide details (sufficient for reproduction by
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other workers)
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• Timing and duration of intervention
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• Define outcome
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• Parameters to assess outcome
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• Endpoint, cut-off values
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• Adverse events, if any
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Follow up
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• Frequency, method, duration (including minimum acceptable
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duration)
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• Criteria for termination or drop-out
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– Per-protocol vs. intention-to-treat
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Statistical analysis
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• Methods used for different parameters
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• Software
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Methods: general
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• Sub-headings should be consistent with those of Results
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• Try to avoid more than 3 levels of heading
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Results: general
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• What did you find?
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• Should answer all points raised in Methods
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• No new parameters
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• No mismatch in numbers between text and tables / figures
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Results: participants
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• How many screened?
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• How many eligible?
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• How many recruited / excluded?
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• How many completed study?
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• Cause of incomplete data, if any (sample lost, incomplete study)
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• No repetition between text and tables
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• No interpretation
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• No adjectives (most, some, often..)
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• Use % only if n>100 by
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meaningless)
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Discussion: outline
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• Recapitulation of major findings
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• Discussion of major findings in light of available data
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• Discussion of important minor findings
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• Alternative explanations
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• Strengths and limitations of study
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• Implications of findings
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• Summary / conclusion
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Common mistakes: Introduction
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• History starting from Adam
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• Details of previous studies
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• Aggrandizement
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• Abbreviations without full form
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“We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid
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(D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable
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biological importance.”
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-- Watson JD, Crick FHC. A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature
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1953;171:737-8
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Common mistakes: Methods and Results
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• Mixed up
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• Errors in data (e.g., mean age 25, range 17-22)
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• Mismatch of data in Methods / Results / Tables / Figures
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Misinterpretation of data
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Common mistakes: Discussion
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• First study in the world / India / Maharashtra…(megalomania)
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• Repeating results
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• Emphasizing strengths of study over its weaknesses
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Inflating importance of findings
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• Development and changes in internal organization of scientific
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article is answer to constant growth of information
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• IMRaD structure facilitates modular reading
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• Readers usually do not read in linear way but browse in each
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• Nature Medicine prints Methods last and in smaller type
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• Science buries explanatory footnotes within reference list
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• Lancet editor referred to “…shaky pillars of IMRaD”
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IMRaD suggests perfectly planned and beautifully executed
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• IMRaD does not tell writer how much to put in or leave out or
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(but covered by Kipling)
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Title How long; how many parts; declamatory (or not)?
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Authorship Who is best defined in advance; what does
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"authorship" mean; how many?
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Summary What structure; where to place it; how long?
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References How many; what are they for; how to set them out?
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International Committee of Medical Journal Editors,
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Immaculately Conceived Moses, Jesus, Et al
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IMRaD
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An alternative to IMRaD
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• Brief description of context
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• Outline of problem
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• Key measures for improvement
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• Process of gathering information
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Analysis and interpretation
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• Effects of change
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• Next steps
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-- Br Med J 2000;321:1428
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Abide by Instructions, but a little liberty is sometimes in order
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