Tips for writing a great manuscript

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,860
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills

2
00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:11,260
to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

3
00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:17,340
As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.

4
00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,380
When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find

5
00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:27,780
that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research

6
00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:29,200
program.

7
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,480
Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.

8
00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:40,580
However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

9
00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:46,200
For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians

10
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,800
the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

11
00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:01,080
Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.

12
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,400
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

13
00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:09,360
I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is a pleasure to be speaking with you today.

14
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,560
Today we are talking about tips for writing a great manuscript.

15
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,840
Tips for writing a great manuscript.

16
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:25,840
And I invite you, if you are looking for coaching, to join Academic Negotiation Academy, where

17
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:31,960
we help clinician researchers negotiate their academic careers so that they can lead research

18
00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:37,200
programs that help them thrive and also create lasting impact.

19
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,360
Our next cohort is enrolling soon.

20
00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,960
Sign up for the waitlist on our website, clinicianresearcherpodcast.com.

21
00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:52,320
All right, today we're talking about tips to write a great manuscript.

22
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,880
And I will tell you that some of the tips I've learned in manuscript writing over the

23
00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:04,160
years has come from my accountability coaching peer group that I've had for the last few

24
00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:05,160
years.

25
00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,040
And we are a group of three to four faculty members.

26
00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:14,640
We meet every week and we meet for writing accountability.

27
00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:20,600
And so, you know, you have these grand ideas about writing every day and you have a group

28
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,640
of faculty who hold you accountable and say, hey, this is what you said you were going

29
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:24,940
to write last week.

30
00:02:24,940 --> 00:02:27,480
What did you do and what happened?

31
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:34,160
And so in that group, in addition to the accountability, I've learned a lot about differences in scientific

32
00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:35,420
writing.

33
00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:44,200
For example, one of our faculty members is in the Department of Theater and in her field,

34
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,120
writing is a solo activity.

35
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:52,080
And so it's not common to have more than one author on a paper.

36
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,560
The second piece of that is that their field is really a book field.

37
00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,900
And so books are more the focus rather than articles.

38
00:03:00,900 --> 00:03:06,120
But even when they write articles, articles are really the work of a solo author.

39
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,840
And so when it comes to authorship disputes, it's not really something that she experiences

40
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,800
much in her field because you're writing work by yourself anyway.

41
00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,480
One of our other faculty members is in education.

42
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:24,760
And in this field, authorship order depends on how much work was done.

43
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,680
So the first person did the most work.

44
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:32,440
The second person, the next amount of work, third person and vice versa.

45
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,160
And so when you get to the end of the authorship byline, that's just the person who did the

46
00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:38,560
least work.

47
00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:45,760
So there isn't necessarily like a senior person being stuck on the end as a person who's shepherding

48
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:46,920
this work.

49
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,000
If you are a senior person and you did a lot of the work, you will be author number one

50
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,000
or two.

51
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,860
And so that's interesting because in my field, the first author is a person who's done the

52
00:03:55,860 --> 00:04:00,520
bulk of the work of the writing and the senior person is a person who supported the first

53
00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:07,000
author in that writing and also is the person who's conceptually moving the work forward.

54
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,560
So it tends to be a senior person.

55
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:15,200
And if it's a research program, it tends to be the leader of the research program because

56
00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,080
theoretically they're doing the work, at least we hope that they are.

57
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:23,600
So that's an interesting thing that I found about the differences between disciplines.

58
00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:30,160
And so now when I go to give people tips about writing manuscript, I want them to be clear

59
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,860
on what their discipline specific instructions are, what are the norms within the discipline.

60
00:04:35,860 --> 00:04:40,440
And it's important to ask that question because these are some of the things that I think

61
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,320
exist in what is called the hidden curriculum, the things that everybody knows, but the people

62
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,200
who are new to the field have no idea about, and then they're blindsided.

63
00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,520
And this is important information to have.

64
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,360
So if you are new to writing manuscripts or you've been writing manuscripts for a while

65
00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,560
and it's not something you've engaged, definitely talk with someone who is a little further

66
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:07,000
ahead in the field to ask about what are the writing conventions in our field.

67
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,440
And it'd be interesting what answer you get.

68
00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,920
So today we're talking about tips for writing a great manuscript.

69
00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,840
And I am excited to share with you some of the things that I've learned over the years

70
00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:19,840
of writing.

71
00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:21,240
I really enjoy writing manuscripts.

72
00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,600
They're my favorite thing to write and I love to tell a great story.

73
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:30,160
And I think scientific manuscripts are an opportunity to tell a great story with data.

74
00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:31,440
Now I'll share some tips with you.

75
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,960
I'm speaking as if you are the first author, as the person who's leading the writing of

76
00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:38,280
the manuscript.

77
00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:40,880
These are my tips for the first author.

78
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,800
So number one, start with a title page.

79
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,560
And the reason to start with a title page is because the title page has the title and

80
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,560
it has the list of authors.

81
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,320
And one of the biggest challenges, especially for first authors who are new and just launching

82
00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,960
their career, is authorship disputes.

83
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:07,720
Authorship disputes are a big deal and they really can derail manuscript writing.

84
00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,800
And at the end of it, the person who suffers is usually the young person who started out,

85
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,960
put a lot of effort into writing the manuscript and somebody showed up out of the blue and

86
00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,960
said, hey, I should be the first author.

87
00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,960
And one of the ways to circumvent that is just to start up front.

88
00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:29,440
Do not passcode, do not collect 200, do not do any work until you start with the title

89
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:30,440
page.

90
00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,800
And the title page, you have your idea for what the title of the manuscript is going

91
00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:35,800
to be.

92
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:41,040
You have the list of authors in order and you have their affiliations.

93
00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:42,520
Start with that.

94
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:48,560
And then once you have outlined all of that, your next step is to send it to the senior

95
00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:54,720
author and say, hey, here's my idea for the title, here's the list of authors, here's

96
00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:56,840
the authorship order.

97
00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,640
And next you want to ask three questions of the senior author.

98
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,200
Number one, who else should be on this list?

99
00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:05,640
Who are we missing?

100
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:10,280
So you want to make sure that you ask them who is missing from this list?

101
00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:11,280
Who should I include?

102
00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,080
That is not already here.

103
00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:20,040
Question number two is how should the authorship order be adjusted?

104
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:26,560
So you're asking now not just about the completeness of the list, but the order of the list.

105
00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,480
And number three, what edits do you have?

106
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,480
Okay, three questions.

107
00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:31,880
Who needs to be on the list?

108
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:33,160
Who are we missing?

109
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,040
How should the order be adjusted?

110
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:36,720
And what edits do you have?

111
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,360
And that's between first author, senior author, figure all that out.

112
00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,280
It's on a piece of paper that is your title page.

113
00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,840
Okay, you figured out the title page.

114
00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,480
Number two is now to create the outline.

115
00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:57,240
Okay, I learned from one of my faculty colleagues in our weekly accountability coaching group

116
00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,040
that there are three strategies in writing.

117
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,220
You outline and then you draft and then you edit.

118
00:08:03,220 --> 00:08:04,220
And that really helps me.

119
00:08:04,220 --> 00:08:09,640
It helped me because I was a person who just started off writing a draft right away and

120
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:15,000
invariably I would be drafting and then thinking about edits at the same time.

121
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,640
So I would start with a full page and I would turn around.

122
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,280
I have to delete the page.

123
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:25,680
And sometimes at the end of my writing, I would end up with less writing than I started

124
00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,320
with because I was always editing and deleting things.

125
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:34,160
And so the moment she told me, well, first outline, then draft, then edit, it just helps

126
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:35,160
me.

127
00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,720
It separated all three components.

128
00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:37,720
Outlining is easy.

129
00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,160
I'm not really thinking about sentence structure.

130
00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:42,560
I'm really thinking about content.

131
00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:46,720
And then drafting, it follows easily from a good outline.

132
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:47,980
And then editing.

133
00:08:47,980 --> 00:08:50,960
Editing is easy once there's already a draft in place.

134
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,280
So these are the three things that I recommend as well.

135
00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,120
But I'm talking right now about number two, creating the outline.

136
00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:05,080
And you create the outline so that you are able to order all your thoughts and write

137
00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,760
a compelling logic of how things should show up.

138
00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,200
And you get to the introduction, outline the introduction.

139
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,640
Paragraph one, paragraph two, maybe paragraph three.

140
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,120
You get to the methods, outline the methods.

141
00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:21,840
You get to the results, outline the results.

142
00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,600
You can get to the discussion, outline the discussion.

143
00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:30,400
And one of the real great things about outlining is that you're not really focused on sentence

144
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:31,400
structure.

145
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,840
You're not focused on whether the grammar, the style of writing is right.

146
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,160
You're just really focused on content.

147
00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,640
And initially, your goal is really to make sure all the content is on the table.

148
00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:46,280
You want to make sure you have everything that needs to be there first.

149
00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,840
And outlining allows you to do that without getting caught in the web of details.

150
00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:57,680
But number three, as you're creating the outline, is really making sure you're developing a

151
00:09:57,680 --> 00:09:58,920
great story.

152
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,680
Now the thing about data is that data is neutral.

153
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,480
Data is just data.

154
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,840
The meaning we bring to the data is our interpretation of the data.

155
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:15,000
And that's why I think over the years the scientific reading public may not understand

156
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:21,440
is that data is neutral, but the scientists who interpret the data are not neutral.

157
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:26,720
They've got ideas, they've got thoughts, they've got biases that they bring to the table.

158
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:32,260
And so when you go to write your manuscript, you're asking what story is this data telling?

159
00:10:32,260 --> 00:10:38,000
And ideally, this is a story that the data is telling in light of the literature, so

160
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:45,280
other stories that are in the literature, and also the story that the data is telling

161
00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:53,240
in light of how your findings may be different from what the general story is.

162
00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,560
So you're telling a great story with your data.

163
00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,520
And that's why number three is develop your story.

164
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:04,480
And every great story has a great cast of characters, there's a problem, there's a

165
00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:09,400
conflict, there's kind of the big reveal or the resolution of the conflict, and then there's

166
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,640
post resolution of the conflict, the wrap up.

167
00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:20,000
So your introduction is you introducing the problem, and as you're introducing the problem,

168
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,560
you're also invariably introducing the cast of characters.

169
00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:31,800
And you get to the end of your introduction, and in a sense, you've kind of demonstrated

170
00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:33,680
the problem and the climax.

171
00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:38,280
It's like, well, this is the problem, and this is what we want to do about it.

172
00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,020
And then when you get to the methods, it's just the methods are the methods.

173
00:11:42,020 --> 00:11:43,960
You can't get too exciting about that.

174
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:50,080
Well, you lay out, this is how we went about trying to solve this big problem.

175
00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,760
And then your results are like the big reveal, and your discussion is the wrap up.

176
00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:56,640
It's a great story.

177
00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:03,720
And over time, the more manuscripts you write, the more you read, you learn that great storytellers

178
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:08,740
write great scientific manuscripts, and they are fun to read, they are joy to read.

179
00:12:08,740 --> 00:12:15,240
And I hope you'll be one of those authors writing manuscripts that are a joy to read.

180
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,560
So number three is to develop the story.

181
00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:19,800
Okay, you've just done the outline.

182
00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,120
You haven't done much else.

183
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:22,120
You've just done the outline.

184
00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,160
Now you have title page and you have outline.

185
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,320
It is time to circulate it to all the co-authors.

186
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,400
So that's number four, circulate it to all the co-authors.

187
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:36,020
You're only circulating the title page, and you're asking, hey, here's the title page.

188
00:12:36,020 --> 00:12:41,200
Can everybody check their affiliations and make sure their names are spelled correctly

189
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:42,880
and the affiliations are correct?

190
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:48,200
Okay, you're not necessarily asking, does anybody have a problem with the author order?

191
00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,880
Does anybody have a problem with the authors on the list?

192
00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,120
That is implied when you send it out to everybody.

193
00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,640
They see the paper, they see the title, they see their names, they see where the position

194
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,720
of their names are, and they see their affiliation.

195
00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,920
So you don't have to get into the uncomfortable space of now trying to ask everybody, are

196
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:07,920
you okay with your name?

197
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,660
Are you okay with where things are?

198
00:13:09,660 --> 00:13:12,320
You're just saying, look at the paper, here it is.

199
00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:13,720
I'm sending you the outline.

200
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,580
I want you to correct any misspellings of your name.

201
00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:18,620
Let me know your ORCID ID.

202
00:13:18,620 --> 00:13:21,440
Let me know if the affiliation is correct.

203
00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:22,840
That's all you're telling them.

204
00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:27,160
And they can decide if they have any questions about the authorship order, and they can reach

205
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,760
out and say, hey, I thought I was going to be first author.

206
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:30,760
What's going on?

207
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,360
One of the things you've done for yourself too as a first author is that you've kind

208
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,680
of established that, hey, I've outlined this paper.

209
00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:39,040
I've done work here.

210
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,520
I'm the rightful person to be writing this manuscript because, hey, I'm the one writing

211
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:44,520
it.

212
00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,160
But what's important is that you haven't done too much work.

213
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:54,880
So if at this point in time somebody is like, no, no, no, hold your horses, everybody stop.

214
00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,800
You are not so invested that you can't say, okay, well, you take and run with it, if that's

215
00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:02,840
what you are so inclined to do.

216
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,240
But it's not the thing where you finished everything and spent months and months and

217
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:10,520
months of time writing only for someone to take over and say, no, I'm the rightful first

218
00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:11,620
author.

219
00:14:11,620 --> 00:14:16,000
So the outline with the title page does a couple of things for you.

220
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,480
Number one, it just helps you announce the paper is about to be written.

221
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,400
Everybody check out your authorship information.

222
00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,920
Let's just figure out what's going on with authorship.

223
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,640
If you have any questions, ask right away.

224
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:33,000
And it gives the co-authors a chance to have seen the paper the first time and to give

225
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:34,000
feedback.

226
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,280
Now, the outline I told you is really about content.

227
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:43,040
And it's easy at the outline stage to make drastic revisions that don't hurt because

228
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,000
you're just really just moving sentences around.

229
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,000
That's all you're doing.

230
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,080
You're not taking a lot of time to really craft a beautiful paper.

231
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,800
You're just moving sentences around in an outline.

232
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,360
So you're giving the authors a chance to bring up any disputes if needed.

233
00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:02,360
And you're also giving them a chance to see the paper for the first time and give their

234
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:07,920
input as to the direction in which the paper is going because, again, it's not a final

235
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:08,920
draft.

236
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,560
And what you hate is to get to the end of the paper, you're almost ready to submit,

237
00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,920
and an author is like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

238
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,520
I think we should x, y, z.

239
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,800
So the outline just allows everyone to give their two cents early.

240
00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,000
So you want to give your co-authors about two to three weeks.

241
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,280
I hear people say, two to three weeks?

242
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,120
I don't have that kind of time.

243
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,520
And I would tell you that you do.

244
00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,400
Scientific writing takes time.

245
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:40,560
And if you are in a hurry to get a manuscript out the door, you may be in too much of a

246
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,680
hurry and you want to pause and make sure you have at least a six-week period to write

247
00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:46,680
a manuscript.

248
00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:53,280
And some of that time, you do need to dedicate to giving people time because you want people

249
00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,600
to actually do the review.

250
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,660
You don't want anybody to feel rushed.

251
00:15:57,660 --> 00:16:01,080
You don't want anybody to get to the point of submission and then have a question or

252
00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:02,080
have a concern.

253
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,560
That really should have come up very early on.

254
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,760
So you circulated it to all the co-authors.

255
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,840
And the next step, number five, is that you're going to give them two to three weeks.

256
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:11,840
Give them time.

257
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,880
I mean, it really is just the title page of the outline.

258
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,000
But give them time.

259
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,720
And definitely bug them after two weeks and say, hey, have you looked at the outline?

260
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:23,680
All right, send it back to me.

261
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:29,120
And hopefully by the end of those two or three weeks, every author has given you their feedback,

262
00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:34,800
has acknowledged that they've seen the authorship byline, have given you the affiliations.

263
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,240
Everybody's name should be correct and the affiliations should be correct.

264
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:42,320
All right, now you're ready for the next step.

265
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,120
Number six, you're going to incorporate their edits because now they've told you how they

266
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,600
want you to reshape the paper.

267
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,200
And you're going to write the first draft.

268
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,600
And it's going to be an easier first draft to write because in outlining, you've already

269
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,360
given yourself a first draft of the paper.

270
00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:00,160
And so drafting the paper will be an easy thing to do because a lot of the work was

271
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,600
done in creating the outline.

272
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,560
You draft the paper.

273
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,500
And this is going to be the paper that you're going to send out for the second and hopefully

274
00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:09,500
the last time.

275
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:13,720
And so you draft the paper, work with your senior author to draft the paper.

276
00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,200
Or at least they can see the paper after the draft.

277
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:18,920
For me, I don't necessarily need to see it.

278
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,080
Once the draft is done, it can go back out to the co-authors.

279
00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:26,480
But perhaps you check in with your senior author again and say, here's the first manuscript

280
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:27,480
draft.

281
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:33,380
And if you've done the work in developing a good outline, incorporating feedback from

282
00:17:33,380 --> 00:17:38,480
all the co-authors, the draft actually should not need that much editing because it really

283
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,680
is just refining the outline that was previously created.

284
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,000
So hopefully that doesn't take as much time.

285
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,760
And then you send it out to the co-authors.

286
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,000
And now they've seen the manuscript for the second time.

287
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,680
They've incorporated edits as far as content and structure.

288
00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,520
And now all they're doing, hopefully at this point, is really just saying, OK, well, I

289
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,600
think this sentence should be here.

290
00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,600
Have you considered including this?

291
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:09,400
And it's more kind of just refining a manuscript that they've already seen rather than them

292
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:15,880
trying to seriously edit a manuscript and change things at the last minute.

293
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,640
If you've written enough manuscripts, you know that there is the author that wakes up

294
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,200
two days before the manuscript is supposed to be submitted and says, no, no, no, no,

295
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,840
no, no, no, no, no, let's change everything.

296
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:30,040
And so hopefully, because they've already seen the manuscript the first time, this doesn't

297
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,440
happen at this point.

298
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,120
So you sent out the draft.

299
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:39,840
Everyone hopefully is now going to put in their final edits.

300
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:45,800
And then number seven is that you're going to finalize the draft based on any final edits

301
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,600
and you're going to work with a senior author to submit.

302
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:57,040
So hopefully, in this strategy, you give the co-authors at least two opportunities to give

303
00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,600
feedback for the manuscript.

304
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,640
And then you can refine and submit.

305
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,920
So those are my tips for writing a great manuscript.

306
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:07,400
And clearly, there's a lot more.

307
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,520
This is just kind of like a general framework for how to think about manuscripts and avoid

308
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:16,040
some of the pitfalls that come with authorship disputes very early on by clarifying how the

309
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:21,440
title page should be with a senior author and then giving the co-authors a chance to

310
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,880
take a look at that.

311
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,760
So those are my tips for writing a manuscript.

312
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,880
Everyone is in different phases of their career as far as how often they do this and how well

313
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,160
they do this.

314
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:37,420
And so I know somebody needs to hear about this episode, at least to stimulate thoughts,

315
00:19:37,420 --> 00:19:39,200
because we all do things differently.

316
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,280
And no one's idea is better than the next person's idea.

317
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:46,320
I'm just sharing with you what has worked for me in my research program.

318
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,720
And I hope you'll find it interesting and helpful.

319
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,840
And if you do, please share it with someone else, especially if you're a mentor and a

320
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,640
mentee needs to hear this, or your mentee and your peer mentors need to hear this.

321
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,000
Definitely share with your team of peer mentors.

322
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:04,120
And if you don't have a team of peer mentors, well, you should.

323
00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:05,280
And we should talk about it.

324
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:10,800
Yeah, send me a DM and say, hey, what are you talking about with this team of peer mentors?

325
00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,560
And another thing you can do is to leave a voicemail on our podcast website.

326
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,240
So that's clinicianresearcherpodcast.com.

327
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,360
Leave a voicemail and share your insight.

328
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:26,720
And we'll play a voicemail if it's selected on a future episode and use it to create an

329
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:27,720
episode.

330
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:28,760
All right.

331
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,720
It's been a pleasure talking with you today.

332
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,800
Thank you for taking the time to listen.

333
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:43,760
I look forward to talking with you again next time.

334
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:49,120
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic

335
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:54,360
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

336
00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:55,920
have a mentor.

337
00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:02,040
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

338
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,760
Someone else needs to hear it.

339
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,840
So take a minute right now and share it.

340
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:13,280
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

341
00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:18,960
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do health

342
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:19,960
care.

343
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:32,080
Bon tea.