The case for structuring the discussion of scientific papers
Open accessAbstract
Structure is the most difficult part of writing, no matter whether you are writing a novel, a play, a poem, a government report, or a scientific paper. If the structure is right then the rest can follow fairly easily, but no amount of clever language can compensate for a weak structure. Structure is important so that readers don't become lost. They should know where they've come from, where they are, and where they are headed. A strong structure also allows readers to know where to look for particular information and makes it more likely that all important information will be included. Readers of scientific papers in medical journals are used to the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion)1 and either consciously or unconsciously know the function of each section. Readers have also become used to structured abstracts, which have been shown to include more important information than unstructured summaries. 2 3 Journals are now introducing specific structures for particular types of papers—such as the CONSORT structure for …
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Structuring the discussion may help authors avoid unwarranted speculation and over-interpretation of results while guiding readers through the text.
“Structuring the discussion may help authors avoid unwarranted speculation and over-interpretation of results while guiding readers through the text [ 194 , 195 ].”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE): Explanation and Elaboration (2007) · cites this paper as [194]
Structured discussions can help authors avoid over-interpreting results, and act as a guide for readers.
“Structured discussions can help authors avoid over-interpreting results, and act as a guide for readers.107 108”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology using Mendelian Randomisation (STROBE-MR): explanation and elaboration. (2021) · cites this paper as [107]
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- Authors
- Docherty, M., & Smith, R.
- Affiliations
- Nottingham City Hospital (GB)
- ORCID
- Smith, R.
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1999-05-08
- Volume
- 318
- Issue
- 7193
- Pages
- 1224-1225
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC1115625
- OpenAlex
- W2043229633
- Cited by
- 183
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Academic Writing and Publishing
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Academic Publishing and Open Access
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Keywords
- scientific writing, paper structure, discussion section, IMRAD structure, structured abstracts, CONSORT, medical journal articles, reader comprehension
- MeSH terms
- Periodicals as Topic, Science, Writing
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