
7 The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors lists four criteria for authorship: (1) “substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work” AND (2) “drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content” AND (3) “final approval of the version to be published” AND (4) “agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.” 8 “Courtesy authorship” is unacceptable and unethical and should be avoided. 6 All authors listed on the final manuscript must have participated sufficiently in the work to be accountable and take public responsibility for the content of the publication. The transfer of knowledge through a well-written publication in a high-quality medical journal will have an impact not only in your own institution and country, but also throughout the world.įull size table Step 1: Confirm Authors, Select a Journal, and Read the Journal’s Instructionsĭeciding in advance on authorship as well as the sequence of authors, including the corresponding author, is important to avoid conflict. Success in scientific writing, as in surgery, is dependent on effort, repetition, and commitment. Thoughtful and respectful responses to the journal reviewers’ comments are critical. It is very uncommon for a manuscript to be accepted as submitted to a journal. As with any skill, efficient writing of high-quality manuscripts comes with experience and repetition.

Although scientific quality is the most important consideration, clear and concise writing often makes the difference between acceptance and rejection. The likelihood that a manuscript will be accepted by a major journal is significantly increased if the manuscript is written in polished and fluent scientific English.

We describe key criteria for acceptance of manuscripts and outline a multi-step process for writing the manuscript. The key to getting manuscripts accepted is to make them understandable and informative so that your colleagues will read and benefit from them. Publication of your research represents the culmination of your scientific activities.
