How to Get Started Writing Your Paper

How to Get Started Writing Your Paper

All right, you’ve researched and reviewed the literature, you’ve gathered and analyzed your data, and you’ve determined you have enough results to write up and submit your research to a peer-reviewed journal. But how on earth do you start writing the paper? Staring at...
Difficult Word Pairs

Difficult Word Pairs

When reading various tweets and posts on social media, I can’t help but notice that a number of word pairs get mixed up and used incorrectly quite frequently. I don’t know if that’s an effect of the notorious autocorrect feature, or if people get confused on which is...
Spooky Science

Spooky Science

Stepping away from medical and biological sciences a bit, a foray into quantum physics teaches us about “spooky” science. In quantum entanglement, first described by Schrödinger, if you observe a particle in one place, another particle – even one that is light years...
Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

What is the difference between inclusion and exclusion criteria? How do you know whether something should be an inclusion or exclusion criterion for your study? In a prospective study, you define the study population and enrol eligible subjects before applying the...
Affect vs Effect

Affect vs Effect

According to a Twitter poll I conducted recently, numerous people are challenged to use the words “affect” and “effect” correctly. These terms come up frequently in scientific and medical writing. Affect is commonly used as a verb, meaning to impact on, to influence,...