My Study Has Been Completed

For background, check out this Coursera course on scientific writing. 

1. First, assemble your team. Utilize the CMH Authorship Policy as a guide on: who to include, how to determine authorship order, and responsibilities.
   • To be listed as an author on a manuscript, one must:
     1. Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work OR the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
     2. Draft the work or revise it critically for important intellectual content; AND
     3. Give final approval of the version to be published; AND
     4. Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work that ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
   • Those who meet fewer than all four of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but their contributions can be described in the Acknowledgements section. (Ex: data entry, general supervision of a research project, proofreading or editing, etc.)
   • Authorship order depends on the relative contribution of the individual authors. It depends on the specialty, but often the first named author will be the individual who contributed the most to the research project. The first named author typically drafts the manuscript. The last named author will be a senior investigator who has expertise in the subject matter and who provided close project oversight (this person may be your faculty advisor).
   • The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the submission, peer review, and publication processes, and typically ensures that the journal’s administrative requirements (ex: providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, etc.)
2. Next, choose the right journal to apply to (and a backup or two). Think through journals you and your colleagues read and reference.
   • Check out our journal publishing guide for help finding a journal for your manuscript.
   • Pro Tip: enter keywords that pertain to your study into PubMed and read through the names of journals in which similar work has been published. From there, read up on the journal’s description as well as any special calls for articles (making sure that they aren’t an invite-only journal). Skimming titles of recently published articles will also give you a sense of the journal’s focus, which may not be explicitly described. 

Remember: exploitative, predatory journals are on the rise. If you are concerned about legitimacy, review this interactive checklist to help determine if the journal is predatory. You can also reach out to the CMH Medical Librarian or GME Research Staff for their input.

Highlevel Red Flags include: a journal that you have not had contact with emailed you with a high and/ or unclear submission fee structure, quick turnarounds, submissions via email, and poor language skills. A few resources to help you spot the phonies:

• • Predatory publishing Red Flags are described here to help you discern if a journal might be predatory. You can also review a video explainer in < 3 minutes. This infographic helps you to spot a fake, and examples of common predatory tricks can be found here.
  • You can even check a journal in question against this blog where sketchy journals are put on blast, these crowdsourced lists here and here, or look it up in the Directory of (legit) Open Access Journals.
  • Still not sure? Use this tool or this rubric to evaluate the publisher’s website or this checklist to evaluate a questionable email you received. 

They say prevention is the best medicine- refer back to this webpage on how to protect yourself from predatory journals in the future.

There are many ways to share findings from your study other than by writing a peer-reviewed manuscript. You can create a scientific poster, give a podium presentation, or engage in non-traditional forms of dissemination. Some specialties offer guidance for communicating your research results.

• For guidance on who to include on your Dissemination Team, consult the CMH Authorship Policy.

If you are creating a scientific poster, you can find CMH-branded poster presentation templates here. You can also find additional guidance on creating an updated scientific poster here. 

If you are giving a podium presentation, you can use this CMH-branded PowerPoint deck.

Please see the CMH Institutional Review Board website on the intranet for information on how to close out a protocol. 

Discuss with the GME Research Staff how study records and collected data will be protected after study closure. 

• • Records (including the approved IRB application, all amendments, continuing reviews, and signed informed consent forms) must be retained for at least three years per federal regulations.
  • Deidentified data without codes attached can be stored indefinitely; keep this in mind in case data analysis is ongoing or you may want to revisit your data in the future. 
  • You will also need a plan for who will destroy any data and/or delete records no longer needed from your personal devices. 
  • You will need to decide what to do with any unused supplies/equipment. 
  • Other conditions may apply based on your specific study so check in with GME Research Staff.