The smart way to write a journal article
For nearly 20 years I personally ran many hundreds of short courses on how to write scientific papers. One of the things that kept striking me as I did so was how so many otherwise capable doctors and scientists were finding the task so difficult.
I wrote this book to show them that the process can, and should be, straighforward.
Specifically, the book aims to:
- demystify the writing and publication process,
- guide writers logically from first idea through planning, writing and rewriting to submission,
- provide tips on managing time, colleagues, supervisors and editors,
- establish a definition of a 'good paper' that can be measured objectively,
- give confidence.
The book is now in its fourth edition and clearly still meets a need. I am encouraged by people telling me how helpful they found it. One unsolicited letter said: 'I am writing to thank you for your considerable role in turning our research group into a leading group internationally . . . Quite simply without your book we would never have been in this position'.
'A very street-wise and helpful book - The Lancet
What people have said about the book ...
'In this fourth edition of his classic guide, Tim Albert continues to demystify the process of getting research published in characteristically clear and engaging style. From the initial brief to final manuscript and beyond, all is explained in jargon-free, no-nonsense and encouraging terms' - publisher's blurb, fourth edition
'Tim’s book will be a huge help. It will motivate, prompt, guide, nudge, amuse and even console you as you make the journey to the front page of the Lancet – or the Transactions of the Barsetshire Urological and Literary Society.” – Dr Richard Smith, former editor of the BMJ, in the foreword to the first edition.
'Tim has fun deconstructing the system as it is often perceived, describing a rational alternative, and showing you how to get one step ahead” – Matthias Egger and Nicola Low, University of Bern, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, writing in the foreword to the third edition.
The first edition of this book was highly commended in the BMA Medical Books Competition.
Earlier editions have been translated into Italian and Chinese.
Fourth edition published 2016 by CRC Press: 140 pages
ISBN: 13-978-1-78523-011-0
'Not just a changed country but a changed narrator'
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