Section outline

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    I. Welcome to the course of Scientific Communication

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    Welcome Message:

    Welcome to this exciting course related to scientific publication. This course aims at providing research skills in developing a scientific research paper and at a later stage a policy brief. At the end of the course, you will be able to improve your skills in writing abstract and main components of a scientific research paper. You will be able to review a research paper and describe different components and flow of each section of a scientific paper. At a later stage, you will be introduced to how to develop a policy brief from your research findings for an evidence-based policy decision.


    Course Overall Learning Outcomes:

    At the end of this course, you will be able to:

    • Apply the principle of research question development and the development of major sections of a scientific paper.
    • Debate the importance of publication and key steps to get started
    • Describe methods strategies, results, discussions and submission processes
    • Apply acquired skills to point out pitfalls of a policy brief
    • Prepare a draft manuscript for submission

    Module Developers


    Course leader: Condo Jeanine, MD, PhD
    jcondo@nursph.org
    Course members: Humuza James, MD, PhD
    jhumuza@nursph.org
    Course Online Instructor: Ngenzi Joseph, MSc
    J.ngenzi@ur.ac.rw

    • Announcements Forum
    • E-tivity 0.1: Introduce yourself Forum
      Students must
      Mark as done
      • You should introduce yourself, focusing on your professional background
      • Each one of you should state the expected outcomes at the end of this course
      • Kindly, be aware that there is no silly question and there is no silly answer.
      • You are all here to learn from each other and to exchange new principles, knowledge and skills with your instructors
    • Live session URL
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Online-Scientific Comm-Session 0 File PPSX
      Students must
      Mark as done
      5.5 MB
    • Online Scientific Communication-Dec.2020 File PDF
      Students must
      Mark as done
      498.5 KB
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    II. Session 1: Getting Started

    Aim of the session I:

    This session will introduce you to the importance of publication and overall skeleton of a research manuscript. A good and attracting title and introduction section will influence the reader to read or NOT your entire manuscript. The editor of the journal will decide whether or not your manuscript will undergo to further review or subject for rejection.


    Content of session 1: Getting Started

    • Why publishing
    • Structure of the manuscript
    • Title Page
    • Abstract structure
    • Authorship
    • Getting started and Introduction section of the manuscript

    Unit Learning Outcomes:
    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    1. Explain the importance of publishing and different structures of abstracts, requirements of authorship,
    2. Write a good title page and attracting the introduction section of the manuscript.

    What students are expected to do (Tasks):

    Purpose: To learn how to develop a good title and the introduction section which are the foundation of the manuscript, you are invited to do the following:

    Preparatory research:

    • Download presentations of session 1 of scientific communication course: this will strengthen knowledge of identification of good and bad title, understand the TOPIC requirement
    • Watch video on the introduction section of the manuscript and describe the 6 components of an introduction section

    Read references below:

    Learning resources:

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    III. Session 2: Methods

    Aim of session 2:

    This session will introduce you to the main components of the method section, the appropriate tenses and appropriate flow of the session. You will also be introduced to the common method section pitfalls. This section is important as most of the designated reviewers of your manuscript will decide whether or not your manuscript will undergo to further review or subject for rejection. This section should be clear enough to allow replication of findings, proper interpretation of results and most importantly allow assessment of the quality of the study and validity of your conclusions.

    Content of session 2: Method

    • Study design
    • Study population and sample size
    • Sample collection and processing
    • Data storage and analysis
    • Ethical review

    Unit Learning Outcomes:

    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    1. Describe main components of the method section
    2. Assess the clarity and flow of the method section by applying CONSORT and STROBE
    3. Use appropriate tenses as required by journals
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    IV. Session 3: Results

    Aim of session 3:

    This session will introduce you to how to present result findings coherently – that is supported by the method section. You will learn the importance of referring to research questions and objectives to present key findings that are objective including negative results. The importance of presenting this section chronologically using the appropriate format: tables, figures or graphs or just presented in form of text.

    Content of session 3: Result

    • Development of the analysis plan and its application in the result section
    • Chronology presents the result section   
    • Appropriateness of the presentation of the research findings

    Unit Learning Outcomes:

    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    1. Develop and apply the analysis plan to report on research findings
    2.  Understand how chronologically research findings are presented
    3. Choose appropriate presentation format of the results; (1) text, (2) tables or (3) graphs

    https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYlZ1N8dm1

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    Session 4: Discussion

    Aim of session 4:

    This session will introduce you to the main components of the discussion section and its appropriate flow. This section ends the Introduction Method Result And Discussion (IMRD) structure of a scientific peer-reviewed article. This section guides the student on how to write the discussion effectively while avoiding plagiarism and self-plagiarism. The discussion section points the reader toward what is needed for future research.

    Content of session 4: Discussion

    Summarize the context

    Answer your research question(s)

    Interpret your results in context of existing knowledge

    Explain any methodological problems (e.g., bias)

    Discuss implications of research findings

    Provide suggestions for additional research

    Unit Learning Outcomes:

    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    • Describe the main components of the discussion section
    • Assess discussion section components
    • Develop the main key components of IMRAD

    Learning resources:

    • Powerpoint presentations note introducing the section, book and weblink to articles
    • https://www.research4life.org/training/athor-skills/

     What students are expected to do (Tasks):

    Purpose: To understand the key components of the discussion section and its appropriate flow. § Preparatory research/ over to you:

    • Use presentations of session 4 of scientific communication course: this will introduce you to the main and critical components of the discussion section.
    • Watch the recorded video on the discussion section related to the 6 components of a scientific research paper. You will be introduced to the notion of plagiarism and self-plagiarism and other common mistakes to avoid while writing the discussion section.
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    Session 5: Reference and final bits

    Aim of session 5

    This session will introduce you to the reference while using Mendeley but also to the main submission process summarized here as final bits. This session will cover the entire editorial process including the DO’s and DON’Ts from the abstract to the reference including the submission process.


    Content of session 5: reference and final bits

    • Structure of an abstract
    • Describe IMRAD structure including flow, tenses, chronology
    • Preferred references and avoidance of grey literature
    • Use of Journal’s guideline to the author (normally posted on the journal’s website)
    • Components of a cover letter
    • Submission processes
    • Editorial review and peer review considerations

    Unit Learning Outcomes:
    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    • Describe main components of a full scientific research article
    • Develop draft manuscript
    • Use appropriate references
    • Undergo the submission process

    Learning resources:

    • Powerpoint presentations, notes introducing the section, book and weblink to articles
    • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10538262/:Preparing manuscripts for submission to medical journals: the paper trail
    • Peter Mason, Pamela Wright, Luu Ngoc Hoat. Writing a scientific paper: A Scientific Article. A HANDBOOK. 2005. PP 63-68


    What students are expected to do (Tasks):
    Purpose: To develop key components of the scientific research paper

    Preparatory research/ over to you:
    Use the database provided to you to:

    • Develop a research question (maximum 2 research questions)
    • Develop method section while applying principles as described in session 2 (1-2 pages)
    • Develop result section and choose the appropriate presentation of the result section (3-4 pages)
    • Develop the introduction and discussion sections of 2-4 pages each
    • Apply Mendeley for reference
    • References Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
      •Whenever you draw upon previously published work, you must acknowledge the source
      •Any information not from your experiment and not ‘common knowledge’ should be recognized by a citation
      •How references are presented varies considerably - refer to notes for authors for the specific journal
      •Avoid references that are difficult to find
      •Avoid listing related references that were not important to the study
    • Online-Scientific Comm- session 5- Final File PPS
      Students must
      Mark as done
      7.5 MB
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    VII. Session 6: Policy Brief

    Aim of session 6:

    This session will introduce you to the importance of policy brief. In many cases, researchers develop their research paper targeting academic audience. However, the consumer of your research findings is mainly policymakers. In addition, most academicians fail to link research findings to actionable policy briefs to help policymakers apply evidence-based policy for impactful interventions.

    Content of session 6: Policy Brief

    • Planning for a policy brief development
    • Structure of a policy brief
    • Designing a policy brief

    Unit Learning Outcomes:

    At the end of the session, you will be able to:

    • Understand the main components of a policy brief planning
    • Describe major headings of a policy brief
    • Understand the design of a policy brief
    • What students are expected to do (Tasks):

    Purpose: To understand major headings and content of a policy brief

    Preparatory research/ over to you:

    Use presentations of session 6 of scientific communication course: this will introduce you the planning and the development of a policy brief

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    VII. Session 6: Policy Brief

    I am convinced now you have become an expert in developing your own scientific research paper with a policy brief. Each E-tivity will be graded and the summative grade will be brought to 60% of all grades while the final assignment on the development of scientific paper will be graded out of 40% of the overall mark- making a total of 100%. Remember, this course introduces to a new but exciting adventure to enjoy academic merit as you start and keep publishing. The more you publish, the more academic/ scientific journals will seek your time- knowledge and skills to provide reviews on other researcher’s scientific papers.

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