Biomedical Publishing Podcast

Alle researchers need to search for previously published material. You can either do it in a loose fashion, so-called "surfing" for evidence, or you can perform a search systematically, e.g. for a systematic review.

There are strict rules about how to handle your data from a research project. You cannot put them on Dropbox or similar web-based repositories and you cannot save them on the hard drive of your personal computer. 

It is mandatory to follow the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) rules for trials involving drugs. This episode will give you the background and the main content of the GCP regulations and what it practically means to you when running the study. It is no way a full description of the GCP concept but will give you the highlights so that you can find further details yourself.

There will for certain be critical phases in your research process, This episode will go through the critical phases in the protocol, data acquisition, analysis, manuscript and publication phases. Most problems can be prevented.

You do not need to be an expert in the clinical field to write a systematic review. It is a fairly easy process because it follows a specific guideline (the PRISMA guideline), and it is also fairly easy to get it accepted for publication in a journal if you do it the right way. And importantly, you will automatically read the necessary literature in your research field. The only drawback is that you have to invest the necessary time and energy, but that is not really a negative thing. So go ahead and write a systematic review in your field of research. 

If problems arise with serious author disputes or question about research integrity then journal editors go to COPE for advice. You should therefore know about this important ressource that is freely available on the internet.

There may be author disputes in a competitive environment like biomedical research. this is sad and disturbing, but if you handle it very early in the research process then most problems can be prevented.

Before study start (meaning before accrual of the first patient) you have to obtain certain permissions and perform certain registrations. There are differences from country to country but you will always need ethical committee approval for a clinical trial.

It is very often a struggle to obtain necessary funding for your research ideas. This episode will discuss how to obtain funding and how to make a good application for that.

The best way to get the idea for a research project is to listen to the questions asked by the patient and by younger colleagues and medical students. They often ask the relevant questions, and these can very easily be translated into research questions.

Everybody needs a mentor. When you look for a mentor the most important factor is chemistry. You will spend a lot of time together with your mentor so communication has to be pleasant and productive. The research area may not be that important as long as your mentor is the right person for you. 

In large multicenter trials there may be problems about authorship if you do not settle that before study start. In this context it is advisable to make a formal authorship contract with the study sites before accrual of the first patient.

In this episode we go through the editorial process. What happens with your paper in its way through the editorial office, out for review, back again, and the additional steps until final publication.

Whenever possible you should use a reporting guideline when writing your paper. This will increase the quality and transparency of your work and it will also increase the chance of getting your paper published.

It is important to write a research protocol for almost all types of studies. Usually the protocol is large and comprehensive for human clinical trials, and for other study types the protocol may be smaller.

In this episode I go through my current choice of software for PC/Mac and apps for smartphone. These are tools that will make your life easier as a biomedical researcher.

There are many reasons why a paper can be rejected by the editor. We go though some of the most important reasons, where choice of the wrong journal may be the most important one. 

The submission proces has certain steps and include the manuscript system used by the journal, a cover letter, submission of different files, and if you get a chance to revise your paper, the revised paper should be submitted with a detailed rebuttal letter.

Writers block may be the most important inhibitor in the writing proces, both for novices as well as experienced authors. This episode will outline the possible causes and potential solutions to this common and irritating problem.

There are different issues to consider when you are deciding for a target journal for your scientific article. The best advice is to decide as early as possible because it may influence the writing of the paper and even the study design in some cases.