Writing Case Reports and Review Articles
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articles. For example, in a clinical review of gastric cancer, you might use the order introduction, etiology, diagnosis, treatment of disease (by stage), follow-up, and conclusions. Use subheads generously, but don’t use so many that each section contains only one or two paragraphs. Think about the broad topics readers would want to be able to find information about quickly, and make these your top- level subheads. But don’t use subheads that are so broad that they essentially repeat the title of the article. For each section, summarize the major points of relevant studies in your own words. Don’t give lots of details on individual studies in the text; if details on multiple studies are needed, present them in tables. In the text, focus on the conclusions of those studies and how the studies agreed with or differed from each other. If you disagree with the conclusions of a study’s authors, diplomatically explain why. Above all, let the readers know what you think they should get out of the information — that is, give them the take-home message. For example, if some studies showed a benefit from a treatment and others showed no benefit, should the treatment be used in general practice, only in clinical trials, or not at all? If there is not enough information available to draw conclusions, acknowledge that. Always remember, a review article should not be just a collection of abstracts or summaries of previously published studies — rather, it should help readers understand what those studies, considered together, mean. Make sure all information in a section relates to the topic of that section. For example, readers would not expect to find information on diagnostic imaging in an “etiology” section. Don’t use the same wording as other authors when talking about their findings. Put the information into your own words. And don’t paste material you prepared for another article into your review. If the material is relevant, boil the information down to the essential facts, and use new words to describe them. Use transitional words and phrases between sentences, paragraphs, and sections. This takes some of the burden of interpretation off the readers. For example, if 2 studies’ findings disagree, you might use the phrase “in contrast” or “on the other hand” to introduce the second study— that warns the readers to expect differences between the 2 studies’ findings. Identify any remaining gaps in knowledge, and if appropriate, suggest avenues of research to fill those gaps. If you are aware of ongoing or planned studies that address these gaps, consider mentioning the studies.
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