Considerations in presenting, interpreting, and reviewing research findings

By disseminating reports of well-conducted research in peer-reviewed journals, investigators regularly provide valuable information and insights to other professionals. Prospective authors of such reports should be aware that submitted manuscripts undergo considerable scrutiny and analysis by reviewers and editors as part of the publication cycle and, later, by readers for whom the information is intended. Therefore, when a researcher becomes an author, he or she should attempt to be as complete as possible in meeting the needs of those audiences. In this article, we discuss problems often found in research reports submitted to peer-reviewed journals so that investigators may improve the quality of their manuscripts.