How to write, publish and evaluate scientific articles

We have never been exposed to as much information as in current times. It comes through a variety of media and in different ways. The quantity of scientific information in the area of medicine is enormous, but much of it is difficult to access and of low quality and it often has no clinical applicability.

All of us, physicians, know eminent colleagues who are specialists with a great deal of experience, but who very often have never written a single scientific article. We also know of centers of medical excellence that produce little or no scientific literature and so lose all of the knowledge accumulated over years because there is no scientific record.

The book Artigos científicos – como redigir, publicar e avaliar [How to write, publish and evaluate scientific articles],¹ is a response to the need for this record and is intended to facilitate and guide the evaluation, production and understanding of scientific articles. The author, Maurício Gomes Pereira, is a physician and is Emiritus Professor at the Universidade de Brasília, DF, Brazil. He is a specialist in both Pediatrics and in Public Health, has published several books and has vast experience in the areas of scientific methodology and epidemiology.

Published in a soft cover, the book contains 396 pages divided into 24 chapters. The topics covered vary from an explanation of all of the elements of a scientific article, with details, templates and examples that are very clear and of great help, to very specific chapters, such as on how to choose a periodical, article submission and how to get an article approved.

The book uses clear, instructive and objective language and the chapters are comprehensive and well-written, with the result that the book truly demystifies, making understanding and writing a scientific article less complex and arduous tasks. The author’s intention is not that this book should be read from cover to cover, but that it should be a resource for rapid and objective consultation on specific subjects and in order to overcome specific difficulties encountered when publishing or reading a scientific article.

This is an excellent resource for undergraduates, residents, postgraduate students and specialists, ranging from those with no experience whatsoever in scientific production to those with a great deal of experience, such as editors and peer-reviewers for journals. Undoubtedly, this book will make a great contribution to teaching and scientific output in Brazil.

• Financial support: None.

REFERÊNCIAS

• ¹
  Pereira MG. Artigos científicos – como redigir, publicar e avaliar. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara Koogan; 2011.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  05 Apr 2016
• Date of issue
  Jan-Mar 2016

History

• Received
  07 Dec 2015
• Accepted
  09 Dec 2015