Telling a clear story in a clinical anaesthesiology paper.

Why is a scientific paper necessary? Why not just publish figures and tables? The reason is that the paper tells the story behind the figures and tables. Although some readers can construct the story from looking at the figures and tables, most readers need the paper to explain the story to them. The story in a scientific paper has four parts, each corresponding to one of the four sections of the paper. The four parts are the question that was asked (Introduction), what was done to answer the question (Materials and methods), what was found that answers the question (Results), and the answer to the question (Discussion). In addition to these four essential parts, the story includes background information on the topic (Introduction) and an explanation of how the answer fits in with previous work (Discussion). This article illustrates how to tell a clear story in the four sections of a clinical anaesthesiology paper. Examples are based on papers in the March 1993 and July 1992 issues of this journal. All four parts of one paper are included, to give a sense of one complete story. Introduction The story in a scientific paper beings in the Introduction. The most important statement in the Introduction is the question the study asks. The question is most important because it creates an expectation of the kind of answer that will be given in the Discussion and of the type of methods and results that will be described. That is, the question provides a focus for the paper.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)