Structure Your Article

Learn about the elements that organize a typical IEEE journal article and how to compose your work to help communicate your ideas more clearly.

The article’s title should be specific, concise, and descriptive to help readers decide if they should read the full article.  Use keywords and short phrases to describe the article’s content in as few words as possible.  Avoid terms such as “new” or “novel” since the reader already knows that your research is new and worthy of publication.

Follow the IEEE authorship guidelines when determining who belongs on the author list. 

You may publish your name in your native language, alongside the English version of your name, in the author list if you wish.  The guidelines below are for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters. All other native language names should be submitted via Unicode characters. In your article’s cover letter, indicate that the article includes author names in native languages.

Be sure to carefully check the rendering of your name in your article during the proof stage before article publication.

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters

The following font styles will be used when rendering Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters in the final publication. Use the appropriate font for your native language to avoid potential errors.

  • Simplified Chinese: SongMT
  • Traditional Chinese: SungMT
  • Japanese: MS Mincho
  • Korean: Batang

Use Microsoft Word’s Insert Symbols feature to add the correct characters in parentheses after the name of each author who would like to have their name shown in their native language. Use the standard font listed above to ensure accuracy.

When writing in LaTeX, provide the CJK Ascii Unicode for Chinese (traditional or simplified), Japanese, or Korean.

Your abstract should provide a brief summary of the research conducted, the conclusions reached, and the potential implications of those conclusions.

A strong abstract will also:

  • Consist of a single paragraph up to 250 words, with correct grammar and unambiguous terminology
  • Be self-contained; without abbreviations, footnotes, references, or mathematical equations
  • Highlight what is novel in your work
  • Include 3-5 keywords or phrases that describe the research, with any abbreviations clearly defined, to help readers find your article

Most authors write the abstract last and edit it multiple times before article publication to ensure it accurately captures the entire article.

IEEE recommends that you do not include mathematical symbols in your article title or abstract because they may not display properly.

Using the right keywords in your article can make your article more easily and reliably discoverable—which leads to a broader readership for your article. For best results, define any abbreviations and, where possible, strive to use standardized keywords. Using the IEEE Thesaurus  can help you find the best standardized keywords to fit your article. Use the  thesaurus access request form  for free access to the  IEEE Thesaurus .   

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First Footnote

The first footnote is not numbered. All other footnotes in the article are numbered consecutively. Do not use asterisks or daggers. The first footnote (or the author affiliation paragraph) is made up of at least three paragraphs.   

First paragraph

The first paragraph consists of:

  • all IEEE-provided received, revised, and accepted dates of the article, as well as the two additional online published dates (i.e., first and final publication dates)
  • author-provided name(s) of the corresponding author(s) (as well as names of equally contributed authors or co-first authors, if applicable)
  • author-provided full financial support for the work in the article (listed here and not in the Acknowledgment)
  • author-provided   information of full or partial prior presentation of an article (referred to as a “paper”) at a conference, including the DOI of the prior presentation, which links to the conference version and not a preprint; if an article is a thesis or part of a thesis or dissertation, this should be noted in the last sentence of the first paragraph
  • Articles That Are Reporting on Human/Animal Research and Have Review Board Approval: This work involved human subjects or animals in its research. Approval of all ethical and experimental procedures and protocols was granted by (Name of Review Board or Committee) (if provided under Application No. xx, and performed in line with the (Name of Specific Declaration (if applicable/provided)).
  • Articles That Are Reporting on Human/Animal Research and Are Exempt From Review Board Approval: This work involved human subjects or animals in its research. The author(s) confirm(s) that all human/animal subject research procedures and protocols are exempt from review board approval.

Refer to the IEEE’s policy on Research on Human and Animal Subjects .

Second paragraph

The second paragraph consists of author affiliations, including author-provided department, university or corporation, city, state, province or prefecture (if provided), postal code, and country for each author. Note that the country and corresponding author’s e-mail address must be included. All authors may include their e-mail addresses, which would be separated by semicolons.

See IEEE Editorial Style Manual for Authors for detailed examples of author affiliation types for two or more authors, changed affiliation, retired author, deceased author, and consultant.

Third paragraph

The third paragraph consists of an IEEE-provided notice if the article has supplementary materials and/or color figures in the online version.

Introduction

The introduction section includes a review of the existing literature to position your research within the broader scientific field and to show the novelty of your work.  The introduction should also describe the question you’re trying to answer with your research and why that question is important to the field.

Methodology

The methodology section is a straightforward description of what you did in your research and how you did it.  A detailed methodology section will make your article reproducible by other researchers, which helps others trust and build upon your work.

Ensure your mathematical equations and formulas display correctly in your published article by following either the IEEE Math Typesetting Guide for LaTeX Users or the IEEE Math Typesetting Guide for MS Word Users .

The results section describes the results you obtained in your research.  Include figures and tables as appropriate to illustrate your results. Figures can show data trends or other visual information. Tables are best to use when the exact values are important.

In the discussion section, describe what your results mean and how they are an important contribution to the research field.

The conclusion section can highlight potential broader implications of your work and areas that need further study.  Be careful not to inflate your findings.

The reference section is important because all scientific and technical research builds upon previous work. References help give proper credit and attribution to that preceding body of work.  References also support and validate your hypothesis.  Be sure to only cite references that directly support your work. Inflating citations by adding unnecessary references is considered a breach of publishing ethics.

Acknowledgments

The acknowledgments section is where you can recognize and thank those who have helped you publish this article. Here you can thank your funder, someone who supported you during the research project, or the anonymous reviewers who evaluated the article.  The Acknowledgements section is optional but quite common.

Refining the Use of English in Your Article

Communicate your work clearly. If you are not fully proficient in English, consider using an English language editing service before submitting your article. An expert editing service can help you refine the use of English in your article, so you can communicate your work more effectively.

The use of an editing service is paid for by the author. It does not guarantee acceptance in an IEEE publication.

IEEE authors are eligible for discounts at the following language editing services:

  • American Journal Experts : 10% discount
  • Enago : 30% discount ( review Enago’s services for authors in Chinese )

Structuring your article correctly

Thumbnail

Anthony Newman

About this module

One of the key goals when writing a journal article is to communicate the findings clearly. In order to help researchers achieve that objective, scientific papers share a common structure (with slight variations per journal). Clear communication isn’t the only reason these article elements are so important; for example, the title, abstract, and keywords all help to ensure the article is found, indexed, and advertised to potential readers.

In this interactive module, we walk early career researchers through each of the building blocks. We help you understand the type of content each element should contain. We also share tips on how you can maximize their potential, such as key points to consider when writing your article title.

You will come away with the detailed knowledge you need to write an effective scientific article, increasing your chances of publication success.

About the presenter

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Senior Publisher, Life Sciences, Elsevier

Anthony Newman is a Senior Publisher with Elsevier and is based in Amsterdam. Each year he presents numerous Author Workshops and other similar trainings worldwide. He is currently responsible for fifteen biochemistry and laboratory medicine journals, he joined Elsevier over thirty years ago and has been Publisher for more than twenty of those years. Before then he was the marketing communications manager for the biochemistry journals of Elsevier.  By training he is a polymer chemist and was active in the surface coating industry before leaving London and moving to Amsterdam in 1987 to join Elsevier.

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Scientific Writing: Structuring a scientific article

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  • Structuring a scientific article
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How to Structure a Scientific Article

Many scientific articles include the following elements:

I. Abstract: The abstract should briefly summarize the contents of your article. Be sure to include a quick overview of the focus, results and conclusion of your study.

II. Introduction:  The introduction should include any relevant background information and articulate the idea that is being investigated. Why is this study unique? If others have performed research on the topic, include a literature review. 

III. Methods and Materials:  The methods and materials section should provide information on how the study was conducted and what materials were included. Other researchers should be able to reproduce your study based on the information found in this section. 

IV. Results:  The results sections includes the data produced by your study. It should reflect an unbiased account of the study's findings. 

V.  Discussion and Conclusion:  The discussion section provides information on what researches felt was significant and analyzes the data. You may also want to provide final thoughts and ideas for further research in the conclusion section. 

For more information, see How to Read a Scientific Paper.  

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How to write a journal article - Oxford Academic, Oxford University Press

How to write a journal article

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  • By Rose Wolfe-Emery
  • July 21 st 2023

Academics normally learn how to write while on the job,  sugge s ts  Michael Hochberg. This usually starts with “the dissertation and interactions with their supervisor. Skills are honed and new ones acquired with each successive manuscript.” Writing continues to improve throughout a career, but that thought might bring little solace if you are staring at a blank document and wondering where to start. 

In this blog post, we share tips from editors and outline some ideas to bear in mind when drafting a journal article. Whether you are writing a journal article to share your research, contribute to your field, or progress your career, a well-written and structured article will increase the likelihood of acceptance and of your article making an impact after publication.

Four tips for writing well

Stuart West and Lindsay Turnbull  suggest  four general principles to bear in mind when writing journal articles:

  • Keep it simple:  “Simple, clear writing is fundamental to this task. Instead of trying to sound […] clever, you should be clear and concise.”
  • Assume nothing:  “When writing a paper, it’s best to assume that your reader is [subject] literate, but has very little expert knowledge. Your paper is more likely to fail because you assumed too much, than because you dumbed it down too much.”
  • Keep to essentials:  “If you focus on the main message, and remove all distractions, then the reader will come away with the message that you want them to have.”
  • Tell your story : “Good […] writing tells a story. It tells the reader why the topic you have chosen is important, what you found out, and why that matters. For the story to flow smoothly, the different parts need to link clearly to each other. In creative writing this is called ‘narrative flow’.”

“A paper is well-written if a reader who is not involved in the work can understand every single sentence in the paper,”  argues  Nancy Dixon. But understanding is the bare minimum that you should aim for—ideally, you want to  engage  your audience, so they keep reading. 

As  West and Turnbull say , frankly: “Your potential reader is someone time-limited, stressed, and easily bored. They have a million other things to do and will take any excuse to give up on reading your paper.”

A complete guide to preparing a journal article for submission

Consider your research topic.

Before you begin to draft your article, consider the following questions:

  • What key message(s) do you want to convey?
  • Can you identify a significant advance that will arise from your article?
  • How could your argument, results, or findings change the way that people think or advance understanding in the field?

As  Nancy Dixon  says: “[A journal] editor wants to publish papers that interest and excite the journal’s readers, that are important to advancing knowledge in the field and that spark new ideas for work in the field.”

Think about the journal that you want to submit to

Research the journals in your field and create a shortlist of “target” journals  before  writing your article, so that you can adapt your writing to the journal’s audience and style. Journals sometimes have an official style guide but reading published articles can also help you to familiarise yourself with the format and tone of articles in your target journals. Journals often publish articles of varying lengths and structures, so consider what article type would best suit your argument or results. 

Check your target journals’ editorial policies and ethical requirements. As a minimum, all reputable journals require submissions to be original and previously unpublished. The  ThinkCheckSubmit  checklist can help you to assess whether a journal is suitable for your research.

Now that you’ve decided on your research topic and chosen the journal you plan on submitting to, what do you need to consider when drafting each section of your article?

Create an outline

Firstly, it’s worth creating an outline for your journal article, broken down by section. Seth J. Schwartz  explains  this as follows:

Writing an outline is like creating a map before you set out on a road trip. You know which roads to take, and where to turn or get off the highway. You can even decide on places to stop during your trip. When you create a map like this, the trip is planned and you don’t have to worry whether you are going in the correct direction. It has already been mapped out for you.

The typical structure of a journal article

  • Make it concise, accurate, and catchy
  • Avoid including abbreviations or formulae
  • Choose 5-7 keywords that you’d like your journal article to appear in the search results for
  • Summarize the findings of your journal article in a succinct, “punchy”, and relevant way
  • Keep it brief (200 words for the letter, and 250 words for the main journal)
  • Do not include references

Introduction

  • Introduce your argument or outline the problem
  • Describe your approach
  • Identify existing solutions and limitations, or provide the existing context for your discussion
  • Define abbreviations

Methods 

For STEM and some social sciences articles

  • Describe how the work was done and include plenty of detail to allow for reproduction
  • Identify equipment and software programs

Results 

For STEM and some social science articles

  • Decide on the data to present and how to present it (clearly and concisely)
  • Summarise the key results of the article
  • Do not repeat results or introduce new discussion points

 Acknowledgements

  • Include funding, contributors who are not listed as authors, facilities and equipment, referees (if they’ve been helpful; even though anonymous)
  • Do not include non-research contributors (parents, friends, or pets!)
  • Cite articles that have been influential in your research—these should be well-balanced and relevant
  • Follow your chosen journal’s reference style, such as Harvard or Chicago
  • List all citations in the text alphabetically at end of the article

Sharing data

Many journals now encourage authors to make all data on which the conclusions of their article rely available to readers. This data can be presented in the main manuscript, in additional supporting files, or placed in a public repository.

Journals also tend to support the Force 11 Data Citation Principles that require all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI).

Permissions

Permission to reproduce copyright material, for online publication without a time limit, must also be cleared and, if necessary, paid for by the author. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder are usually required to be made available to the editors.

Learning from experience

Publishing a journal article is very competitive, so don’t lose hope if your article isn’t accepted to your first-choice journal the first-time round. If your article makes it to the peer-review stage, be sure to take note of what the reviewers have said, as their comments can be very helpful. As well as continuing to write, there are other things you can do to improve your writing skills, including peer review and editing.

Christopher, Marek, and Zebel note  that “there is no secret formula for success”, arguing that: 

The lack of a specific recipe for acceptances reflects, in part, the variety of factors that may influence publication decisions, such as the perceived novelty of the manuscript topic, how the manuscript topic relates to other manuscripts submitted at a similar time, and the targeted journal. Thus, beyond actively pursuing options for any one particular manuscript, begin or continue work on others. In fact, one approach to boosting writing productivity is to have a variety of ongoing projects at different stages of completion. After all, considering that “100 percent of the shots you do not take will not go in,” you can increase your chances of publication by taking multiple shots.

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Structuring your manuscript

Once you have completed your experiments it is time write it up into a coherent and concise paper which tells the story of your research. Researchers are busy people and so it is imperative that research articles are quick and easy to read. For this reason papers generally follow a standard structure which allows readers to easily find the information they are looking for. In the next part of the course we will discuss the standard structure and what to include in each section.

Overview of IMRaD structure

IMRaD refers to the standard structure of the body of research manuscripts (after the Title and Abstract):

  • I ntroduction
  • M aterials and Methods
  • D iscussion and Conclusions

Not all journals use these section titles in this order, but most published articles have a structure similar to IMRaD. This standard structure:

  • Gives a logical flow to the content
  • Makes journal manuscripts consistent and easy to read
  • Provides a “map” so that readers can quickly find content of interest in any manuscript
  • Reminds authors what content should be included in an article

Provides all content needed for the work to be replicated and reproduced Although the sections of the journal manuscript are published in the order: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion, this is not the best order for writing the sections of a manuscript. One recommended strategy is to write your manuscript in the following order:

1. Materials and Methods

These can be written first, as you are doing your experiments and collecting the results.

3. Introduction

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Write these sections next, once you have had a chance to analyse your results, have a sense of their impact and have decided on the journal you think best suits the work

7. Abstract

Write your Title and Abstract last as these are based on all the other sections.

Following this order will help you write a logical and consistent manuscript.

Use the different sections of a manuscript to ‘tell a story’ about your research and its implications.

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This document originally came from the Journal of Mammalogy courtesy of Dr. Ronald Barry, a former editor of the journal.

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Article structure

You should consider the best way to structure your article before you begin writing. If you wish to use a LaTeX template to format your manuscript (this is optional, you are not obliged to do so) then the files are available in zipped format and Unix tar gzipped format here . Your article should follow the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion system, and usually consist of the following sections:

The title should be concise, informative and meaningful to the whole readership of the journal. It should include key terms, to help make it more discoverable when people search online. Please avoid the use of long systemic names and non-standard or obscure abbreviations, acronyms or symbols.

Check the peer review model for the journal you are submitting to when preparing the PDF version of your manuscript. If double-anonymous  then you will need to anonymise your manuscript . If single-anonymous then you need to list all authors’ full names and institutions. Authors in all IOP journals have the option to include names in Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters in addition to the English name. The names will be displayed in parentheses after the English name. During the submission process, we recommend you supply ORCID identifiers for all authors to avoid ambiguity. If an author’s current address is different from the address where the work was carried out, this should be explained in a footnote or acknowledgement. We encourage authors to make specific attributions of contribution and responsibility in the acknowledgements of the article, otherwise all co-authors will be taken to share full responsibility for all of the paper. Authors may wish to use a taxonomy such as CRediT to describe the contributions of each author. More guidance on authorship, including the responsibilities of the corresponding author, can be found here .

When you submit an article, you will be asked to supply some keywords relevant to your work. If your article is accepted for publication, we will display these keywords on the published article, and they will be used to index your article, helping to make it more discoverable. When choosing keywords, think about the kinds of terms you would use when searching online for related articles.

Your abstract should give readers a brief summary of your article. It should concisely describe the contents of your article, and include key terms (especially in the first two sentences, to increase search engine discoverability). It should be informative, accessible and not only indicate the general aims and scope of the article, but also state the methodology used, main results obtained and conclusions drawn. The abstract should be complete in itself; it should not contain undefined acronyms/abbreviations and no table numbers, figure numbers, references or equations should be referred to. Articles relying on clinical trials should quote the trial registration number at the end of the abstract. The abstract should be suitable for direct inclusion in abstracting services and should not normally be more than 300 words. If you submit an article with an abstract longer than 300 words, we may rescind the manuscript and ask you to re-write it. Some journals ask for abstracts to follow a particular structure. Check the instructions for specific journals to see if you need to submit a structured abstract.

Introduction

This should be concise and describe the nature of the problem under investigation and its background. It should also set your work in the context of previous research, citing relevant references. Introductions should expand on highly specialised terms and abbreviations used in the article to make it accessible for readers.

This section should provide sufficient details of the experiment, simulation, statistical test or analysis carried out to generate the results such that the method can be repeated by another researcher and the results reproduced.

The results section should detail the main findings and outcomes of your study. You should use tables only to improve conciseness or where the information cannot be given satisfactorily in other ways such as histograms or graphs. Tables should be numbered serially and referred to in the text by number (table 1, etc.). Each table should have an explanatory caption which should be as concise as possible.

This should discuss the significance of the results and compare them with previous work using relevant references.

This section should be used to highlight the novelty and significance of the work, and any plans for future relevant work.

Acknowledgements

Check the peer review model for the journal you are submitting to when preparing the PDF version of your manuscript. If double-anonymous  then do not include any author names or institution information in the Acknowledgements section of your manuscript. Author names and Funding information should be removed and can be re-added later in the peer review process. For single-anonymous please include an acknowledgements section before the References section in your PDF manuscript.

During the submission process all authors and co-authors are required to disclose any potential conflict(s) of interest when submitting an article (e.g. employment, consulting fees, research contracts, stock ownership, patent licences, honoraria, advisory affiliations, etc). This information should be included in an acknowledgements section at the end of the manuscript (before the references section). All sources of financial support for the project must also be disclosed in the acknowledgements section. The name of the funding agency and the grant number should be given, for example: This work was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through a National Cancer Institute grant R21CA141833. When completing the online submission form, we also ask you to select funders and provide grant numbers in order to help you meet your funder requirements. We encourage authors to use the acknowledgements section of the article to make specific attributions of author contribution and responsibility, otherwise all co-authors will be taken to share full responsibility for all of the paper.

Ethical statement

Some articles will require an ethical statement , particularly those that are reporting research involving humans or animals. This should state if the research was approved by any ethical committee, and which national or international standards were complied with.

This section should be used to list all relevant work. More information on referencing . However, check the peer review model for the journal you are submitting to. If double-anonymous then when referring to thesis/unpublished work, please avoid identifying information. You should include non-identifiable information e.g. journal name, year etc. ..

If you need more information or guidance about any of the above then please contact the journal to which you are submitting.

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  • Int J Sports Phys Ther
  • v.7(5); 2012 Oct

HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

Barbara j. hoogenboom.

1 Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Robert C. Manske

2 University of Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA

Successful production of a written product for submission to a peer‐reviewed scientific journal requires substantial effort. Such an effort can be maximized by following a few simple suggestions when composing/creating the product for submission. By following some suggested guidelines and avoiding common errors, the process can be streamlined and success realized for even beginning/novice authors as they negotiate the publication process. The purpose of this invited commentary is to offer practical suggestions for achieving success when writing and submitting manuscripts to The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy and other professional journals.

INTRODUCTION

“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking” Albert Einstein

Conducting scientific and clinical research is only the beginning of the scholarship of discovery. In order for the results of research to be accessible to other professionals and have a potential effect on the greater scientific community, it must be written and published. Most clinical and scientific discovery is published in peer‐reviewed journals, which are those that utilize a process by which an author's peers, or experts in the content area, evaluate the manuscript. Following this review the manuscript is recommended for publication, revision or rejection. It is the rigor of this review process that makes scientific journals the primary source of new information that impacts clinical decision‐making and practice. 1 , 2

The task of writing a scientific paper and submitting it to a journal for publication is a time‐consuming and often daunting task. 3 , 4 Barriers to effective writing include lack of experience, poor writing habits, writing anxiety, unfamiliarity with the requirements of scholarly writing, lack of confidence in writing ability, fear of failure, and resistance to feedback. 5 However, the very process of writing can be a helpful tool for promoting the process of scientific thinking, 6 , 7 and effective writing skills allow professionals to participate in broader scientific conversations. Furthermore, peer review manuscript publication systems requiring these technical writing skills can be developed and improved with practice. 8 Having an understanding of the process and structure used to produce a peer‐reviewed publication will surely improve the likelihood that a submitted manuscript will result in a successful publication.

Clear communication of the findings of research is essential to the growth and development of science 3 and professional practice. The culmination of the publication process provides not only satisfaction for the researcher and protection of intellectual property, but also the important function of dissemination of research results, new ideas, and alternate thought; which ultimately facilitates scholarly discourse. In short, publication of scientific papers is one way to advance evidence‐based practice in many disciplines, including sports physical therapy. Failure to publish important findings significantly diminishes the potential impact that those findings may have on clinical practice. 9

BASICS OF MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION & GENERAL WRITING TIPS

To begin it might be interesting to learn why reviewers accept manuscripts! Reviewers consider the following five criteria to be the most important in decisions about whether to accept manuscripts for publication: 1) the importance, timeliness, relevance, and prevalence of the problem addressed; 2) the quality of the writing style (i.e., that it is well‐written, clear, straightforward, easy to follow, and logical); 3) the study design applied (i.e., that the design was appropriate, rigorous, and comprehensive); 4) the degree to which the literature review was thoughtful, focused, and up‐to‐date; and 5) the use of a sufficiently large sample. 10 For these statements to be true there are also reasons that reviewers reject manuscripts. The following are the top five reasons for rejecting papers: 1) inappropriate, incomplete, or insufficiently described statistics; 2) over‐interpretation of results; 3) use of inappropriate, suboptimal, or insufficiently described populations or instruments; 4) small or biased samples; and 5) text that is poorly written or difficult to follow. 10 , 11 With these reasons for acceptance or rejection in mind, it is time to review basics and general writing tips to be used when performing manuscript preparation.

“Begin with the end in mind” . When you begin writing about your research, begin with a specific target journal in mind. 12 Every scientific journal should have specific lists of manuscript categories that are preferred for their readership. The IJSPT seeks to provide readership with current information to enhance the practice of sports physical therapy. Therefore the manuscript categories accepted by IJSPT include: Original research; Systematic reviews of literature; Clinical commentary and Current concept reviews; Case reports; Clinical suggestions and unique practice techniques; and Technical notes. Once a decision has been made to write a manuscript, compose an outline that complies with the requirements of the target submission journal and has each of the suggested sections. This means carefully checking the submission criteria and preparing your paper in the exact format of the journal to which you intend to submit. Be thoughtful about the distinction between content (what you are reporting) and structure (where it goes in the manuscript). Poor placement of content confuses the reader (reviewer) and may cause misinterpretation of content. 3 , 5

It may be helpful to follow the IMRaD format for writing scientific manuscripts. This acronym stands for the sections contained within the article: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each of these areas of the manuscript will be addressed in this commentary.

Many accomplished authors write their results first, followed by an introduction and discussion, in an attempt to “stay true” to their results and not stray into additional areas. Typically the last two portions to be written are the conclusion and the abstract.

The ability to accurately describe ideas, protocols/procedures, and outcomes are the pillars of scientific writing . Accurate and clear expression of your thoughts and research information should be the primary goal of scientific writing. 12 Remember that accuracy and clarity are even more important when trying to get complicated ideas across. Contain your literature review, ideas, and discussions to your topic, theme, model, review, commentary, or case. Avoid vague terminology and too much prose. Use short rather than long sentences. If jargon has to be utilized keep it to a minimum and explain the terms you do use clearly. 13

Write with a measure of formality, using scientific language and avoiding conjunctions, slang, and discipline or regionally specific nomenclature or terms (e.g. exercise nicknames). For example, replace the term “Monster walks” with “closed‐chain hip abduction with elastic resistance around the thighs”. You may later refer to the exercise as “also known as Monster walks” if you desire.

Avoid first person language and instead write using third person language. Some journals do not ascribe to this requirement, and allow first person references, however, IJSPT prefers use of third person. For example, replace “We determined that…” with “The authors determined that….”.

For novice writers, it is really helpful to seek a reading mentor that will help you pre‐read your submission. Problems such as improper use of grammar, tense, and spelling are often a cause of rejection by reviewers. Despite the content of the study these easily fixed errors suggest that the authors created the manuscript with less thought leading reviewers to think that the manuscript may also potentially have erroneous findings as well. A review from a second set of trained eyes will often catch these errors missed by the original authors. If English is not your first language, the editorial staff at IJSPT suggests that you consult with someone with the relevant expertise to give you guidance on English writing conventions, verb tense, and grammar. Excellent writing in English is hard, even for those of us for whom it is our first language!

Use figures and graphics to your advantage . ‐ Consider the use of graphic/figure representation of data and important procedures or exercises. Tables should be able to stand alone and be completely understandable at a quick glance. Understanding a table should not require careful review of the manuscript! Figures dramatically enhance the graphic appeal of a scientific paper. Many formats for graphic presentation are acceptable, including graphs, charts, tables, and pictures or videos. Photographs should be clear, free of clutter or extraneous background distractions and be taken with models wearing simple clothing. Color photographs are preferred. Digital figures (Scans or existing files as well as new photographs) must be at least 300dpi. All photographs should be provided as separate files (jpeg or tif preferred) and not be embedded in the paper. Quality and clarity of figures are essential for reproduction purposes and should be considered before taking images for the manuscript.

A video of an exercise or procedure speaks a thousand words. Please consider using short video clips as descriptive additions to your paper. They will be placed on the IJSPT website and accompany your paper. The video clips must be submitted in MPEG‐1, MPEG‐2, Quicktime (.mov), or Audio/Video Interface (.avi) formats. Maximum cumulative length of videos is 5 minutes. Each video segment may not exceed 50 MB, and each video clip must be saved as a separate file and clearly identified. Formulate descriptive figure/video and Table/chart/graph titles and place them on a figure legend document. Carefully consider placement of, naming of, and location of figures. It makes the job of the editors much easier!

Avoid Plagiarism and inadvertent lack of citations. Finally, use citations to your benefit. Cite frequently in order to avoid any plagiarism. The bottom line: If it is not your original idea, give credit where credit is due . When using direct quotations, provide not only the number of the citation, but the page where the quote was found. All citations should appear in text as a superscripted number followed by punctuation. It is the authors' responsibility to fully ensure all references are cited in completed form, in an accurate location. Please carefully follow the instructions for citations and check that all references in your reference list are cited in the paper and that all citations in the paper appear correctly in the reference list. Please go to IJSPT submission guidelines for full information on the format for citations.

Sometimes written as an afterthought, the abstract is of extreme importance as in many instances this section is what is initially previewed by readership to determine if the remainder of the article is worth reading. This is the authors opportunity to draw the reader into the study and entice them to read the rest of the article. The abstract is a summary of the article or study written in 3 rd person allowing the readers to get a quick glance of what the contents of the article include. Writing an abstract is rather challenging as being brief, accurate and concise are requisite. The headings and structure for an abstract are usually provided in the instructions for authors. In some instances, the abstract may change slightly pending content revisions required during the peer review process. Therefore it often works well to complete this portion of the manuscript last. Remember the abstract should be able to stand alone and should be as succinct as possible. 14

Introduction and Review of Literature

The introduction is one of the more difficult portions of the manuscript to write. Past studies are used to set the stage or provide the reader with information regarding the necessity of the represented project. For an introduction to work properly, the reader must feel that the research question is clear, concise, and worthy of study.

A competent introduction should include at least four key concepts: 1) significance of the topic, 2) the information gap in the available literature associated with the topic, 3) a literature review in support of the key questions, 4) subsequently developed purposes/objectives and hypotheses. 9

When constructing a review of the literature, be attentive to “sticking” or “staying true” to your topic at hand. Don't reach or include too broad of a literature review. For example, do not include extraneous information about performance or prevention if your research does not actually address those things. The literature review of a scientific paper is not an exhaustive review of all available knowledge in a given field of study. That type of thorough review should be left to review articles or textbook chapters. Throughout the introduction (and later in the discussion!) remind yourself that a paper, existing evidence, or results of a paper cannot draw conclusions, demonstrate, describe, or make judgments, only PEOPLE (authors) can. “The evidence demonstrates that” should be stated, “Smith and Jones, demonstrated that….”

Conclude your introduction with a solid statement of your purpose(s) and your hypothesis(es), as appropriate. The purpose and objectives should clearly relate to the information gap associated with the given manuscript topic discussed earlier in the introduction section. This may seem repetitive, but it actually is helpful to ensure the reader clearly sees the evolution, importance, and critical aspects of the study at hand See Table 1 for examples of well‐stated purposes.

Examples of well-stated purposes by submission type.

The methods section should clearly describe the specific design of the study and provide clear and concise description of the procedures that were performed. The purpose of sufficient detail in the methods section is so that an appropriately trained person would be able to replicate your experiments. 15 There should be complete transparency when describing the study. To assist in writing and manuscript preparation there are several checklists or guidelines that are available on the IJSPT website. The CONSORT guidelines can be used when developing and reporting a randomized controlled trial. 16 The STARD checklist was developed for designing a diagnostic accuracy study. 17 The PRISMA checklist was developed for use when performing a meta‐analyses or systematic review. 18 A clear methods section should contain the following information: 1) the population and equipment used in the study, 2) how the population and equipment were prepared and what was done during the study, 3) the protocol used, 4) the outcomes and how they were measured, 5) the methods used for data analysis. Initially a brief paragraph should explain the overall procedures and study design. Within this first paragraph there is generally a description of inclusion and exclusion criteria which help the reader understand the population used. Paragraphs that follow should describe in more detail the procedures followed for the study. A clear description of how data was gathered is also helpful. For example were data gathered prospectively or retrospectively? Who if anyone was blinded, and where and when was the actual data collected?

Although it is a good idea for the authors to have justification and a rationale for their procedures, these should be saved for inclusion into the discussion section, not to be discussed in the methods section. However, occasionally studies supporting components of the methods section such as reliability of tests, or validation of outcome measures may be included in the methods section.

The final portion of the methods section will include the statistical methods used to analyze the data. 19 This does not mean that the actual results should be discussed in the methods section, as they have an entire section of their own!

Most scientific journals support the need for all projects involving humans or animals to have up‐to‐date documentation of ethical approval. 20 The methods section should include a clear statement that the researchers have obtained approval from an appropriate institutional review board.

Results, Discussion, and Conclusions

In most journals the results section is separate from the discussion section. It is important that you clearly distinguish your results from your discussion. The results section should describe the results only. The discussion section should put those results into a broader context. Report your results neutrally, as you “found them”. Again, be thoughtful about content and structure. Think carefully about where content is placed in the overall structure of your paper. It is not appropriate to bring up additional results, not discussed in the results section, in the discussion. All results must first be described/presented and then discussed. Thus, the discussion should not simply be a repeat of the results section. Carefully discuss where your information is similar or different from other published evidence and why this might be so. What was different in methods or analysis, what was similar?

As previously stated, stick to your topic at hand, and do not overstretch your discussion! One of the major pitfalls in writing the discussion section is overstating the significance of your findings 4 or making very strong statements. For example, it is better to say: “Findings of the current study support….” or “these findings suggest…” than, “Findings of the current study prove that…” or “this means that….”. Maintain a sense of humbleness, as nothing is without question in the outcomes of any type of research, in any discipline! Use words like “possibly”, “likely” or “suggests” to soften findings. 12

Do not discuss extraneous ideas, concepts, or information not covered by your topic/paper/commentary. Be sure to carefully address all relevant results, not just the statistically significant ones or the ones that support your hypotheses. When you must resort to speculation or opinion, be certain to state that up front using phrases such as “we therefore speculate” or “in the authors' opinion”.

Remember, just as in the introduction and literature review, evidence or results cannot draw conclusions, just as previously stated, only people, scientists, researchers, and authors can!

Finish with a concise, 3‐5 sentence conclusion paragraph. This is not just a restatement of your results, rather is comprised of some final, summative statements that reflect the flow and outcomes of the entire paper. Do not include speculative statements or additional material; however, based upon your findings a statement about potential changes in clinical practice or future research opportunities can be provided here.

CONCLUSIONS

Writing for publication can be a challenging yet satisfying endeavor. The ability to examine, relate, and interlink evidence, as well as to provide a peer‐reviewed, disseminated product of your research labors can be rewarding. A few suggestions have been offered in this commentary that may assist the novice or the developing writer to attempt, polish, and perfect their approach to scholarly writing.

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Scholarly Journal Articles: Structure and Function

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Structure of a research article in the health sciences

Research in the health sciences can be qualitative, quantitative, or a combination of the two. This guide will focus primarily on quantitative research.

Quantitative research articles are usually written in a standardized format called the IMRaD format. This acronym refers to the I ntroduction, M ethods, R esults, (and) D iscussion sections of the articles. There is also usually a Conclusions section. By following this conventional structure, authors ensure that readers of their articles will be able to readily locate the paper's critical elements.

This rule is not hard and fast, and sometimes the sections may be rearranged or combined, or the authors may use alternate wording for the headings. Regardless, the basic elements are usually present.

Some types of original studies , such as case reports, do not readily lend themselves to this format. But even these types of papers will often follow a logical progression, in which they begin by stating the problem, then move on to describing their findings, and finally to offering possible explanations or conclusions.

Journal articles that are not primary literature, most notably review articles, will be written in whatever style is most appropriate to the content.

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How to Read a Scientific Paper: Structure of an Article

  • Structure of an Article
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STOP:  Reading a scientific article is not like reading a book, trying to plow right through is often overwhelming. Some of the research might be new to you or beyond your level of expertise. However, reading scientific articles is good practice to learn how to identify the important points and conclusions made by the authors and critically evaluate those ideas as well.

INSTEAD : Articles are meant to be skimmed and perused first. For example: look at the abstract, see if it interests you, jump to the discussion and conclusions, what did the authors learn? Do you want to know more then pop back to the methods and see how they did it or look at the results and see if the discussion accurately captures the findings. 

The Abstract of an article is a short summary of the article's contents. Often it includes the focus, results, and conclusions of the study. Since the abstract does not contain all the information found in the article, it's best to view it as a tool for deciding if you should investigate the article further. An article's abstract will always be freely available to view. 

Questions to ask while reading the abstract :

  • Does this interest me?
  • Is this related to my area of research?

Introduction and Literature Review

The Introduction of an article explains the idea being investigated, and gives background information if necessary. The introduction should also indicate why the study done in this particular article is unique, or how it adds to the overall discussion. The latter part of the introduction will also contain a literature review, this is a brief summary of related research that occurred before this article was written and that this article seeks to expand on.

Questions to ask while reading the introduction :

  • What is the author's goal in writing this article?
  • What area is the article building on?
  • How is this research unique?
  • Will this article tell me anything new?

Materials and Methods

The Materials and Methods of an article tells you how the study was performed. It should include the specific steps of the experiment or study, so as to be repeatable. 

Questions to ask while reading materials and methods : 

  • Is all the information present in order to repeat the experiment or study carried out?
  • Are the steps the authors took clearly explained?

The Results of an article should give an unbiased account of what the study's findings were, with data included. 

Sometimes the Results and Discussion section (described next) are combined.

Questions to ask while reading the results:

  • Are the results presented in a factual and unbiased way?
  • Is data provided to complement the findings?
  • Is the data clear and understandable?

The Discussion of an article tells you what the researchers felt was significant about the results. This section contains an analysis of the data, and may point to facts and figures.

Questions to ask while reading the discussion:  

  • Is the argument made by the authors supported by the data present in the results?
  • After reading the discussion do you find that more data should have been provided in the results?
  • Are there weaknesses in their argument?

The Conclusion of an article gives you the final thoughts of the researchers. It may reiterate what they noted in the discussion, or may be combined with the discussion. It may provide limitations present in the study or give recommendations for further research. This is the chance for the authors to clearly and succinctly state the ultimate finding or purpose of the article.

Questions to ask while reading the conclusion:

  • Is the conclusion valid?
  • Based on what you have read, what other research should be explored next?

The References of an article lists the works used in the research and writing of the article. Any articles mentioned in the introduction should be present here, as should any studies that were modeled in the materials and methods.

Question to ask while reviewing the references:

  • What other articles should I read?
  • What other authors are respected in this field?
  • What journals are frequently cited in this area?

Suggested Further Reading

Dean, R. (2013). How to read a paper and appraise the evidence . In Practice , 35(5) , 282-285.

Pain, Elisabeth. “ How to (Seriously) Read a Scientific Paper .” Science , 21 Mar. 2016.

Ruben, Adam. “ How to Read a Scientific Paper .” Science , 20 Jan. 2016.

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Write your journal article! Strengthening your structure

Trish Strzelecka

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This seminar is an introduction to the complex world of academic publishing and is designed to give writers in a variety of disciplines practical experience in getting their work published in peer-reviewed journals. We will use the core text Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (Belcher, 2019).

In the first hour, we will look at strategies to strengthen the structure of your article. To make the most of this session, we suggest that you bring an outline of your article to engage in a peer review activity.

In the second hour, we will continue editing and writing our articles using the Pomodoro technique. We suggest you look at the article’s structure carefully.

This workshop is part of the ‘Write your journal article 12 steps to submission’ programme which aims to explain the publication process to students and shares strategies for achieving success in the academic writing arena, including setting up a work schedule, identifying appropriate journals for submission, working with editors, writing query letters, clarifying arguments, making claims for significance, and organizing material. In a supportive environment, participants revise a draft (often a classroom paper, conference paper, or dissertation chapter) into a peer-reviewed article and submit it for publication. You can sign up for the whole programme, thematic blocks or specific sessions. Read the descriptions carefully to help you prepare for the sessions.

Ideally attendees will have access to Belcher, Wendy Laura. 2019. Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. Second edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (You need this edition, not the previous one, from 2009.) If you want to keep your workbook clean, you can print out the forms at https://wendybelcher.com/writing-advice/workbook-forms/ and use those instead of writing in the book.

Wednesday 21 February 2024 15.00 to 17.00

Please use PDMS to sign up: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/pdms/

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  • Introduction
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  • Article Information

Repeated measures analysis of variance were conducted to assess changes in circulating factors over time. Significant changes over time are indicated by P values. Complete data for all parameters on both time points were available for 110 participants. For illustrative purposes 3 extreme high SAA values (111.49 µg/mL, 401.25, and 50.70 µg/mL) at baseline are not shown. Individual values for every plasma marker are presented in eTable 4 in Supplement 1 . hs-CRP indicates high sensitive C-reactive protein; SAA, serum amyloid A; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor α. Dots indicate individual data points; bars, medians; bars, IQRs; and whiskers, ranges.

Repeated measures analysis of variance were conducted to assess changes in circulating factors over time. Significant changes over time are indicated by P values. Complete data for all parameters on both time points were available for 110 participants, except for interleukin-1β (IL-1β), for which data from 111 participants were available. For illustrative purposes 3 extreme high IL-1β values (7.59 pg/mL, 12.75 pg/mL, and 3.94 pg/mL) at baseline are not shown. At the 2 year time point, 2 extreme high IL-1β values (5.12 and 3.26 pg/mL) was not included for illustrative purposes. Individual values for every plasma marker are presented in eTable 4 in Supplement 1 . BDNF indicates brain derived neurotrophic factor; NFL = neurofilament light chain; PAI-1 plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Dots indicate individual data points; bars, medians; bars, IQRs; and whiskers, ranges.

eFigure 1. Flowchart of the Study

eMethods. Analysis of Adipokines and Cytokines and MRI Acquisition

eTable 1. Cortical Thinning Based on 0.6% Annual Normal Brain Aging Effects

eTable 2. Missing Data Per Outcome Measure at Baseline and 6 Months After Bariatric Surgery

eTable 3. Covariates Included in Repeated Measures ANOVA Analysis

eFigure 2. Changes in Cognitive Outcomes, Physical Activity and Depression Symptoms Among Patients Who Underwent Bariatric Surgery (n=133)

eTable 4. Change in Plasma Markers Among Patients Who Underwent Bariatric Surgery (n=133)

eReference.

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Custers E , Vreeken D , Kleemann R, et al. Long-Term Brain Structure and Cognition Following Bariatric Surgery. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(2):e2355380. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.55380

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Long-Term Brain Structure and Cognition Following Bariatric Surgery

  • 1 Department of Medical Imaging, Anatomy, and Radboud Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
  • 2 Department of Bariatric Surgery, Vitalys, part of Rijnstate hospital, Arnhem, the Netherlands
  • 3 Department of Metabolic Health Research, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Leiden, the Netherlands
  • 4 Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
  • 5 Department of Medical Psychology and Radboudumc Alzheimer Center, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
  • 6 Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray, the Netherlands
  • 7 Medical Image Analysis Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • 8 Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  • 9 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 10 Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands

Question   Does bariatric surgery–induced weight loss have long-term associations with brain structure and function?

Findings   In this cohort study including 133 adults with severe obesity who underwent bariatric surgery, cognitive function, inflammatory biomarkers, comorbidities, physical activity, and depressive symptoms were still improved 2 years after bariatric surgery. On neuroimaging, the temporal lobe showed changes in structure and function.

Meaning   These findings suggest that bariatric surgery was associated with long-term health benefits, including improvements in comorbidities, inflammation, and cognition; moreover, higher cortical thickness and lower spatial coefficient of variation were found in the temporal lobe 2 years after surgery.

Importance   Weight loss induced by bariatric surgery (BS) is associated with improved cognition and changed brain structure; however, previous studies on the association have used small cohorts and short follow-up periods, making it difficult to determine long-term neurological outcomes associated with BS.

Objective   To investigate long-term associations of weight loss after BS with cognition and brain structure and perfusion.

Design, Setting, and Participants   This cohort study included participants from the Bariatric Surgery Rijnstate and Radboudumc Neuroimaging and Cognition in Obesity study. Data from participants with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared] >40, or BMI >35 with comorbidities) eligible for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and aged 35 to 55 years were enrolled from a hospital specialized in BS (Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, the Netherlands). Participants were recruited between September 2018 and December 2020 with follow-up till March 2023. Data were collected before BS and at 6 and 24 months after BS. Data were analyzed from March to November 2023.

Exposure   Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Main Outcomes and Measures   Primary outcomes included body weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, medication use, cognitive performance (20% change index of compound z -score), brain volumes, cortical thickness, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and spatial coefficient of variation (sCOV). Secondary outcomes include cytokines, adipokines, depressive symptoms (assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory), and physical activity (assessed using the Baecke Questionnaire).

Results   A total of 133 participants (mean [SD] age, 46.8 [5.7] years; 112 [84.2%] female) were included. Global cognition was at least 20% higher in 52 participants (42.9%) at 24 months after BS. Compared with baseline, at 24 months, inflammatory markers were lower (mean [SD] high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: 4.77 [5.80] μg/mL vs 0.80 [1.09] μg/mL; P  < .001), fewer patients used antihypertensives (48 patients [36.1%] vs 22 patients [16.7%]), and patients had lower depressive symptoms (median [IQR] BDI score: 9.0 [5.0-13.0] vs 3.0 [1.0-6.0]; P  < .001) and greater physical activity (mean [SD] Baecke score: 7.64 [1.29] vs 8.19 [1.35]; P  < .001). After BS, brain structure and perfusion were lower in most brain regions, while hippocampal and white matter volume remained stable. CBF and sCOV did not change in nucleus accumbens and parietal cortex. The temporal cortex showed a greater thickness (mean [SD] thickness: 2.724 [0.101] mm vs 2.761 [0.007] mm; P  = .007) and lower sCOV (median [IQR] sCOV: 4.41% [3.83%-5.18%] vs 3.97% [3.71%-4.59%]; P  = .02) after BS.

Conclusions and Relevance   These findings suggest that BS was associated with health benefits 2 years after surgery. BS was associated with improved cognition and general health and changed blood vessel efficiency and cortical thickness of the temporal cortex. These results may improve treatment options for patients with obesity and dementia.

Obesity is a major health problem and is associated with comorbidities and sequelae, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. 1 These diseases affect the brain, but obesity itself is also associated with cognitive dysfunction and structural brain changes. 2 Moreover, obesity is associated with 60% to 90% increased risk of developing dementia compared with lean individuals (body mass index [BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared] <25). 3

Obesity is inversely associated with gray matter (GM) volume 3 - 6 and white matter (WM) integrity 7 and positively associated with WM hyperintensities (WMH). 8 These brain changes might be induced by reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF), which often coincides with obesity. 9 Cognitive functions, particularly domains of executive function, attention, 10 - 12 and episodic and working memory, 13 - 15 are associated with obesity, corresponding to changes in hippocampus and prefrontal regions. 16 , 17

To reduce potential consequences of obesity on the brain, long-term weight loss is important. Bariatric surgery (BS) leads to rapid and sustainable weight loss and improves comorbidities. 18 Moreover, BS-induced weight loss has been reported to be associated with improved brain function and structure. 19 - 22 However, results are contradictory, underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown, and it is uncertain whether outcomes are long-lasting. Imbalance of adipokines and proinflammatory cytokines may be involved, as they impair CBF and therewith cause neurodegeneration, 23 which may be reversible after BS. 21

Our study aims to strengthen the field, using state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a larger cohort with extended follow-up, and correction for multiple testing. This approach enhances our understanding of the disease, contributing to development of treatment strategies for obesity and dementia.

This cohort study was approved by the Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects for Arnhem region, Nijmegen and the institutional ethics committee of the Rijnstate hospital. This study was performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki “Ethical Principles of Medical Research Involving Human Subjects” and in agreement with the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use Guideline for Good Clinical Practice. All participants signed written informed consent. The study was prospectively registered in the Netherlands Trial Registry. 24 We followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology ( STROBE ) reporting guideline.

Data were obtained from the Bariatric Surgery Rijnstate and Radboudumc Neuroimaging and Cognition in Obesity (BARICO) study. Participants aged between 35 and 55 years who were eligible for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass based on Fried guidelines 25 were recruited at Rijnstate Hospital (Arnhem, the Netherlands) between September 2018 and December 2020. Neurological or severe psychiatric illnesses, pregnancy, and treatment with antibiotics, probiotics, or prebiotics were exclusion criteria. Extra MRI exclusion criteria were epilepsy, claustrophobia, pacemakers, defibrillators, nerve stimulators, infraorbital or intraocular metallic fragments, intracranial clips, cochlear implants, ferromagnetic implants, circumference above MRI space capacity, left handedness, and color blindness.

Cognition was assessed before BS (baseline) and at 6 and 24 months after BS using neuropsychological tests. MRI scans were obtained at baseline and 24 months after BS. At all time points, blood samples and anthropometric data were collected. Only participants who completed measurements at all time points were included (eFigure 1 in Supplement 1 ).

Anthropometric measurements included body weight, waist circumference (WC), BMI, and percentage total body weight loss (TBWL). Percentage of TBWL was defined as:

Blood pressure was measured in sitting position. Fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and 6 and 24 months after BS. Adipokines and cytokines were analyzed as described in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .

Cognition was assessed using neuropsychological tests, described in detail elsewhere. 26 To assess overall cognitive performance, we used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA). We used the Digit Span test (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition) to measure working memory. 27 Episodic memory was assessed with the immediate and delayed Story Recall subtest from the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test. 28 The Flexibility subtest from the computerized Test of Attentional Performance (version 2.3.1) was used to measure ability to shift attention. 29 Verbal fluency was assessed using the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT). 30 Parallel versions were used when appropriate to overcome material specific practice effects. Total scores of every subtest were converted and we calculated the mean into a compound Z -score of global cognitive performance, which ranged from −1.51 to 2.02, with higher score indicating higher cognitive performance. Education level was assessed by the Verhage score (with 1 indicating the lowest level, ie, less than primary school; and 7, the highest level of education, ie, university) 31 based on the Dutch educational system, comparable with the International Standard Classification of Education. 32 A score of 4 or less indicates low education level; 5, middle educational level; and 6 or 7, high educational level.

To examine the association of BS with cognition, while excluding practice effects, we calculated the 20% change index 33 24 months after BS. This index assumes that participants show clinically meaningful and significant cognitive improvement if their postoperative test score is 20% higher than the preoperative test score. To calculate this index, we used:

Where X 2 is participants’ postoperative score and X 1 the preoperative score. Calculations were performed for each domain and the composite Z -score. An index of 1.00 or greater indicated a significant improvement. 33

Participants were scanned in a 3T Skyra scanner (Siemens Healthineers) using a 32-channel head coil. The sequences used are listed the eMethods in Supplement 1 .

Image reconstruction and segmentation were performed with default settings of the Freesurfer Imaging Analysis Suite version 6.0.0. 34 Global measures included total cerebral GM and WM volumes (normalized by intracranial volume) and overall mean cortical thickness. Subcortical volumes (hippocampus, amygdala, caudate nucleus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens) and volume and thickness metrics for specific region of interests (ROIs) from the merged Desikan-Killiany atlas 35 (frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal cortex, cingulate gyrus, and insula) were measured. As an additional analysis, we calculated cortical thinning 2 years after BS (eTable 1 in Supplement 1 ).

A fully automated, deep learning algorithm used 3-dimensional (3D) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and 3D T1-weighted images to segment WMH using multidimensional gated recurrent units. 36 Output WMH segmentation masks were used to determine WMH volume. Global WM mean diffusivity was assessed using diffusion MRI data processed as previously outlined. 37 We calculated mean skeletonized mean diffusivity (MSMD) via an accessible method. 38

Postprocessing of arterial spin labeling images was performed with toolbox ExploreASL, 39 version 1.5.1, including SPM12, version 7219 (Statistical Parametric Mapping, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging), CAT12 version r1615, and LST version 2.0.15, all operated in MATLAB version 2020a (MathWorks). Complete processing steps are described elsewhere. 39

CBF and spatial coefficient of variation (sCOV) within overall GM and different ROIs were calculated. sCOV was determined by dividing the SD of CBF by mean CBF. 40 ROIs were prespecified combining the Harvard-Oxford 35 and Montreal Neurological Institute 41 structural atlases: caudate nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, insula, and frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal cortex. Due to field of view, we were not able to include more ventrally located regions, such as hippocampus and amygdala. CBF and sCOV were calculated with partial volume correction for overall GM and each ROI. 39

At baseline and 6 and 24 months after BS, participants filled out standardized online questionnaires. Depressive symptoms were assessed via the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), 42 which determines depressive symptoms over the past 2 weeks (range, 0-63; higher score indicates greater depressive symptoms). Physical activity was assessed with the Baecke Questionnaire, 43 which incorporates time spent on different activities (range, 3-15; higher score indicates greater physical activity). All participants filled in the questionnaires, but not all questionnaires were complete, resulting in some missing data (eTable 2 in Supplement 1 ).

Explorative statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics version 27 (IBM). Continuous variables were checked for normality. If normality was not met, natural log transformations were performed for repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA). To test changes in primary and secondary outcomes over time, repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni correction (to correct for multiple comparisons), Cochran test, Friedman test, Wilcoxon signed ranks test or χ 2 tests were used for continuous and categorical data. We controlled for age, sex, education, and preoperative BMI in the repeated measures ANOVA. Additionally, we controlled for hematocrit and head motion for CBF and sCOV and head motion for MSMD. Missing variables are presented in eTable 2 in Supplement 1 . Included covariates are listed in eTable 3 in Supplement 1 . P values were 2-sided, and P  < .05 was considered statistically significant. Data were analyzed from March to November 2023.

A total of 133 participants (mean [SD] age, 46.8 [5.7] years; 112 [84.2%] female) were included. Participants characteristics are listed in Table 1 . Overall, mean body weight, BMI, WC, and blood pressure were significantly lower 6 and 24 months after BS ( Table 1 ). From 6 to 24 months, percentage TBWL was significantly higher. Compared with baseline, medication use for comorbidities was significantly lower 24 months after surgery (eg, antihypertensive use, 48 patients [36.1%] vs 22 patients [16.7%]).

Several cognitive domains significantly improved at 6 and 24 months after BS ( Table 2 ; eFigure 2 in Supplement 1 ). At baseline our cohort had a median (IQR) MOCA score of 27 (26.0-29.0). Nonetheless, based on the 20% change index, 15 participants (11.3%) showed improvements in working memory, 42 participants (31.6%) showed improvements in episodic memory, 32 participants (24.1%) showed improvements in in verbal fluency, 51 participants (40.2%) showed improvements in ability to shift attention, and 52 participants (42.9%) showed improvements in global cognition. According to the BDI score at baseline, 71 participants (54.6%) experienced minimal depressive symptoms, 55 participants (42.3%) experienced mild depressive symptoms, and 4 participants (3.1%) experienced moderate depressive symptoms. At 24 months after BS, 12 participants (9.4%) had mild depressive symptoms and 2 participants (1.6%) had moderate depressive symptoms. Additionally, the Baecke score was significantly higher 6 months after surgery and remained stable up to 24 months (mean [SD] Baecke score: baseline, 7.64 [1.29]; 6 mo, 8.36 [1.23]; 24 mo, 8.19 [1.35]; P  < .001).

Brain changes were observed after BS ( Table 3 ). GM volume, GM cortical thickness, and GM CBF were significantly lower 2 years after BS. Several other ROIs, including amygdala, caudate nucleus, putamen, insula, cingulate gyrus, and occipital, parietal, and temporal cortex exhibited significantly lower volumes after BS. No volumetric changes were observed in hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, frontal cortex, or WM. Cortical thickness of all ROIs was significantly lower after BS, except thickness of the temporal cortex, which was significantly larger (mean [SD] thickness: 2.724 [0.101] mm vs 2.761 [0.007] mm; P  = .007). Moreover, after BS, CBF was lower in several cortical and subcortical regions, including caudate nucleus, putamen, insula, and frontal and occipital cortex. CBF in temporal cortex, parietal cortex, and nucleus accumbens did not change after BS. Regarding sCOV, the caudate nucleus showed a higher sCOV, while temporal cortex showed lower sCOV after BS (median [IQR] sCOV: 4.41% [3.83%-5.18%] vs 3.97% [3.71%-4.59%]; P  = .02). sCOV of all other ROIs remained stable over time. MSMD was significantly lower, whereas WMH volume did not change after BS.

Circulating markers were analyzed before and after surgery ( Figure 1 and Figure 2 ; eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ). After 6 months, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), leptin, serum amyloid A, tumor necrosis factor–α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were significantly lower, whereas adiponectin and neurofilament light chain (NFL) were significantly higher compared with baseline. hs-CRP and IL-6 were still lower at 24 months (eg, mean [SD] hs-CRP: baseline, 4.77 [5.80] μg/mL vs 0.80 [1.09] μg/mL; P  < .001), while leptin, serum amyloid A, and tumor necrosis factor–α did not change at 24 months compared with 6 months after BS. Surprisingly, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 returned to baseline levels by 24 months after BS. IL-1β was higher 24 months after BS compared with the 6-month follow-up but remained significantly lower compared with baseline. At 24 months after BS, adiponectin was higher, while NFL remained stable compared with the 6-month follow-up. brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was significantly higher at 24 months after BS.

This cohort study investigated the associations of BS-induced weight loss with obesity-related comorbidities, physical activity, mood, cognition, brain parameters, and circulating factors 2 years after surgery. We found that 42.9% of the participants improved at least 20% in global cognitive function. Additionally, BS was associated with less medication use and depressive symptoms and more physical activity. The stabilization (ie, no changes over time) of cerebral structures and functions was the most noteworthy finding. While volumes and perfusion were lower in many brain regions after surgery, some regions exhibited stability. Despite the lower CBF in several regions, volumes of hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, frontal cortex, WM, and WMH remained stable after surgery. Notably, the temporal cortex exhibited not only higher cortical thickness but also higher vascular efficiency after surgery, as indicated by a lower sCOV. These results highlight beneficial vascular responses occurring in conjunction with BS. Accordingly, nucleus accumbens and parietal cortex demonstrated stable CBF and cerebrovascular efficiency. After BS, general health also changed, including lower blood pressure, lower inflammatory markers, lower leptin, and higher adiponectin levels. Finally, higher brain-associated blood-based biomarkers for axonal damage (ie, NFL) and neurogenesis (ie, BDNF) were observed.

High scores on MOCA and other neuropsychological tests were obtained at baseline, suggesting that obesity did not impair cognitive performance in clinical sense. Yet, as previously described, 44 - 46 cognition improved significantly after BS, with the largest improvements observed in attention and verbal fluency, components that can be impaired in obesity 47 but may be reversible after BS. 48 We observed significantly improved performance in all cognitive domains at 6 months after BS, and these improvements (except for episodic memory) lasted to the 24-month postsurgery follow-up. These findings suggest that cognitive improvements begin shorty after BS and are long lasting. Various factors may be involved, including remission of comorbidities, higher physical activity, lower depressive symptoms, and lower inflammatory factors after BS. 22 Additionally, stabilization of volume, CBF, and sCOV in brain regions, together with larger cortical thickness and higher vascular efficiency in the temporal cortex, might be involved.

This study found associations of BS with brain parameters 2 years after surgery. BS was associated with lower cortical volumes and thickness in some ROIs. We assume that aging was involved. The relative mean change in global GM (−0.6%) in our study is comparable with aging studies. 49 , 50 When applying this aging rate of 0.6% on cortical thickness, cortical thinning in GM was higher in our study. However, for temporal cortex and insula, less cortical thinning was observed after surgery. Furthermore, MRI studies focusing on regional distribution of aging-related GM volumetric reductions have reported large changes in frontal and temporal lobe. 51 In our study, frontal lobe volumes did not change and temporal cortical thickness was higher after surgery, suggesting that BS might delay aging-related decline in some regions. Similarly, WM volumes are relatively stable over time in middle-aged individuals, 51 suggesting that WM volumetric changes are not accelerated by obesity. Moreover, higher NFL and BDNF levels were observed 2 years after surgery. Serum NFL is a marker associated with neuroaxonal damage and reflects WM integrity. 52 NFL levels were significantly higher at 24 months after BS, but still lower compared with individuals without neurological anomalies in the same age range. 53 This suggests little axonal damage and that lower MSMD values were not yet reflected in circulating levels. BDNF is a neurotrophic factor involved in survival and plasticity of neurons. 54 It is decreased in obesity 55 and Alzheimer disease 56 and is positively associated with WM volume. 57 In this study, participants showed higher BDNF levels after BS, highlighting its potential role in cognition, mood, and protection of WM degeneration.

At baseline and 24 months after surgery, our cohort showed a lower CBF compared with participants with weight within reference range in a study by Chen et al. 58 However, our arterial spin labeling results revealed promising outcomes in certain brain regions. CBF was significantly lower in GM, caudate nucleus, putamen, insula, and frontal and occipital cortex after surgery. Contrastingly, in nucleus accumbens, parietal, and temporal cortex, CBF remained stable after surgery, signifying a favorable outcome associated with BS. sCOV was higher in caudate nucleus, and lower in the temporal cortex 24 months after surgery. It is noteworthy that a higher sCOV indicates lower vascular efficiency of the blood vessels. 59 The finding that the temporal cortex showed no change in CBF level but higher vascular efficiency might be due to lower inflammatory markers and lower blood pressure. Nonetheless, decline in CBF in most brain regions surpassed the aging-related decline observed in healthy participants with an age range between 22 and 82 years. 60 , 61 Obesity is associated with vascular pathologies 7 that affect vessel quality, thereby increasing sCOV. Probably, these vascular alterations and corresponding perfusion irregularities are not yet reversible at 24 months after BS, which could explain lower CBF levels after surgery. Moreover, we assume that lower CBF levels contribute to structural brain alterations in some ROIs, as CBF plays a crucial role in maintenance of GM and WM. 62 Notably, previous aging studies investigated healthy individuals, whereas this study assessed brain changes in people with a history of obesity. Furthermore, these studies used different MRI acquisition and postprocessing methods, which could induce different results. Nevertheless, we suggest that aging brain outcomes, as observed in aging studies, are accelerated in individuals with a history of obesity, but might be stabilized or improved in certain ROIs following BS.

Remarkably, other studies have detected increased brain volumetry after BS, 19 , 20 while we identified lower or stabilized volumes after surgery. We used high-quality 3T imaging, and cerebral spinal fluid partial volume outcomes were excluded, which could explain different results. Moreover, the smaller cohorts and shorter follow-ups of those studies could be influencing factors. Furthermore, voxel-based morphometry, as used by others, 19 , 20 and Freesurfer may reveal differences in brain volume reduction, as they use distinct analysis approaches. Additionally, brain volume reduction differs per region and can be influenced by various additional factors. 63

Our study has limitations. First, we did not include a control group, making it difficult to conclude whether outcomes were associated with aging or prolonged obesity. We therefore attempted to compare results with aging data from other studies, striving to discern age-related changes independently of the potential influence of prolonged obesity. Second, our study had an unequal sex distribution, with less than 20% of the sample being male. This is important to consider, as brain atrophy is greater in women than in men. 64 However, the sex distribution of our sample represents the general BS population. 65 Third, cortical surface and curvature (parameters obtainable by Freesurfer) were not included. These parameters could improve our understanding of change in cortical volume and thickness after BS. Strengths of the study include a large sample size, a long follow-up and use of standardized and parallel versions of cognitive tests and the 20% change index to control for practice effects. Additionally, we included measures on adipokines and cytokines and information on physical activity and mood to elucidate potential factors influencing for changes associated with BS.

The results of this cohort study indicate that cognitive improvement was sustained in approximately 40% of participants at 24 months after BS, potentially due to lower inflammation and adipokine secretion, remission of comorbidities, higher physical activity, and better mood. These changes were reflected by stabilized or higher volumes, cortical thickness, and blood vessel efficiency in some ROIs. More specifically, the nucleus accumbens demonstrated stable CBF and sCOV, complementing the preserved volume, while the hippocampus and WM exhibited stability in volume. After surgery, a larger cortical thickness and lower sCOV were observed in the temporal cortex. Altogether, these results provide new information on longer-term outcomes associated with BS-induced weight loss in cognition and brain structure and perfusion, although exact underlying mechanisms remain unsolved. Future studies should include control groups and other mechanisms to clarify cognition and brain changes after BS. Such studies can contribute to development of strategies to reduce risk of obesity and neurodegenerative diseases.

Accepted for Publication: December 18, 2023.

Published: February 9, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.55380

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License . © 2024 Custers E et al. JAMA Network Open .

Corresponding Author: Amanda J. Kiliaan, PhD, Department of Medical Imaging, Anatomy, Preclinical Imaging Centre, Radboud Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Geert Grooteplein 21N, 6525 EZ Nijmegen, the Netherlands ( [email protected] ).

Author Contributions: Ms Custers and Dr Kiliaan had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: Custers, Witteman, Hazebroek, Kiliaan.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Custers, Vreeken, Kleemann, Kessels, Duering, Brouwer, Aufenacker, Witteman, Snabel, Gart, Mutsaerts, Wiesmann, Kiliaan.

Drafting of the manuscript: Custers, Brouwer.

Critical review of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Vreeken, Kleemann, Kessels, Duering, Aufenacker, Witteman, Snabel, Gart, Mutsaerts, Wiesmann, Hazebroek, Kiliaan.

Statistical analysis: Custers, Vreeken, Kessels, Kiliaan.

Obtained funding: Kleemann, Witteman, Kiliaan.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Custers, Kleemann, Kessels, Brouwer, Witteman, Snabel, Mutsaerts, Kiliaan.

Supervision: Aufenacker, Witteman, Wiesmann, Hazebroek, Kiliaan.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Kleemann reported receiving grants from Dutch Top Sector Life Sciences and Health and serving as director of international research projects with GLoBAL-1 consortium (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Radboud University Medical Center, Rijnstate Hospital, and Nordic Bioscience) outside the submitted work. Dr Kessels reported receiving personal fees from Taylor & Francis, Hogrefe Test Publishers, Bohn Stafleu van Loghum, Pearson Assessment Netherlands, and University of Michigan. Dr Gart reported receiving grants from Dutch Top Sector Life Sciences and partnership with the GLoBAL-1 consortium (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Radboud University Medical Center, Rijnstate Hospital, and Nordic Bioscience) outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Funding/Support: This work was supported by a Rijnstate-Radboudumc Promotion Fund grant. Plasma biomarker analyses were conducted with funds of TNO research programs ERP-Body-Brain Interactions and PMC-Functional Biomarkers. Dr Mutsaerts is supported by the Dutch Heart Foundation (grant No. 03-004-2020-T049); Eurostars-2 Joint Programme with cofunding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant No. ASPIRE E!113701), provided by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency; and EU Joint Program for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, provided by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development and Alzheimer Nederland (grant No. DEBBIE JPND2020-568-106). No other disclosures were reported.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .

Additional Contributions: A. Hofboer, BSc (Department of Bariatric Surgery, Vitalys, Rijnstate Hospital), contributed to participant recruitment and data collection. W. Vening, MD, PhD, and W.A. den Hengst, MD, PhD, (Department of Bariatric Surgery, Vitalys, Rijnstate Hospital) performed the bariatric surgical procedures.

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  • BOOK REVIEW
  • 05 February 2024

It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life

  • Denis Noble 0

Denis Noble is emeritus professor of physiology and biology at the University of Oxford, UK.

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DNA sequencing of the human genome: computer display of an automated method of decoding the sequence of base-pairs in fragments of DNA extracted from human chromosomes.

DNA sequencing has become routine, but the roles of individual genes can be hard to be pin. Credit: Peter Menzel/SPL

How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology Philip Ball Pan Macmillan (2024)

For too long, scientists have been content in espousing the lazy metaphor of living systems operating simply like machines, says science writer Philip Ball in How Life Works . Yet, it’s important to be open about the complexity of biology — including what we don’t know — because public understanding affects policy, health care and trust in science. “So long as we insist that cells are computers and genes are their code,” writes Ball, life might as well be “sprinkled with invisible magic”. But, reality “is far more interesting and wonderful”, as he explains in this must-read user’s guide for biologists and non-biologists alike.

When the human genome was sequenced in 2001, many thought that it would prove to be an ‘instruction manual’ for life. But the genome turned out to be no blueprint. In fact, most genes don’t have a pre-set function that can be determined from their DNA sequence.

Instead, genes’ activity — whether they are expressed or not, for instance, or the length of protein that they encode — depends on myriad external factors, from the diet to the environment in which the organism develops. And each trait can be influenced by many genes. For example, mutations in almost 300 genes have been identified as indicating a risk that a person will develop schizophrenia.

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A tour of the evolution of minds

It’s therefore a huge oversimplification, notes Ball, to say that genes cause this trait or that disease. The reality is that organisms are extremely robust, and a particular function can often be performed even when key genes are removed. For instance, although the HCN4 gene encodes a protein that acts as the heart’s primary pacemaker, the heart retains its rhythm even if the gene is mutated 1 .

Another metaphor that Ball criticizes is that of a protein with a fixed shape binding to its target being similar to how a key fits into a lock. Many proteins, he points out, have disordered domains — sections whose shape is not fixed, but changes constantly.

This “fuzziness and imprecision” is not sloppy design, but an essential feature of protein interactions. Being disordered makes proteins “versatile communicators”, able to respond rapidly to changes in the cell, binding to different partners and transmitting different signals depending on the circumstance. For example, the protein aconitase can switch from metabolizing sugar to promoting iron intake to red blood cells when iron is scarce. Almost 70% of protein domains might be disordered.

Classic views of evolution should also be questioned. Evolution is often regarded as “a slow affair of letting random mutations change one amino acid for another and seeing what effect it produces”. But in fact, proteins are typically made up of several sections called modules — reshuffling, duplicating and tinkering with these modules is a common way to produce a useful new protein.

Light micrograph of human DNA.

DNA alone cannot reveal how life works. Credit: Philippe Plailly/SPL

Later in the book, Ball grapples with the philosophical question of what makes an organism alive. Agency — the ability of an organism to bring about change to itself or its environment to achieve a goal — is the author’s central focus. Such agency, he argues, is attributable to whole organisms, not just to their genomes. Genes, proteins and processes such as evolution don’t have goals, but a person certainly does. So, too, do plants and bacteria, on more-simple levels — a bacterium might avoid some stimuli and be drawn to others, for instance. Dethroning the genome in this way contests the current standard thinking about biology, and I think that such a challenge is sorely needed.

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Neuroscience needs some new ideas

Ball is not alone in calling for a drastic rethink of how scientists discuss biology. There has been a flurry of publications in this vein in the past year, written by me and others 2 – 4 . All outline reasons to redefine what genes do. All highlight the physiological processes by which organisms control their genomes. And all argue that agency and purpose are definitive characteristics of life that have been overlooked in conventional, gene-centric views of biology.

This burst of activity represents a frustrated thought that “it is time to become impatient with the old view”, as Ball says. Genetics alone cannot help us to understand and treat many of the diseases that cause the biggest health-care burdens, such as schizophrenia, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. These conditions are physiological at their core, the author points out — despite having genetic components, they are nonetheless caused by cellular processes going awry. Those holistic processes are what we must understand, if we are to find cures.

Ultimately, Ball concludes that “we are at the beginning of a profound rethinking of how life works”. In my view, beginning is the key word here. Scientists must take care not to substitute an old set of dogmas with a new one. It’s time to stop pretending that, give or take a few bits and pieces, we know how life works. Instead, we must let our ideas evolve as more discoveries are made in the coming decades. Sitting in uncertainty, while working to make those discoveries, will be biology’s great task for the twenty-first century.

Nature 626 , 254-255 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00327-x

Noble, D. Prog. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 166 , 3–11 (2021).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Noble, R. & Noble. D. Understanding Living Systems (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023).

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Vane-Wright, R. I. & Corning, P. A. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 139 , 341–356 (2023).

Article   Google Scholar  

Corning, P. A. et al. (eds) Evolution “On Purpose”: Teleonomy in Living Systems (MIT Press, 2023).

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Journal of Materials Chemistry C

Structure tailoring and defect engineering of a highly thermally stable red emitting phosphor.

Phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes (pc-WLEDs) are highly efficient light sources for lighting displays and electronic devices. To facilitate the development of next-generation high-power WLEDs, it is crucial to investigate more efficient red-emitting phosphor. One of the biggest challenges facing pc-LEDs is thermal quenching, in which phosphors suffer emission losses as the temperature rises during high-power LED operation. Here, we report a red phosphor Gd3-yCay-0.02GaO6:0.02Eu2+ (y=0.2) with an emission center located at 650 nm and a half-peak width of 68 nm. At 423 K, the emission intensity can still maintain more than 95% of that at room temperature, which owes to the defect level of the phosphor compensating for the emission loss. A white LED device was fabricated by combining a 460 nm blue LED chip and commercial yellow phosphor Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ and Gd3-yCay-0.02GaO6:0.02Eu2+ (y=0.2). The white LED has an excellent property with the correlated color temperature CCT = 3999 K and color rendering index Ra = 95, which demonstrates the red phosphor Gd3-yCay-0.02GaO6:0.02Eu2+ (y=0.2) have good application prospects in the field of white LEDs.

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X. Huo, Z. Wang, X. Meng, J. Zhang, Y. Wang and P. Li, J. Mater. Chem. C , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4TC00144C

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    How to write and structure a journal article Sharing your research data can be hugely beneficial to your career, as well as to the scholarly community and wider society. But before you do so, there are some important ethical considerations to remember.

  2. PDF Anatomy of a Journal Article

    Anatomy of a Journal Article Scientific journal articles share a common anatomy, or structure. Each part of an article serves a purpose, and if you know the purpose, you can become more eficient at reading and understanding articles.

  3. Structure Your Article

    Consist of a single paragraph up to 250 words, with correct grammar and unambiguous terminology Be self-contained; without abbreviations, footnotes, references, or mathematical equations Highlight what is novel in your work

  4. Writing for publication: Structure, form, content, and journal

    Open access Research article First published online May 31, 2021 Writing for publication: Structure, form, content, and journal selection Veronica Phillips https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4383-9434 and Eleanor Barker Volume 31, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1177/1750458921996249 PDF / ePub More Abstract

  5. Structure of a Scholarly Article

    A scholarly article generally consists of the background of a research topic, its study design and methodology, the results of the study, and then its conclusion. The scholarly articles or publications used to inform the research are listed at the end of the article as its references or works cited.

  6. Elsevier Researcher Academy

    40 minutes Anthony Newman Register Save Comment About this module One of the key goals when writing a journal article is to communicate the findings clearly. In order to help researchers achieve that objective, scientific papers share a common structure (with slight variations per journal).

  7. Structuring a scientific article

    I. Abstract: The abstract should briefly summarize the contents of your article. Be sure to include a quick overview of the focus, results and conclusion of your study. II. Introduction: The introduction should include any relevant background information and articulate the idea that is being investigated. Why is this study unique?

  8. How to Structure a Journal Article: The Perfect Format for Your

    How to Structure a Journal Article: The Perfect Format for Your Research Paper journal articles Jun 10, 2022 When you are writing a research paper, it is important to provide a clear structure. This will ensure that your paper is easy to read and that your ideas are presented logically.

  9. How to write a journal article

    The typical structure of a journal article Title. Make it concise, accurate, and catchy; Avoid including abbreviations or formulae; Keywords. Choose 5-7 keywords that you'd like your journal article to appear in the search results for; Abstract. Summarize the findings of your journal article in a succinct, "punchy", and relevant way

  10. Structure your journal submission

    structure your journal submission. Most research papers share a common structure (with slight variations per journal). As long as you stay true to that framework, you should be on the right path. This guide explains the building blocks that are used to construct a journal article and why getting them right can boost your chances of publishing ...

  11. Writing a scientific article: A step-by-step guide for beginners

    Abstract Many young researchers find it extremely difficult to write scientific articles, and few receive specific training in the art of presenting their research work in written format. Yet, publication is often vital for career advancement, to obtain funding, to obtain academic qualifications, or for all these reasons.

  12. Structuring your manuscript

    Not all journals use these section titles in this order, but most published articles have a structure similar to IMRaD. This standard structure: Gives a logical flow to the content; Makes journal manuscripts consistent and easy to read; Provides a "map" so that readers can quickly find content of interest in any manuscript

  13. PDF How to Write Paper in Scientific Journal Style and Format

    (Articles should be listed alphabetically by first author last name; allow one space between entries. DO NOT alphabetize the names in the authors list in a paper for an article - report as listed.) Example: Journal article Janacěk, S., Svensson, B., and E. MacGregor. 2003.

  14. Article structure

    Your article should follow the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion system, and usually consist of the following sections: Title The title should be concise, informative and meaningful to the whole readership of the journal. It should include key terms, to help make it more discoverable when people search online.

  15. Scholarly Journal Articles: Structure and Function

    Abstract and Keywords The abstract provides a concise description of the objective of the study, the methods used, the primary findings, and the chief conclusions. The purpose of the abstract is to summarize the article in sufficient detail so that the reader can decide whether to read the entire article.

  16. HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

    The abstract is a summary of the article or study written in 3 rd person allowing the readers to get a quick glance of what the contents of the article include. Writing an abstract is rather challenging as being brief, accurate and concise are requisite. The headings and structure for an abstract are usually provided in the instructions for ...

  17. Formatting guide

    For guidance, Nature 's standard figure sizes are 90 mm (single column) and 180 mm (double column) and the full depth of the page is 170 mm. Amino-acid sequences should be printed in Courier (or ...

  18. Structure of a research article

    Structure of a research article in the health sciences Research in the health sciences can be qualitative, quantitative, or a combination of the two. This guide will focus primarily on quantitative research. Quantitative research articles are usually written in a standardized format called the IMRaD format.

  19. Writing for Publication: The Structure of a Journal Article

    This article is intended as a rough guide and examines the title, the abstract, the introduction, the literature review, the discussion and the conclusion sections of a journal article. It does not deal with method or results as these belong to the structure of a research article, which will be dealt with separately.

  20. How to Read a Scientific Paper: Structure of an Article

    Strategies and approaches to reading a scientific journal article. Home; Structure of an Article; Online Tutorials; STOP: Reading a scientific article is not like reading a book, trying to plow right through is often overwhelming. Some of the research might be new to you or beyond your level of expertise. However, reading scientific articles is ...

  21. (PDF) Structure and Parts of an Article

    Structure and Parts of an Article article in question would use in their search • They could be single words or phrases • They do not include prepositions or articles • They should represent...

  22. Write your journal article! Strengthening your structure

    We will use the core text Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (Belcher, 2019). In the first hour, we will look at strategies to strengthen the structure of your article. To make the most of this session, we suggest that you bring an outline of your article to engage in a peer review activity.

  23. Cell Press: Structure

    Cell Press 50th anniversary: Celebrating science that inspires new directions in research. We believe, to meet our greatest challenges, the world needs science that inspires. Throughout our 50th year and beyond, we will focus on the real-world impact of the science we publish and launch initiatives to inspire new directions in research all with ...

  24. Structure

    Structure | Journal | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier About the journal Incorporating Folding and Design; Aims & Scope Structure strongly encourages the submission of manuscripts that present structural and molecular insights into biological function and mechanism.

  25. Long-Term Brain Structure and Cognition Following Bariatric Surgery

    Bariatric surgery (BS) leads to rapid and sustainable weight loss and improves comorbidities. 18 Moreover, BS-induced weight loss has been reported to be associated with improved brain function and structure. 19-22 However, results are contradictory, underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown, and it is uncertain whether outcomes are long ...

  26. It's time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life

    The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book.

  27. A Seismic Tomography, Gravity, and Flexure Study of the Crust and Upper

    Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth is a premier AGU geophysics journal, publishing research articles from across the Earth sciences that significantly advance the field. ... A Seismic Tomography, Gravity, and Flexure Study of the Crust and Upper Mantle Structure Across the Hawaiian Ridge: 2. Ka'ena. This article relates to:

  28. Structure tailoring and defect engineering of a highly thermally stable

    Journal of Materials Chemistry C. Structure tailoring and defect engineering of a highly thermally stable red emitting phosphor . Xiaoxue Huo, Zhijun Wang, Xue Meng, Jiawei Zhang, Yu Wang and Panlai Li Abstract. Phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes (pc-WLEDs) are highly efficient light sources for lighting displays and electronic ...