This Library Guide is aimed at SVHM staff who have done their research, searched the medical literature and are embarking on writing their clinical or non-clinical work. This could be an article for publication, an internal report, or a grant application. It is recommended that this guide is consulted with the information at Evidence Based Practice and the guidelines of the Research Directorate, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.
New researcher or need a refresher? See Learning Opportunities
Are you a Registered Nurse or Allied Health Practitioner?
If you need support or guidance with regard to a research project, abstract writing, grant application or getting published, please reach out:
Allied Health: Rita Kinsella, Allied Health Research & Knowledge Translation Lead, Allied Health & Pharmacy - Rita.Kinsella@svha.org.au
Nursing: Nursing Research Officer Kelly Coughlan Kelly.Coughlan@acu.edu.au
Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (2019 update)
The EQUATOR Network Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research.
Your one-stop-shop for writing and publishing high-impact health research, with further information on:
reporting guidelines
enhancing peer review
implementing reporting guidelines
Web of Science Academy for online training courses for new researchers.
Cheat sheets
How to write an abstract,
what to include in your abstract and why
Writing a journal article - pay close attention to the journal's "Instructions to authors"
Writing in English
Grammarly app
DeepL Write, DeepL Translator
Free online tutorials by Springer Nature aimed at journal authors
Articles from Editage Insights (free account registration required)
How to avoid a desk reject in seven steps (Harzing.com)
Where to publish?
Finding a journal that is a good fit for your paper gives you the best chance of success when submitting for publishing. Consider journal quality, publisher reputation and the journal's acceptance rates.
Open Access discounts available at SVHM
Quality/Reputation
Relevance
How long will the journal take to process my submitted manuscript? What percentage of submissions are accepted?
Copyright Clearance Centre http://www.copyright.com/get-permissions/
At copyright.com you can search for and obtain permission to use and share content from the world’s leading titles in science, technology, medicine, humanities, news, business, finance and more.
"Permission to reuse" template letter and instructions
Login /register to St Vincent's Application for Governance and Ethics (SAGE). Ethics guidelines relating to case studies, clinical trials, animal trials and so forth should be discussed with Dr Tam Ngyuen of St Vincent's Research Governance Unit.
Downloadable practical guidelines, infographics and flowcharts to address unethical issues provided by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE ) are here.
(Image from: Simera, I., & Altman, D. G. (2013). Reporting medical research. International journal of clinical practice, 67(8), 710–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12168)
Other:
Guide to Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, Australian Government, NHMRC and ARC (2018)
Naicker, R. (2023). Critically appraising for antiracism. Retrieved 17 November 2023 from https://www.criticallyappraisingantiracism.org
National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2018 update).
Carl de Gruchy Library,
St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne,
+613 9231 2668 Danila.Durante@svha.org.au
EndNote, Document Supply, Researcher Help
Thursdays, Fridays & alternate Wednesdays
Researchgate
Covidence is online software specifically created for facilitating the writing of systematic reviews. St Vincent's now has an institutional licence, if you would like to gain access please contact the Library on library.svhmlibrary@svha.org.au
EndNote is bibliographic management software that allows you to store records of references, their full text PDF, organise them, and cite them in a Word document to create formatted bibliographies. Request the software for your computer while working from home by emailing library.svhmlibrary@svha.org.au. To learn more see the EndNote Library Guide.
REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. Register for SVHM access here. Support is available from svhs.redcap@svha.org.au
STATA is software for data manipulation, visualization, statistics, and automated reporting. STATA 12 is available from your PC, for access while working from home request access from IT. Support: video tutorials and Statalist community forum.
More resources for researchers at SVHM
Clinical Researcher resources at SVHA
Case study
'A case study can be defined as an intensive study about a person, a group of people or a unit, which is aimed to generalize over several units’. A case study has also been described as an intensive, systematic investigation of a single individual, group, community or some other unit in which the researcher examines in-depth data relating to several variables. Source | CARE Checklist
Evidence mapping
A review of literature that systematically searches evidence, uses explicit questions, and provides tabular summaries of the nature and findings of the studies. Source
Literature review
A literature review identifies, evaluates and synthesises the relevant literature within a particular field of research. It illuminates how knowledge has evolved within the field, highlighting what has already been done, what is generally accepted, what is emerging and what is the current state of thinking on the topic. In addition, within research-based texts such as a Doctoral thesis, a literature review identifies a research gap (i.e. unexplored or under-researched areas) and articulates how a particular research project addresses this gap.
Meta analysis
Meta-analysis is a quantitative, formal, epidemiological study design used to systematically assess the results of previous research to derive conclusions about that body of research. It includes a comprehensive literature search and a PRISMA statement. Source
Mixed methods article
Mixed methods research combines elements of quantitative research and qualitative research in order to answer your research question. Mixed methods can help you gain a more complete picture than a standalone quantitative or qualitative study, as it integrates benefits of both methods. Source | More | Sample
Narrative review
A review of literature that is unsystematically searched and minimally extracted to answer a broad question that may be vaguely stated. Source
Peer review
Evaluation of a paper by experts in that field, usually done "blind" (i.e. the reviewer does not know who has written the paper) to avoid bias. Source : Understanding Research Methods for Evidence-based Practice in Health. Greenhalgh TM, Bidewell J, Crisp E et al. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
Policy, procedure or guideline
Clinical and non-clinical policies, procedures and guidelines ensure hospital practices are compliant with the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHSS). See the Policy Toolkit for more.
Rapid review
An evidence summary that provides evidence to decision makers incorporating some methods of a systematic review in a short timeframe. More
Scoping review
A narrative integration of relevant, systematically searched evidence. Examines the extent, range and nature of research activity in a broad topic. May be used to determine whether a systematic review is feasible. Source
Systematic review
A review of literature that is systematically searched. It answers a well-defined narrow question through a structured and rigorous synthesis of original studies chosen with strict and transparent inclusion and exclusion criteria. It evaluates the quality of the evidence and makes recommendations based on a qualitative synthesis of either all the evidence or only the high-quality evidence. See the LibGuide on Systematic Reviews.
Systematised review
A systematized review attempts to include elements of the systematic review process while stopping short of the systematic review. For example, they may include a PRISMA chart. Systematized reviews are typically conducted as a postgraduate student assignment, in recognition that they are not able to draw upon the resources required for a full systematic review (such as two reviewers).
See also:
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health information & libraries journal, 26(2), 91-108.
Which type of review? Melbourne University, ©2023. Broad explanation of types of reviews and their distinctions and similarity.
Applied Statistical Considerations for Clinical Researchers by 
The Case for Case Studies: methods and applications in international development by 
Essential Writing, Communication and Narrative Skills for Medical Scientists Before and after the COVID Era by 
How To Do Science
How to Publish in Biomedicine by 
How to Read a Paper by 
How to Write a Paper by 
Medical writing a guide for clinicians, educators, and researchers 3rd ed. by 
The Pathway to Publishing: a Guide to Quantitative Writing in the Health Sciences by 
Successful Qualitative Research by 
