Updated August 23rd, 2023

So you want to write a scientific paper on a radiological topic – congratulations! It can be a difficult and overwhelming task to start writing on your first manuscript. But be aware that this means that you are taking a big step into the scientific world and are consolidating your stand there. In the beginning I also struggeled with how to write a scientific paper in radiology, so I collected a lot of information over time. Therefore, I now want to share my experiences so it may help you to draft a good radiological research manuscript. After reading this article, you should have a good idea where to start and know how to write a scientific paper in radiology.

Short disclaimer: In this article, I want to give some general information on how to approach a scientific paper in the field of radiology. Each study is different and each journal has different requierements. Use this information for your first draft that can later be adjusted for specific requierements of the journal. Following these guidelines will significantly reduce the chance of your research being rejected.

Further information: What are the best radiology journals worldwide?

Things to do Before You Start Drafting Your Scientific Paper

Before you can start writing, you need several things to be completed and at hand. There will surely be things that you need to assess or information to gather while you write but you´ll want to make sure that you have as much as necessary already available so you don´t need too many larger breaks during writing

1. Have Your Complete Data at Hand in a Clean and Organized Format

As we will go into detail later, it is essential that you have all your data readily collected and in an organized format such as an excel file. For me, the first step is to get a structured overview of the data of your study and collect all the key results that your data suggests. The data is also needed to generate the tables and figures for your scientific radiological manuscript.

2. Know Your Literature and Have All the Relevant References at Hand

Before you start writing, you should have a comprehensive overview over the current literature that is relevant for your paper. You should have already read quite some papers during planning of the study but no you´ll need some further information regarding the technical or clinical aspects of the field your paper will need to fit in. I´m planning to add a more detailed guide later on but for literature research, I create a separate text document, where I collect all my literature with relevant information or statements. Because you have all the references already collected, you will later on “just” need to place them in your introduction/discussion and craft the respective sentences accordingly.

3. Build an Organized Data Structure to Save All the Data and Files for Your Project

You most likely already have a folder where you saved all the data for your study but it is important that you also have a structured way to save all the files for your manuscript. I suggest having one folder for the first draft of the manuscript that contains files all of the figures, tables and the other manuscript files with coherent nomenclature.

For example your files could be named

• “studyx_tables.docx”
• “studyx_figure1.tif”
• “studyx_literature.docx”
• “studyx_manuscript.docx”

If later on you have several versions of your files, it can also make sense to add a date or version to the file names to avoid confusion. This could look something like:

• “studyx_manuscript_v1.docx”
• “studyx_manuscript_03232023.docx”

4. Choose a Citation Software and a Compatible Word Processor such as Microsoft Word

Before you can type the first word, you´ll need a proper word processor. Freely available in many institutions and most commonly used is Microsoft Word but there are other options such as OpenOffice. However, before you start writing, be aware of the compatibility with other programs such as citation software and, just as importantly, what the people you work with are using. It might be the case that formatting issues will be present if you need to switch between different software.

Similarly, you need to think about a citation software that is fitting for you. There are several options from commonly used paid software such as Endnote to freely available options such as Zotero or Mendeley. I suggest you to try different options as they strongly vary in terms of browser plugins, word plugins and general management (e. g. saving PDF files or having a syncable online account).

5. Know the Hypothesis or Research Question for Your Manuscript

Naturally, this is something you have already done during the planning of your study. However, now is a good time to recap and reflect on your study as a whole. This will give you an overview of the ‘big picture’ of the whole study. From the idea of your study with its corresponding hypothesis to how your answers will be presented in the manuscript. At this stage, I suggest trying to explain your study including the findings to a person, that is not too familiar with it using your own words. This way you can identify ‘stumbling stones’ that you will need to adress in order to write a good scientific paper.

6. Know How and What Exactly You Did in Your Scientific Study

This seems obvious but in order to write a good scientific manuscript, you´ll need to get into the details. The reader of your study should have all the information at hand to recreate your study (and results) in every detail. For radiological studies this does not only include the inclusion and exclusion criteria but also the technical details if any images have been acquired. We will get into detail later but you´ll need to know what machines you worked with, what software versions were used and all the scan parameters and/or contrast protocols. Think about what information you would need if you would start from scratch without any machine or established imaging protocol.

You Have All the Things to Start Drafting Your Scientific Paper in Radiology, What Are the Next Steps?

Great, now you have all the requirements to start thinking about how to write a scientific paper in radiology! But where to start? You already read some papers so you know that they begin with the title followed by an abstract and then the main manuscript body. Altough it is tempting, you should not write from top to bottom but rather focus on building your manuscript in a more structured approach. For this, lets first look at the most common structure of a scientific research manuscript.

Know the basic structure of a scientific manuscript in radiology (and most other disciplines)

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Materials and Methods
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. References
7. Tables
8. Figures

We will go into more detail for each section below. But first, lets talk about in which order you should write your manuscript.

In which order should you write your scientific manuscript?

Lets get straight to the point. I suggest to start working on your scientific manuscript in the following orter:

1. Tables
2. Figures
3. Materials and Methods
4. Results
5. Introduction
6. Discussion
7. Abstract
8. References

You need an overview over your data and a concrete idea on how you want to present it. Therefore, I suggest creating the tables first. This will also show you some potential gaps that you will need to fill first, before you can start writing text. Next, the figures (or at least an outline of which figures you want in your manuscript) help you, which data you want to illustrate. Be aware that the most read parts of your manuscript are the tables, figures and abstract. Therefore, you want these to be as good precise, and concise as possible.

Next, both the Materials and Methods as well as the Results section are fairly easy to draft, if you have good documentation of your study and have already created the Tables/Figures.

Afterwards, it gets more difficult and to the core of your study. The introduction and the discussion both require literature research and good knowledge of the reason why you have conducted your study and what your results mean in relation to the current literature. While you write these sections, you want to make notes or comments on which literature you cited but don´t bother with citation formatting until the very end.

Not until you have completely drafted (and are happy with) the manuscript body (introduction to discussion), you will start drafting the abstract and finalize the title. The formatted references and bibliography (references section) are also adressed at the end. This is important as you might have already an idea at which jounal you want to submit your paper and can adjust the style accordingly.

In Which Style (Font, Font Size, Spacing) Should You Write Your Scientific Manuscript?

Of course, there is no single correct answer to this question. However, I suggest some basic style options to make it easier to read and correct once you start circulating the draft among your co-authors:

• Font: Arial (alternatives: Georgia or Times New Roman)
• Font size: 11 pt
• Line spacing: Double-spaced (2.0)
• Headings: Bold
• Subheadings: Italic

Remember to be consistent and don´t switch between font types or different sizes. A well formatted and structured manuscript will give positive vibes to the reader (editor or reviewer) before she/he has read any written text.

Typing can be easier on the best keyboard for radiologists.

What Other Formatting Styles Should You Use in Your Manuscript?

Besides the basic style, there are other formatting options, that make it your document easier to read:

• Use breaks for new sections (in Word: go to Layout -> Breaks -> Section Breaks -> Next Page
• Put all your tables into one (separate) word document with one page for each table
• Use horizontal or vertical layout to fit different table types
• Put all the figures into one document (or at the end of the main manuscript body)
• One figure on one page
• Put figure legends next to each figure or grouped before the figures.
• Number your pages (arabic, centered in the footer)

Again, remember to be consistent with any formatting. That way you´ll have an easily readable document that facilitates access to the content for any reader.

Now You Can Start Writing – But What to Write in Each Section of Your Scientific Manuscript?

In this section, I want to give specific instructions on what belongs in each section of your scientific manuscript. To be consistent, I am assuming a clinical radiological study that includes image analyses for a specific patient cohort. However, most of this information can be translated to any other medical field. Please be aware, that these are general suggestions for your first draft. Different journals might have specific requirements that might need some adjustments later in the process. Also, although I wrote that you should not write from ‘top to bottom’, I will structure this section according to the general format of a scientific paper for better readibility.

Once you´re writing: There are a lot of great services out there that can help getting your scientific manuscript corrected and revised properly. I personally can recommend PaperTrue, if you want to try it, use the code INSIGHTS10 for a 10% discount.

How to Write an Abstract for Your Scientific Manuscript?

The abstract is a short summary of your whole paper. It most commonly consists of four sections just like your main manuscript body:

• Purpose/Background/Objectives: Why did you conduct your study?
• Methods: How did you conduct your study?
• Results: What are the (most relevant) findings of your study?
• Conclusion: What is the key message (or messages) of your study?

For most journals, the abstract has a strict word limit that can lie anywhere between 150 to 300 words. Although there are some tricks to ‘save’ words such as deleting spaces between numbers and their units, I advise not to do this because it not only looks unsightly but also somewhat misses the point in providing a well written and concentrated version of your manuscript.

What to Write in Each Section of the Abstract?

• In the Purpose/Background/Objectives, write 1-2 sentences on the purpose of your study. Be short and concise.
• The Methods section should briefly describes how your cohort was created, how your images were acquired and analyzed, and what major statistical tests were performed.
• The Results section (often the longest section) gives a concise overview of your main findings. These should be supported by concrete values (with dispersion measure: standard deviation, interquartile range) and p-values, if statistical tests were conducted (see methods).
• Finally, the Conclusion section contains the main message (or messages) of your study in 1 or maximum 2 sentences.

How to Write an Introduction for Your Scientific Manuscript?

In the introduction you want to (as the name suggest) introduce your reader to your study. You want to pick up the reader gently starting with more common information on the topic or disease of your study in general. Then you want to dive into more detail with short information on the current data culminating in a “knowledge gap“, that you want to fill with your study. Ultimately, you write 1-2 sentences on why (your hypothesis) and what you did in order to gain information to be able to fill this gap of knowledge.

Given the styles provided above (12 pt, double spaced), a good orientation for the length of your introduction 1 page. This page should be structured in roughly 3 paragraphs that contain the following information:

• 1st paragraph: Starting from more common to more detailed information, introduce the reader to your topic and the problem you are facing.
• 2nd paragraph: In brief, give an overview of the current knowledge culminating in the ‘knowledge gap‘ that you aim to fill with your study.
• 3rd paragraph: Shortly explain your hypothesis and how you want to aim to fill the knowledge gap with the information presented in this paper.

Note: You want to use references for almost all statements that you make regarding current knowledge.

How to Write the Materials and Methods Section for Your Scientific Manuscript?

The materials and methods (or M&M) section is a structured and detailed instruction that should enable every reader to repeat your study and findings. You want to divide this section in separate sub-sections for every step of conduct in your study. Each paragraph has its own sub-title (in Italic) and contains information for on specific step.

Because every study is different, this section can vary in size and in number of paragraphs. A rough estimation would be 2-3 pages in the given format. However, this can be significantly shorter or longer depending on what you did.

What Are the Subsections of the Materials and Methods Section of a Scientific Paper?

In this article, we are mostly talking about radiological manuscripts. Basic examples of subsections could be the following:

• Patient cohort
• Imaging protocol and reconstuction
• Image analysis
• Statistical analysis

Patient cohort

Start with a short ethics statement including IRB approval and informed patient consent. Maybe you want to add your trial number. Then you should explain how your study was conducted (retrospective, prospective…) and what and how patients were included. For example, you could include consecutive patients with the diagnosis of a specific disease that underwent a specific diagnostic test.

In this section, you should also specify inclusion and exclusion criteria. Some jounals even require a flow chart as a figure that illustrates all patients that were primarily included and excluded for various reasons (with exact numbers). Again, this is journal-specific but in general you don´t want to put numbers here (or anywhere else in the M&M section). You write that you included patients with disease XYZ and the specific criteria. How many patients and which were excluded belongs in the Results section.

Imaging protocol

From general to specific provide all information on how your images were acquired. For example, if you acquired images using a computed tomography scanner, the required information would include:

• Name/Type of scanner (including Manufacturer and Location)
• Patient positioning, breath hold, scan range
• Contrast protocol (brand, flow rate, type of bolus)
• Triggering of the scan (fixed delay, test bolus)
• Tube voltage
• Tube current
• Pitch
• Collimation
• Rotation time
• Reconstruction kernel
• Slice thickness and increment

Be so precise that you could repeat the scans yourself on your device with these informations.

Image analysis

This section explains how data were obtained from the images you acquired. State each specific software needed and what and how things were measured. If you used any secondary image analyses such as computational fluid dynamics, radiomics or other algorithms, they can also belong here – or they can even have their separate sections, if they are very extensive.

Also include any formulas that were used to caluclate things such as signal-to-noise ratios or similiar.

Statistical analysis

Here you list all your descriptive and inferential statistics in detail. State how your data is presented: For example: Data are presented as mean with standard deviation if parametric and median with interquartile range if non-parametric. Also list all the statistical tests you did and specify which variables (and variably types) you compared using these tests.

Ultimately, you want to define your p-value if you used null-hypothesis significance testing. Usually, statistically significant differences are assumed at p ≤ 0.05.

How to Write the Results Section for Your Scientific Manuscript?

In the results section, you want to present all of your relevant findings and results in a structured matter. Your tables and figures belong here and you want to refer to them in the text. In the first paragraph you can provide descriptive statistics of your patient cohort (age, gender, …) and report the number of primarily included participants along with the number of exclusions for each reason andthe final study cohort.

Please be aware that most of your data is already presented in the tables (and figures). Watch out for redundancies – you don´t want to repeat every finding of your table in the text. Rather give the most relevant results in a structured format so that the reader is guided through your data in a logical way. Here you have the space to indicate for example changes or differences in your findings. The table will show differing numbers but you can write something like “in group A, XX was 10% higher than in group B (110 vs. 100 units; p = 0.002)”.

Remember that the tables and figures are part of your results. However, because they are cited in the text, they must be able to stand on their own. Therefore, the legends of your tables and figures should contain all the information so that the reader will understand them even when read independetly from the manuscript.

How to Write the Discussion for Your Scientific Manuscript?

For many writers of scientific manuscripts, the discussion is considered the final boss. This is mainly because you have to combine your diligence, your thinking, reasoning, and your knowledge of the current literature. In the discussion you want to provide an interpretation of your data and findings in view of other relevant studies.

Again, this section is divided into paragraphs. They could look something like this:

• First paragraph: Short summary of what you did and what you found
• Middle paragraphs (2 – X): Discussion and Interpretation of your data. If you have more than one significant finding to discuss, you can discuss each in a separate paragraph.
• Last paragraph: Limitations (and potential strengths) of your study followed by the conclusion.

What to Write in each Paragraph of the Discussion?

I´m not sure, where I read it but I always liked the idea, that the first paragraph of the discussion should build a bridge to the last paragraph of the introduction. In the introduction you pointed out the ‘knowledge gap’ and your hypothesis and plan on how to fill it. Now you will write very concise what you did (1 sentence) and what the main findings of your study are. With this, you are taking the reader by the hand and provide a smooth transition to the discussion.

The following paragraphs are the most difficult in your manuscript. You need to interpret you findings and compare and relate them to those of comparable prior studies. Here you also have room to provide potential reasons or causes of your findings and why they differ or are similar to other studies. You don´t need to answer every detail – it isn´t possible. And open questions can sometimes be a pleasant stlyistic.

If you are reading this before you started researching for your study, I strongly advise you to carefully read the discussions of the literature relevant to your study. You will not only get used to the writing format but will also get information on known arguments or problems as well as relevant studies that tackled specific hypotheses.

How To Write the Limitations Section of the Discussion of Your Scientific Manuscript?

In the last paragraph of the discussion you will shortly list the limitations of your study. While you also have the possibility to justify some limitations, this section should show your awareness of the strengths, weaknesses and potential issues in generalizing your findings. No study is perfect and it is considered a strength to know about its weaknesses and limitations. Stylewise you can have a somewhat list-like approach where you enumerate the major limitations starting with the most important ones.

How To Write the Conclusion of Your Scientific Manuscript?

The conclusion is a synopsis of your whole study. This paragraph mostly is 2-3 sentences long and contains your most relevant findings and their relevance, meaning and potential perspectives. In contrast to the conclusion of your abstract, this section is a bit longer and allows you to give short interpretations and conclusions that you draw from your study. There is also some room to give an outlook or to point out additional ‘knowledge gaps’, that future studies need to adress.

You Have Written a Complete First Draft of Your Scientific Manuscript – What Are the next Steps?

Congratulations, you came a long way but you did finish writing your first draft. I hope, that the information in this article helped you in the process.

You should now have a well formatted main manuscript body with tables and figures. Usually, you are not the only person to be involved in your study. Therefore, the next step would be to send your draft to your PI, supervisor or to a co-author for her/his input. You will definitely get some input with things and comments that will advise you to change, add or correct things in your manuscript. Each ’round of internal revision’ will strengthen your manuscript depending on the quality of the input you get from each person.

At this point, you should also decide which journal to submit your manuscript to. You will notice, that you need to make some adjustments to your text in order to agree with the different author guidelines of each journal. This might affect word limits and format of the abstract, general structure of your manuscript and the way your citations need to be placed and put together in the bibliography.

Please carefully read the submission guidelines as your manuscript will be sent back to you if you don´t adhere to them. I wish you all the best and hope that you succeed in submitting your manuscript.

Further Information and References

For scientific writing, I can highly recommend the free course “Writing in the Sciences” by Dr. Kristin Sainani. This online course is packed with valuable information on how to become a better and more effective scientific writer.

For further information, I can also recommend the following publications:

• Liumbruno, Giancarlo Maria, et al. “How to write a scientific manuscript for publication.” Blood Transfusion 11.2 (2013): 217.
• Stiell, Ian G. “Guide to writing and publishing a scientific manuscript: Part 1—The structure.” Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine 24.2 (2022): 117-119.
• Bannas, Peter, and Scott B. Reeder. “How to write an original radiological research manuscript.” European radiology 27 (2017): 4455-4460.
• Atzen, Sarah L., and David A. Bluemke. “Top 10 tips for writing your scientific Paper: the Radiology scientific style guide.” Radiology 304.1 (2022): 1-2.

Also, if you successfully submitted your manuscript. Read this article on how to write the best rebuttal letter.