Page 325 - English for Writing Research Papers

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It may make sense for you to organize your Discussion following the same sequence

as you presented your findings in the Results section. In this case, you discuss each
survey, study or experiment, and interpret it within the overall scenario of the
problem.

If you are a medical researcher, you will need to follow closely the appropriate
guidelines (e.g. CONSORT, PRISMA, MOOSE, STROKE). Even if you are not a
medical researcher these guidelines are still incredibly useful and you can fi nd links
to them at bmj.com.

18.4 What is a ‘Structured Discussion’?

Some journals, particularly medical ones, not only have structured abstracts ( 13.10 )
but also have structured discussions. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports the
following on its website:

Please ensure that the discussion section of your article comprises no more than fi ve
paragraphs and follows this overall structure, although you do not need to signpost
these elements with subheadings:

• Statement of principal fi ndings

• Strengths and weaknesses of the study

• Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies, discussing important

differences in results
• Meaning of the study: possible explanations and implications for clinicians
and policymakers

• Unanswered questions and future research

Again, by having a clear structure, authors are forced to express themselves more
clearly, with obvious benefits for the reader.

The above subsections equally apply to most other disciplines (if you replace clinicians
with ‘others in my field’). In any case, check out your chosen journal’s website to see

if they have similar recommendations on how to structure the Discussion.