Scientific research has to be published to make a difference in the field, ie to have impact.  In addition, well-written publications enable findings to be verified, and in some cases results to be synthesised into meta-analyses.  Both of these help to build a robust evidence-base to ensure we are moving forward in the most valid and effective ways possible. In this section we provide some useful tips and advice on how to get your work published.

There are a number of resources to support you in writing a clear and publishable manuscript, but it is worth noting that many considerations need to be undertaken way before you consider writing up your work.  Well designed experiments will be much easier to write up, much more acceptable to peer-review, and ultimately raise the quality of available research on which to base future funding, policy and practice.  For resources to help with experimental design visit here.

If you are planning animal studies, the first question we would ask is are you absolutely sure there is no other way of achieving you goal? If not, are you certain your questions are absolutely necessary?  If an animal study continues to be your chosen approach, we suggest you look at the PREPARE guidelines, and for writing up and reporting animal studies, FRAME always advocates the use of the ARRIVE guidelines.  Where animal research is still conducted, it is critically important that it is of the highest quality, reproducible and well disseminated to eliminate needless repetition of experiments and waste of animal lives and funding.

A number of publishers have help available to researchers on writing, but a key list of questions to ask yourself before submitting your paper is:

• Is your study original?
• Is your methodology robust and appropriate?
• Are the results meaningful and the conclusions justified?
• Is your paper well-written and readable with a clear, consistent message?
• Have you considered your audience?
• Have you also considered ways of increasing your impact and reaching different audiences, for example via writing a blog, or engaging on social media about your work?

FRAME can help support the wider outreach of work that fits with our mission. If you would like to discuss writing a blog with us, or other options for dissemination, then please get in touch via hello@frame.org.uk

Helpful resources on getting your research published

Our publishing partner, Sage, offers a free online course in How to Get Published

Other useful guides:

Get Published: a how-to guide from Wiley

Preparing a manuscript for submission