How to write a “results section” in biomedical scientific research papers?: Critical review

Abstract

Introduction The “Results section” is a vital organ of a scientific paper, the main reason why readers come and read to find new information in the paper. However, writing the “Results section” demands a rigorous process that discourages many researchers, leaving their work unpublished and uncommunicated in reputable journals. Therefore, this review aims to describe the content, structure, and key standards of writing the “results section” and suggest practical recommendations to reduce common errors in writing the “results section” of manuscripts. Methods We searched the literature using search terms in the PubMed database. We also traditionally searched for literature from “Google Scholars”, “Google”, and “Websites”. We narrated and summarized finding sections as the content, structure, writing and presenting of data, logical flow of, and advised on the writing of the “results section” of the scientific paper. Result The review suggests guidelines for writing the content and organization, techniques of tabular, and graphical presentation of data in the “results section”. The review also suggests experiences on how to effectively present data in numbers such as percentages, statistical measures such as p-values, and other advanced forms of statistics, Finally, the review recommends relevant points to keep language brevity and logical flow in writing the “results section” of a scientific paper. Conclusions Writing a result section of a scientific paper requires practice and it must be concisely written, logically structured, and supported by a good journal-specific standard to be published.