Strengthening Research Engagements in Dentistry

In scientific article/manuscript writing, the introduction plays a crucial role. It is strategically placed to do more than just introduce your manuscript. It is expected to fulfil the following: 1.     To allow the reader to understand your thought process. 2.     To assert the need to know more about your selected theme/subject. 3.     To provide a brief overview of the current level of evidence available in literature regarding your subject/theme. 4.     To provide justifications for your selection of subtopics or themes. 5.     To lead the reader to understand your choice of research theme and subthemes. 6.     The novelty, if any, in your choice of research theme, subthemes or approach towards their assessment/analysis. 7.     To convince your readers of all the above mentioned.   Example: You observe that A, B, C and D are somehow interlinked and propos...

Writing can be a joyful experience when done right. It helps to get rid of the toxic buildup of facts, figures and observations that clog the flow of thought in our minds, freeing up space for new thoughts and insights into subjects that matter most to us. With little to no formal training, any form of writing can easily become the least favored chore for many people. The trick is to find a good system that works for you. Here are some of my tips to get you started: 1. Free-Writing. Get into the habit of free writing. Good or bad, just start writing whatever comes to mind. Create a space on your laptop or notebook to write 100-200 words about something, every day. Make that time! 2. Review free-writing notes . Every once in a while, when you get more than 15minutes of free time, look back at your free-writing notes and review them with fresh eyes. 3. Identify themes . In each note, try to identify a central theme or themes that pop out or call to you. Whatever grabs your interest....

We often read through articles in journals that state how many participants/subjects were studied or observed during the course of their respective research period. While this is an acceptable practice, it can be quite catastrophic to ignore the fact that these studies actually deal with people and not unfeeling, sterilised numbers. The purpose of reducing each person/individual participant in the research to abstract numbers by way of analysing their responses/behaviours is to remove all distractors and remain hyper focussed on the task of the research objective set in the study/project. This translates to Quantitative studies enjoying a more robust place in the research hierarchy. But let me ask you this: How good of a research tactic is it to reduce your entire being...your past, present, future expectations, mannerisms, flaws, merits...everything that makes you unique into a single abstract number? Does doing so with a hundred such people actually make for better research? It is im...