Department of Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA. FinWriter@aol.com
The purpose of this article is to provide potential authors with a contemporary guide to scientific writing. It is in essence a handbook that covers the planning for a scientific publication from inception of the project or study to manuscript preparation and, ultimately, acceptance by a journal. Major topics such as manuscript formatting, data analysis, use of charts, graphs and images, reference formats, and manuscript submission are presented.