The main body text of an original research article shall have four parts: Introduction, Objective & Methods, Results and Discussion (Introduction shall not have subheading). The font of Chinese should be Songti 5 and the font of English and numbers should be Times New Roman 5.
1.Hierarchy of Subheadings: Article should be structured with a 3-level subheading system. The first level subheadings are preceded by sequence number “1,2,3…”;the second level subheadings preceded by “1.1, 1.2; 2.1, 2.2, …”; the third level subheadings preceded by “1.1.1, 1.1.2…; 2.1.1, 2.1.2, …”. The sequence number of subheadings should be placed at the very left of the line and there should be a space between the sequence numbers and the subheadings.
2.Introduction: As the background and basis of the research, an introduction part is necessary for the article. There should be the definition of terminology, the research background and the reason for which the research is undertaken, including whether there is still a gap within the research topic, whether there are contradictions or limitations in previous results and how this research can avoid such limitations. Please elaborate on the reason of topic setting, research purpose, methods and significance of the research. Introduction should not involve data or conclusions and should not be written like a summary. Without confirmation, it is improper to use expressions such as “not reported at home and abroad” or “reached the level of ×× “or” filled the blank”, etc.
3.Objective & Methods: Firstly, there should be a description of the objective, including population, sampling method, grouping, inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, research subjects (human or experimental animals, including the control group) and other basic information. In addition, for clinical trials, it shall be stated whether the trial has been approved by an institutional or regional ethical committee and whether the subjects or their relatives have signed informed consent letters. Secondly. there should be a description of the research process, including operational indicators, research procedures (the intervention methods and blind methods used in randomized controlled trials should be explained), and a description of researchers. Common names should be used for drugs and chemical reagents. The starting dose, maintenance dose, unit, purity, batch number, manufacturer and production time should be stated. The name, model, specification, manufacturer, precision or error range of apparatus and equipment shall be indicated. Thirdly, there should a description of the selected tools of evaluation and investigation, including the name of the tool and a brief introduction of the items and number. The evaluation time, personnel and the consistency among personnel also need to be described. Finally, there should be a description of the statistical method and its selection basis (explain the setting of variables), and explanation of the statistical software used. Statistical symbols should be italicized, such as χ2 test (where the symbol is in Greek italics and the number superscript), t-test, F-test. The standard format of the average is: (
±s)
4.Results: Description of the results should be authentic, concise, accurate, structural and with rigorous logic. If data is presented in figures and tables, there is no need to repeat it in the text, but only to briefly describe the main results. Tables should be placed after the description as supporting evidence. Only main research results need be summarized. When the results are reflected by data, there should not only be derivatives (such as percentage), but also absolute numbers according to which the derivatives are calculated. Generally, data obtained shall be statistically processed and the specific statistical value shall be given, for example: t = 3.58 (P < 0.01), in which t and P are in italics, and the P value should always be included in parenthesis like the mean, except for in tables. The results of original research articles should not be confused with the discussion part. The results part is a summary of statistical data without any deduction or explanation. However, the review content can be discussed to a certain extent after each result is given.
5.Discussion: A simple statement of the research results should firstly be stated. After explanation for each result, the rationale that may lead to these results must be discussed. This can be discussed in combination with the results of another research. The results of this research should be compared and discussed with the results of previous similar researches in terms of whether the results are consistent and what is the reason for that. Then the authors should discuss the objective and significance of this study again, whether the objective has been achieved and what the significance of the final article is. Finally, the limitations of this study and suggestions for future research should also be discussed.
6.Requirements for Research Design and Statistical Analysis:
(1) Study Design: The name and main methods of the study design shall be stated, such as survey design (prospective, retrospective or cross-sectional), experimental design (specific design types should be stated, such as self-paired, group, crossover, factorial, orthogonal, etc.), clinical trial design (the phase and the blind measure of clinical trial should be stated); The main practices should be summarized around four basic principles (repetition, randomization, control and balance). Elaborate on how to control the interference and influence of important non-experimental factors.
(2) Statistical Methods: For quantitative research, statistical methods shall be selected according to the design type, conditions and analysis purpose of the data. Do not always apply t-test and one-way ANOVA when they are inadequate for the study. For qualitative research, statistical methods should be selected according to the design type adopted, the conditions of the nature and frequency of qualitative variables and the purpose of analysis. Do not always apply c2 test when it is inadequate for the study.
For regression analysis, regression types shall be selected according to professional knowledge and the scatter diagram. Do not always apply linear regression analysis when it is inadequate for the study. The regression analysis data with repeated experimental data should be dealt with carefully. For multi-factor and multi-index data, multivariate statistical analysis method should be used as much as possible on the basis of unitary analysis, so as to make a comprehensive and reasonable explanation and evaluation on the interaction factors.
(3) Interpretation and Expression of Statistical Results: When P < 0.05 (or P < 0.01), it should be said that the difference between groups is statistically significant, rather than significant (or very significant). The specific statistical analysis method shall be named (e.g., t-test of group design data, analysis of two-factor-variance of factorial design data, q-test of pairwise comparison between multiple means, etc.), and the specific value of the statistical quantity shall be given (e.g., t = 3.45, c2 = 4.68, F = 6.79, etc.); In the case of using inequality to express P value, generally three standards (P > 0.05, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) can be adopted. There is no need to further specify to a level of P < 0.001 or P < 0.0001. When the population parameters (such as population mean, population rate, etc.) are involved, the significance test results should be given along with the 95% confidence interval.