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The IMRaD format

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by
Philip Abraham
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P D Hinduja National Hospital and

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K E M Hospital, Mumbai
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Why IMRaD

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“The man of science appears to be the only person

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who has something to say just now, and the only

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man who does not know how to say it.”

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by – Sir James Barrie
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WWWHWAW

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“I keep six honest serving-men

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(They taught me all I knew)

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Their names are What and Why and When

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And How and Where and Who”
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-- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). “The Elephant’s Child”

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What is IMRAD?

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Results

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Methods

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Discussion
Introduction

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History

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1665 Origin of scientific papers

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1600s and 1700s Letters and experimental (descriptive)

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formats coexisted

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1800s (second half) Increasing Methods description (“theory
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– experiment – discussion”)
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1900s (early) Organized as in book chapters (heading

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according to subject)
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1900s (second half) Adoption of IMRaD format

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History in 1900s

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• Up to 1945 Titles as in book chapters

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• 1950 to 1960 IMRaD structure partially adopted

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• After 1965 IMRaD began to predominate

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• 1979 by
IMRaD introduced as standard by
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American National Standards Institute

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• 1980s Absolute leadership of IMRaD

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Background

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• Considered ideal outline in early 1900s

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• Physics adopted IMRaD in 1950s

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• After World War II, international conferences on scientific

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publishing recommended IMRaD
•
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Late 1970s, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
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(“Vancouver Group”) first published guidelines

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• Wide use of IMRaD may be credited to editors, to benefit

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readers and facilitate peer review

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IMRaD adoption by major journals

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Bradford Hill’s questions

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Introduction Why did you start?

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Methods What did you do?

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Results What did you find?

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and by
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Discussion What does it all mean?

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Starting a conversation

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A: What’s news, babe?

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B: You know that guy Rakesh … done a lot of work on hepatitis E

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… I think he’s asked good questions … but, you know what …

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you and I can find holes in his arguments and come up with a
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shocker …
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A: Wow! … tell me more … keep singin’, babe

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Introduction

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• Brief and arresting

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• Define nature and scope of problem, but

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• Do not hide inconvenient facts

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Introduction

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• Adequate information to allow reader to understand and

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evaluate present study without referring to previous publications

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• Define lacunae and shortcomings in current state of knowledge

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Key references to support background information provided
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• Refer to your previous preliminary work and closely related

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papers appearing elsewhere

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Introduction: “funneling” down

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• Provide rationale for current study

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– What gap in knowledge did you try to fill?

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– What controversy did you try to resolve?

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• State aim of study

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• May briefly state study group, design and methods used,
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especially why these are better than in previous studies

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• May state principal result/conclusion

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(but this may take away “surprise” element …

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oh, well, it’s already out in the Abstract)

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Methods

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The three questions

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• What has been done?

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• What did you look for?

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• How was it done? by
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Should be reproducible by another group

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Methods: details

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• Study design (drug trial / intervention; prospective / retrospective;

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randomized, blinded; sensitivity of method; questionnaire; case report;

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guidelines; meta-analysis)

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• Setting

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• Who is the study about?

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– Participants and control subjects (in animal studies, specify genus,
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species)
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• What did you do?

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– Intervention
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– Follow up
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• What did you look for?

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– Outcome measure
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Methods: details

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• Inclusion criteria

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• Exclusion criteria

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• Sample size calculation

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• Circumstances under which intervention done

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– Lab settings by
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– In-patient or real life

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• Consent
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• Ethics clearance
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(Sections and subsections help)

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Methods: interventions and tests

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• If standard, give reference

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• If new or modified, provide details (sufficient for reproduction by

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other workers)

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• Timing and duration of intervention
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• Equipment / kits / manufacturer

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Methods: outcome measurement

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• Define outcome

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• Parameters to assess outcome

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• Endpoint, cut-off values

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• Adverse events, if any
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Follow up

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• Frequency, method, duration (including minimum acceptable

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duration)

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• Criteria for termination or drop-out

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– Per-protocol vs. intention-to-treat
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Statistical analysis

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• Methods used for different parameters

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• Software

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Methods: general

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• Sub-headings should be consistent with those of Results

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• Try to avoid more than 3 levels of heading

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Results: general

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• What did you find?

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• Should answer all points raised in Methods

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• No new parameters

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• No mismatch in numbers between text and tables / figures
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Results: participants

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• How many screened?

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• How many eligible?

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• How many recruited / excluded?

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• How many completed study?
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• Reasons for lack of completeness

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• Compliance with therapy / protocol

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All subjects should be accounted for

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Results: data presentation

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• Cause of incomplete data, if any (sample lost, incomplete study)

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• No repetition between text and tables

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• No interpretation

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• No adjectives (most, some, often..)

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• Use % only if n>100 by
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• Restrict decimal points to 1 or 2

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• Provide value of p (“highly significant”, “very highly significant”

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meaningless)
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Discussion: outline

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• Recapitulation of major findings

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• Discussion of major findings in light of available data

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• Discussion of important minor findings

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• Alternative explanations

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• Strengths and limitations of study
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• Implications of findings
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• Unanswered questions and future research

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• Summary / conclusion
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Common mistakes: Introduction

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• History starting from Adam

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• Details of previous studies

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• Aggrandizement

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• Abbreviations without full form
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• Details of Results and Conclusions

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• Intermix with Discussion

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Good Introduction

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“We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid

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(D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable

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biological importance.”
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by
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-- Watson JD, Crick FHC. A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature
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1953;171:737-8
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Common mistakes: Methods and Results

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• Mixed up

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• Errors in data (e.g., mean age 25, range 17-22)

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• Mismatch of data in Methods / Results / Tables / Figures

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• by
Misinterpretation of data
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Common mistakes: Discussion

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• First study in the world / India / Maharashtra…(megalomania)

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• Repeating results

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• Emphasizing strengths of study over its weaknesses

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• by
Inflating importance of findings
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• Going beyond evidence and drawing unjustified conclusions

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Benefits of IMRaD

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• Development and changes in internal organization of scientific

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article is answer to constant growth of information

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• IMRaD structure facilitates modular reading

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• Readers usually do not read in linear way but browse in each
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section of article, looking for specific information, which is

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normally found in pre-established areas of the paper

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-- Meadows. J Inf Sci 1985;11:27-30

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You thought IMRaD was gospel?

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• Nature Medicine prints Methods last and in smaller type

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• Science buries explanatory footnotes within reference list

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• Lancet editor referred to “…shaky pillars of IMRaD”

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• by
IMRaD suggests perfectly planned and beautifully executed
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projects free from accidents and human error

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• IMRaD does not tell writer how much to put in or leave out or
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what level of reader to aim at

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Sections not covered by IMRaD

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(but covered by Kipling)

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Title How long; how many parts; declamatory (or not)?

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Authorship Who is best defined in advance; what does

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"authorship" mean; how many?

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Summary What structure; where to place it; how long?
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Conclusion Who needs one?

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Acknowledgments Who should be thanked; who paid; who has conflicts?

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References How many; what are they for; how to set them out?
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International Committee of Medical Journal Editors,

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not

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Immaculately Conceived Moses, Jesus, Et al

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IMRaD
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An alternative to IMRaD

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• Brief description of context

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• Outline of problem

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• Key measures for improvement

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• Process of gathering information

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• by
Analysis and interpretation
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• Strategy for change

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• Effects of change
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• Next steps
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-- Br Med J 2000;321:1428
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(recommended for Quality Improvement Reports)

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Abide by Instructions, but

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Abide by Instructions, but a little liberty is sometimes in order

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Scientific communication need not be oh so boring!

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