Article types

Quantitative study involves the collection of data from either a randomised controlled trial, crossover study or longitudinal study. Ethics committee approval is required for these studies, and they are often prospective in nature. Quantitative studies are designed to answer a specific research question and inferences, or generalisations, can be made to the wider population. Quantitative studies form the backbone of evidence-based practice. These articles should not exceed 2000 words.

Qualitative studies use trustworthy methods and methodologies to collect usually textual data, but this could also include images. These studies are usually more concerned with the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’ or ‘how’ type research questions and are chosen when exploring experiences and/or perceptions of a phenomenon. Ethics committee approval is required for these studies. These articles should not exceed 2000 words.

Systematic and scoping reviews or meta-analysis should not exceed 2500 words. Systematic reviews use repeatable methods to find, select and synthesise all available evidence on a clear research question. Scoping reviews identify and map the breadth of evidence on a particular topic. A meta-analysis is a tool used to combine results from single research studies that are included in a systematic review to identify trends in a pool of data by using statistical methods.

Work-based Projects: Service Improvement and/or Service Evaluation are useful to estimate the value of the service being delivered or what standard a service achieves. It examines how standard care is delivered and is not designed to produce generalisable or transferable findings. Local Trust/Health Board agreements/approvals for work-based projects need to be obtained. The HRA decision tool can help with the assessment as to whether a project is considered research or service evaluation (http://www.hra-decisiontools.org.uk/research). The word count for work-based projects should not exceed 2000 words.

Case reports are important for highlighting instances where a patient or treatment has deviated from the ‘typical’ protocol or response. They are often used for patients who have very rare presentations, where insufficient patient numbers would preclude a randomised controlled trial. Or for novel treatment approaches that have shown to be surprisingly successful. Where it is possible to do so, the author should obtain from the patient written, informed consent for the details that are included in the case study. In all cases identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. There is a 1000-word limit.

Commentaries are opinion articles written on a specific development, topic, or research findings. These would not usually exceed 1000 words.

Brief reports may report on preliminary studies (e.g. pilot study) and the initial findings that need further investigation. These would not usually exceed 1000 words.

Technical reports are often shorter reports that should not exceed 1000 words that detail the nature of a technical research problem or advancement in technology and describe the process, progress, or results. It might also include recommendations and conclusions of the research.

Study and review protocols provide a step-by-step guide for conducting research or reviews (which may include systematic review, scoping reviews, and meta-analysis). These would not usually exceed 1500 words