title: An approach to the writing of a scientific manuscript.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Writing a scientific manuscript is one of the most important tasks facing the academician, and may also be one of the most daunting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The essentials of any paper include a description of what is known, an assessment of what is unknown, a clear statement regarding the question and hypothesis being addressed by the current study, and a discussion and summary of new information that has been learned as a result of the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A formulaic approach is provided to guide the author through this process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hackam
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D006801:Humans; D018156:Journalism, Medical; D008374:Manuscripts, Medical as Topic; D014956:Writing