the principles of biomedical scientific writing: materials and methods

The materials and methods (m&m) section is the heart of a scientific paper and is subject to initial screening of the editor to decide whether the manuscript should be sent for external review. if the m&m section of a scientific paper be considered as a recipe, its ingredients would be who, what, when, where, how, and why. m&m should effectively respond to the study question/hypothesis using the following basic elements including materials, study design, study population/subjects or animals, methods of measurements/ assessments, and statistical analysis. awell-organizedm&mpermits other scientists to evaluate the study findings and repeat the experiments. although there are several disciplinary differences in the m&m, similar dos and don’ts may be considered to organize a well-written m&m. briefly, authors need to provide clear-cut, adequate, and detailed information in the m&m section. in this review, the structure, the principles, and the most common recommendations for writing the m&m section are provided, both in general and study-specific; these could help authors effectively prepare the m&m section of a scientific biomedical manuscript