Abstract

While multiple conventions that can be used to prepare a manuscript are suggested, some of the most important are almost never explicitly stated. This article shows, through metaphors, two of these rules: 1) the “Delicious Sandwich Law”, and 2) the “Narrative Intrigue Law.” Write a document is like making a sandwich. Making a good sandwich is not as easy as it seems. The initial idea of “take a piece of bread, put something in it and you will have a sandwich” does not always give good results. You must start with the filling that is obviously the main thing, “the content” or an “imaginative core”: the data of the result of your study, an idea, a reflection, a systematization of concepts, etc. And this core contains the conclusion. Don’t start making the sandwich for bread, start with the secret ingredient: the results and the conclusion section. But then you must put it on the bread: build the text; divide it into the usual sections. Continue writing the Summary, the Discussion and the Material and Methods, but leave the Introduction until the end; so, you can write a juicy introduction that will surprise and encourage the reader to continue, like that delicious first bite of a sandwich. The classic sections of Introduction-Discussion-Conclusion correspond to the parts of a literary work, such as a novel: setup-climax-denouement, or: order-disorder-order. The suspense must be maintained until the end, resuscitating the excitement of the investigation. The article must include a certain “intrigue”: the way to carry out the discussion until reaching the conclusion: the Title must draw attention, the Summary must attract, the Discussion must resemble the end of a detective novel, which cannot be stop reading, and the conclusion should be round, apotheosis, like fireworks.

Keywords: Journal article; Manuscripts; Medical as topic; Peer review; Research publication formats; Scholarly communication; Journal submission; Medical writing; Publishing; Literature; Authorship; Framework; Metaphor