So you want to do research? 6: Reporting research

This last article of the series reviews some of the key issues that need to be considered when preparing your research findings for dissemination. Dissemination is an integral part of the research process and this article outlines some of the initial steps that need to be taken, including the establishment of agreements between authors. The importance of writing for a specific audience and how this determines the content of the report is then discussed. An overview together with guidelines on how to report qualitative and quantitative research is presented. General guidance on the choice of title, writing an abstract, listing references and acknowledgments are discussed. The article concludes with an outline of some of the key criteria editors use when reviewing a paper for publication.