• (a)  Reference ID
• (b) Title
• (c)  Introduction
• (d) Review of Literature
• (e)  Aims and Objectives
• (f)  Material and Methods
• (g) Observations and Results
• (h) Discussion
• (i) Conclusion
• (j) Summary
• (k) References
• Optional Sections
• (l) Suggestions
• (m) Questionnaire/ Study Tool
• (n) Informed Consent Form

Guidance for Students

Writing a report of your PSS project may seem to be a challenge to some of you, but like your practical project work, it is an equally important component of your research. Many students carry out very good practical project work but often are unable to write a good report and many others do not consider writing important reports. Writing is not a talent reserved for few, it is a skill that can be learned. Planning and organization are essential components. It is important that through effort and practice you try to improve your writing abilities. This may probably go a long way in the future as an important learning experience. Suggested below is a guide to organize writing your PSS report.

Introduction

The introduction should be about 1&1/2 to 2 pages. The purpose of an introduction is to provide the rationale behind the work, so that the reader may understand and appreciate your objectives. Please describe the importance (significance) of the study. Defend the model – why did you use this particular organism or system? What are its advantages? Provide a rationale and describe the reasoning that led you to select them. Very briefly describe the experimental design and how it accomplished the stated objectives. Try to provide appropriate references whenever necessary. Present background information only as needed in order to support a position. Analyze the research work done on a particular topic and identify the gaps in knowledge for which you would like to seek an answer. The research question you intend to ask during the study should be able to provide you a new insight into the problem under question.

Review of Literature

The literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that you are carrying out. You must do a thorough literature search on the topic of your research in order to understand the current status of knowledge on the particular subject which is published and available internationally and also within India. You may carry out a PUBMED or MEDLINE search complemented by taking out the full research papers from the library and carefully reading them in order to obtain relevant information.

When you have taken out the original articles from the Internet/ Library, you need to summarize relevant research, by first evaluating this work, show the relationships between different work, and show how it relates to your work. In other words, you cannot simply give a concise description of, for example, an article: you need to select what parts of the research to discuss (e.g. the methodology), show how it relates to the other work as well as your work. It should provide the context for your research by looking at what work has already been done in your research area. It is not supposed to be just a summary of other people’s work! To analyze and take only the relevant information and present that in your report. It is advisable to take the information of literature from the current year of publication.

Please Note:

• When you do a literature search remember to keep all references as you would need to put in the Referenceswhen you prepare your report.
• Do not provide well-known textbook information with textbook references (unless essential), rather give the latest status of research on the topic by quoting recent research papers/ articles on the subject published in journals.
• Do not attach downloaded abstracts from MEDLINE/ PUBMED/ or mention there pointwise in with the report as part of a review of the literature. Analyze and present only the relevant details from the abstracts/full papers.

Aims and Objectives

State your specific hypothesis (es) or objective(s). You may write the aim of the study and primary and secondary objectives if any. Your objectives should be specific and should clearly state what you would be trying to achieve. The objectives should also be to the point and achievable.

Materials and methods

May be reported under separate subheadings or incorporated together. Document all specialized materials and general procedures. Give the study design, type of study, study site, duration of the study, number of subjects/ samples that were used, inclusion/exclusion criteria, choice of subjects and control, informed consent procedures, etc. Report the methodology and procedure employed. Describe the methodology completely, including sample collection, processing, lab analysis (if any), statistical tests used for data analysis etc.

If well-documented procedures were used, report the procedure by name, with reference, For example, the Hb estimation is well known. You need not report the procedure in full – just identify what you used as a standard.

Remember to obtain the local Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) clearance before beginning your study and attach it with the report. Attach format of any questionnaires if used, and also a format of Informed consent form (ICF) and Case report form (CRF). The enclosures can be added to the report or can be separately submitted. Please go through the instructions in this regard.

Please Note: Please attach only the blank formats that you use in the study and do not submit the filled/signed in actual CRF’s or ICF’s with identifiable information about the subjects.

Results

Under this section present and illustrate your findings objectively. Be concise, use figures and tables, to present results most effectively.

• Summarize your findings in text and illustrate them, if appropriate, with figures/ tables.
• In-text, describe each of your results, pointing to observations that are most relevant.
• Provide a context, such as by describing the question that was addressed by making a particular observation.
• Describe results of control experiments and include observations that are not presented ina formal figure or table, if appropriate.
• Analyze your data, by statistical tools and then prepare the analyzed (converted) data in the form of a figure (graph), table, or in text form.
• In-text, refer to each figure as “figure 1,” “figure 2,” etc. ; number your tables as well
• Both figures and tables, properly numbered, can be placed at the end of the report or within the text of your results section.

Please Note :

• Do not enclose all the raw data without analysis (for eg, case report forms/clinical proformas of patients/consent forms)
• Please do not discuss or make interpretations of the findings under this section and do that under “Discussion”.

Provide an interpretation of your results and make comparisons with other studies providing appropriate references. The significance of the findings should be clearly described. If your results differ from your expectations, explain why that may have happened. If your results agree, then describe the theory that the evidence supported.

• Decide if each hypothesis is supported, rejected, or if you cannot make a decision with confidence. Do not simply dismiss a study or part of a study as “inconclusive.”
• Explain all of your observations as much as possible.
• Decide if the experimental design adequately addressed the hypothesis or not.
• Try to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist.
• One experiment will not answer an overall question, so keeping the big picture in mind, where do you go next? Good studies generally open up new avenues of research on remaining questions

Please Note: The mistake that students make is to more or less re-state the results. It is necessary to suggest why results came out as they did, focusing on the mechanisms behind the observations.

Conclusions

Draw appropriate conclusions that you can be based upon the results that you have, and treat the study as a finished work. Explain the significance of your findings and suggest what further research is needed on this topic.

Summary

Write your summary after the rest of the report is completed. The economy of words is important throughout the report, but especially in a summary. Summarize the study, including the following elements in any abstract.

• Purpose of the study – hypothesis, overall question, objective
• Model organism or system and a brief description of the experiment
• Results, including specific data – if the results are quantitative in nature, report
• Quantitative data; results of any statistical analysis should be reported
• Important conclusions or questions that follow from the experiment(s)

References

The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list.

The entries in the list should be numbered consecutively.

• Journal article

<Author (s) name >. < Journal Name >.<citation details>.

• Article by DOI

< Author (s) name > .< Journal Name > .< citation details> ; doi: < doi details> .

• Book

< Author name > .< book Name > . < publisher details details> ; < year of published>

• Book chapter

< Author name > .< book Name > . < chapter Name > < publisher details details > ; < year of published > . pp.< page no>

• Online document

< Author name > .< document Name> .< document details>< publisher details details>; < year of published > .< online link >

Always use the standard abbreviation of a journal’s name according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations, see ISSN.org LTWA. If you are unsure, please use the full journal title. For authors using EndNote, Springer provides an output style that supports the formatting of in-text citations and reference list.

Please Note:

• Do not mix two referencing systems. If you are using (author name year) for your in-text references, do not list
• your sources by the number on your references page because your reader will be looking for the author’s name.
• Similarly, if you are using numerical in-text references, you cannot list your sources on your references page by author name.
• It is not a very good idea to include a web site as a reference unless it is important. In case you do also mention the date you accessed the information, as website information may change from time to time.
• Cite textbook references only if necessary, most of your references should be from the latest research articles published in National/ International Journals.

Optional Sections

All optional formats to be formulated by the applicant and upload either in the PDF or Word FORMAT.

Suggestions

In case there are any useful ideas or suggestions that have emerged, you may do so.

Questionnaire

In case a questionnaire or any other study tool was used, the same can be included in the report. Kindly note that only a blank format should be submitted with no identifying information of the research participant or the student or his/ her guide.

Informed Consent Form

A blank format for an informed consent form in English or local language can be submitted. It should be ensured that there should be no names or identifying information of the student/ Guide or Research participant.

Part-II: For IJCDW paper submission

You have to submit a whole or component of your research project for consideration of publication in the IJCDW journal. IJCDW paper submission is mandatory to complete the final submission. confirmation should upload in the final report submission.

Submission guidelines and links for submission details available on the IJCDW home page.  Click to view