ABSTRACT
Although statisticians are undoubtedly good with numbers, some may find it challenging when it comes to contributing towards the writing up of the results for the manuscript or report. The problem may be more severe for those for whom English is not the main language of education. In addition, the specific type of writing contribution differs according to the nature of the report (i.e. whether it is a grant application, a publication or even a report for a hospital/health care institution), and the strategy for tackling the different elements within the document may not be obvious. Although resources on improving general writing skills are available, none are targeted for a biostatistical collaboration. In this chapter, we provide suggestions on how the writing process can be made easier for the statistician by providing a structure and guideline on how to write the various sections of the grant proposal, publication or report. A distinction is also made between writing for a first author versus a collaborative publication. Established international guidelines for the various epidemiological study designs will be used to demonstrate how sections within a manuscript or grant proposal can be written. Topics such as selecting the appropriate journal and following the instructions for authors in the journals will be discussed with relevant clinical examples.
