Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31303933›Full record

ArticleThe Pan African medical journal2019

Write-up and dissemination of undergraduate and postgraduate research at the University of Rwanda: a cross-sectional study.

Christian Nsanzabaganwa, Hubert Habineza, Naphtal Nyirimanzi, Christian Umuhoza, Katie Cartledge, Craig Conard, Peter Cartledge

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Pan African medical journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Christian NsanzabaganwaCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Hubert HabinezaCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Naphtal NyirimanziCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Christian UmuhozaCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Katie CartledgeCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Craig ConardDepartment of Pediatrics, Univerisity Teaching Hospital of Butare, Butare, Rwanda.
Peter CartledgeDepartment of Pediatrics, University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionResearch is essential in all areas of health development. However, medical students and residents frequently lack the time and training on performing research. This is especially prevalent in resource-limited settings. We aimed to compare the word counts of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations with published projects in Rwanda, and to identify the proportion of postgraduate pediatric research projects that have been published since 2012.

methodsRetrospective, cross-sectional study of undergraduate and postgraduate research dissertations at the University of Rwanda. Dissertations were then compared to randomly selected published papers of Rwandan research. Each IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion) section word count was compared using Student's t-test.

results19/190 (10%) undergraduate dissertations and 22/41 (54%) postgraduate dissertations, were available in electronic format for word-count analysis. The mean total word count for postgraduate dissertations (5163 words) was significantly longer (p<0.001) than the randomly selected peer-reviewed journal articles (2959 words). Each section of the IMRaD structure of postgraduate dissertations was significantly longer than those of the control group. Undergraduates used a similar number of words to published papers, but used significantly more tables and figures. Of the 41 postgraduate dissertations, only four (10%), were published in peer-reviewed journals.

conclusionThis is the first study to assess the writing style of Rwandan medical students and pediatric postgraduate residents. A simple step to increase dissemination of research findings would be for institutions to modify academic regulations so that students write-up in manuscript form rather than dissertation format.

Indexed as

Academic Dissertations as TopicResearchCross-Sectional StudiesHumansInternship and ResidencyPublishingRetrospective StudiesRwandaStudents, Medicaldeveloping countryeducationinternship and residencymedicalResearchwriting style

Identifiers

PMID31303933
PMCPMC6607268

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.