Evidence-Based Practice in Rehabilitation

Communication and dissemination of evidence are necessary actions to assist patients, clinicians, and policy makers to make informed decisions.

When preparing an article or paper consider these criteria:

1. Start with an outline
   1. Figure out your main points;
   2. Organize your points;
   3. Create sub-points;
   4. Evaluate your outline
2. Create a thesis statement
   1. Writing tips for thesis statements
3. Use appropriate technical quality, language, and format for the intended audience (e.g., peers, mentors, instructors, supervisors, and/or other rehabilitation professionals)
4. Use proper writing conventions (grammar, usage, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling) 
5. Features of academic writing - check out the Using English for Academic Purposes website, especially the links below
   1. Hedging
   2. Formality
6. Remember to keep the paper: Focused, Organized, Concise, Precise, Interesting
7. Properly cite references

When preparing a presentation, consider these criteria:

• Sequential organization of ideas (easy to follow)
• Clearly articulated thoughts/ideas with appropriate use of terminology
• Quality of visual aides (free of grammatical errors and visuals)
• Comprehensive, but succinct (time limit)
• Correct use of citations: use APA style in slides to allow the audience to follow authors’ work.

See the Managing Evidence section of this guide as well as the resources listed below.

ICMJE

The ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) is a group that provides recommendations, formerly known as "The Uniform Requirements" for conduct, reporting, editing and publishing scholarly work in medical journals.

The style of citing has been referred to by various names: uniform requirements, Vancouver style or NLM style. Detailed instructions for citing references may be found in Citing Medicine. Specific examples of formatted references may also be found on the PubMed Resources site.