The case report. II. Style and form.

When you have completed the first draft of your manuscript, put it aside for a couple of weeks before you begin your critical review and revision, so that you will examine it with a fresh eye and renewed interest. Read your composition several times, concentrating on a specific criterion each time. Begin with the general principles of originality and validity; next move to structure and organization, then to grammatical propriety and usage, and finally to readability. Sensitize yourself to the recurrent maladies in medical writing--the verbosity, jargon, imprecision, barbarisms, stereotypy, illogical locutions, improper sequence of tenses, and generally unappealing style. Remember, you are writing to convey an important message, so make sure your style and form illumine rather than eclipse or becloud that message.