ABSTRACT
Objective: Lack of scientific writing skills is one major problem encountered for publication of research results of Iranian scientists in accredited journals. As the result, many research projects or dissertation findings remain unpublished. This study aimed to assess the quality of writing of the "results" section of some original articles published in Iranian Farsi and international English journals
Methods: This analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 dental articles published in 3 international English and 3 Iranian Farsi journals. Selection of journals was non-random but articles were selected randomly based on specific criteria. A checklist containing 32 criteria regarding general statistics, context of the results, statistical tests, tables, charts and graphs was prepared. Obtained data were analyzed by SPSS 10 using Fisher's exact and chi square tests
Results: Farsi articles met 64.1% and English articles met 65.8% of the checklist criteria. No significant difference was found in the quality of the results section of Farsi and English papers [p>0.05]
Conclusion: Most papers did not provide adequate details in the results section to help readers better comprehend the subject
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to elucidate the effect of ascorbic acid on salivary total antioxidant capacity in smokers. In this single blind crossover clinical trial, the whole unstimulated saliva of 30 smokers, who were randomly divided into two groups, was collected. In the first phase after the saliva collection, one group of patients took 500 mg of vitamin C powder, for 3 weeks. Then, saliva of all patients was collected. After a one-week wash-out period, vitamin C was given to the other group. The collection of saliva was done after 3 weeks. Total antioxidant capacity was measured. Statistic evaluation was performed by Repeated Measured ANOVA, Independent sample t-test and Covariate test. The mean of total antioxidant capacity with and without using vitamin C was 0.511 +/- 0.155 [U/mL] and 0.555 +/- 0.171 [U/mL], respectively. This variability was not significant [p = 0.605]. Oxidative stress from cigarette smoke was not decreased significantly with using vitamin C