[Title: a specific, informative statement of the study and its main variable]

Research paper template in the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) used by most empirical journals, with title page fields, a structured abstract, statistical reporting conventions and the declarations journals now expect. The declarations follow the topics covered by the ICMJE Recommendations, used here as a reference only. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example. Always check the target journal's author guidelines, which take precedence.

Document control

Approvals

Revision history

Contents

1. Title page
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Methods
5. Results
6. Discussion
7. Conclusion
8. Declarations
9. References
10. Tables, figures and supplementary material

1. Title page

Example title: "Spaced retrieval practice and eight-week retention of anatomy terminology in first-year medical students: a randomised controlled trial."

2. Abstract

Background: [One or two sentences on the problem and the gap. Example: Retrieval practice improves short-term recall, but its effect on long-term retention of technical vocabulary in medical curricula is uncertain.]

Objective: [The aim in one sentence.]

Methods: [Design, setting, participants, intervention or exposure, primary outcome, analysis. Example: We randomised 212 first-year students to weekly spaced retrieval quizzes or re-reading for 6 weeks; the primary outcome was the score on an unannounced terminology test at 8 weeks.]

Results: [Main result with effect size and 95% confidence interval. Example: The retrieval group scored 7.4 points higher (95% CI 4.1 to 10.7; p < .001; d = 0.52).]

Conclusions: [What the results mean, no stronger than the data allow.]

Keywords: [3-6 terms, ideally from a controlled vocabulary such as MeSH or the ERIC Thesaurus; do not repeat words from the title.]

3. Introduction

3.1 Background and problem

[Describe the problem and why it matters, with evidence of its size or consequences. Cite the most authoritative and recent sources.]

3.2 What is known and the gap

[Summarise what prior studies established and the specific gap this study addresses: an untested population, a conflicting finding, a methodological weakness or an unexamined mechanism. State the gap in one explicit sentence, for example: "No trial has measured retention beyond four weeks in a curriculum setting."]

3.3 Aim, objectives and hypotheses

State the aim and, for confirmatory studies, the hypotheses you registered in advance.

4. Methods

4.1 Study design and setting

[Design (for example parallel-group randomised trial, cross-sectional survey, prospective cohort, quasi-experiment), setting, dates of recruitment and follow-up, and any changes to the design after it started, with reasons.]

4.2 Participants

[Eligibility criteria, recruitment method, and how consent was obtained.]

Sample size. [State the calculation, its inputs and the source of the assumed effect size.] For two independent groups with a two-sided test:

Example: with $\alpha = 0.05$, power $1-\beta = 0.80$ and $d = 0.40$, $n = 2(1.96 + 0.84)^2 / 0.40^2 \approx 98$ per group; allowing 8% attrition gives 106 per group, 212 in total.

4.3 Materials and interventions

[Describe each condition so that it can be replicated: content, dose, frequency, duration, who delivered it and how fidelity was checked. Name software and instruments with version numbers.]

4.4 Procedure

[The sequence of events for a participant, from recruitment to final measurement. For trials, state how the allocation sequence was generated, concealed and implemented, and who was blinded.]

4.5 Measures

4.6 Statistical analysis

[Describe the analysis population (intention-to-treat, per protocol), the model for each hypothesis, how assumptions were checked, how missing data were handled, the significance level and any correction for multiple comparisons. Name the software and version.]

Example primary model: an analysis of covariance adjusting for baseline score,

where $\beta_1$ is the adjusted mean difference. Standardised effect sizes use Cohen's $d = (\bar{x}_1 - \bar{x}_2)/s_{\text{pooled}}$. Missing outcomes were handled by [multiple imputation with 20 imputations / complete-case analysis with a sensitivity analysis].

5. Results

5.1 Participant flow and characteristics

[Number screened, eligible, randomised or enrolled, analysed, and lost at each stage with reasons. Trials and many observational studies include a flow diagram (Figure 1).] Baseline characteristics are in Table 1.

Table 1. Baseline characteristics by group.

5.2 Primary outcome

[State the main finding with the estimate, its precision and the test.]

Example: At 8 weeks the retrieval group scored higher than the re-reading group, adjusted mean difference 7.4 points, 95% CI [4.1, 10.7], F(1, 194) = 19.6, p < .001, partial $\eta^2$ = 0.09.

5.3 Secondary and exploratory outcomes

[Report each secondary hypothesis in order, then exploratory analyses clearly labelled as such.]

Table 2. Outcomes by group.

5.4 Statistical reporting conventions

Use these formats consistently unless the journal specifies otherwise.

Further conventions: give exact p values to two or three decimals (p = .031) and use p < .001 below that; state whether tests are one- or two-sided; give means with SD and estimates with 95% CI; report the denominator for every percentage; and never describe a non-significant result as evidence of no effect.

5.5 Sensitivity analyses and harms

[Report pre-specified sensitivity analyses, for example per-protocol or alternative missing-data assumptions, and any adverse events or unintended effects. State "none observed" explicitly when that is the case.]

6. Discussion

6.1 Principal findings

[Answer the research question in two or three sentences, referring to the hypotheses by ID.]

6.2 Comparison with previous research

[Explain how the results agree or disagree with earlier studies and offer plausible reasons for differences such as population, dose, measurement or follow-up length.]

6.3 Strengths and limitations

6.4 Implications

[Implications for practice, policy or theory. Keep them proportional to the strength of the evidence and the population studied.]

6.5 Future research

[Name specific next studies: the population, design or question that would resolve the remaining uncertainty.]

7. Conclusion

[Restate the main finding and its most important implication in plain language. Example: Weekly spaced retrieval quizzes produced a moderate, durable improvement in anatomy terminology retention over 8 weeks and can be added to existing courses at little cost.]

8. Declarations

8.1 Ethics approval and consent

[Name the ethics committee, approval number and date, and how informed consent was obtained. Example: Approved by the [University] Human Research Ethics Committee (ref. [HREC-2026-041], YYYY-MM-DD). All participants gave written informed consent.]

8.2 Funding

[Funder, grant number and the funder's role in design, analysis and the decision to publish. Example: Funded by [Funder] grant [ABC-123]. The funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation or writing.]

8.3 Competing interests

[Declare financial and non-financial interests for every author, or state "The authors declare no competing interests."]

8.4 Data and code availability

[Where the data and analysis code can be found, under what conditions, and the persistent identifier. Example: De-identified data and R scripts are available at [repository] (DOI: [10.xxxx/xxxxx]) under CC BY 4.0.]

8.5 Author contributions (CRediT)

List each author's roles using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) terms.

8.6 Acknowledgements and use of AI tools

[Thank people who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria, with their permission. Disclose any use of generative AI tools in writing or analysis as the journal requires; such tools cannot be listed as authors.]

9. References

Format references in the journal's style. Examples below show common styles with placeholder values.

1. Example (Vancouver): [Author AA, Author BB]. [Title of article]. [Journal Abbrev]. [2024];12:[45-56]. doi:[10.xxxx/xxxxx]
2. Example (APA 7): [Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.] ([2024]). [Title of article]. [Journal Name], [12]([3]), [45-56]. https://doi.org/[10.xxxx/xxxxx]
3. [Reference]

Checklist before submission:

• Every in-text citation appears in the list and vice versa
• Retracted papers checked and removed or flagged
• DOIs resolve to the right paper
• Preprints marked as such and checked for a published version

10. Tables, figures and supplementary material

Figure legends: [Figure number. Title. One or two sentences explaining what is shown, the meaning of error bars (SD, SE or 95% CI) and the sample size.]

Standard and licence note

Based on the IMRaD convention for empirical research articles. The declarations section reflects the topics of the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, which are cited as a reference only; consult the current version on icmje.org and your journal's author guidelines, which take precedence. CRediT role names are those of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy. This template is original text written for this collection and reproduces no text from those sources. Example data are invented for illustration. Template licence: MIT.