On the afternoon of July 31, Nanjing Zijin Hospital invited internationally renowned rehabilitation medicine experts Professor Bi Sheng and Yan Tiebin to conduct a training session on clinical research paper writing in the Academic Lecture Hall of the Jiangning Campus. The lecture was chaired by Vice President Wang Yifang, with opening remarks delivered by President Ge Jiangping and closing remarks given by Executive Vice President Gao Zhiqiang. Department heads and representatives of medical staff from across the hospital attended in person, while the Qinhuai Campus participated via simultaneous online livestream.

Professor Yan Tiebin—former director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and associate editor of several leading journals—delivered a compelling presentation titled “Submitting Clinical Research Papers: Perspectives from Editors and Reviewers,” drawing on his more than four decades of extensive experience in research, peer review, and journal management. Professor Yan began by underscoring the importance of “targeted preparation,” advising researchers to identify their intended journal well before drafting their manuscript, once data analysis is complete. He meticulously examined how different submission objectives—such as career advancement, securing funding, concluding projects, or enhancing impact—affect journal selection, and emphasized the need to carefully study each target journal’s “author guidelines” to understand its mission, sections, readership, and formatting requirements. Drawing on his own experience publishing in top-tier journals like Stroke, Professor Yan provided clear, practical guidance on key aspects of manuscript structure. From the perspective of a reviewer, he highlighted the core criteria that reviewers prioritize: the scientific rigor and novelty of the topic, the clinical or scientific significance of the study, the soundness and reliability of the methods, the robustness and credibility of the results, and the depth and real-world relevance of the discussion. Finally, he outlined the editorial office’s manuscript‑handling process and underscored the critical importance of responding thoughtfully and item by item to reviewers’ comments—an essential step determining whether a manuscript will be accepted.

Professor Bi Sheng—Chairman of the Rehabilitation Medicine Professional Committee of the China Association of Non‑Public Medical Institutions and former Director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Center at the PLA General Hospital—delivered a presentation titled “Research Papers: Topic Selection, Writing, and Submission.” Drawing on his own academic experiences both in China and abroad and adhering to international standards for scholarly publishing, he provided highly practical guidance on paper writing for young medical professionals, particularly those working in non‑public healthcare institutions. Professor Bi began by analyzing the current state and challenges of medical research in China, candidly highlighting such issues as inadequate methodological training, insufficient adherence to statistical rigor, and the proliferation of “paper mills.” He emphasized that research must be driven by genuine interest and is an essential pathway to becoming a true scholar—one who addresses the problems of the future. In outlining the structure of a research paper, he offered concrete recommendations and specifically identified viable research directions for investigators in non‑public institutions, including case reports, psychometric validation studies, cross‑sectional studies, cohort or case‑control studies, and systematic reviews/Meta‑analyses. Regarding the submission process, he advised paying close attention to whether the target journal accepts similar types of papers, ensuring thorough preparation to avoid the need for supplementary experiments, carefully addressing reviewers’ comments, and steering clear of low‑quality journals.

Following the lecture, the two professors patiently and thoroughly addressed the numerous questions posed by the audience. In his closing remarks, Executive Vice Dean Gao Zhiqiang once again expressed his gratitude to both professors for their generous sharing of expertise, and encouraged all medical staff across the hospital to apply what they had learned in their daily work, actively engage in clinical research, and enhance the hospital’s overall research capacity and academic influence.