West African journal of medicine
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The quality of a medical publication rests as much on the research paper as on the literature search prior to writing for publication. The art of literature search and its importance to the various steps in scientific writing have been emphasised in this paper. ⋯ It should guide trainee specialists or new entrants, who must do literature search towards publishing research works for earning promotion, advancing knowledge, obtaining grants and fellowship awards, into the "publish or perish" syndrome existing in academic institutions. The current trend of electronic writing has called for a new style of referencing in medical publications, which has been suggested in this paper.