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The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 80:1095-96 (1998)
© 1998 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Editorial

The Use of Numbers and Percentages in Scientific Writing

Henry R. Cowell, M.D., Ph.D.

Numbers, which play an integral part in the presentation of scientific data, are often used to create percentages in order to provide an easy way to express the findings of a study and to compare the results of one study with those of another. Over time, the percentage becomes the important figure, and authors frequently report the percentage without bothering to report the numbers. Regrettably, it is apparent from reviewing the materials submitted for publication in The Journal that most authors do not question the clinical validity or mathematical accuracy of the percentages that they report. For this reason, and for a number of others, The Journal reports numbers in addition to percentages and sometimes does not report percentages, even for certain data for which it is customary to do so.

As a case in point, the reader is referred to the article entitled "Ultrasound Surveillance for Asymptomatic Deep Venous . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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