It is not uncommon to see unnecessary precision in published articles from the Middle East.

Sometimes the use of words is inappropriate, results reported are contradictory and p value reported is wrong.

• Do not imply greater precision than the measurement instrument.

• Use only one decimal place more than the basic unit of measurement when reporting statistics.

• Never start a new sentence with figures but with words.

For example: 15, 67.7% of patients who developed ES presented

between 0-6 months after surgery, 9, 34.9% presented between 6-12 months after surgery and, 2, 7.7% presented 12-18 months postoperatively.

Instead it should be written as: Fifteen (67.7%) of patients who developed ES presented between 0-6 months, nine (34.9%) presented between 6-12 months after surgery and two (7.7%) presented 12-18

months postoperatively.

• Do not use average instead of “mean” and markedly instead of “significantly”.

• It is always helpful if the services of a qualified statistician are acquired before finalizing or completing the manuscript and its submission for publication.