Abstract
Given the current importance of publishing medical research articles in high-impact international journals, this article briefly presents key moments in the evolution of this reporting genre for a better understanding of the diachronic changes that have shaped it into a highly useful tool for creating and spreading knowledge, as well as for establishing academic hierarchies at both individual and institutional level. Therefore, focus will be placed not only on the evolution of its structure and purpose, but also on issues such as knowledge construction, knowledge claims, writer-reader interaction and the appropriate writing conventions and rhetorical strategies required for successful scientific communication.