Transcript Document

HOW TO WRITE
RESEARCH PAPERS FOR
ACADEMIC JOURNALS
Dr. Abdelaziz TERCHI
Definition of Research
Hunting for facts or
truth about a subject
Organized scientific investigation
to solve problems, test
hypotheses, develop or invent
new products
What is research?
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Identify a problem
Find out what others have done
Develop a solution
Show your solution:
– Works
– Better
– Sound & complete
What is Research?
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Research must be systematic - It follows certain
steps that are logical in order. These steps are:
Understanding the nature of problem to be studied
and identifying the related area of knowledge.
Reviewing literature to understand how others have
approached or dealt with the problem.
Collecting data in an organized and controlled
manner so as to arrive at valid decisions.
Analyzing data appropriate to the problem.
Drawing conclusions and making generalizations.
High Quality Research!
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It is based on the work of others.
It can be replicated (duplicated).
It is generalizable to other settings.
It is based on some logical rationale and tied
to theory.
It is doable!
It generates new questions or is cyclical in
nature.
It is incremental.
It is apolitical activity that should be
undertaken for the betterment of society.
What is bad research?
• The opposites of what have been
discussed.
• Looking for something when it simply is
not to be found.
• Plagiarizing other people’s work.
• Falsifying data to prove a point.
• Misrepresenting information and
misleading participants.
Why do we need research?
• To get PhDs, Masters and Bachelors??
• To provide solutions to complex problems
• To investigate laws of nature
• To make new discoveries
• To develop new products
• To save costs
• To improve our life
• Human desires
Why publish research papers?
• Ideally
– to share research findings and discoveries
with the hope of improving healthcare
• Practically
– To get funding
– to get promoted
– to get a job
– to keep your job!
Why write research papers?
• Every research needs good and proper
documentation.
• To attend conferences.
• To share research results with other researchers.
• To get views for improvement of your research.
• To obtain some form of degree.
• To get recognition and promotion (“Publish or
Perish” Dilemma)
Types of Publications
• Theses: MSc. MPhil /PhD
• Conference Publications
– Focus on a piece of work with limited discussion
• Journal Publications
– More complete (extensive) discussion
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Monographs / Book chapters / Text books
Literature review
Book review
Research note (work in progress)
Working paper
Book
Where to publish your work
• Journals
Ranking
Review process
Publication cycle
• Conferences
Ranking
Review process
N.B. A good journal / conference usually to have
rigorous review process and long review time
Where to send?
• Conference:
– 3 kinds
• Accept “everything?”
• IEEE (accept less than
50%)
• Accept less than 20%
– Quick
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Workshop
– PASTE
– IWPC
– ICSE Workshops
• Journal
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Archival
Respectable
Experience
Magazine
Select an outlet
• Level
– Workshop: 30 – 50 submissions with 50% acceptance
rate
– Conference: 100 – 500 submissions with a 10-25%
acceptance rate
– Journal: 30% acceptance rate with long lead times
• Subject: Narrow, Medium,Broad
• Region: National,European, Americas, Asia,
Australia, Nordic, Worldwide
• The higher the level the more competitive
• For students it is most successful to focus on a
narrow focused workshop
Conferences
• Fast publication
• Usually need a smaller idea
– Smaller trick can be acceptable
– Depends on conference
• Just accept or reject; no rewrite
– It may be incomplete
– It may lack key references
• Good for networking and Q&A
Journal publication
• Academic reputation
– Journals have ~4x more status than conferences
• Gives a “quality stamp”
– Reviewers demand corrections & clarifications
• Archive your work
– Wider scope
– More theory and technical information
– More references
• Highly competitive
– Accept 36%
– Reject 58%
– Refer to other Journal 3%
What makes a good research
paper?
 Good science
 Good writing
 Publication in good journals
What constitutes good
science?
Novel:
new and not resembling something
formerly known or used
Mechanistic: testing a hypothesis - determining the
fundamental processes involved in or responsible
for an action, reaction, or other natural
phenomenon
Descriptive: describes how things are but does not
test how things work – hypotheses are not tested.
What constitutes a good
journal?
Impact factor: average number of times
published papers
are cited up to two
years after publication.
Immediacy Index : average number of times
published papers
are cited during year
of publication.
Journal Citation Report, 2003
Journal
Impact Factor
Immediacy Index
Nature
Science
30.979
29.162
06.679
05.589
Hypertens
AJ P Heart
Physiol Rev
05.630
03.658
36.831
00.838
00.675
03.727
Am J Math
Ann Math
00.962
01.505
00.122
00.564
5907 journals
Things to consider before
writing
1. Time to write the paper?
- has a significant advancement been made?
- is the hypothesis straightforward?
- did the experiments test the hypothesis?
- are the controls appropriate and sufficient?
- can you describe the study in 1 or 2 minutes?
- can the key message be written in 1 or 2 sentences?
2. Tables and figures
- must be clear and concise
- should be self-explanatory
3. Read references
- will help in choosing journal
- better insight into possible reviewers
Things to consider before
writing
4. Choose journal
- study “instructions to authors”
- think about possible reviewers
- quality of journal “impact factor”
5. Tentative title and summary
6. Choose authors
Getting a paper published
• Competition for space in journals is intense
• Cost of publication is high, $360/page for
APS
 Rejection rates vary
 AJP = 50%
 JBC = 65%
 Nature = 90%
Reasons for rejection
 Confirmatory (not novel)
 Poor experimental design
- Poor controls
- Hypothesis not adequately tested
 Inappropriate for journal
 Poorly written
Reasons for rejection
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The topic does not relate to the journal’s aims
The paper does not appear to have engaged with
the work of others in the same area and may
therefore be repetitious
The paper’s purpose is unclear
The argument in the paper is under-developed
The claims made by the paper are not justified
The style/length/format is not what’s requested by
the journal
The paper is poorly presented with missing
references, typos, poor grammar etc.
Publication Process
Completion of research
Preparation of manuscript
Submission of manuscript
Assignment and review
Decision
Rejection
Revision
Resubmission
Re-review
Acceptance
Publication
Rejection