Jake Blanchard – University of Wisconsin – August 2007

 Writing the paper  Getting it published  What happens after you submit the paper

 “How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper” by Robert Day, 5 th Edition, Oryx Press, 1998

 “A scientific experiment…is not completed until the results are published.”  “…only thus can new scientific knowledge be authenticated and then added to the existing database that we call scientific knowledge.”  “…the research scientist…must provide a document showing what he or she did, why it was done, how it was done, and what was learned from it. The key word is reproducibility.”

 Archive journals  Conference publications  Reports

 “A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results.”  They usually contain: • Title-fewest possible words that describe content • • • • • • • • Abstract-brief summary of main aspects of paper Introduction Methods Results Discussion Conclusions References Acknowledgements – significant technical contributors and funding agents

 Nature and scope of problem investigated  Literature review  Method of investigation  Principal results  Principal conclusions

 Principles, relationships, and generalizations inherent in Results section  Exceptions or unsettled points  Implications of results

 The format of the paper is determined by the journal  Check their web site for information  Some key differences from one journal to another include: • Citations, eg. [15], 15 , (Jones, 1981) • • Reference list (Use RefWorks or EndNote) Where to put tables and figures • 1-column or 2-column

 Order varies by discipline: alphabetical, most important first, most important last, etc.

 Each author should have made an important contribution to the research being reported

 Be clear and concise  Passive voice is OK  Make sure fonts in graphs are large enough  Check spelling and grammar  Avoid jargon

 Again, refer to the journal web site  Most are electronic/email  Cover letter  Be careful with Word files • • Remove metadata (iscrub, MS hidden data removal tool, ezclean, etc.) Turn off fast saves and track changes

 Journal editor will arrange for reviews  Comments will be returned to you • Make adjustments and attach explanation • • • Don’t feel obligated to make all recommended changes Don’t take comments personally Be polite in all correspondence  Return to editor  Proofs will arrive later – check them carefully

 Most journals make us sign copyright form  This transfers copyright to journal  Technically, we can’t reproduce article without permission, even though we wrote it  Look for journals with more liberal copyright policies

 Feel free to contact me with questions  Copyright http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/scholarlycomm/scholarlycom municationtoolkit/faculty/facultyauthorcontrol.cfm

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_journal  Writing and Presentations: http://writing.eng.vt.edu/

Jake Blanchard [email protected]