Transcript Slide 1
How To Get Published Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, PhD., FASc., CEng., FIChemE. Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia What are the reasons for publishing in academic journals?? 10 Typical Reasons why Scientist/Researchers Publishing Career progression – moving up to the next rung on the ladder Gaining recognition for work you have done Developing a profile Contributing to knowledge Stopping someone else taking credit for your work or using your materials Setting yourself a new challenge Helping your students to gain recognition for their work Learning how to write to a higher standard Building your institution’s status Personal satisfaction of completing a new goal What are the Challenges in Journal Publishing?? • Writing Research Paper ???? • Publish in Journal ??? • Why bother ??? • Too difficult!!! • I have No time !!! • I have No research !!! Role of Scientific Publications Registration The timestamp to officially note who submitted scientific results first Certification Perform peer-review to ensure the validity and integrity of submissions Dissemination Preservation Provide a medium for discoveries and findings to be shared Preserving the minutes and record of science for posterity Peer Review Helps to determine the quality, validity, significance and originality of research Helps to improve the quality of papers Publishers stand outside the academic process and are not prone to prejudice or favour Publishers facilitate the review process by investing in online review systems and providing tools to help Editors and Reviewers ‘How To Get Published’ Episode 1 Your personal reasons for publishing? However, editors, reviewers, and the research community don’t consider these reasons when assessing your work. Always keep in mind that… …your published papers, are a permanent record of your research, are your passport to your community… Questions to answer before you write Think about why you want to publish your work. •Is it new and interesting? •Is it a current hot topic? •Have you provided solutions to some difficult problems? •Are you ready to publish at this point? Only when the answers are yes, then start preparing your manuscript. Decide the most appropriate type of manuscript • • • • Conference papers Full articles/Original articles Short communications/letters Review papers/perspectives – Self-evaluate your work: Is it sufficient for a full article? Or are your results so thrilling that they need to be shown as soon as possible? – Ask your supervisor and colleagues for advice on manuscript type. Sometimes outsiders see things more clearly than you. Identify the right audience for your paper • Identify the sector of • readership/community • for which the paper is meant • Identify the interest of your audience • Is your paper of local or international interest? • Ask your Professor / advisor Choose the right journal Do not just “descend the stairs” Top journals (Nature, Science, Lancet, NEJM, ......) Field-specific top journals Other field- specific journals National journals Select the best journal for submission • Look at your references – these will help you narrow your choices. • Ask supervisor or colleagues • Investigate all candidate journals to find out o Aims and scope o Accepted types of articles o Readership o Current hot topics o go through the abstracts of recent publications Read the Guide to Authors - Again and again! • Stick to the Guide for Authors in your manuscript, even in the first draft (text layout, nomenclature, figures & tables, references etc.). In the end it will save you time, and also the editor’s. • Editors (and reviewers) do not like wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts. It is a sign of disrespect. ‘How To Get Published’ Structuring An Article: Episode 2 What is a strong manuscript? • Clear content • novel, clear, useful, and exciting • Good presentation of the data • constructed in a logical manner Editors and reviewers are all busy scientists – make things easy to save their time General structure of a research article • Title • Abstract • Keywords • Main text (IMRAD) – Introduction – Methods – Results – And – Discussions • • • • Conclusion Acknowledgement References Supplementary data Make them easy for indexing and searching (informative, attractive, effective) Journal space is not unlimited, more iŵpoƌtaŶtly, youƌ ƌeadeƌ’s tiŵe is scaƌce. Make your article as concise as possible. General structure of a Research Article The final article General Introduction Specific General Methods & Results Discussion & Conclusion The Process of Writing – Building the Article Title & Abstract Introduction Conclusion Methods Results Discussion Figures/Tables (your data) Authorship • Policies regarding authorship can vary • One example: the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (“Vancouver Group”) declared that an author must: • • • • Substantially contribute to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; Draft the article or revise it critically for important intellectual content; and Give their approval of the final full version to be published. All three conditions must be fulfilled to be an author! All others would qualify as “Acknowledged Individuals” Authorship Corresponding Author Ghost Authorship First Author Gift Authorship Good Listing Principle Poor Listing Principle Fewest possible words Adequately describes content Identifies main issue Effective manuscript titles Does not use rarely-used abbreviations Keywords Are used by indexing and abstracting services Are the labels of the manuscript Use only established abbreviations (e.g. DNA) Article Title “An experimental study on evacuated tube solar collector using supercritical CO2” Keywords Solar collector; supercritical CO2; solar energy; solar thermal utilization Abstract This is the advertisement of your article. Make it interesting and understandable Make it accurate and specific A clear abstract will strongly influence whether or not your work is considered Keep it as brief as possible Introduction Provide a brief context to the readers Address the problem Identify the solutions & limitations What is hoped to be achieved Consistent with the nature of the journal Methods Describe how the problem was studied Include detailed information Do not describe previously published procedures Identify the equipment and describe materials used Ethics Committee Approval Experiments on humans or animals must follow applicable ethics standards Approval of the local ethics committee is required and should be specified in the manuscript, covering letter or the online submission system Editors can make their own decisions on ethics Results Be clear & easy to understand Highlight the main findings Feature unexpected findings Provide statistical analysis Include illustrations & figures Results – Appearance counts! • Un-crowded plots • 3 or 4 data sets per figure; well-selected scales; appropriate axis label size; symbols clear to read; data sets easily distinguishable. • • Each photograph must have a scale marker of professional quality in a corner. Text in photos / figures in English • • Not in French, German, Chinese, Korean, ... Use color ONLY when necessary. • If different line styles can clarify the meaning, then never use colors or other thrilling effects. • Color must be visible and distinguishable when printed in black & white. • Do not include long boring tables! Discussion What do the results mean? Most important section Make the discussion correspond to the results You need to compare published results with your own The Conclusion Should be clear Provide justification for the work Advance the present state of knowledge Provide suggested future experiments Advisors Financial Supporters & Funders Proofreaders & Typists Acknowledgments Suppliers who may have donated materials References Do not use too many references Always ensure you have fully absorbed material you are referencing Avoid excessive self-citations Avoid excessive citations of publications from the same region Conform strictly to the style given in the guide for authors ‘How To Get Published’ Using Proper Scientific Language Why is language important? It can delay or block publication of work Proper English should be used Manuscript language: Sentences Write direct and short sentences One piece of information per sentence Avoid multiple statements in one sentence Manuscript language: Tenses Present tense: for known facts & hypotheses Past tense: for experiments conducted & results Manuscript language: Grammar Use active voice to shorten sentences Avoid abbreviations Minimize use of adverbs Eliminate redundant phrases Double-check unfamiliar words or phrases The Peer review Process Cover letter Your chance to speak to the editor directly •Submitted along with your manuscript •Mention what would make your manuscript special to the journal •Note special requirements (suggest reviewers, conflicts of interest) Cover letter Final approval from all authors Explanation of importance of research Suggested reviewers Decision: “Accepted” or “Rejected” Accepted Rejected • Very rare, but it happens •Probability 40-90% ... •Do not despair – It happens to everybody •Try to understand WHY – Consider reviewers’ advice – Be self-critical •If you submit to another journal, begin as if it were a new manuscript • Congratulations! – Cake for the department – Now wait for page proofs and then for your article to be online and in print – Take advantage of the reviewers’ comments – They may review your manuscript for the other journal too – Read the Guide for Authors of the new journal, again and again. Manuscript Revision • Prepare a detailed response letter – Copy-paste each reviewer comment, and type your response below it – State specifically which changes you have made to the manuscript • Include page/line numbers • No general statements like “Comment accepted, and Discussion changed accordingly.” – Provide a scientific response to comments to accept, ..... – ..... or a convincing, solid and polite rebuttal when you feel the reviewer was wrong. – Write in such a manner, that your response can be forwarded to the reviewer without prior editing • Do not do yourself a disfavour, but cherish your work – You spent weeks and months in the lab or the library to do the research – It took you weeks to write the manuscript......... .....Why then run the risk of avoidable rejection by not taking Manuscript revision seriously? Author Responsibilities Focus on: Plagiarism What is Plagiarism? “Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including those obtained through confidential review of others’ research proposals and manuscripts.” Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1999 “Presenting the data or interpretations of others without crediting them, and thereby gaining for yourself the rewards earned by others, is theft, and it eliminates the motivation of working scientists to generate new data and interpretations.” Professor Bruce Railsback Department of Geology, University of Georgia M. Errami & H. Garner, A tale of two citations Nature 451 (2008): 397-399 What may be Plagiarised? Work that can be plagiarised includes… Words (Language) Ideas Findings Writings Graphic Representations Computer Programs Diagrams Graphs Illustrations Information Lectures Printed Material Electronic Material Any Other Original Work Higher Education Academy, UK Question A researcher notices a paragraph in a previously published article that would be suitable as the Materials & Methods in his article. The researcher decides to copy that paragraph into his paper without quotes or attribution. Has the Researcher violated any ethical boundaries? Plagiarism high amongst ethics issues Sample of cases reported to Elsevier Journals publishing staff in 2012 Correct Citation is Key Crediting the work of others (including your advisor’s or your own previous work) by citation is important for at least three reasons: To place your own work in context To acknowledge the findings of others on which you have built your research To maintain the credibility and accuracy of the scientific literature Plagiarism Detection Cross Check Initiative (2009 Huge database of 30+ million articles, from 50,000+ journals, from 400+ publishers Software alerts Editors to any similarities between the article and this huge database of published articles Many Elsevier journals now check every submitted article using CrossCheck Publication ethics – How it can end ..... An article in which the authors committed plagiarism: it will not be removed from ScienceDirect ever. Everybody who downloads it will see the reason for the retraction… Can you plagiarise your own work? “Text recycling/Self-plagiarism” You publish a paper and in a later paper, copy your Introduction wordfor word and perhaps a figure or two without citing the first paper Editors may conclude that you intentionally exaggerated your output Publication ethics – Self-plagiarism 2003 2004 Same colour left and right Same text Other ethics issues Fabrication: • Making up data or results, and recording or reporting them Falsification: • Manipulation of research materials, equipment, processes • Changes in / omission of data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record Duplicate publication: • Two or more papers, without full cross reference, share the same hypotheses, data, discussion points, or conclusions Figure Manipulation – some things are allowed Figure manipulation Example - Different authors and reported experiments Am J Pathol, 2001 Life Sci, 2004 Life Sci, 2004 Rotated 180º Rotated 180o Zoomed out ?! Re-cap When in doubt, cite! Never cut & paste (even to save time in drafts) If you suspect: REPORT Responsibility What leads to acceptance ? • Attention to details • Check and double check your work • Consider the reviewers’ comments • English must be as good as possible • Presentation is important • Take your time with revision • Acknowledge those who have helped you • New, original and previously unpublished • Critically evaluate your own manuscript • Ethical rules must be obeyed – Nigel John Cook Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews Thank You • For further information please visit: www.elsevier.com/authors www.senseaboutscience.org www.biggerbrains.com www.articleofthefuture.com A major portion of theses slide were adopted from Elsevier Editors and Publishers Slide Presentation.