Transcript PREPARING A MANUSCRIPT FOR Forest Ecology and Management Elsevier Author Workshop

PREPARING A MANUSCRIPT FOR
Forest Ecology and Management
Professor Peter M Attiwill
AM, PhD, BSc(For)
Elsevier Author Workshop
August 2012
Publishers do not want zero-cited articles
Editors now regularly analyze citations per article
“The statistic that 27% of our papers were not cited in
5 years was disconcerting. It certainly indicates that it is
important to maintain high standards when
accepting papers... nothing would have been lost
except the CV's of those authors would have been
shorter…”
– Marv Bauer, Editor, Remote Sensing of Environment
Publishers do want quality
WANTED
• Originality
• Significant advances
in field
• Appropriate methods
and conclusions
• Readability
• Studies that meet
ethical standards
NOT WANTED
• Duplications
• Reports of no scientific
interest
• Work out of date
• Inappropriate methods
or conclusions
• Studies with
insufficient data
“Just because it has not been done before is
no justification for doing it now.”
– Peter Attiwill, Editor-in-Chief, Forest
Ecology and Management
Writing a quality manuscript
• Preparations
Which journal?
• Consider:
– Aims and scope (check journal websites and
recent articles)
– Types of articles
– Readership
– Current hot topics (go through recent
abstracts)
– Asking colleagues for advice
Sometimes it is necessary to lower one’s sights
or return to the lab or field to obtain more data
Forest Ecology and Management
Forest Ecology and Management publishes scientific
articles that link forest ecology with forest
management, and that apply biological and ecological
knowledge to the management and conservation of
man-made and natural forests.
Key feat ures of papers with international interest:
1. Clear connections between the ecology and
management of forests;
2. Novel ideas or approaches to important challenges
in forest ecology and management;
3. Studies that address a population of interest beyond
the scale of single research sites;
4. Review Articles on timely, important topics.
Rejection
1. Primary focus, for example, on entomology or
pathology o r soil science or remote sensing, but where
the links to, and implications for, forest management
are not clear and have not been strongly developed;
2. Model-based investigations that do not include a
substantial field-based validation component;
3. Local or regional studies of diversity aimed at the
development of conservation policies;
4. The effects of forestry practices that do not include a
strong ecological component (for example, the effects
of weed control or fertilizer application on yield);
5. Social or economic or policy studies.
Read the Guide for Authors
Before starting to prepare your manuscript, choose
very caref ully the journal that is appropriate.
Many studie s in forest ecology are of a local or regional
nature. There is little point in sending such a paper to
an international journal such as Forest Ecology and
Management
Having chosen a journal, READ THE GUIDE FOR
AUTHORS AND FOLLOW THE GUIDE
ABSOLUTELY. Get a copy of the journal, and follow
the lay-out, including heading structure, format of the
tables, and referencing style. It is the authorХs
responsibility to submit in the required format.
Format
• Consult and apply the list of guidelines in the
“Guide for Authors”
• Ensure that you use the correct:
– Layout
– Section lengths (stick to word limits)
– Nomenclature, abbreviations and spelling (British vs.
American)
– Reference format
– Number/type of figures and tables
– Statistics
Consulting the Guide for Authors will
save your time and the editor’s
All editors hate wasting time on poorly
prepared manuscripts
It is a sign of disrespect
DO NOT gamble by scattering your
manuscript to many journals
Only submit once!
International ethics standards
prohibit multiple simultaneous
submissions, and editors DO find
out!
Writing a quality manuscript
• Article construction
Article structure
•
•
•
•
Title
Authors
Abstract
Keywords
Need to be accurate and informative for
effective indexing and searching
• Main text (IMRaD)
– Introduction
– Methods
– Results
– Discussion (Conclusion)
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Supplementary material
Each has a distinct function
Title
A good title should contain the fewest possible words
that adequately describe the contents of a paper
DO
Convey main findings of
research
Be specific
Be concise
Be complete
Attract readers
DON’T
Use unnecessary jargon
Use uncommon
abbreviations
Use ambiguous terms
Use unnecessary detail
Focus on part of the
content only
Abstract
The quality of an abstract will strongly influence
the editor’s decision
A good abstract:
•Is precise and honest
•Can stand alone
•Uses no technical jargon
•Is brief and specific
•Cites no references
Use the abstract to “sell” your article
Keywords
Keywords are important for indexing: they
enable your manuscript to be more easily
identified and cited
Check the Guide for Authors for journal
requirements
•Keywords should be specific
•Avoid uncommon abbreviations and general terms
Introduction
Provide the necessary background
information to put your work into context
It should be clear from the introduction:
•Why the current work was performed
–aims
–significance
•What has been done before
•What was done (in brief terms)
•What was achieved (in brief terms)
Introduction
DO
•Consult the Guide for Authors for word limit
•“Set the scene”
•Outline “the problem” and hypotheses
•Ensure that the literature cited is balanced, up
to date and relevant
•Define any non-standard abbreviations and
jargon
Introduction – state clearly why the study was done. Conclude the
Introduction with a clear and simple hypothesis to be tested.
Example 1
‘An understanding of soil nutrients such as soil organic matter,
total available nitrogen and the C: N ratio is very important for
proper management of a wetland dominated system.’
Odd idea about nutrients!
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY – why is this understanding
‘very important’?
Example 2
Even though some work has been done in the L. chinensis reserve,
to our knowledge no studies investigated the age size structure of
L. chinensis forest along an altitudinal gradient in this zone.
Just because it has not been done before is no justification
for doing it now. There are thousands of forests on which few
measurements have been made. Why is this study
important? What is the hypothesis, and what do you hope to
get from it?
Introduction
DON’T
•Write an extensive review of the field
•Cite disproportionately your own work, work of
colleagues or work that supports your findings while
ignoring contradictory studies or work by competitors
•Describe methods, results or conclusions other than
to outline what was done and achieved in the final
paragraph
•Overuse terms like “novel” and “for the first time”
Methods
The Methods section must provide sufficient information so
that a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment
Unless the Guide for Authors states otherwise, use the past tense;
the present tense is usually only used in methodology-type papers
Methods & Experimental Design
Unfortunately, the editors of Forest Ecology and
Management reject dozens of manuscripts each year
because of fundamental design flaws that undermine
the value these projec ts might hold for readers.
1. Clearly state the population of interest, and how the
experimental findings will be extrapolated to the
population;
2. Based on the population of interest, be clear on
what is a true replicate, and what is a subsample.
Methods & Experimental Design
A typical fertilizer experiment:
4 replicated blocks within a single stand of blue gum on sandy soil
near Longford
4 levels of nitrogen fertilizer added to randomly assigned plots in
each block.
Even if the researchers were interested only in the fertilizer
response of all blue gum stands on sandy soils near Longford, this
design would provide 0 degrees of f reedom for understanding the
variability among sites within this narrowly defined population (with
1 site, n-1 = 0).
Methods & Experimental Design
If the population for this experiment were defined as ‘this
blue gum stand’, then the block design would indeed have 4
true replicates. If the population of interest is ‘blue gum
stands on sandy soils near Longford’, a much better design
would omit replication of treatments within a single stand,
and apportion the experimental work across 4 independent
stands within the population of interest. The dispersed
approach would have 3 degrees of freedom for interpreting
the likely responsiveness of the whole population, despite
having 0 degrees of freedom for interpreting the response
within any single stand.
Consulting with a statistician during the design (and
analysis) of experiments is always a productive idea.
Results
The main findings of the research
DO
•Use figures and
tables to summarize
data
•Show the results of
statistical analysis
•Compare “like with
like”
DON’T
•Duplicate data among
tables, figures and
text
•Use graphics to
illustrate data that can
easily be summarized
with text
Graphics
“Readers… often look at the graphics first and many
times go no further. Therefore, the reviewer should
be particularly sensitive to inclusion of clear and
informative graphics.”
– Henry Rapoport, Associate Editor, Journal of
Organic Chemistry
Figures and Tables
Figures and tables are the most effective way
to present results. Prepare figures and tables
carefully, to tell the story.
BUT:
•Captions should be able to stand alone, such that
the figures and tables are understandable without
the need to read the entire manuscript
•The data represented should be easy to interpret
•Colour should only be used when necessary
Impossible table No. 1
The information in the table can be
presented in one sentence:
‘The surface soils were dark grayish
brown, grading to light olive brown
(woodland), light olive brown
(wetland), and pale olive (grassland)
at 100 cm.’
Summarize results in the text where
possible
Impossible table No. 2
Significant figures!! Statistical significance??
Graphics
The figure and table
show the same
information, but the
table is more direct
and clear
ECOLOGICAL GROUP
Station
I
II
III
IV
V
75U
75R
200R
500R
1000R
91.3
89.8
69.3
63.0
86.7
5.3
6.1
14.2
29.5
8.5
3.2
3.6
8.6
3.4
4.5
0.2
0.5
6.8
4.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
1.1
0.0
0.0
Graphics
•Legend is poorly defined
•Graph contains too much
data
•No trend lines
Graphics
•Legend is well
defined but there is
still too much data
and no trendlines
Graphics
•Legend is clear
•Data is better organized
•Trend lines are present
Impossible Figure 1
Impossible Figure 2
Figure 7 Natural regeneration in Mongolian pine
plantations stands (No seedlings were more than one
year old. The roots were less than 5 cm)
Statistics
•Indicate the statistical tests used with all relevant
parameters
mean ± SD
•Give numerator and denominators with
percentages
40% (100/250)
•Use means and standard deviations to report
normally distributed data
Statistics
Third, species that use grassy open areas appear
to be more abundant in the mastication
treatments. In the current study, there was a
statistically suggestive (P < 0.15) trend for the
darkeyed junco to be more abundant at treated
stands, and chipping sparrow was only detected
in treated stands. In contrast, neither of these
species showed a consistent pattern in our study
of smaller-scale hand-pile treatments (Alexander
et al., 2007).
Statistics
•The word “significant” should only be used to
describe “statistically significant differences”
•When tests indicate no significant difference the
authors continue their presentation as if there
actually is a significant difference while couching
the discussion with terms like 'trend'. When a
statistical test indicates no significant difference
then the means reported are not different, 'trends'
one way or another are meaningless.
Discussion
Describe
•How the results relate to the study’s aims and hypotheses
•How the findings relate to those of other studies
•All possible interpretations of your findings
•Limitations of the study
Avoid
•Making “grand statements” that are not supported by the
data
Example: “These results show a massive increase in soil
carbon”
•Introducing new results or terms
Write positively
Discussion – the Discussion is a discussion
of your results in the context of the world
literature. Do not have a Discu ssion that is
largely a repetiti on of the Results.
Write positively – too often, we come
across statements such as ‘These results
suggest that the trees might be under
water stress to the extent that mortality
might be possible’. That statement is
vague enough to mean nothing!
Avoid acronyms
Avoid acronyms – for example, you might have
set up an exper iment with a eucalypt forest (EF)
and a pine forest (PF), on two aspects North (N)
and south (S), in two localities, say Victoria (V)
and Tasmania (T). You then have the following:
VEFS, VEFN, TEFS, TEFN, VPFS, VPFN, TPFS
and TPFN. This leads to sentences like:
‘The concentration of phosphorus in top-soil was
greatest in VEFS, intermediate in VEFN, VPFN
and TPFS, and least in the other forests’.
This might make sense to the author, but it is a
nightmare for reviewers and readers. You should
not expect your readers to remember acronyms.
Conclusion
Put your study into CONTEXT
Describe how it represents an advance in the field
Suggest future experiments
BUT
Avoid repetition with other sections
Avoid being overly speculative
Don’t over-emphasize the impact of your study
Conclusion
‘The limited distribution of this L. chinensis
forest, and the ‘rare’ status of the species
make these kinds of studies very important to
the successful management and preservation
of this endemic species of the Taibai Natural
Reserve.’
 Why is it very important? Just because
you have do ne the study does not mean
that it is very important. Again, how are
these types of studies going to be used
in land management and preservation?
How are they going to be applied, and
what will be the outcomes?
Conclusion
‘There was a tendency for the soil seed bank to decrease in
density with increasing elevation in both shady and sunny
slope, although this pattern is complicated by the occurrence of
different plant communiti es and species at different altitudes.
Sorensen similarty index between soil seed bank and
vegetation of the seven habitats was very low, and Pinus
crassifolia was absent in the soil seed bank despite being
prominen t compone nt of the surface vegetation at woodland s,
thus Picea crassifolia has no persistent seed bank, It will be
important to maintain the existing vegetation in the future
manageme nt,


This study of soil seed banks in forests is of very local or
regional intere st. It has little interest for an international
audience.
Avoid gratuitous statements such as the last sentence:
‘It will be impo rtant to maintain the existing vegetation in
the future management ’. Why is it important to maintain
the existing vegetation, and how are we going to apply
the results of this study of seed banks to maintain it?
Acknowledgements
Acknowledge anyone who has helped you with the
study, including:
•Researchers who supplied materials or reagents,
•Anyone who helped with the writing or English, or offered
critical comments about the content
•Anyone who provided technical help
State why people have been acknowledged and
ask their permission
Acknowledge sources of funding, including any
grant or reference numbers
References
Check the Guide for Authors for the correct format
Check
Avoid
•Spelling of author names
•Personal communications,
unpublished observations
and submitted manuscripts
not yet accepted
•Punctuation
•Number of authors to
include before using “et
al.”
•Reference style
•Citing articles published
only in the local language
•Excessive self-citation and
journal self-citation
References
Take great care with referencing. It is
particularly irr itating for reviewers to find
mistakes, particularl y in one of their own
references.
References
Check the style and format as required – it is not the
editor’s job to do so for you
Harvard System (alphabetical by author/date):
Berridge, MJ 1998, Neuronal calcium signaling, Neuron vol. 21: pp. 13-26
APA (American Psychological Association) System (alphabetical)
Berridge, M.J. (1998). Neuronal calcium signaling. Neuron 21, 13-26
Vancouver System (numbered in order or citation)
1. Berridge MJ. Neuronal calcium signaling. Neuron. 1998;21:13-26
There are a number of other systems in use and
variations for all systems
Writing is not meant to be easy!
Easy reading’s cursed hard writing;
Easy writing’s cursed hard reading.