2016 june day1 edanz uni andes workshop

Daniel McGowan, PhD

Author Success Workshop:

Effectively Communicate Your Research

Universidad de los Andes

14 June 2016

S

Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to be published, but also to be widely read and cited

Prepare well and develop advanced writing skills

Logically organize your ideas in your manuscript

Make the best first impression

Confidently navigate the peer review process

Increase the impact of your research

Section 1: Introductions

Activity: Please make a 30-second introduction of yourself:

• Your name and department

• Where you come from

• ONE interesting fact about you, such as: o A hobby or interest o An ambition or goal o Your favorite cuisine o A special skill o A past award or achievement

Section 2

Prepare well for academic publishing

Skills needed on the path to publication success

Preparation

Journal Selection

Writing

Submission

Peer Review

Publication Success

• Training in reading papers, ethics, writing, presenting

• Expert Scientific Review


• Journal Selection & submission strategy

• Training in ethics, writing, presenting

• Revising • Editing • Reformatting

• Training in ethics, writing

• Editing • Abstract

Development • Cover Letter

Development • Reviewer

Recommendation

• Training in navigating peer review

• Review Editing • Point-by-point

checking • Response

Letter Development

• Reformatting

• Press release, news writing

• Media & presentation training

• Training for early career researchers

• Training in writing grant proposals

• Grant proposal editing

Patenting Engagement

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well

Use your manuscript to tell a story

What is your answer? How does your study contribute to your field?

What did you find?

What did you do?

Why is your study needed? What is your specific research question? What is/was your planned approach?

Title/Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion


Factors to consider when writing a manuscript

Plan your story

Draft outline & draft abstract/title;

Draft & revise manuscript

Edit manuscript & finalize

abstract/title

Logically organize your ideas into a story;

adhere to journal & international guidelines

Communicate well in English

Keep up-to-date with the literature at all times!

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Importance of reading

Stay up-to-date, identify trends

Find knowledge gaps, develop research ideas

Critical thinking & peer review

practice

Learn how native English speakers

write

Learn effective argument structure

Learn manuscript structures &

genres

Read often, and discuss with colleagues!

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well What should I read?

What do you already know? Understanding

Basic Advanced

• Understand a new topic

• Overview (Your Introduction)

• Find key papers (Your Introduction)

• Find a method (Your Methods)

• Compare your results (Your Discussion)

• Know latest developments

• Answer specific questions

• Find target journals

What do you want to know?

Review articles Primary literature

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Evaluating the literature

1o literature Original research

2o Reviews &

review journals, databases

3o Accepted facts,

e.g., reference books, general textbooks

Originality/

proximity/

maturity

Academic Journals, preprint servers (Arxiv)*, conference proceedings* and journal supplements, conference abstracts#, monographs, specialist books * +/- peer review?; # not citable

Gray* Theses, conference proceedings/abstracts#, working

papers, technical/government/NGO reports, society/company publications, patents, speeches, leaflets, posters, seminars/ webcasts/multimedia, emails/blogs/memos, data repositories

General or Lay Popular books, leaflets, general/ science magazines, newspapers, newsletters, wiki

Audience

Availability

Tip: Judge source, quality, and accuracy (beware of predatory journals)!

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Evaluating the literature

Questions to ask • What are the goal of and motivation for the study? • Is the goal original, important, relevant, and timely? • Are the hypothesis and method appropriate and backed up

by timely literature? Are all variables clear and defined? • What are the assumptions and limitations (e.g., study period

and design, sample size and selection, treatments, controls, materials, conditions, measurements, analyses, biases)?

• Are the findings valid and reliable, and match the goal? Are all results discussed, including negative/unexpected ones?

• Are the conclusions logical? How generalizable are they? • How useful are the findings for practice or future research?

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Finding primary articles

Databases IEEE Xplore, ChemWeb, PsycINFO,

PubMed, Springer Link, Web of Science, Scopus, SciFinder

Journal websites Recently published,

most viewed, editorials; sign up for alerts

Review articles Primary articles discussed in

review articles

Tip: Search X and Y; X or Y; X not Y; (X or A) and (Y or B); (X or Y) and A not B; specific word “X”; define:X


Reference management software

EndNote Most established* Styles easy to find on journal websites

Which one to use?

RefWorks Web-based* Widely used

Mendeley Newer (and free!)* Allows collaborations

Papers Easy-to-use interface (like iTunes) Great for article management

*Has plug-in app for MS Word


Making readers think other people’s words or ideas are your own

Copying published text without “ ” or indenting (even with a citation)

Stating ideas of someone else without citing the source

Plagiarism

Avoid self-plagiarism…If you use text that you have published before, you need to paraphrase, use “ ”, or indent, and give a citation; …or else, readers think you are presenting new ideas


Expressing published ideas using different words (but cite as well!)

Paraphrasing

Tips on paraphrasing:

• Write the text first into another language, and then later translate back into English

• Verbally explain ideas to a colleague • Name a published method and cite it • Consider text location

– Introduction vs. Discussion

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Paraphrasing tips

How to vary sentence structure

Change voice, rhythm, style

Separate/join sentences

Discourse markers Coincidentally; Also in agreement; Indeed

Join 2 sentences (semicolon, colon for a reason/list, or by subordination); alternate short/long sentences

Active to passive, or passive to active; negative to positive, or positive to negative;

invert word or sentence order

Sentence logic Either/or; neither/nor; not only, but also

Introductory phrase According to X’s method,…; In X’s study,…; X

showed/reported…; When X…

Change word class An altered direction -> A directional change Prefer to summarize several sources, find relationships, or integrate

citations into your overall message

Coverage and Staffing Plan Prepare well Good paraphrasing

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are altered over time under different land uses.”

The size of the carbon storage change depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24

How differing land uses gradually affect biological, chemical, or physical processes changes how much carbon can be stored.24

• Nouns verbs • Prepositional phrases Adverbs • Passive Active voice

• Synonyms, word order

• Synonyms, word order


Submissions

Plagiarism

Data manipulation

Authorship

Submit to only one journal at a time; do not republish the same paper; no salami

Paraphrase/summarize and cite all sources

Do not fabricate or falsify data; do not manipulate parts of images

(1) Design study or gather/analyze data; (2) Write/revise; (3) Approve; (4) Be accountable

Publication ethics

Disclosures Disclose any funding and financial/personal

relationships (conflicts of interest)

Safety Humans: ethics approval, signed consent, privacy; animal and environmental safety

Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE

Please see Activity 1 in your Workbook

Activity 1

Section 3

Select the right journal

Journal selection

Increase impact

High quality research

Logical, engaging, useful message

Original and novel research

Well-designed, well-reported,

transparent study News value, importance, timeliness

What editors want

High scientific & technical quality, appropriate & clear methods,

sound research & publication ethics

High readability & interest; clear, real-

world relevance

Impact factor (past 2 years) = No. of citations / No. of articles

Journal selection

Research Article (Original Article)

Short Communication (Research Note)

Case Study Technical Note Review Article Letter to the Editor

Brief report about a specific finding

Most common; full-length paper

Brief report about a specific situation

Brief report about a new methodology

Summary of recent advances in a field

Brief discussion about a published article; may contain research findings (Research Letter)

Types of articles

Choose your journal early!

Journal selection Choose your journal early!

Author guidelines • Manuscript structure • Word limits, References • Procedures, Copyright

Aims and scope • Topics • Readership • Be sure to emphasize

• Learn writing style • Check relevant references • Check originality, importance & usefulness!

Journal selection Evaluating impact

How relevant/important is your work?

Large or incremental advance? Does it solve a practical problem? Does it

have narrow or wide applications?

International or regional journal?

Broad- or narrow- focused journal?

High or low impact journal?

Create new algorithm for predicting crop yields • Medium to high impact factor journal Improve the accuracy and efficiency of an existing algorithm • Low to medium impact factor journal

Journal selection Factors to consider when choosing a journal

Aims & scope, Readership

Publication speed/frequency

Online/Print, Open access

Indexing, Rank, Impact factor

Acceptance rate/criteria

Article type / evidence level

“Luxury” / Traditional / Megajournal

Online first, Supplemental materials, Cost, Copyright

Cascading review, Fast track

Reputation, what you read or have cited most

Journal selection Publication models

Subscription-based

• Mostly free for the author • Reader has to pay

Open access • Free for the reader • Author usually has to pay

Hybrid • Subscription-based journal • Has open access options

Journal selection Open access models

Green

• Can self-archive accepted version (e.g., MS Word doc) in personal, university, or non-profit repository website

• May allow you to archive final version or ask you to include link

• May have embargo period before self-archiving is allowed

Gold • Free for public on publication • Author might keep © but may pay

(e.g., US$1000–4000)

Journal selection Open access myths

Open access (OA) is expensive and low quality

• Not all OA journals charge a fee

• Many research grants and universities pay for OA fees

• Journals may offer waiver for authors who cannot afford it

• OA journals are peer reviewed

• Impact factors may be lower partly because they are newer

Journal selection Predatory journals

Some Open Access journals are not good

Easy way to get money from authors

• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a “submission/handling” fee • May copy name of real journal (hijacked journals); false IF • May not exist, or may be of low quality • Beware of spam e-mails!

If you are ever unsure, please check Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers

https://scholarlyoa.com/2016/01/05/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2016/

Journal selection

Reputable publisher Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, PLoS, etc.

Editorial board International and familiar

Indexed Indexed by common databases

Authors Do you recognize the authors?

Fees Paid only after acceptance

Trustworthy journals

Journal selection

THINK Trusted and appropriate?

SUBMIT Only if OK

thinkchecksubmit.org

CHECK Do you know the journal?

Trustworthy journals

Journal selection Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

Insert your proposed abstract or keywords

Journal selection

Filter/sort by: • Field of study • Impact factor • Indexed in SCI • Open access • Publishing frequency

• Journal information • Author guidelines • Journal website

Similar abstracts

Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

Activity 2

Please see Activity 2 in your workbook

Section 4

Develop professional writing skills

Coverage and Staffing Plan Writing skills

Where to start?

Your findings form the basis of your manuscript

First organize your findings

Logic, then English language

Figure 1

Figure 2

Table 1

Figure 3

Logical flow • Chronology • Most to least

important • General to

specific • Whole+parts

Is anything missing?

? Additional analyses?

Use your illustrations to structure your story

Coverage and Staffing Plan Writing skills Prepare an outline

I. Introduction A. General background B. Related studies C. Problems in the field D. Aims

II. Methods A. Subjects/Samples/Materials B. General methods C. Specific methods D. Statistical analyses

III. Results A. Key points about Figure 1 B. Key points about Table 1 C. Key points about Figure 2 D. Key points about Figure 3 E. Key points about Figure 4

IV. Discussion A. Major conclusion B. Key findings that support conclusion C. Relevance to published studies D. Limitations E. Unexpected results F. Implications G. Future directions

Write key ideas in bullet points, as IMRaD (=Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion)

No need for full sentences Draft title/abstract Draft article by IMRaD section Get feedback & revise each section Revise content/logic before language Get help: presubmission peer review

& editing by a native English speaker

When using information from other articles:

Paraphrase with citations!

Coverage and Staffing Plan Writing skills Draft your abstract early

Concisely describe your research question • Why is it important • Not only what is unknown, but could be a

limitation or a controversy

State your aims and method to address question State your main findings

State your main conclusion • How does it answer the question • How does it advance the field


Title/Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Title/Abstract

Methods

Results

Discussion

Introduction

Abstract /Title

write

Title/Abstract

Intro: Aim

Figures/ Results {Methods}

Discussion: Conclusion

[Intro / IMRaD]

read

The ‘write’ order


1. You deserve the funding, but the study design is not perfect.

Which sentence suggests that you

will get funding?

2. The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the funding.

Stress position

Academic English writing style 1


The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the

funding. The grant will be awarded in two stages.

Stress position

Topic position

Readers focus at the end of the sentence for what is important. Information in this stress position can also introduce

the topic of the next sentence (useful for explanations and processes).



The local government has been striving to introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. In college science education, technology was introduced through the ICT-Connect-TED project. The program aimed at improving the quality of lecturers through the use of ICT. ICT-Connect-TED recently provided computers and a networking infrastructure to selected tertiary colleges.

idea idea idea idea

Topic link

sentence

Adapted from: Kafyulilo et al. Educ Inf Technol. 5 May 2015; DOI 10.1007/s10639-015-9398-0



Almost all participants indicated a high level of satisfaction with the content, sequence and relevance of the ICT professional development program they attended. Only a few lecturers reported that the duration of the professional development program was too short. However, the majority of the lecturers reported that they developed an understanding of what TPACK is, and the way technology can enhance teaching and learning of difficult scientific concepts through the collaborative design of technology-enhanced clinic sessions in teams. “I developed an understanding of how TPACK can be applied in the design and teaching of a technology-enhanced lesson” said one of the pre-service lecturers. A lecturer from College C said if it was not the professional development he attended, he would not know how to use technology in teaching.

The pre-service lecturers had the opportunity to further develop learning about technology integration in teaching after the professional development program had finished. They were invited to use their TPACK knowledge in workshops organized by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training…

Topic sentence

Stress sentence Topic sentence

Supporting sentences




Lecturers were positive about the effectiveness of technology in teaching. They reported the effectiveness of technology on students’ learning, and on simplifying their teaching process. Most of the lecturers reported to be comfortable and satisfied with the outcomes of the technology-integrated lessons they had developed and taught during the professional development program. One of the lecturers from College A said,…

idea idea idea idea

Topic link


Information in the topic position can introduce the topic of the next sentence

(useful for definitions, descriptions, and narratives).



Findings in this study are presented in four sections. The first section presents the continuation of technology use in teaching. The second section presents the factors affecting the continuation of use of technology in teaching among lecturers who participated in the study. The third section presents the college management view on the impact of the professional development program and the institutional challenges on using technology in teaching. In the final section, the enabling and hindering factors affecting the continuation of technology are summarized.

idea idea idea idea

Topic link


Information in the stress position can introduce the topic of the next few sentences

(useful for lists and describing whole/parts).




Logical connectors

Sequential

Causal

Adversative Although, Even though, Whereas, However, In contrast, Despite (+noun or verb -ing),…

Because (of), To (+verb), Owing to, So that, Therefore, Thus, Hence, Consequently,…

Until, After, Before, While, Since, When, Then, Next, First/Second/Third, Finally,…

Conditional If, Even if, Unless, Whether (or not), Except, Provided that, Until, Without, Otherwise,…

Coverage and Staffing Plan Writing skills Importance of logic

Write logical sentences!

A is 4 times larger than B ? A is 4-fold larger than B ? A is 4 times as large as B ?

B is 4 times smaller than A ?

B is 75% smaller than A ? B is 25% the size of A ?

A B

Comparing data; Method–Purpose; Condition–Effect; Reason–Result; Cause–Effect; General–Specific; Contrast;

Similarity; Sequence; Addition; Exemplification

Coverage and Staffing Plan Writing skills Write logically 1

Fix run-ons (comma splices) and fragments

Inefficiency is related to energy flow, however not all losses are because of energy flow.

Inefficiency is related to energy flow; however, not all losses are because of energy flow. (Or…However,)

Our modified assay rapidly screened many cDNA libraries. Which is why it should be a useful high throughput method.

Our modified assay rapidly screened many cDNA libraries. Hence, it should be a useful high-throughput method. (Or…Because our modified assay rapidly screened many cDNA libraries, it should be…)


Don’t misuse time words

While many people read e-books, some still prefer real books.

Although/Whereas many people read e-books, some still prefer real books.

The patient had no appetite since he had eaten breakfast.

The patient had no appetite because he had eaten breakfast.

The plants were harvested as they flowered.

The plants were harvested because/once they had flowered.


Check the logic of lists

The variables included family size, personal and household incomes.

The variables included family size and personal and household incomes.

The recorded times were 1 hour, 20 minutes and 360 seconds.

The recorded times were 60 minutes, 20 minutes and 6 minutes.

The cities comprised Tokyo, Japan, London, UK, and Chicago, USA.

The cities comprised Tokyo, Japan; London, UK; and Chicago, USA.


Check your use of commas

The crystals appeared green and blue, yellow and green and yellow and blue.

The crystals appeared green and blue, yellow and green, and yellow and

blue.

The patient said he admired his parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

The patient said he admired his parents, Prince Charles, and Lady Diana.

We examined five, large, new, dark, blue, Japanese, hybrid, sports, cars.

We examined five large new dark-blue Japanese hybrid sports cars.


Present simple

Present perfect

Past simple

Stating an accepted fact or current implications

Referring to past studies that are still relevant

Reporting an account of what you did/showed

Introduction Discussion

Introduction Discussion

Methods Results

“Graphene is a promising material for...” “Our findings have implications for…”

“Group therapy has been shown to increase...” “In this study, we have shown that…”

“We used NMR to investigate the structure of…” “The drug prevented tumor growth in patients...”

Write logically 5


Activity 3

Section 5

Write effectively

Customer Service Effective writing

Nature’s guide to authors:

Nature is an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language.

www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/index.html#a4

“I should use complex words to make my writing more impressive.”

Improve readability


Keep it simple!

Use short sentences 15–20 words; one idea per sentence

Prefer simpler/shorter words

Use active voice Simpler, more direct, and easier to read

Most writing style guides and journals prefer it… “Nature journals prefer authors to write in the active voice”

www.nature.com/authors/author_resources/how_write.html

Improve readability


To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the program participants upon program

completion.

To determine the success of the program, we questioned the participants on completion.

Prefer shorter words and sentences

Customer Service Effective writing Prefer active voice

“Use the active voice when it is less wordy and more direct than the passive”.

“Use the active voice rather than the passive voice…”.

“As a matter of style, passive voice is typically, but not always, inferior to active voice”.

“In general, authors should use the active voice…”

ACS Style Guide

APA Style

Chicago Style Guide

AMA Style

“Use active voice. The use of active rather than passive voice produces clearer, more concise writing”

SPE Style

“Wherever possible, use active verbs that demonstrate what is being done and who is doing it…”

ASCE Style

“Use active voice by default; research shows readers comprehend it more quickly than passive voice…”

IEEE

Active voice is preferred Prefer active voice


Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized using electrospray deposition.

Avoid ambiguity 1



Fadl et al. developed electrospray methods to enhance sensitivity.3

Part of the Introduction

Avoid ambiguity 1





Who did the work in this study?

The author ? Fadl et al. ?

Avoid ambiguity 1




In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode using electrospray deposition.

Avoid ambiguity 1




In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode using electrospray deposition. It was then tested as a molecular sensing device.

Avoid ambiguity 1




In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode using electrospray deposition. The electrode was then tested as a molecular sensing device.

Avoid ambiguity 1


Fix stacked and misplaced modifiers

The final analyzed test sample only appeared blue temporarily because we had added the especially

prepared reagent that we were testing slowly.

The final sample that we analyzed appeared blue only temporarily, because we had slowly added the

test reagent.

Avoid ambiguity 2

Customer Service Effective writing Common mistakes 1

Prefer Enough Clear Determine Begin Attempt, Try Size Keep After Enough End Use

Avoid complex words Adequate Apparent Ascertain Commence Endeavor Magnitude* Retain Subsequent to Sufficient Terminate* Utilization *OK in certain fields (magnitude of earthquakes, to terminate gene expression)


Delete extra words!

“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”

“...as described in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”

“As a matter of fact, such a low-temperature reaction…”

“That is another reason why, we believe…”

“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...” “It is well known that Most of the intense diffraction peaks...”

“As a matter of fact, such a This low-temperature reaction…”

“A number of studies have shown that The charged group...”

“That is thus another reason why Therefore, we believe…”

“...as described previously in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”


Avoid redundant terms At a concentration of 2 g/L At a temperature of 37C In order to In the first place Four in number Green color Subsequent to Prior to Future plans; past history Extremely unique At the present time

Prefer At 2 g/L At 37C To First Four Green After Before Plans; history Unique Now

Common mistakes 3


Estimate Estimation

Decide Decision

Assess Assessment

We made a/an… We conducted a/an… Extra verb

We decided… Clear, short, and direct

Common mistakes 4

Don’t hide verbs inside nouns!


Compared with is for saying how things are different

The performance of our algorithm was high compared

to the previous algorithm.

The performance of our algorithm was high compared with that of the previous algorithm.

The performance of our algorithm was higher than that of the previous one.

Common mistakes 5


Respectively is used for corresponding list items

The two values were 143 and 21, respectively.

The values for groups A and B were 143 and 21, respectively.

The two values were 143 and 21.

Common mistakes 6


Use parallel terms

The values were higher in group 1 than for group 2.

The values were higher in group 1 than in group 2. The values were higher for group 1 than for group 2.

Writing involves many skills: planning, preparing, drafting, and you need to check carefully.

Writing involves many skills: planning, preparing, drafting, and careful checking.


Readers expect…

old/given/familiar information to appear first new information to appear last

An increasing number of people are relying on environmental health information that they find on the Internet. Hence, governments could conduct public campaigns to promote environmental health literacy via online media.

The Internet is being used as a source of environmental health information by an increasing number of people. Hence, online media campaigns could be used by governments to improve environmental health literacy. / [OR] Hence, the public could benefit greatly from government online campaigns aimed at improving environmental health literacy.

Common mistakes 8


Readers expect…

verbs to closely follow their subjects heavy ends (not starts) of clauses

Subject

The device leakage current of transistors fabricated on SiO2 with different self-assembled monolayers decreased by two orders of magnitude after annealing.

The transistors were fabricated on SiO2 with different self-assembled monolayers. The device leakage current decreased by two orders of magnitude after annealing.

Verb

Common mistakes 9


Be clear and concise

Common mistakes 10

After considering all of the data runs after all of the computer sim tests, around 10% of all the virtual molecule designs were finally id’d, categorized and they were publicly archived.

After analyzing the results from the computer simulations, we identified, categorized, and publicly archived 12% of the virtually designed molecules.

• Remove jargon, repetition, vagueness, clarify subjects

Activity 4


Section 6


Structure your manuscript Introduction

Why is your study needed?

Current state of the field

Background information

Aim

Problem in the field

Previous studies

Current study

General

Specific Importance/Hypothesis

Worldwide relevance? Broad/specialized?

Up-to-date, International Not too many self-cites

Specific aim/approach/contents Check if Results can be previewed; extra sections?

Structure your manuscript Problem/knowledge gap

However, …an alternative approach… …a challenge …a need for clarification… …a problem/weakness with… …has not been dealt with… …remains unstudied …requires clarification …is not sufficiently (+ adjective) …is ineffective/inaccurate/inadequate/inconclusive/incorrect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Few studies have… There is an urgent need to… There is growing concern that… Little evidence is available on… It is necessary to… Little work has been done on…

Key phrases

Structure your manuscript

For lithium manganese spinel electrodes, obtaining substituted spinels of a general formula Li[LiqMn2-q]O4 and decreasing the size of particles by pyrolysis lead to better cycling ability….However, particles exhibit fast aggregation upon thermal treatment with citric acid pyrolysis in air.


Your aims must directly address the problem

Study sample

Variables Outcome

Lithium manganese spinel electrodes

Excess lithium ions Particle size/aggregation

Pyrolysis conditions

Improved physical and electrochemical

properties Modified from: Potapenko et al. Mater Renew Sustain Energy. 2015; 4: 40.

Writing the Introduction


Your aims must directly address the problem

We describe the properties of Li[Li0.033Mn1.967]O4 after pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere. Its particle size is smaller, the degree of aggregation is lower, and high-rate properties are better that for its analogue pyrolyzed in air.

Study aims

Modified from: Potapenko et al. Mater Renew Sustain Energy. 2015; 4: 40.


For lithium manganese spinel electrodes, obtaining substituted spinels of a general formula Li[LiqMn2-q]O4 and decreasing the size of particles by pyrolysis lead to better cycling ability….However, particles exhibit fast aggregation upon thermal treatment with citric acid pyrolysis in air.

Writing the Introduction


What did you do?

Methods

What was done

• Variables measured • Processes, treatments, measurements • General to specific

• Quantification; models/equations • Statistical tests (& P level) • Consult a statistician

What was studied

• Tests, controls • Number of samples/sets of tests • Materials/equipment (+ maker)

Data analysis

(1) Caution notices for dangerous substances/processes…No incidents occurred; researchers have to be qualified and trained, and use suitable

protocols, precautions, and facilities; (2) Ethics declarations

Structure your manuscript Methods

Established techniques

• Cite previously published studies • Briefly state modifications • Use flow chart/table if needed

• Explain purposes; justify choices • Give enough detail for reproducibility • Use Supplementary Information

Organization • Arrange in (titled) subsections • Keep parallel to the display items • Use topic sentences to start sections

New techniques

Check if Methods is called Materials & Methods or Experimental… Check the position/length of Methods: at end, or brief + online

protocols, or brief + detailed legends in tables/figures


“We used NMR spectroscopy to determine the structure of the polymers.”

We name of

technique investigate

name of property.

study

measure

confirm

determine

used to

Method------------------------------Purpose

Method – Purpose

Methods


“To determine the structure of the polymers, we used NMR spectroscopy.”

we name of

technique.

used

Purpose-----------------------------Method

Purpose – Method

investigate

name of property,

study

measure

confirm

determine

To

Methods

Structure your manuscript Results

What did you find?

• Synthesis, characteristics • Group, subgroups • Algorithm, trial, improvement

• Each subsection relates to one figure and method

• What you found, not what it means

• Use Supplementary Information

• Data accessibility

Logical presentation

Subsections

Factual description


Combined Methods–Results

Method Results

Figure 1

Method Results

Figure 2

Method Results

Figure 3

Method Results

Figure 4

Initial observation


Characterization

Application


Describe relationships among your results

Treatment A reduced soil lead levels by 32.7% and increased soil pH by 12.3%. Treatment B reduced soil lead levels by 22.3% and increased soil pH by 15.6%. Treatment C reduced soil lead levels by 38.1% and increased soil pH by 6.9%.


Describe relationships among your results

Treatment C reduced soil lead levels (38.1%) more effectively than treatments A (32.7%) and B (22.3%). However, treatment B increased soil pH levels (15.6%) more effectively than treatments A (12.3%) and C (6.9%).


Present large amount of data quickly and efficiently

Keep it simple: use separate panels if necessary

Must be able to stand alone: clear labels and

figure legends

Usually the first thing readers will look at

Figures, graphs & tables

Display items


SEM images of Bentheimer sample 1 before and after damage (10 g/L barite). (a) and (b) show the undamaged plug, only quartz crystals can be seen, (c) and (d) show the sample after damage, adhesion between quartz (gray) and barite (white) can be seen, (e) and (f) show the adhesion between barite particles in the damaged plug. The black arrows point towards barite-quartz and barite-barite interfaces.

Figures

Clear figure legend

Al-Yaseri et al. J Petrol Sci Eng. 2015; DOI 10.1016/j.petrol.2015.01.018.

Title of the experiment

Key findings

Clear indicators

Structure your manuscript Tables vs. graphs

Type A Type B Type C

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Aluminum

Gold

Figure 1. Efficiency of various solar cell types using aluminum and gold electrodes

Effi

cien

cy (

%)

Which electrode gives a more efficient solar cell?


Figure 1. Efficiency of various solar cell types using aluminum and gold electrodes

Type A Type B Type C

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Aluminum

Gold

What is the highest efficiency achieved?

?

Effi

cien

cy (

%)


What is the highest efficiency achieved?

Table 1. Efficiency of solar cells using aluminum and gold electrodes


Independent variables

Table formatting

Raj et al. PLoS ONE. 2014; 9: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106210.

Symbols defined

Dependent variable;

N numbers given

Table 1. Demographic profiled of ever-married women aged 20–24 years for most recent Demographic Health Survey data from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Clear and concise table title

Structure your manuscript Line graphs

Zhu et al. Sci Rep. 2013; 3: 3163.

Quantized water transport: Ideal desalination through graphyne-4 membrane

The uniaxial stress-strain curves of graphene sheet (GR), as well as graphyne-1 to graphyne-6, along (a) the reclined chair direction, and (b) zigzag direction.

Dependent variable

Independent variable

Use colors and shapes to differentiate lines

Define abbreviations

Structure your manuscript Discussion

Summary of findings

Relevance

Conclusion

Similarities/differences Unexpected/negative results Limitations (validity, reliability)

Implications

Previous studies

Current study

Future studies

Specific

General

How do you advance your field? Check if Discussion is called Evaluation, Conclusions, or

Discussion & Conclusions


Combined Results–Discussion

Results Interpretation

Figure 1


Figure 2


Figure 3


Figure 4

Initial observation


Characterization

Application


Combined Methods– Results–Discussion

Method & Results Interpretation

Figure 1


Figure 2


Figure 3


Figure 4

Initial observation


Characterization

Application


Table 2 presents an analysis of vulnerabilities in Cloud Computing. This analysis offers a brief description of the vulnerabilities, and indicates what cloud service models (SPI) can be affected by them. Some of these vulnerabilities are the following:… … Cloud Computing leverages many existing technologies such as web services, web browsers, and virtualization, which contributes to the evolution of cloud environments. Therefore, any vulnerability associated with these technologies also affects the cloud, and it can even have a significant impact. We can conclude that data storage and virtualization are the most critical features, and an attack to them would do the most harm. Attacks to lower layers would have more impact to the other layers.

Introduce display item

Interpretation

Conclusion/ implications

Modified from: Hashizume et al. J Internet Serv Appl. 2013;4:5.

Factual description

Factually describe and interpret your findings 1



The three classification models show the same level of

performance based on their F1-scores, where the scores all take a

value of 0.85. With the help of the receiver operating characteristic

curves (Figure 5), it is clear to see that all three models perform

quite well for testing data that have high posterior probability. A

posterior probability of a testing data point, A, is estimated by the

classification model as the probability that A will be classified as

positive, denoted as P(+|A). As the probability gets lower, the Naïve

Bayesian classifier model outperforms the Support Vector Machine

classifier model, with a larger area under curve. Hence, in general,

the Random Forest model performs the best.

Describe finding

Interpretation

Conclusion/ implications

Modified from: Hashizume et al. J Internet Serv Appl. 2013;4:5.

Mention display item

Factually describe and interpret your findings 2


http://www.journalofbigdata.com/content/2/1/5/figure/F5


Introduction…No comprehensive overview of alien plant species distribution or status exists for any Arctic region…. Here we present a complete record of all alien vascular plant species in Svalbard.

MethodsResults

Discussion: All the plant aliens recorded from Svalbard over the past 130 years are native to mainland Europe… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Conclusion: In this study we performed a comprehensive evaluation of plant survey records. By collating and exploring these data, we demonstrate that alien plant species turnover has been substantial over the past century.…]

State the main findings of the study

Discussion 1 – Beginning

Modified from: Aslos et al. Biol Invasions 2015;17:3113–3123.

Summary of data/results

Conclusion = Approach/

Solution+News

Problem & Aim/ possible solution


c

Modified from: Wang et al. Ecological Engineering 2016; 76: 66–74.

…or state the main conclusion of the study (= solution to the problem)

Discussion 2 – Beginning

c Flood indicators are generally used to understand floods from a management perspective. However, any single indicator alone cannot reflect a flood process properly because a flood event is described by complex factors influencing the variation of flood intensity, just like the five indicators proposed in this paper. The clustering technique was shown to be an effective tool to evaluate the effects of flood intensity. The cluster detection algorithm searches for groups or cluster of data elements that are similar to one another….

Re-introduction

Preview Conclusion =

Approach/ Solution+News

Restate Problem


Check your interpretations

0

10

20

30

40

50

1 2 3 4 5

Over 5 days of reverse bias

reliability testing the current of

the devices increased from 32 ±

10 μA to 43 ± 17 μA (Figure 2).

This rise in current may be

explained by…

Do you agree with this interpretation?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 2 3 4 5Time (days)

Cu

rren

t (μ

A),

mea

n/S

EM

Is this real?

Structure your manuscript Making claims

Chiswick Chap, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulmin_Argumentation_Example.gif, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Toulmin model of argumentation

Qualifier


The public’s perspective of environmental safety incidents showed both overlaps and additional aspects from environmental professionals’ opinions….The public’s statements brought insight on…

Most of the included studies have been conducted in US-American public education settings; thus, the transferability of results to other settings is limited…. Integrating the public’s perspective broadens the existing understanding of environmental safety events and should therefore be considered as a complimentary measuring tool….

Start of Discussion: summary of findings

Conclusions: main conclusion & implication

Match extent, confidence, precision

Limitations

Making claims

Data

Claims

Qualifier

Rebuttal

Warrant

Adapted from: BMC Fam Pract. 2016; 17: 6.


How safe is mist netting? evaluating the risk of injury and mortality to birds

Our analysis points to some important associations, but is also limited….While on one hand, our narrow geographical focus controls for household socio-economic and geographical factors that may differ across regions of India, a larger-n study exploring similar research questions that would be generalizable to larger geographical regions may yield a higher impact on future household air pollution reduction interventions. Despite these limitations, our analysis yields important lessons for the next generation of cookstove programs.

Identify limitations

Discussing limitations

Address limitations

End positively: give the bad news first and soften the effect

“Social, Economic, and Resource Predictors of Variability in Household Air Pollution from Cookstove Emissions”

Modified from: Yadama et al. PLOS ONE October 3, 2012, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046381.


How safe is mist netting? evaluating the risk of injury and mortality to birds

Our analysis points to some important associations, but is also limited….While on one hand, our narrow geographical focus controls for household socio-economic and geographical factors that may differ across regions of India, a larger-n study exploring similar research questions that would be generalizable to larger geographical regions may yield a higher impact on future household air pollution reduction interventions. Despite these limitations, our analysis yields important lessons for the next generation of cookstove programs.

Identify limitations

Discussing limitations

Modified from: Yadama et al. PLOS ONE October 3, 2012, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046381.

Address limitations

“Social, Economic, and Resource Predictors of Variability in Household Air Pollution from Cookstove Emissions”

End positively: Good news last & in long, main clause!


Discussion – End (last paragraph)

Why is your study important?

May be a “Future work” section

In conclusion, polymeric nanoparticles could be used as a generic carrier of hydrophobic drugs for efficient delivery. Compared with drug administration alone, these nanoparticles mediated a higher and more rapid uptake of the encapsulated drug by nanoparticle-cell contact-mediated transfer. A contact-mediated mechanism of delivery into the cytosol could enable effective delivery of anticancer drugs directly to the intracellular molecular targets. Further understanding of this contact-based transfer mechanism will be important to exploit this novel delivery system for the administration of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs to improve cancer therapy.


Solution+News

Key result

Implications

Importance & Future

directions

Modified from: Snipstad et al. Cancer Nanotech. 2014; 5: 8.


Discussion – End (separate section)


The technology of underbalanced drilling has been long used and is still a good drilling technology. Using the air injection connector system developed in this study in underbalanced drilling gives the technology a higher edge. The modification of the underbalanced drilling technology helps to reduce the density of the drilling fluid. Compared with the method of ‘‘U-tube’’ well for air injection, the parasite system with air injection connector is more economically feasible. As long as these controlling methods and safety rules are followed, the on-site engineering can be executed successfully.

Topic


Solution+News

Implications/Importance

Application

Jiang et al. J Petrol Explor Prod Technol. 2014; 4: 275–280.

CONCLUSION


Discussion – End (Conclusion section after a combined Results–Discussion section)


Conclusion= Approach/

Solution+News

Key results

Recommendation

Modified from: Pancar and Apkinar. Int J Concrete Structures and Materials. 2016;10:39–46.

CONCLUSION

Temperature gradients are very important in concrete road design. If this value is high, it is probable to see cracks….Concrete needs lower thermal conductivity to decrease the temperature gradients.…This study decreased the temperature gradient while retaining concrete strength. Glass beads, which have lower thermal conductivity, were used for this purpose. Using glass beads in the mixture of concrete also decreased the density of concrete.... Concrete surface temperature was higher than air temperature between 08:00 and 16:00 h.…Temperature differences between top and bottom surface of the concrete slab decreased by using glass beads in concrete mix design. Concrete road mix design specifications need to be regulated according to regions and climates to reduce the temperature gradient values and waste glass.

Problem/ Possible solution


Story line and consistency

General background

Aims

Methodology

Results and figures

Summary of findings

Final solution & Implications

Evaluation of findings


Current state of the field Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Evidence for a

Solution

Situation/Problem

Evaluation/Comment

Title & Abstract

End matter References, Acknowledgments, Funding, Conflicts of interest, Previous publication/presentation, Ethics/Data sharing

Activity 5


Section 7


Customer Service Marketing your work Title and abstract

First impression of paper: clear/concise/convincing

Importance of your results

Validity of your conclusions

Relevance of your aims

It sells your work: Readers judge your style & credibility

Often first/only part that is read by

readers & reviewers

Your title & abstract summarize your study


Title

Important points

Only the main idea Accurate, simple System/model Include keywords Fewer than 20 words Sometimes “Hanging

title”: method/study type

Avoid

Unneeded words (A/The…, A study of) Complex or sensational words Complex word order Abbreviations “New” or “novel”


Title

Interrogative Quantifying electron transfer reactions in

biological systems: what interactions play the major role?

Indicative/ Descriptive*

Efficient light management in perovskite solar cells

* + Method (subtitle)

Distribution of cations in FeSbO4: computer modeling study

Assertive/ Declarative*

Coral mucus fuels the sponge loop in warm- and cold-water coral reef

ecosystems / Insect stereopsis demonstrated using a 3D insect cinema

Question form

Key finding

Key topic/aim


Context Background, problem, aim

Results Outcomes, effects,

properties, statistics

Conclusion Relevance, implications Learning points, future

Methods Subjects/materials/animals Treatments, measurements

No references, unusual abbreviations, figures/tables

Abstract

Customer Service Marketing your work

Structured abstract (life sciences/medical)

Modified from: Van Kempen et al. BMC Medicine. 2015;13:287.

Background EASY-Care Two step Older people Screening (EASY-Care TOS) is a stepped approach to identify frail older people at risk for negative health outcomes in primary care, and makes use of General Practitioners’ (GPs) readily-available information. We aimed to determine the predictive value of EASY-Care TOS for negative health outcomes within the year from assessment. Methods A total of 587 patients of four GP practices in and around Nijmegen (The Netherlands) consented to participate in a longitudinal primary care registry based cohort study… Results Follow up information was available for 520 of 587 participants. In the non-frail group 9% showed any negative health outcomes (death, ADL decline, institutionalisation, too ill to undergo assessment), against 30 % in the frail group (95 % confidence interval of the difference (CI): 14 %–28 %). Area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of the EASY-Care TOS frailty judgement for a composite of negative health outcomes mentioned was 0.67 (95 % CI: 0.62-0.73)…. Conclusions GPs applying the EASY-Care TOS procedure, where they only perform additional assessment when they judge this as necessary, can predict negative health outcomes in their older populations efficiently and almost as accurately as a complete specialist CGA.

Simple present

Simple past

Simple past

Simple present

Simple past


Unstructured abstract (physical sciences)

Three-dimensional hierarchical ternary nanostructures for high-performance Li-ion battery anodes

Silicon is considered one of the most promising anode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries due to its 4200 mAh/g theoretical specific capacity, relative abundance, low cost, and environmental benignity. However, silicon experiences a dramatic volume change (∼300%) during full charge/discharge cycling, leading to severe capacity decay and poor cycling stability. Here, we report a three-dimensional (3D) ternary silicon nanoparticles/conducting polymer/carbon nanotubes hybrid anode material for Li-ion batteries. The hierarchical conductive hydrogel framework with carbon nanotubes as the electronic fortifier offers a continuous electron transport network and high porosity to accommodate the volume expansion of Si particles. By 3D wrapping of silicon nanoparticles/single-wall carbon nanotubes with conducting polymer nanostructures, a greatly improved cycling performance is achieved with reversible discharge capacity over 1600 mAh/g and 86% capacity retention over 1000 cycles at the current rate of 3.3 A/g. Our findings represent a new direction for using advanced nanostructured materials to fabricate robust, high-performance lithium-ion batteries with improved capacity decay and cycling stability.

Reprinted with permission from: Liu B, et al. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 3414‒3419.


Unstructured abstract (physical sciences)

Silicon is considered one of the most promising anode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries due to its 4200 mAh/g theoretical specific capacity, relative abundance, low cost, and environmental benignity. However, silicon experiences a dramatic volume change (∼300%) during full charge/discharge cycling, leading to severe capacity decay and poor cycling stability. Context

Here, we report a three-dimensional ternary silicon nanoparticles/conducting polymer/carbon nanotubes hybrid anode material for Li-ion batteries. Methods

The hierarchical conductive hydrogel framework with carbon nanotubes as the electronic fortifier offers a continuous electron transport network and high porosity to accommodate the volume expansion of Si particles. By 3D wrapping of silicon nanoparticles/single-wall carbon nanotubes with conducting polymer nanostructures, a greatly improved cycling performance is achieved with reversible discharge capacity over 1600 mAh/g and 86% capacity retention over 1000 cycles at the current rate of 3.3 A/g.

Results

Our findings represent a new direction for using advanced nanostructured materials to fabricate robust, high-performance lithium-ion batteries with improved capacity decay and cycling stability.

Conclusions

Reprinted with permission from: Liu B, et al. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 3414‒3419.

ALL simple present (e.g.,

synthesis, theory,

modeling)


Physical science abstracts (short)

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your objective/hypothesis

Techniques, models

Most important findings

Conclusion/implications


A model has been developed to predict growth kinetics of the intermetallic phases (IMCs) formed in a reactive diffusion couple between two metals for the case where multiple IMC phases are observed. The model explicitly accounts for the effect of grain boundary diffusion through the IMC layer, and can thus be used to explore the effect of IMC grain size on the thickening of the reaction layer. The model has been applied to the industrially important case of aluminum to magnesium alloy diffusion couples in which several different IMC phases are possible. It is demonstrated that there is a transition from grain boundary-dominated diffusion to lattice-dominated diffusion at a critical grain size, which is different for each IMC phase.

Modified from: Wang et al. Metall Mater Trans A. 2015; 46: 4106–4114.

Physical science abstracts (short)

What you did

What you found

Present perfect

Present perfect

Simple present


Check author guidelines

Check recently published articles

Consider your audience

For interdisciplinary audiences, include background and conclusion

Identify journal editor preference

What the journal requires

Physical science abstracts

When should you include background and conclusions?


Search Engine Optimization

Identify 7–8 keywords (try to use standard ones*)

Use 2 in your title, 5–6 in the keyword list

Use 3 keywords 3–4 times in your abstract

Use keywords in headings when appropriate

Be consistent throughout your paper; include some synonyms

Cite your previous publications when relevant

*Standard terms from PsycINFO, BIOSIS, ChemWeb, ERIC Thesaurus, GeoRef, INSPEC, MeSH, etc

Customer Service Marketing your work Graphical abstracts

Visually demonstrate key features of the study Help readers quickly identify suitable articles

Carbon-layer protected cuprous oxide nanowire arrays for efficient water reduction

Zhang et al. ACS Nano. 2013;7:1709–1717.

Customer Service Marketing your work Graphical abstracts




Triple Modular Redundancy verification via heuristic netlist analysis

Beltrame. Peer J Comp Sci. 2015;1:e21.

Customer Service Marketing your work Research highlights



Bullet points in online Table of Contents Help readers quickly identify suitable articles

Identification of dynamic displacements and modal frequencies of a medium-span suspension bridge using multimode GNSS processing

Source: Yu et al. Engineering Structures. 2014;81:432–443.

• We monitored a suspension bridge with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and accelerometer sensors.

• We monitored bridge dynamic responses using network real-time kinematic technique.

• Multimode adaptive filter – multimode adaptive filtering was proposed to process GNSS data.

• The dynamic displacements of the bridge were accurately derived from GNSS data.

• The modal frequencies of the bridge were accurately identified from GNSS data

Customer Service Marketing your work Cover letter to the editor

Dear Dr Robens-Garcia

Please find enclosed our manuscript entitled “Prediction of the largest peak nonlinear seismic response of asymmetric

structures under bi-directional excitation,” which we would like to submit for publication as an Original Article in the

Journal of Seismology Today.

Assessing the seismic performance of asymmetric structures is challenging because of their elevation irregularities. Various methods have been proposed that combine non-linear static (pushover) analysis of a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) mathematical model with the response spectrum analysis of an equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model. Although these methods aim to estimate the peak response of asymmetric structures to seismic motion, they have been shown to be limited in their accuracy. In this study, we improve an earlier nonlinear analysis method by determining the properties of two independent SDOF models based on the results of a pushover analysis of an asymmetric structure. The largest peak response is then estimated by combining the analysis of the two modal responses. In contrast to previous methods, ours takes into account changes in the principal direction of the first modal response. This allows our model to more reliably estimate the response of asymmetric structures to ground motion acting at an arbitrary angle of incidence. The novel computational method presented here can more accurately evaluate the seismic performance of asymmetric structures. Accurately evaluating seismic performance is crucial given the high rate of building development worldwide. Therefore, because this model will have implications in building engineering, mining and exploration, and seismic hazards, we believe this study will be of considerable interest to the readers of the Journal of Seismology Today.

Why study needs to be done

What was done and what was

found

Conclusion & Interest to

readers

Editor’s name Manuscript title

Article type

Recommended reviewers / Corresponding author’s contact details / Ethics declarations


Other important information:

Recommended reviewers Author’s contact information

We would like to recommend the following reviewers to evaluate our manuscript: 1. Reviewer 1 and contact information 2. Reviewer 2 and contact information 3. Reviewer 3 and contact information 4. Reviewer 4 and contact information Please address all correspondence to:

Reviewers

Contact information

Can also exclude reviewers


We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal. All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with submission to the Journal of Seismology Today. This study was funded by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Last paragraph:

Declarations related to publication ethics Source of funding Conflicts of interest

Ethics

Funding

Conflicts of interest


The novel computational method presented here can more accurately evaluate the seismic performance of asymmetric structures. Accurately evaluating seismic performance is crucial given the high rate of building development worldwide. Therefore, because this model will have implications in building engineering, mining and exploration, and seismic hazards, we believe this study will be of considerable interest to the readers of the Journal of Seismology Today.

Why your study is interesting to the journal’s readership (para 4)

Target your journal – keywords from the Aims and Scope

Conclusion/importance

Relevance

Match keywords and aim/scope in your Introduction/Discussion too!

Customer Service Marketing your work Special cover letters

Reason for Fast Track

Timeliness, broad importance for society, urgency Interest to broad community Novelty, originality, high quality Contribution to field/literature, new insights/ideas Separate letter, or statement in cover letter? Statement within article (25–250 words)? Include statement in Abstract? Can sometimes be followed by “full paper”

Fast track…e.g., peer review in 2–5 weeks, but limitations on word count/figures


Highlight recent issues in the media

“Given the considerable attention global warming has received worldwide, it will be important to…”

Highlight recent policy changes

“Recently, the local government has implemented new incentives to promote renewable energy…”

Highlight recently published articles in

their journal

“The human effects of ingesting lithium in drinking water have recently been showcased in your journal. However, it still remains unclear…”

Highlight current controversies

“Currently, there is disagreement on the roles of engineers in the growth of future cities. Our study aims to address this controversy…”


Recommending reviewers

Where to find them?

From your reading/references, networking at conferences

How senior? Aim for mid-level researchers

Who to avoid? Collaborators (past 3–5 years),

researchers from your university

International list: 1 or 2 from Asia, 1 or 2 from Europe, and 1 or 2 from North America

Choose reviewers who have published in your target journal


Be careful who you recommend!


Check target journal about: (1) format/style, (2) word counts, (3) referencing, (4) documents to be submitted, such as title page, declarations, copyright form, (5) anonymization, (6) cover letter, (7) similar articles, (8) “supplementary files”

Check relevant international guidelines (e.g., in Equator Network)

Check use of passive, or I/We or This author, This study, These results

Check story line, logic, and consistency

Check all data and display items; check you have mentioned all figures

Find a colleague for pre-submission peer review advice

Check idiomatic language and parallel constructions; remove repetition

Clarify referents of pronouns such as It and This

Check subjects are close to verbs; check verb tense and agreement

Check spelling and grammar; ask a native English speaker to help

Before submission


Activity 6

Section 8

Confidently navigate peer review

Peer review

The submission process

Accepted—publication!

Editor Author

Peer review

Reject

Results novel? Topic relevant? Clear English? Properly formatted?

Revision • New experiments • Improve readability • Add information • Revise figures

Peer review Peer review process

Submission Peer review Revision Acceptance

& Publication

~1 week 4–6 weeks 0–8 weeks ?

How can I make the process quicker?

3–12 months

• Select the right journal • Follow author guidelines • Prepare a cover letter • Recommend reviewers • Get professional help in

reviewing and editing

• Fully revise manuscript after peer review

• Respond to all comments • Adhere to deadlines; ask for

extensions in advance • Quote your manuscript ID

• Evaluation • Finding

reviewers

Peer review Peer review

Pre-publication

review

Other models

• Single-blind: Reviewers’ names not revealed to authors

• Double-/Triple-blind: Anonymous • Open: All names revealed • Transparent: Reviews published with paper • Fast Track: Expedited if public emergency

• Transferable/Cascading: First journal passes manuscript & reviews to next one

• Portable: You submit manuscript & past reviews to next journal

• Collaborative: Reviewers (& authors) engage with other

• Post-publication: Online public review • Pre-submission: Reviews passed to editor

Peer review What reviewers are looking for

The science

The manuscript

Relevant hypothesis Good study design & appropriate

methodology Good data analysis Valid conclusions

Logical flow of information Manuscript structure and formatting Appropriate references High readability

Peer review is a positive process!

Innovation/Importance/Influence & Information/Interest =

IMPACT

Coverage and Staffing Plan Peer review Decision letter

“Slush pile” desk review: Rejection (not novel, no focus or rationale, wrong scope or format) / Resubmit after editing

Peer review: Accept / Accept after revisions / Revise & resubmit / “Reject” • Hard rejection

o Flaw in design or methods, ethics o Major misinterpretation, lack of evidence

• Soft rejection o Incomplete reporting or overgeneralization o Additional analyses needed o Presentation problem

Interpret the decision letter carefully (& after a break)

Peer review Decision letter

Ideas are not logically organized; Poor presentation Purpose and relevance are unclear in the Introduction Topics in the Results/Discussion are not in the Introduction Methods are unclear (variables, missing data); Ethics Wrong tests; confusing statistical vs real-world significance Unclear statistics: SD or SEM, need exact P values, 95% CI,

Association ≠ Causation Not discussed: Negative results, limitations, implications Discussion has repeated results or introduces new results Conclusions too general, confident, precise; not supported Cited studies are not up-to-date

Common reviewer complaints

Peer review Decision letter 1

10 January 2015

Dear Dr. Wong,

Manuscript ID JOS-11-7739: “Prediction of the largest peak nonlinear response of biomechanical structures under bi-directional excitation”

Your manuscript has been reviewed, and we regret to inform you that based on our Expert reviewers’ comments, it is not possible to further consider your manuscript in its current form for publication in the Journal of Biomechanical Experiments.

Although the reviews are not entirely negative, it is evident from the extensive comments and concerns that the manuscript, in its current form, does not meet the criteria expected of papers in our journal. The results appear to be too preliminary and incomplete for publication at the present time.

The reviewer comments are included at the bottom of this letter. I hope the information provided by the reviewers will be helpful to revise your manuscript in future. Thank you for your interest in the journal.

Decision

Reason

Comments

Peer review

The Reviewer comments are not entirely negative.

It is not possible to consider your manuscript in its current form.

I hope the information provided will be helpful to revise your manuscript in the future.

I regret that the outcome has not been favorable at this time.

Editor may be interested in your work

Peer review

We cannot publish your manuscript

Your study does not contain novel results that merit publication in our journal.

We appreciate your interest in our journal. However, we will not further consider your manuscript for publication.

We wish you luck in publishing your results elsewhere.

Editor is not interested in your work


10 January 2015

Dear Dr. Wong,

Manuscript ID JOS-11-7739: “Prediction of the largest peak nonlinear response of biomechanical structures under bi-directional excitation”

Your manuscript has been reviewed, and we believe that after revision your manuscript may become suitable for publication in Acta Biomechanica Res. The reviewer concerns are included at the bottom of this letter.

You can submit a revised manuscript that takes into consideration these comments. You will also need to include a detailed commentary of the changes made. Please note that resubmitting your manuscript does not guarantee eventual acceptance, and that your resubmission may be subject to re-review by the reviewers before a decision is made.

To revise your manuscript, log into https://www.editorialmanager.com/JABR/ and enter your Author Center, where you will find your manuscript title listed under "Manuscripts with Decisions." Under "Actions," click on "Create a Revision." Your manuscript number has been appended to denote a revision.

…

Decision

How to re-submit


…You will be unable to make your revisions on the originally submitted version of the manuscript. Instead, revise your manuscript using a word processing program and save it on your computer. Please also highlight the changes to your manuscript within the document by using bold or colored text. Once the revised manuscript is prepared, you can upload it and submit it through your Author Center.

When submitting your revised manuscript, you will be able to respond to the comments made by the reviewer(s) in the space provided. You can use this space to document any changes you make to the original manuscript. In order to expedite the processing of the revised manuscript, please be as specific as possible in your response to the reviewer(s).

IMPORTANT: Your original files are available to you when you upload your revised manuscript. Please delete any redundant files before completing the submission.

Because we are trying to facilitate timely publication of manuscripts submitted to ABR, your revised manuscript should be uploaded by 10 May. If it is not possible for you to submit your revision in a reasonable amount of time, we may have to consider your paper as a new submission.

Once again, thank you for submitting your manuscript and I look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

How to respond

Due date for resubmission

Peer review Reviewer response letter

Respond to every reviewer comment

Easy for editor & reviewers to

see changes

• Keep to the deadline; be polite • Restate reviewer’s comment; refer to line and page numbers

Use a different color font

Highlight the text

Strikethrough font for deletions


Fernando L. Natura Editor-in-Chief Environmental Engineering Modeling 2 September 2015 Dear Dr Natura, Re: Resubmission of manuscript reference No. WJS-07-5739 Please find attached a revised version of our manuscript originally entitled “Modeling population dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes in Asia,” which we would like to resubmit for consideration for publication in Environmental Engineering Modeling. The reviewer’s comments were highly insightful and enabled us to greatly improve the quality of our manuscript. In the following pages are our point-by-point responses to each of the comments. Revisions in the manuscript are shown as highlighted text. In accordance with your instructions and the comments of the first reviewer, the title has been revised and the entire manuscript has been professionally edited. We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publication in Environmental Engineering Modeling.

Address editor personally

Manuscript ID number

Thank reviewers

Highlight major changes mentioned by Chief Editor


Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to compare to previous results.

Response: We agree with the Reviewer’s assessment of the analysis. Our tailored function, in its current form, makes it difficult to tell that this measurement constitutes a significant improvement over previously reported values. We describe our new analysis using a Gaussian fitting function in our revised Results section (Page 6, Lines 12–18).

Agreement

Revisions Location

Why agree

Peer review

Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to compare with previous results.

Response: It’s very clear that you’re not familiar with the current analytical methods in the field. I recommend very strongly that you identify a more suitable reviewer for my manuscript!!!

Reviewer response letter

Peer review

Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to compare with previous results.

Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored function allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the “Pack model” [Pack et al., 2015]. Hence, we have explained the use of this function and the Pack model in our revised Discussion section (Page 12, Lines 2–6).

Evidence

Revisions

Location

Reviewer response letter

Agree or disagree with evidence

Activity 7


Section 9

Promote your research after publication

• Training in reading papers, ethics, writing, presenting



• Journal Selection & submission strategy

• Training in ethics, writing, presenting

• Revising • Editing • Reformatting

• Training in ethics, writing

• Editing • Abstract

Development • Cover Letter

Development • Reviewer

Recommendation

• Training in navigating peer review

• Review Editing • Point-by-point

checking • Response

Letter Development

• Reformatting

• Press release, news writing

• Media & presentation training

• Training for early career researchers

• Training in writing grant proposals

• Grant proposal editing

Engagement

Skills needed on the path to publication success

Preparation

Journal Selection

Writing

Submission

Peer Review

Publication Success

Coverage and Staffing Plan

Promoting your work Three missions

Education/ Training

Research

Knowledge Exchange


Promoting your work Your multiple audiences

Everyone evaluates your study…and you

• Journal editors & reviewers • Readers, opinion/policy makers • Students, researchers, industry • Employers, schools, interest groups • (Science) Media, public, politicians • Conference/journal panels • Review boards, funders, donors

Quality, Impact & Relevance

Why your work is important!


Promoting your work

Presenting after you publish

Advantages

Actively promote your article

Advice on future directions

Networking with researchers/media

Networking with journal editors

Conferences, Seminars, Press Conferences, Media Enquiries, Media Interviews,

Social Media, Open Days, Public Education


Promoting your work Publicizing your article

Increase the impact of your research after publication

• Presentations • Web, email • Social media • Press releases • Newsletters • Reports

Respect news embargo

Report clearly and accurately

Respect access/archive policies

Respect copyright/CC licenses

Respect journal publication policy

Check conference guidelines


Promoting your work Match your audience

Pre- and post-publication impact

IMRaD research article

(journals,

posters, slides)

Hard news

(conclusion as “lede”)

(press

releases)

Hard news,

delayed lede

(implication first)

Hard news + kicker

(implication

/call to action last)

Soft news/

Feature story

(news-letters)

Hard news, delayed lede +

kicker

(implications first & last)

Only after journal publication!



Writing for the public

Hard news

Heading

• Can say “new”; can use subheading • Name the source/people

Conclusion first (lede/top line) • Name the source/people • Implications or importance as a quote

Results before Methods; use bullets Background last; end with a quote Contact/institution details in Notes section



Writing for the public

Hard news

6WHs • Who? • What? • Where? • Why? • When? • How?

Keep the lede short (15-20 words) Use short paragraphs 300-400 words



Elements of a press release

Hard news

Use letterhead FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (or Embargo date) Dateline= date and city name Quotations on insights from named authors or

experts; no repetition! Include keywords Include full citation of journal source; state

evidence level Contact/institution info/extra info in Notes End with END or ENDS or ### or -30-



Tips

Hard news

Give only important details Include definitions, and synonyms, in

introductory or incidental phrases/clauses Check all data, details, and names Grab attention. Be interesting! What is

different/new? Write for the layperson; use analogies Avoid jargon and technical language Be concise! End with Call to action, or a quotation



Who to target

Hard news

International media (traditional, online) International news agencies National media Local media (for local community) Specialist news agency/hub (e.g., EurekAlert!) Specialist media (practitioners) Consumer media (popular magazines) Institution / academic society Interest groups (social media / blogs)



Writing for the different audiences

Show what you’ve done

Show how you’ve spent (public) funds

Apply for more funding

Share knowledge, educate public

Affect policy/practice

Raise reputation


Promoting your work

S

Abstract Assessment of sugar cane straw ash as pozzolanic material in blended Portland cement: Microstructural characterization of pastes and mechanical strength of mortars The aim of this paper is to assess the pozzolanic reactivity of sugar cane straw ash (SCSA) obtained through an auto-combustion process and the mechanical properties of SCSA-containing systems. Characterization of SCSA…demonstrated the high pozzolanic activity.

Press release More environmentally friendly concrete made using sugar cane residue Researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (Polytechnic University of Valencia, UPV) and San Paolo State University (Unesp) have developed a new type of concrete that is cheaper and much less polluting to the environment. They have done so by swapping in sugar cane straw ash, a crop residue typically discarded as waste, as a substitute for Portland cement. Currently pursued at laboratory scale only, the results of this work have been published in the Construction and Building Materials journal.

Based on: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160104080857.htm; Construction and Building

Materials, Volume 94, 30 September 2015, 670–677

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095006181530129X

Match your audience


Activity 8

Section 10

Effectively present your research

Presentations When should you

present your work?

Before you publish

After you publish

Conferences, Seminars, Lab Meetings, Journal Clubs

Conferences, Seminars, Press Conferences, Media Enquiries, Media Interviews,

Social Media, Open Days, Public Education

Presentations Advantages of presenting

Before publishing

Identify new trends Meet similar researchers

Get advice Identify problems, gauge

interest

After publishing Actively promote your

article Advice on future

directions

Networking with researchers

Networking with journal editors

Poster presentations


Benefits of poster presentations

Gives you the opportunity to interact with other researchers

Allows you to share pre-published results with your peers (don’t let them read!)

Allows you to discuss one-on-one with other researchers about your study

• More interactive than oral presentations • Improve discussing your research in English • Help build international collaborations


Logo Short Descriptive Title of Your Research

Authors and Affiliations

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Methods

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Poor poster layout

Results Discussion

Model


Logo Short Descriptive Title of Your Research

Authors and Affiliations

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Results

Methods References

Discussion Results

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 3 Fig. 6

Model

Aims

Good poster layout

Poster presentations Poster formatting

Colors

• 2–3 colors maximum, 300 dpi CMYK • Light background with dark letters

• Title: 85 pt • Authors: 50 pt • Headings: 36–44 pt • Text: 24–34 pt

• Read from 1.5 m • Use sans serif font

(e.g., Arial; not serif)

Font

Poster presentations Preparing your poster

Important points to include

Not necessary

Brief introduction General methodology Main results (specific

methods/findings in legends)

Brief discussion Put conclusion at eye

level!

Abstract Detailed methods Many references

Prefer pictures and bullets to text!

Poster presentations Example poster

Clear title

Concise Introduction

Schematics

Graphical Methods

Large figures with clear

figure legends

Bullet point Conclusion with model

Contact info

Oral presentations

Oral presentations Beginning

Brief introduction

Background information

Problem and study aim/s

Use pictures and diagrams

Oral presentations Middle

Methods

Flow chart or schematic

Figures

Important results, organized clearly

Oral presentations End

Conclusions

Answer, limitations, and implications

Future directions

How is this being further developed?

Oral presentations Slide layout

Font

• Sans serif (e.g., Arial, not serif) • 40 pt for titles • 30+ pt for major points • 24+ pt for minor points

Layout

• Limit 8 lines of text per slide • Use bullet points, not sentences • Organize and align clearly • 72 ppi, RGB

Well-designed slides show that you care about the presentation

Oral presentations Bullet points

You should never write complete sentences like this on your slides. Therefore, try to use bullet points instead to communicate

your ideas to your audience. Bullet points are also a great way to list the main points for your audience on the slide. However,

it can also be boring for them as well. If this happens, you can quickly lose the attention of your audience. As we discussed

earlier, once you lose the attention of your audience, your presentation is essentially over and you have not communicated the

significance or relevance of your work to them. Another problem with bullet points is that it might suggest hierarchy in the

list that you are sharing with your audience, which can be misleading for your audience. They may assume that the first point

is more important that the last point, when this may not necessarily be the case. Lastly, having one large block of text to read

takes more time for your audience and can be more difficult, especially for non-native English attendees.

Oral presentations Bullet points

Advantages

• Are easier to read than sentences • Are a good way to list information

Disadvantages

• Can be boring – Can lose your audience’s attention

• Can suggest hierarchy • Can still be difficult to read

• Sentence fragments

• Parallel grammar

• 2–3 levels of bullets

• 26/32 point font; bold

• Color

Oral presentations

Don’t let the audience read ahead

Focus the attention of your audience

Animate simply: appear, fade, wipe

Don’t distract from your information!

Animation & graphics

Contrasting colors, easy to read

Simple and organized

For information, not decoration

For pictures, use compressed images

Presentation skills

Presentation skills Before you present…

Most important thing you can do…

Practice

Learn your presentation, don’t read the slides

Don’t memorize, these are your ideas

Practice alone and with others, record yourself

Practice builds confidence!

Presentation skills

Presentation tips – Appear confident

Non-verbal

Use hand gestures

Make eye contact Always face

your audience

Smile!

Stand upright

Don’t be stiff, move naturally

Presentation skills

Presentation tips – Speaking style

Verbal

Avoid filler words

Pause for emphasis

Speak slowly

Show enthusiasm

Vary tone and pitch

Don’t talk to the screen

Presentation skills

Start positive and get their attention early

Never read your title slide

Start with what is important about your talk

Say what the implications are Keep your audience in mind! For long talks: make an Agenda or Goals list

(sets direction; activates prior knowledge)

Never apologize for your English or for being nervous!

Presentation skills Start positive

Introduction

Thank the organizers

Opening comments

Start your presentation

“I would like to thank [organizer] for kindly inviting me here today.”

“I’m very happy to be able to speak to you today.”

“Today, I would like to talk about...”

Presentation skills Develop your story

Body of presentation

Introduce the sections

Start the sections

Summarize each section

“This is how I will discuss...” “As you can see, my presentation

is divided into four sections.”

“First, I would like to discuss...” “In this section, I will show that…”

“I’d like to summarize the main findings from this section.”

“…So that’s what we found when...”

• It is well known that… • It has been reported

that… • It has been found that… • In this method, it is

important to note that…

Presentation skills

Figures – Guide the audience

Describing data/figures

Introduce the figures

Talk about the data

Focus on important information

“Now, I’d like to show you data from our recent experiments.”

“What we did here was…”

“Here, you can see...” “The top graph shows…”

“Here’s…”, “On this axis is...”

“I’d like to draw your attention to...” “There are three things to note…”

• It can be seen that… • It is clear from these

experiments that… • It seems that… • It was found that…

Presentation skills

Finishing your presentation

Conclusions

Conclusion & Implications/Future

Thank people

“In conclusion, the main findings of this study are...”

Thank the audience: “Thank you for your attention today.”

Acknowledge assistance: “I’d like to thank the people who

were involved in this project.”

“I’d now be happy to answer any questions that you may have.”

Invite questions

• It can be concluded that…

• It can be implied that… • It is expected that…

Presentation skills Answering questions

1. Thank the audience member

2. Understand the question

3. Repeat/rephrase the question

4. Answer the question (be concise!)

5. Ensure you have answered the question

6. Thank the audience member again

Gives you time to think

of the answer!


Activity 9

Activity 10


S

Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to be published, but also to be widely read and cited

Prepare well and develop advanced writing skills



Confidently navigate the peer review process

Increase the impact of your research

Thank you!

Any questions?

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Daniel McGowan: [email protected]