Getting Published in Science

Professor David Male

Why do you publish ?

• If you do not publish, no-one knows what you have done• Publications are a key component of your CV

• A laboratory needs to publish, in order to get funding• Writing papers is a good basis for writing a thesis

• Planning for a paper is a good way to plan experiments• Referees often provide useful advice on what is expected

Where do you publish ?• Academic Journals – Peer reviewed

–Print and electronic (sometimes require payment)–Electronic, open access (usually requires payment)

• Books/ Review articles (sometimes commissioned)• Conference abstracts (sometimes reviewed)

Authors

• First author – the person who has done the most lab-work or fieldwork and produced the most figures/tables of data.

• Last author – the project director ie the person who has got the money (PI).

• Middle authors – people who have contributed data or unique reagents.

• Corresponding author – the person that submits the paper and communicates with the journal.

However the normal practice varies between subjects

The actual author(s)

• Usually the first author, but it may be the PI with contributions from other authors

All authors are jointly responsible for the publication

All authors should have read all of the manuscript and agreed to it before submission

All authors should be able to answer questions on the paper if they are asked to do so – eg at a meeting.

When are you ready to publish ?

• Typically a PhD needs 2-3 publications (but it depends on the subject area)

• Needs to be a complete piece of work, not a progress report

• The level of detail in a publication is much less than in a thesis – background and pilot experiments are not usually included.

• Negative results are often difficult to publish unless they support positive findings, and they then require excellent positive controls.

A scientific paper has a narrative

• What you investigated and why• What other people think about

this subject and why• What are the key questions

• What you did• What you saw• How did you interpret your

observations?• How does it answer the questions

• How does this relate to previous findings

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results

Discussion

Writing

1st year report

Figures and legendsNarrative text

Tables and footnotes

Selective editingIntroduction

Abstract & Keywords

Results

Methods

Discussion

References

Acknowledgements

Title

• Sending signals: how bacteria communicate with plants

Or

The mechanisms of NodD1-mediated transcription at Nod gene promoters.

Ten times more people will read the title than read the abstract

Ten times more people will read the abstract than the paper

….give yourself the best chance.

Which Journal ?

• Chose Journal on the readership – what journals are in your reference list?

• Select by impact factor – quality generally counts for more than quantity. – impact factors are subject dependent.

• What type of publications do they accept?

- rapid publications, short reports, standard papers

Read the instructions for authors carefully

Writing the paper

• Start by reading CAREFULLY Journal regulations – or you will be rewriting after all other work.

• Word/page limit

• Number of figures - Black and white in print vs colour

format (tif/jpg) resolution (dpi) fonts (size/consistency)• Layout and headings, column widths• Submission format – word/pdf/html

• References how labelled and recorded ?

Style: Active or passive

• We cultured the cells for 48h at 37°C.• The cells were cultured for 48h at 37°C.

Be consistent

The cells were cultured for 48h, after which we added the cytokine and the cells were then cultured for a further 48h, before extracting the nuclear proteins.

Tenses

• Species of the genus Eleonaceae were found in areas of highest humidity

• Species of the genus Eleonaceae are found in areas of highest humidity

Be aware of what you are writing

The particles were detected using a beta-counter and have energy 25mev.

Macrophages are normally found in all tissues of the body, however we did not detect them in our samples.

The compound was found to have a molecular weight of 187Da but it is not present in smoke from car tyres.

Avoid ambiguity

• The protein may be phosphorylated on amino acid serine-27 or serine-42.

The protein is phosphorylated on either amino acid serine-27 or serine-42.

The protein is phosphorylated on amino acid serine-27 and/or serine-42.

The protein may be phosphorylated on either of these amino acids, but our results do not tell us which it is.

Under specific conditions, either one or the other or both amino acids may become phosphorylated.

Qualified statements

• Qualify statements only once• Aim for precision even in qualified statements

The boiling point of the compound is approximately 67°C.

The boiling point of the compound is in the range 65.5°C - 68°C.

The data may suggest that the molecular weight of the protein could be approximately 147kDa.

The data indicate that the molecular weight of the protein is approximately 147kDa.

Response from the journal

• Many excellent papers are rejected – this is not an affront to your dignity or intelligence.

• Referees take a deal of time to review your paper – sometimes they get it wrong or fail to understand what you have written, but mostly their points are valid.

• Wait 24 hours before firing off a reply to the journal.• Consult all of your fellow authors.• Do what is asked, if it is reasonable…………..• Make point by point responses when resubmitting.

Questions and discussion