How To Get Published

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, PhD., FASc., CEng., FIChemE.Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC)

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

What are the reasons for publishing in academic

journals??

Career progression – moving up to the next rung on the ladderGaining recognition for work you have doneDeveloping a profileContributing to knowledgeStopping someone else taking credit for your work or using your materialsSetting yourself a new challengeHelping your students to gain recognition for their workLearning how to write to a higher standardBuilding your institution’s statusPersonal satisfaction of completing a new goal

10 Typical Reasons why Scientist/Researchers

Publishing

What are the Challenges in Journal Publishing??

• Writing Research Paper ????

• Publish in Journal ???

• Why bother ???

• Too difficult!!!

• I have No time !!!

• I have No research !!!

RegistrationThe timestamp to officially note who

submitted scientific results first

CertificationPerform peer-review to ensure thevalidity and integrity of submissions

DisseminationProvide a medium for discoveries

and findings to be shared

PreservationPreserving the minutes and record of

science for posterity

Role of Scientific Publications

Helps to determine the quality, validity, significance and originality

of research

Helps to improve thequality of papers

Publishers stand outside the academic process and are not prone

to prejudice or favour

Publishers facilitate the review process by investing in online

review systems and providing tools to help Editors and Reviewers

Peer Review

‘How To Get Published’

Episode 1

Your personal reasons for publishing?

However, editors, reviewers, and the research community don’t consider these reasons when assessing your work.

Always keep in mind that…

…your published papers, are a permanent record of your research, are your passportto your community…

Questions to answer before you write

Think about why you want to publish your work.

•Is it new and interesting?•Is it a current hot topic?•Have you provided solutions to some difficult problems?•Are you ready to publish at this point?

Only when the answers are yes, then start preparing your manuscript.

Decide the most appropriate type of manuscript

• Conference papers• Full articles/Original articles• Short communications/letters• Review papers/perspectives

– Self-evaluate your work: Is it sufficient for a full article? Or are your results so thrilling that they need to be shown as soon as possible?

– Ask your supervisor and colleagues for advice on manuscript type. Sometimes outsiders see things more clearly than you.

Identify the right audience for your paper

• Identify the sector of• readership/community• for which the paper is meant

• Identify the interest of your audience

• Is your paper of local or international interest?

• Ask your Professor / advisor

Choose the right journal

Do not just “descend the stairs”

Top journals

(Nature, Science, Lancet, NEJM, ......)

Field-specific top journals Other field-

specific journals

National journals

Select the best journal for submission

• Look at your references – these will help you narrow your choices.• Ask supervisor or colleagues• Investigate all candidate journals to

find outo Aims and scopeo Accepted types of articleso Readershipo Current hot topics

o go through the abstracts of recent publications

• Stick to the Guide for Authors in your manuscript, even in the first draft (text layout, nomenclature, figures & tables, references etc.).

In the end it will save you time, and also the editor’s.

• Editors (and reviewers) do not like wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts. It is a sign of disrespect.

Read the Guide to Authors- Again and again!

‘How To Get Published’

Structuring An Article: Episode 2

What is a strong manuscript?

• Clear content• novel, clear, useful, and exciting

• Good presentation of the data• constructed in a logical manner

Editors and reviewers are all busy scientists –

make things easy to save their time

• Title• Abstract• Keywords

• Main text (IMRAD)– Introduction– Methods– Results– And– Discussions

• Conclusion• Acknowledgement• References• Supplementary

data

Journal space is not unlimited, moreiŵpoƌtaŶtly, youƌ ƌeadeƌ’s tiŵe is

scaƌce.

Make your article as concise as possible.

Make them easy for indexing and searching (informative, attractive,

effective)

General structure of a research article

General structure of a Research Article

Introduction

Methods & Results

Discussion & Conclusion

Specific

General

The final article

General

The Process of Writing – Building the Article

Authorship

• Policies regarding authorship can vary• One example: the International Committee of

Medical Journal Editors (“Vancouver Group”) declared that an author must:• Substantially contribute to conception and design, or

acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;• Draft the article or revise it critically for important

intellectual content; and• Give their approval of the final full version to be

published.• All three conditions must be fulfilled to be an author!

All others would qualify as “Acknowledged Individuals”

CorrespondingAuthor

First Author

Good Listing Principle

Ghost Authorship

Gift Authorship

Poor Listing Principle

Authorship

Fewest possible words

Adequately describes content

Identifies main issue

Does not use rarely-used

abbreviations

Effective manuscript titles

Keywords

Are used by indexing and abstracting services

Are the labels of the manuscript

Use only established abbreviations (e.g. DNA)

Article Title“An experimental study on evacuated tube solar collector using supercritical CO2”

KeywordsSolar collector; supercritical CO2; solar energy; solar thermal utilization

Abstract

This is the advertisement of your article.Make it interesting and understandable

Make it accurate and specific

A clear abstract will strongly influencewhether or not your work is

considered

Keep it as brief as possible

Introduction

Provide a brief context to the readers

Address the problem Identify the

solutions & limitations

What is hoped to be achieved

Consistent with the nature of the journal

MethodsDescribe how the problem was studied Include

detailed information

Do not describe previously published procedures

Identify the equipment and describe materials used

Ethics Committee Approval

Experiments on humans or animals mustfollow applicable ethics standards

Approval of the local ethics committee is required and should be specified in the manuscript, covering letter or the online

submission system

Editors can make their own decisions on ethics

Results

Be clear & easy to understand

Highlight the main findings

Feature unexpected findings

Provide statistical analysis

Include illustrations & figures

Results – Appearance counts!

• Un-crowded plots• 3 or 4 data sets per figure; well-selected scales; appropriate

axis label size; symbols clear to read; data sets easily distinguishable.

• Each photograph must have a scale marker of professional quality in a corner.

• Text in photos / figures in English• Not in French, German, Chinese, Korean, ...

• Use color ONLY when necessary.• If different line styles can clarify the meaning, then never use colors

or other thrilling effects.

• Color must be visible and distinguishablewhen printed in black & white.• Do not include long boring tables!

Discussion

What do the results mean?

Most important section

Make the discussion correspond to the results

You need to compare published results with your own

The Conclusion

Should be clear

Provide justification for the work

Advance the present state of knowledge

Provide suggested future experiments

AdvisorsFinancial

Supporters & Funders

Proofreaders & Typists

Suppliers who may have donated materials

Acknowledgments

Do not use too many references

Always ensure you have fully absorbed material you are referencing

Avoid excessive self-citations Avoid

excessive citations of publicationsfrom the same region

Conform strictly to the style given in the guide for authors

References

‘How To Get Published’Using Proper Scientific Language

It can delay or blockpublication of work

Proper English should be used

Why is language important?

Manuscript language: Sentences

Write direct and short sentences

One piece of information per sentence

Avoid multiple statements in onesentence

Manuscript language: Tenses

Present tense:for known facts & hypotheses

Past tense:for experiments conducted & results

Manuscript language: Grammar

Use active voice to shorten sentences

Avoid abbreviations

Minimize use of adverbs Eliminate

redundant phrases

Double-check unfamiliar words or phrases

The Peer review Process

Cover letter

Your chance to speak to the editor directly

•Submitted along with your manuscript

•Mention what would make your manuscript special to the journal

•Note special requirements (suggest reviewers, conflicts of interest)

Cover letterFinal approval from

all authors

Explanation ofimportance of research

Suggested reviewers

Decision: “Accepted” or “Rejected”

Accepted•Very rare, but it happens

• Congratulations!– Cake for the department– Now wait for page proofs and

then for your article to be online and in print

Rejected•Probability 40-90% ...•Do not despair

– It happens to everybody

•Try to understand WHY– Consider reviewers’ advice– Be self-critical

•If you submit to another journal, begin as if it were a new manuscript

– Take advantage of thereviewers’ comments

– They may review your manuscript for the other journal too

– Read the Guide for Authors of the new journal, again and again.

Manuscript Revision

• Prepare a detailed response letter– Copy-paste each reviewer comment, and type your response below it– State specifically which changes you have made to the manuscript

• Include page/line numbers• No general statements like “Comment accepted, and Discussion changed

accordingly.”– Provide a scientific response to comments to accept, .....– ..... or a convincing, solid and polite rebuttal when you feel the reviewer was

wrong.– Write in such a manner, that your response can be forwarded to the reviewer

without prior editing

• Do not do yourself a disfavour, but cherish your work– You spent weeks and months in the lab or the library to do the research– It took you weeks to write the manuscript.........

.....Why then run the risk of avoidable rejection by not taking Manuscript revision seriously?

Author ResponsibilitiesFocus on: Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

“Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including those obtained through confidential review of others’ research proposals and manuscripts.”

Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1999

“Presenting the data or interpretations of others without crediting them, and thereby gaining for yourself the rewards earned by others, is theft, and it eliminates the motivation of working scientists to generate new data and interpretations.”

Professor Bruce RailsbackDepartment of Geology, University of Georgia

M. Errami & H. Garner, A tale of two citations

Nature 451 (2008): 397-399

What may be Plagiarised?

Work that can be plagiarised includes…

Words (Language) Ideas

Findings WritingsGraphic

Representations Computer

Programs Diagrams

Graphs Illustrations Information

Lectures Printed Material

Electronic Material Any Other Original Work

Higher Education Academy, UK

Question

A researcher notices a paragraph in a previously published article that would be suitable as the Materials & Methods in his

article.

The researcher decides to copy that paragraph into his paper without quotes

or attribution.

Has the Researcher violated any ethical boundaries?

Plagiarism high amongst ethics issues

Sample of cases reported to Elsevier Journals publishing staff in 2012

Correct Citation is Key

To place your own work in contextTo place your own work in context

Crediting the work of others (including your advisor’s or your own previous work) by citation is important for at least three reasons:

Crediting the work of others (including your advisor’s or your own previous work) by citation is important for at least three reasons:

To acknowledge the findings of others on which you have built your research

To acknowledge the findings of others on which you have built your research

To maintain the credibility and accuracy of the scientific literature To maintain the credibility and accuracy of the scientific literature

Plagiarism Detection

Huge database of 30+ million articles, from 50,000+ journals, from 400+ publishers

Huge database of 30+ million articles, from 50,000+ journals, from 400+ publishers

Cross Check Initiative (2009

Software alerts Editors to any similarities between the article and this huge database of published articles

Software alerts Editors to any similarities between the article and this huge database of published articles

Many Elsevier journals now check every submitted article using CrossCheck

Many Elsevier journals now check every submitted article using CrossCheck

Publication ethics – How it can end .....

An article in which the authors committed plagiarism: it will not be removed from ScienceDirect ever. Everybody who downloads it will see the reason for the

retraction…

An article in which the authors committed plagiarism: it will not be removed from ScienceDirect ever. Everybody who downloads it will see the reason for the

retraction…

Can you plagiarise your own work? “Text re-cycling/Self-plagiarism”

You publish a paper and in a later paper, copy your Introduction word-for word and perhaps a figure or two without citing the first paper

Editors may conclude that you intentionally exaggerated your output

Publication ethics – Self-plagiarism

Same colour left and right

Same text

2003 2004

Other ethics issues

Fabrication:

• Making up data or results, and recording or reporting them

Falsification:

• Manipulation of research materials, equipment, processes

• Changes in / omission of data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record

Duplicate publication:

• Two or more papers, without full cross reference, share the same hypotheses, data, discussion points, or conclusions

Figure Manipulation – some things are allowed

Figure manipulation Example - Different authors and reported experiments

Am J Pathol, 2001 Life Sci, 2004 Rotated 180º

Life Sci, 2004

Zoomed out ?! Rotated 180o

Re-cap

When in doubt, cite!

When in doubt, cite!

Responsibility Responsibility

Never cut & paste (even to

save time in drafts)

Never cut & paste (even to

save time in drafts)

If you suspect: REPORT

If you suspect: REPORT

What leads to acceptance ?

• Attention to details • Check and double check your work • Consider the reviewers’ comments • English must be as good as possible • Presentation is important • Take your time with revision • Acknowledge those who have helped you • New, original and previously unpublished • Critically evaluate your own manuscript • Ethical rules must be obeyed

– Nigel John Cook Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews

Thank You

• For further information please visit: www.elsevier.com/authors

www.senseaboutscience.org www.biggerbrains.com www.articleofthefuture.com

A major portion of theses slide were adopted from Elsevier Editors and Publishers Slide Presentation.