How T o G et P ub l ished

1. How To GetPublished Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, PhD., FASc., CEng., FIChemE. Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

2. What are the reasons for publishing in academic journals??

3. 10 Typical Reasons why Scientist/Researchers Publishing • Career progression – moving up to the next rung on the • ladder • Gaining recognition for work you have done • Developing a profile • Contributing to knowledge • Stopping someone else taking credit for your work or • using your materials • Setting yourself a new challenge • Helping your students to gain recognition for their work • Learning how to write to a higher standard • Building your institution’s status • Personal satisfaction of completing a new goal

4. 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 !!!

5. RoleofScientificPublications Thetimestamptoofficiallynotewhosubmittedscientificresultsfirst Registration Performpeer-reviewtoensurethe validityandintegrityofsubmissions Certification Provideamediumfordiscoveriesandfindingstobeshared Dissemination Preservingtheminutesandrecordof scienceforposterity Preservation

6. PeerReview Helps to determine the quality, validity, significance and originality of research Helpstoimprovethe qualityofpapers 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

7. ‘HowTo Get Published’ Episode 1

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

9. Alwayskeepinmind that… …your published papers, are a permanent record of your research, are your passport to your community…

10. Questionstoanswerbeforeyouwrite • 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.

11. Decidethemostappropriatetypeofmanuscript • 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.

12. Identifytherightaudienceforyourpaper • Identifythesectorof • readership/community • for whichthe paper is meant • Identifytheinterestofyouraudience • Isyourpaperof localorinternationalinterest? • AskyourProfessor/advisor

13. Choosetherightjournal Do not just “descend the stairs” Top journals (Nature, Science, Lancet, NEJM, ......) Field-specific top journals Other field-specific journals National journals

14. Selectthebestjournalforsubmission • Look at your references – these will • help you narrow your choices. • Ask supervisor or colleagues • Investigate all candidate journals to find out • Aims and scope • Accepted types of articles • Readership • Current hot topics • ogo through the abstracts of recent • publications

15. Readthe GuidetoAuthors-Againand again! • Stick to the Guide for Authors in your manuscript, even in the first draft (text layout, nomenclature, figures & tables, references etc.). • In the end it will save you time, and also the editor’s. • Editors (and reviewers) do not like wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts. It is a sign of disrespect.

16. ‘HowTo Get Published’ StructuringAnArticle: Episode 2

17. Whatisa strongmanuscript? • Clearcontent • novel,clear,useful,andexciting • Goodpresentationofthedata • constructedinalogicalmanner Editorsandreviewersareallbusyscientists– makethingseasytosavetheirtime

18. Generalstructureofa researcharticle • Title • Abstract • Keywords • Maintext(IMRAD) • Introduction • Methods • Results • And • Discussions • Conclusion • Acknowledgement • References • Supplementarydata Makethemeasyforindexingandsearching(informative,attractive,effective) Journalspaceisnotunlimited,more iŵpoƌtaŶtly, youƌ ƌeadeƌ’s tiŵe is scaƌce. Makeyourarticleasconciseaspossible.

19. Generalstructureof aResearchArticle The finalarticle General Introduction Specific Methods&Results Discussion&Conclusion General

20. TheProcessofWriting–BuildingtheArticle

21. Authorship • Policies regarding authorship can vary • One example: the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (“Vancouver Group”) declared that an author must: • Substantiallycontributetoconceptionanddesign,oracquisitionofdata,oranalysisandinterpretationofdata; • Draftthearticleorreviseitcriticallyforimportantintellectualcontent;and • Givetheirapprovalofthefinalfullversiontobepublished. • All three conditionsmustbefulfilledtobeanauthor! All others would qualify as “Acknowledged Individuals”

22. Authorship Corresponding Author GhostAuthorship GiftAuthorship FirstAuthor Poor Listing Principle Good Listing Principle

23. Adequately describes content Does not use rarely-used abbreviations Fewest possible words Identifies main issue Effectivemanuscripttitles

24. Keywords Are used by indexingand abstracting services Are thelabelsof the manuscript Useonlyestablishedabbreviations(e.g.DNA) Article Title “An experimental study on evacuated tube solar collector using supercritical CO2” Keywords Solar collector; supercritical CO2; solar energy; solar thermal utilization

25. Abstract Thisis the advertisementofyour article. Makeitinterestingandunderstandable Makeitaccurateand specific Aclearabstractwillstronglyinfluence whetherornotyourworkisconsidered Keep itas briefaspossible

26. 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

27. Methods Describe how the problem was studied Include detailed information Do not describe previously published procedures Identify the equipment and describe materials used

28. EthicsCommitteeApproval Experimentsonhumansoranimalsmust followapplicableethicsstandards 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

29. Results Be clear & easy to understand Highlight the main findings Feature unexpected findings Provide statistical analysis Include illustrations & figures

30. Results–Appearancecounts! • Un-crowdedplots • 3or4datasetsperfigure;well-selectedscales;appropriate • axislabelsize;symbolscleartoread;datasetseasilydistinguishable. • Eachphotographmusthaveascalemarkerofprofessionalqualityinacorner. • Textinphotos/figuresinEnglish • NotinFrench,German,Chinese,Korean,... • UsecolorONLYwhennecessary. • Ifdifferentlinestylescanclarifythemeaning,thenneverusecolorsorotherthrillingeffects. • Colormustbevisibleanddistinguishable • whenprintedinblack&white. • Donotincludelongboringtables!

31. Discussion Whatdo the resultsmean? Mostimportantsection Make the discussion correspond to the results You need to compare published results with your own

32. TheConclusion Should be clear Provide justification for the work Advance the present state of knowledge Provide suggested future experiments

33. Suppliers who may have donated materials Financial Supporters & Funders Proofreaders & Typists Advisors Acknowledgments

34. References Do not use too many references Always ensure you have fully absorbed material you are referencing Avoid excessive self-citations Avoid excessive citations of publications from the same region Conform strictly to the style given in the guide for authors

35. ‘How To Get Published’ UsingProperScientificLanguage

36. Whyis language important? It candelayor block publicationof work Proper English should be used

37. Manuscript language:Sentences Write directandshort sentences One piece of information per sentence Avoidmultiplestatementsinone sentence

38. Manuscript language:Tenses Present tense: forknownfacts& hypotheses Pasttense: forexperimentsconducted& results

39. Manuscript language:Grammar Use active voice to shorten sentences Avoid abbreviations Minimize use of adverbs Eliminate redundant phrases Double-check unfamiliar words or phrases

40. The Peerreview Process

41. Coverletter • Yourchancetospeaktotheeditordirectly • Submittedalongwithyourmanuscript • Mention what would make your manuscript specialtothejournal • Notespecial requirements (suggest reviewers, conflicts ofinterest)

42. Coverletter Finalapprovalfromallauthors Explanationof importanceofresearch Suggestedreviewers

43. Decision:“Accepted”or“Rejected” • Accepted • Veryrare,butithappens • 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 the • reviewers’ comments • They may review your manuscript for the other journal too • Read the Guide for Authors of the new journal, again and again. • Congratulations! • Cake for the department • Now wait for page proofs and then for your article to be online and in print

44. ManuscriptRevision • 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......... • .....Whythenruntheriskofavoidablerejectionbynot • takingManuscriptrevisionseriously?

45. Author Responsibilities Focuson:Plagiarism

46. WhatisPlagiarism? “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.” FederalOffice ofScienceand 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.” M.Errami&H. Garner,A taleoftwocitations Nature451(2008):397-399 ProfessorBruceRailsback DepartmentofGeology,University ofGeorgia

47. WhatmaybePlagiarised? Work that can be plagiarisedincludes… Words (Language) Ideas Findings Writings Graphic Representations Computer Programs Diagrams Graphs Illustrations Information Lectures Printed Material Electronic Material Any Other Original Work HigherEducationAcademy,UK

48. 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?

49. Plagiarism high amongst ethics issues Sample of cases reported to Elsevier Journals publishing staff in 2012

50. Correct Citation is Key Crediting the work of others (including your advisor’s or your own previous work) by citation is important for at least three reasons: To place your own work in context To acknowledge the findings of others on which you have built your research To maintain the credibility and accuracy of the scientific literature