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How to Sell Your Story, Recommendations and Tips from Reviewers “What Reviewers Are Looking For?”

How to Sell Your Story, Recommendations and Tips from Reviewers “What Reviewers Are Looking For?”. Muna Al-Razgan, PhD Research Day, IT Department April 10, 2013. Rationale. To encourage knowledge sharing in the research community

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How to Sell Your Story, Recommendations and Tips from Reviewers “What Reviewers Are Looking For?”

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  1. How to Sell Your Story, Recommendations and Tips from Reviewers “What Reviewers Are Looking For?” Muna Al-Razgan, PhD Research Day, IT Department April 10, 2013

  2. Rationale • To encourage knowledge sharing in the research community • To help others not re-invent wheel; integration of sciences • Additional tips, insider knowledge and the answers to key questions to maximize your chances of publication

  3. Why publish? • Publishing: is one of the necessary steps embedded in the scientific research process. • It is also necessary for graduation and career progression. • You need a GOOD manuscript to present your contributions to the scientific community

  4. What to publish: • New and original results or methods • Reviews or summaries of particular subject • Manuscripts that advance the knowledge and understanding in a certain scientific field • What NOT to publish: • Reports of no scientific interest • Out of date work • Duplications of previously published work • Incorrect/unacceptable conclusions

  5. What is Publishing ALL about? Take an idea Publish it Reach an audience

  6. Rejection Letter from an Editor Dear Sir, Many thanks for asking whether we would like to publish your paper. Your paper is good and original, but unfortunately we are simply not willing to publish it. The trouble is that the good bits were not original and the original bits were not good. Yours faithfully

  7. The Reason for Rejection Is Often Very Simple….. • The paper was so poorly written and so poorly structured that the editor simply couldn’t understand its meaning • Editors are human beings: impressed by papers that are short, easy to read, and contain A CLEAR MESSAGE • What’s yours?

  8. What I’d Like to Talk About Today • PREPARATION: • things to think about before you even put pen to paper • SELLING YOURSELF: • how to capture an editor’s/reviewer’s attention • STRUCTURE: • without a clear structure, you (and the editor/reviewer) will be lost • EFFECTIVE WRITING: • there are some simple rules, which can make a huge difference

  9. Before You Start Writing, Ask… • What? • Where? • How?

  10. What is My Message? • If editors/reviwers cannot work out the single take home message, they will reject your paper • They will also reject it if you haven’t convinced them of your study’s importance

  11. WhereWill the Paper End Up? (Audience) • You MUST choose a journal/conference and write for that journal’s/conference audience • Make sure the journal/conference publishes the type of study you’ve done • What does this audience already know about this topic and what do they want to know now?

  12. Editorial Questions You have to “sell yourself” and at least get through to publish….. Editorial Questions: Does this article have a clear message? Is it original? Is it important? Is it true? Is it relevant to our readers?

  13. What Are the Things That a Reviewer Looks At? • The Title….Make It Compelling • The abstract: many conference now base their decisions on the abstract alone • Introduction: Grab the reader, drawing them immediately to the crucial issue that your paper addresses • Figures and Tables: Each figure/table: ONE STAND-ALONE MESSAGE • Results: The Facts and Nothing But the Facts • Discussion: Discuss both Strengths and Weaknesses Title: Concise and informative Contains the most important words related to the topic Not overly exaggerate put a verb in the title

  14. The Abstract MANY CONFERENCE NOW BASE THEIR DECISIONS ON THE ABSTRACT ALONE • Sadly, many authors write the abstract in a great rush, almost as an afterthought • Must be concise, “stand alone” piece with a very clear message. • Must accurately reflect the full text paper • Why did you do the study? What did you do? What did you find? What did you conclude?

  15. Other Tips Ethical considerations In studies involving human participants, you must mention that your IRB approved your research and that participants gave their written informed consent to be entered in the trial. Informed consent Institutional review board approval

  16. Other TipsSignal the question • Lets the reader know explicitly what the research question being addressed is. • Sets up an expectation for the rest of the paper. • Use explicit phrases • Use question words - “whether” or “which” • State the hypothesized effect • Identify the type of variables and study design. How to?

  17. In which example below is the question signaled? We were interested in the relationship between HIV and malaria. In this study, we studied the prevalence of Co-infections with HIV and malaria in Africa.

  18. Keep a consistent order • Paragraph structure • Ideas must be well organized. • Make sure each sentence has just one idea • Make sure each paragraph captures just one topic • Make sure the first sentence of each paragraph captures the main message • Topic sentence followed by supporting sentences. • Explicit relationship must exist between sentences. • Explicit relationship must also exist between paragraphs and sections of papers.

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