Facing "Publish or Perish" in English

1. Facing "Publish or Perish"in English John Y. Hung Visiting Professor NTUST Taiwan Professor Auburn University USA

2. My Past That is Relevant • Associate Editor • Trans. Control Systems Technology • Trans. Industrial Electronics • Special Section Editor (4) • > 15 years Conference Organization

3. Publishing in IEEE Language is English, and editorial culture favors USA. Yet Asian authors publish equally well !!

4. Some Facts of Life 1. Good research is objective BUT 2. Publication follows different rules AND 3. Processes are not perfect!

5. Some process imperfections • Small sample size • Human behavior • we tend to be subjective, not objective • Volunteer-based system • publication is a high priority, BUT • reviewing tends to be low priority • Blind vs non-blind review

6. We Write Many Things • These serve different purposes: • Proposal • Thesis/dissertation • Research report • Conference or Journal Paper • They are NOT written the same way!

7. My First Recommendation Volunteer as a Reviewer / Assoc. Editor • Helps bring relevant papers TO you • You see both "good" and "bad" writing • Your review is a way to practice writing • brief assignment • more forgiving regarding English • Contact editor/professor – offer your abilities

8. My Second Recommendation Write as if reporting the news! To publish in a Journal, Write like a Journalist!

9. Journalists Understand These • Audience Background • Structure • Front and Back Materials • Terminology, Notation, Math • Figures and Tables

10. Understand Your Audience All works receive different reactions... The Railway Crossing, Fernand Léger (1919), The Art Institute of Chicago.

11. The Engineering Spectrum pure practice pure theory

12. The Engineering Spectrum Where do you fit? pure practice pure theory

13. The Engineering Spectrum Where do you fit? Where is the audience? pure practice pure theory

14. Who is my audience? • Attend the related conferences • Study people • Compare topics to your interests • Review papers in the journal • Study the editorial board • What are their interests? • What are their experiences and strengths?

15. IEEE Control Systems Society • Transactions on Automatic Control • Panos Antsaklis (PhD, Brown) • Trans. on Control System Technology • Thomas Parisini (PhD from Italy) • In 2008-09, eighteen (18) journal and conference papers (very impressive) • Zero (0) papers with experimental work • He has never published in the journal...

16. Trans. on Industrial Electronics • IES science is not the "best" in any field • But 2008 impact factor is #1 in IEEE!

17. Journalists Understand These • Audience Background • Structure • Front and Back Materials • Terminology, Notation, Math • Figures and Tables

18. Steps in the Scientific Method • Make Initial Observation • Form Hypothesis • Conduct Experiments • Analyze Data • Accept or Reject Hypothesis

19. Steps in the Scientific Method • Make Initial Observation • Form Hypothesis • Conduct Experiments • Analyze Data • Accept or Reject Hypothesis OK structure for Project Report...

20. Steps in the Scientific Method • Make Initial Observation • Form Hypothesis • Conduct Experiments • Analyze Data • Accept or Reject Hypothesis OK structure for Project Report... NOT good for Most Journals!

21. Purpose of a Journal Paper Record scientific data? NO... Most journal papers report new, good ideas. Try to convince the reader: • the idea is new • the idea is good

22. Basic Parts of an IEEE Paper

23. Creating a Draft • Linear Approach • start from the beginning (title, abstract ...) • seems "logical" • Inside-Out Approach • start with the easy-to-write parts • I advise students to follow this

24. Creating a Draft: Linearly

25. Creating the Draft: Inside-Out

26. #1: The Proof Section • Usually simulations or experiments • Easiest part for non-English writers • usually less text, less math, and more figures • Do this first – gives feeling of accomplishment !!

27. A Good Proof Section • Describe so that it can be reproduced • Compare to an accepted "standard" • means at least two sets of tests • Design figures carefully (more on this later...) • Try to highlight differences between old and new

28. #2: The Summary • Restate the main results – concisely • Avoid terms only understood by specialists • Highlight one or two special points "...this approach has several advantages, but the most significant is ..." • Acknowledge weak points • as directions for future study

29. #3: The Body • First, explain how you plan to explain... • May need several sections • Carefully define symbols and terms • Design good figures • Be careful not to "lose the reader" • Car B follows Car A, but Car A cannot go too fast... must warn the follower of turns.

30. Journalists Understand These • Audience Background • Structure • Front and Back Materials • Terminology, Notation, Math • Figures and Tables

31. Front and Back Materials • People “judge a book by its cover” • Reviewers decide “accept/reject”, then look for evidence to support their decision • What are “front and back” materials? • Title • Abstract • Introduction • References

32. Reviewer Psychology

33. #4: Introduction Goals: • Convince the reader the work is interesting • Convince the reader you understand the issues • Draw reader's curiosity • Convince him your story will be good

34. Introduction "Do Nots" • Never use the words "novel" or "new" or "important" • Avoid creating new abbreviations • Make claims without references • Cite references with weak explanation "The problem...has been studied [1-10]"

35. The 6 W’s of Journalism

36. (The Background Section) • Useful for demonstrating your knowledge of the problem & issues • Can be used to define terminology • Complement with good references • Tends to make Introduction too long • Consider making it a section by itself

37. #4: References "Do" • Relevant to the problem and reader • Don't cite math paper for non-math reader • Try to be current, but also keep classics. • Have sufficient references • Accessible to most readers • theses and dissertations are useless • web pages have unpredictable lifespan

38. Journalists Understand These • Audience Background • Structure • Front and Back Materials • Terminology, Notation, Math • Figures and Tables

39. Terminology, Notation, Math • Explain unusual terms • Abbrv. (abbreviations) must be spelled out the first time • Equations are seldom easy to follow • use sparingly • symbols must be explained • offer an interpretation of the equation

40. Figures and Tables "A picture is worth a thousand words" • Assumes a well-constructed figure. • Poor figures are WORTHLESS • Same is true for a Table

41. Figures by Software • Optimized for computer screen • 10 point font is OK on 17-inch screen • Screen has lots of space • Colors are wonderful • Usually not good for IEEE paper • column is narrow, space is small • scale the figure: 12 pt. font becomes tiny

42. Hints for Figures • Spend time on the "little things" • choosing line styles • some require color (expensive) • rescaling text • Choose caption carefully • Highlight difference between "old" and "new" results

43. Line Drawings Default in PSPICE Redrawn

44. Same Data: Different Plots 2 curves are similar here Different story here!

45. Color vs Line Style This is expensive This may be good enough

46. Font Size Default in Excel Manually adjusted

47. Flag raising on Iwo Jima, WW-II This was the SECOND flag raising event! Joe Rosenthal, Feb. 23, 1945, Mt. Suribachi

48. Journalists Understand These • Audience Background • Structure • Front and Back Materials • Terminology, Notation, Math • Figures and Tables

49. Ask Often This Question Will this paper create a “good picture” in the reader’s mind? • will he "see" the state-of-the-art? • will he see how your work stands out?

50. My Third Recommendation Find a co-author who writes well ! • Less expensive than professional writer • Good for practicing English • Builds your professional circle • Builds friendship • 1/2 cookie is better than 0 cookie