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Writing for a Journal

Writing for a Journal. Lisa Koonce The University of Texas at Austin. Writing matters. If you cannot communicate what you did, nobody will “get” your paper It will get rejected You will get mad and blame the research community at large, reviewers, editors, etc. You’ll turn sour and grumpy

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Writing for a Journal

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  1. Writing for a Journal Lisa Koonce The University of Texas at Austin

  2. Writing matters • If you cannot communicate what you did, nobody will “get” your paper • It will get rejected • You will get mad and blame the research community at large, reviewers, editors, etc. • You’ll turn sour and grumpy • You’ll go home and kick the dog and smack your spouse

  3. Moral of the story • Do not submit a manuscript that is not well written and polished. • PERIOD!

  4. Writing is hard • So what to do? • It’s a matter of practicing with • some general guidelines in mind • somebody(ies) to read your paper and give you frank advice • a careful ear to what people are saying • READ BETWEEN THE LINES • Why are they saying what they are saying? • Are they stupid???? • Rarely …

  5. Common reasons why people don’t seem to get it • You are not communicating clearly • You are not communicating clearly • You are not communicating clearly • You are not communicating clearly

  6. General Guidelines-Academic paper • Introduction • What is problem • Why is it important • First one to do it… • What did you do about it? • Theory & Results section • Tee-up the issue • Lay out theory and ho’s – clear, to the point • Write persuasively for an outsider • Stick to the point(s)

  7. General Guidelines-Academic paper • 25 pages is about average • 2 pages of references about average • 3-4 tables/figures for experiment about average

  8. Somebody(ies) to read it • Hard to get people to really read it (very time consuming) • Maybe just have them read the intro? • Present it at workshops (internal as well) • Don’t have the first set of real outside eyes be a reviewer • Unlikely to yield good results • If you can, let it sit for a while and come back to it…

  9. A careful ear to what people are saying … • Often reviewers / outsiders say things that don’t seem to make sense. • Sometimes they do not make sense for good reason … • But more often there’s a reason why they are saying what they are saying. • Try to figure that out. • Example: no incremental contribution complaint • Is it early in the intro or buried on page 10?

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