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Getting Published in Biomedical Journals Advice for Submitting Manuscript to Scientific Journals

Getting Published in Biomedical Journals Advice for Submitting Manuscript to Scientific Journals. Kurt H. Albertine, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, The Anatomical Record. The Bottom Lines. Excite the reviewer. Why?. She/he wants your manuscript published. Excite readers. Why?.

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Getting Published in Biomedical Journals Advice for Submitting Manuscript to Scientific Journals

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  1. Getting Published in Biomedical JournalsAdvice for Submitting Manuscript to Scientific Journals Kurt H. Albertine, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, The Anatomical Record

  2. The Bottom Lines • Excite the reviewer • Why? • She/he wants your manuscript published • Excite readers • Why? • They want to read your published paper

  3. What Do Editors Look For? • Excitement, such as • Novelty • New discovery • More thorough insight • Innovation • New methods, reagents, transgenic mouse • Substantive, clear (understandable) results • Scientific controversy ARCOVER2008 • NOT scientist controversy!

  4. Expectations About Manuscripts - 1 • Reviewers and readers • Like an interesting story that • Advances the field • Revolves around the hypothesis or question • Conclusion that answers the hypothesis or question

  5. A Good Story… Not! Starts here This way?

  6. Expectations About Manuscripts - 2 • Reviewers and readers • Like to read interesting stories • Advances the field substantively • Revolves around the hypothesis or question • Conclusion that answers the hypothesis or question • Results are placed in context of the field • Impact/value to the field

  7. Expectations About Manuscripts - 3 • Reviewers and readers expect • Clear writing • Good organization • Good English grammar

  8. How Does an Author Meet Expectations About Manuscripts? • Clearly state the • Hypothesis • Or question • Or controversy

  9. Publishable Unit • Before writing, • Think: what will make a publishable unit? • Then write the publishable unit to sell it • Make it appealing to read

  10. Introduction Discussion Methods & Results One Theme Focus: Hypothesis

  11. Introduction Methods Results Discussion Funnel Analogy Hypothesis

  12. Please, not this! Reviewers’ “Hell”, MC Escher, Italian Period, 1935 (copy after H Bosch)

  13. Nuts and Bolts of Clear Writing • Without holes! • Chose words carefully • Write short sentences • Avoid modifying words • Adjectives and adverbs • One idea per paragraph • Write what you mean

  14. Example… • "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request… …improvement • “No" • Captain Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann • * Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003

  15. Definition of Clear Writing OK to start-out fuzzy • “Clear writing is writing that is incapable of being misunderstood” * • Quintilian, a Roman rhetoritician, who lived in the first century A.D. Crisp finish * Zeiger. Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers. 2004

  16. Punctuation • “Standards of punctuation in general…are approaching the point of illiteracy; self-justified philistines.”1 • By a show of hands… • how many of you write never-ending sentences that never end? 1 Truss. Eats, Shoots & Leaves. 2004

  17. Writing Clearly • Goals • Unambiguous writing • Creates the least confusion • Logical story • e.g., storyline • Clear, informative figures and tables • Results are obvious • Thoughtful discussion • Focused on importance and relevance

  18. All of the elements are present, but where is the storyline? Please, not this, either! Authors’ “Relativity”, MC Escher, Back in Holland, 1941-54

  19. Introduction Discussion Methods & Results Writing Tense Hypothesis Present tense Present tense Past tense

  20. Planning and Thinking

  21. Planning and Thinking

  22. Planning and Thinking

  23. Planning and Thinking

  24. Planning and Thinking

  25. Planning and Thinking

  26. Planning and Thinking

  27. Planning and Thinking

  28. Planning and Thinking

  29. A Writing Strategy • Start with the easy parts • Methods and Results • They are done! • Discussion • Interpret the results and place them in context of the field (what do they mean?) • Introduction • Copy/paste to identify the topic, what is known, what is unknown • Abstract • Copy/paste topic sentences

  30. Why Strive to Write Clearly? • “…science is not data. Data are the raw material of science. It is what you do with the data that is science – the interpretation you make, the story you tell.” Zeiger. Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers. pg 1, 2004

  31. Thank you!

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