1、HOW TO WRITE A WORLD CLASS PAPER,Elsevier Author Workshop,Witold Pedrycz, PhD, DSci,TIPS, TRAPS AND TRAVESTIES,Outline,Writing a quality manuscript Preparations Article construction Language Technical details Revisions and response to reviewers Ethical issues Conclusions: getting accepted,Informatio
2、n Sciences,Information Sciences,Impact Factor (IF),2007,Writing a quality manuscriptArticle construction,Article structure,Title Authors Abstract Keywords Main text (IMRaD) Introduction Methods Results Discussion (Conclusion) Acknowledgements References Supplementary material,Need to be accurate and
3、 informative for effective indexing and searching,Each has a distinct function,Title,A good title should contain the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of a paper,DO Convey main findings of research Be specific Be concise Be complete Attract readers,DONT Use unnecessary jarg
4、on Use uncommon abbreviations Use ambiguous terms Use unnecessary detail Focus on part of the content only,Relationships between information processing, depression, fatigue and cognition in multiple sclerosis,Slower processing is correlated with higher levels of depressed mood, fatigue, lower verbal
5、 fluency, fewer words and digits recalled and poorer recall of visual-spatial information in MS patients,Title,Authors and affiliations,Surnames: Prez-Garca / Prez / Garca Middle Initial: Use consistently or not at all First Names: Dave / David Affiliation: Faculty of Medicine / Faculty of Medical a
6、nd Health Sciences,Be consistent with spelling, full versus short names, full versus short addresses,Abstract,Types: Indicative (descriptive) abstracts outline the topics covered in a piece of writing so the reader can decide whether or not to read on. Often used in review articles and conference re
7、ports Informative abstracts summarize the article based on the IMRaD structure, but without section headingsStructured abstracts follow headings required by the journal. Often used in Medical journals Check carefully which type fits the journal of your choice,Abstract,The quality of an abstract will
8、 strongly influence the editors decision,A good abstract: Is precise and honest Can stand alone Uses no technical jargon Is brief and specific Cites no references,Use the abstract to “sell” your article,Keywords,Keywords are important for indexing: they enable your manuscript to be more easily ident
9、ified and cited,Check the Guide for Authors for journal requirements,Keywords should be specific Avoid uncommon abbreviations and general terms,Keywords,Bad keywords: Psychiatric disorder, NRG1, LD, SNPs, Japanese large sample, association,Introduction,Provide the necessary background information to
10、 put your work into context,It should be clear from the introduction:Why the current work was performed aims significance What has been done before What was done (in brief terms) What was achieved (in brief terms),Introduction,DO Consult the Guide for Authors for word limit “Set the scene” Outline “
11、the problem” and hypotheses Ensure that the literature cited is balanced, up to date and relevant Define any non-standard abbreviations and jargon,Introduction,DONT Write an extensive review of the field Cite disproportionately your own work, work of colleagues or work that supports your findings wh
12、ile ignoring contradictory studies or work by competitors Describe methods, results or conclusions other than to outline what was done and achieved in the final paragraph Overuse terms like “novel” and “for the first time”,Introduction,Rotenone is a naturally occurring plant compound derived from th
13、e root and bark of some Luguminosae species Administration of rotenone has been shown to lead to biochemical, anatomical, and behavioral symptoms resembling Parkinsons disease due to neurotoxicity 13. Previous studies have shown that However, other studies contradict these ndings Understanding the e
14、xact mode of action of rotenone should provide additional useful information toward its possible application in oral cancer treatment. In this report, we,Methods,The Methods section must provide sufficient information so that a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment,List suppliers of reag
15、ents and manufacturers of equipment, and define apparatus in familiar terms:“using an AD 340C plate reader (Beckman Coulter)” OR “using a plate reader (Beckman Coulter AD 340C) NOT “using a Beckman Coulter AD 340C.” Unless the Guide for Authors states otherwise, use the past tense; the present tense
16、 is usually only used in methodology-type papers,Results,The main findings of the research,DO Use figures and tables to summarize data Show the results of statistical analysis Compare “like with like”,DONT Duplicate data among tables, figures and text Use graphics to illustrate data that can easily
17、be summarized with text,Graphics,Figures and tables are the most effective way to present results,BUT: Captions should be able to stand alone, such that the figures and tables are understandable without the need to read the entire manuscript The data represented should be easy to interpret Colour sh
18、ould only be used when necessary,Graphics,Illustrations should only be used to present essential data,The information in the table can be presented in one sentence:The surface soils were dark grayish brown, grading to light olive brown (woodland), light olive brown (wetland), and pale olive (grassla
19、nd) at 100 cm.Summarize results in the text where possible,Graphics,The figure and table show the same information, but the table is more direct and clear,Graphics,Poor,Legend is poorly defined Graph contains too much data No trend lines,Graphics,Better,Legend is well defined but there is still too
20、much data and no trendlines,Graphics,Best,Legend is clear Data is better organized Trend lines are present,Statistics,Indicate the statistical tests used with all relevant parameters mean SD Give numerator and denominators with percentages 40% (100/250) Use means and standard deviations to report no
21、rmally distributed data,Statistics,Use medians and interpercentile ranges to report skewed data Report P valuesp=0.0035 rather than p0.05 The word “significant” should only be used to describe “statistically significant differences”,Statistics,Training testing data 10-fold cross-validation,Make your
22、 experimental findings meaningful and convincing,Discussion,Describe How the results relate to the studys aims and hypotheses How the findings relate to those of other studies All possible interpretations of your findings Limitations of the study,Avoid Making “grand statements” that are not supporte
23、d by the data Example: “This novel treatment will massively reduce the prevalence of malaria in the third world” Introducing new results or terms,Discussion,Conclusion,Put your study into CONTEXT,Describe how it represents an advance in the field Suggest future experiments BUT Avoid repetition with
24、other sections Avoid being overly speculative Dont over-emphasize the impact of your study,Conclusion,The Conclusion should put your study into CONTEXT,In summary, findings from the present study are in general accordance with previous studies that suggest. There is a need to establish dose-dependen
25、t effects of EPA and DHA separately and in different population groups. If findings from this study are applicable to consumption of fish, then intake at the upper level of the current UK guideline range 42 may not influence cardiovascular risk factors in fairly healthy, normolipidemic and middle-ag
26、ed males.,Acknowledgements,Acknowledge anyone who has helped you with the study, including:,Researchers who supplied materials or reagents, e.g. vectors or antibodies Anyone who helped with the writing or English, or offered critical comments about the content Anyone who provided technical help,Stat
27、e why people have been acknowledged and ask their permission Acknowledge sources of funding, including any grant or reference numbers,References,Check the Guide for Authors for the correct format,Check Spelling of author names Punctuation Number of authors to include before using “et al.” Reference
28、style,Avoid Personal communications, unpublished observations and submitted manuscripts not yet accepted Citing articles published only in the local language Excessive self-citation and journal self-citation,References,Check the style and format as required it is not the editors job to do so for you
29、,Harvard System (alphabetical by author/date): Berridge, MJ 1998, Neuronal calcium signaling, Neuron vol. 21: pp. 13-26 APA (American Psychological Association) System (alphabetical) Berridge, M.J. (1998). Neuronal calcium signaling. Neuron 21, 13-26 Vancouver System (numbered in order or citation)
30、Berridge MJ. Neuronal calcium signaling. Neuron. 1998;21:13-26There are a number of other systems in use and variations for all systems,Supplementary material,Information related to and supportive of the main text, but of secondary importance,Includes: Microarray data Sequence data Method validation
31、 Additional controls Video data,Will be available online when the manuscript is published,Writing a quality manuscriptLanguage,“Journal editors, overloaded with quality manuscripts, may make decisions on manuscripts based on formal criteria, like grammar or spelling. Dont get rejected for avoidable
32、mistakes; make sure your manuscript looks perfect”,Thus, both the science and the language need to be sound,Arnout Jacobs, Elsevier Publishing,The three “C”s (C3) principle,Clarity Conciseness Correctness (accuracy),Good writing possesses the following three “C”s:,The key is to be as brief and speci
33、fic as possible without omitting essential details,Know the enemy,Repetition Redundancy Ambiguity Exaggeration,Good writing avoids the following traps:,These are common annoyances for editors,Repetition and redundancy,Vary the sentences used when writing the abstract or describing findings at the en
34、d of the introductionDont copy from other sections verbatim!,Avoid words with the same meaningIn addition, sections were also stained with After centrifugation, pellets were then,Repetition and redundancy,Avoid circular sentencesIn order to examine differences in protein levels, lysates were subject
35、ed to 10% SDS-PAGE and Western blotting using an anti-NR1 antibody, to observe the effects of stimulation on receptor trafficking.,The reason for the experiment is described twice, in slightly different terms,Ambiguity,Ensure correct use of “which”, commas and hyphens,In “Data were normalised to the
36、 internal reference housekeeping gene actin, which showed” The “which” is used incorrectly, referring to actin rather than to the normalisation of data “Data were normalised to the internal reference housekeeping gene actin, revealing that” is correct,Exaggeration,“There was a massive decrease in th
37、e number of tumors following p.o. administration of green tea”,Beware of exaggeration but do indicate significance,Other common traps,Inconsistent tense dont mix tenses in the same sentence Before tumors were microdissected, epithelial cells are Inconsistent use of plural or singular In eight patien
38、ts, a biopsy from the affected sites of the head and neck was performedIn eight patients, biopsies from the affected sites of the head and neck were performed,Other common traps,Unbalanced sentences make sure the clauses either side of “compared with” match up Expression levels of p53 in smokers wer
39、e compared with non-smokersExpression levels of p53 in smokers were compared with those in non-smokers,Other common traps,Incorrect use of respectively two corresponding lists are requiredThe proportions of various monocyte surface markers were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectivelyThe proportions of monocy
40、tes positive for CD163, CD7 and CD11a were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectively,Other common traps,Incorrect use of etc. / and so on“The two groups of data were compared using a variety of statistical methods including a t-test, chi squared analysis, etc.”It is important here to define the tests used as t
41、hey are particular to the paper, not part of a natural series and not obvious to the reader,Language Editing Services,Specialist scientific and medical editing services are commercially available to polish the language in your manuscript prior to journal submission Rates start from $8 per page,Your
42、manuscript is precious, invest in it,More information can be found on the Elsevier website at:http:/ Editing Services,Recommended companies include:- Edanz Editing- Liwen Bianji- International Science Editing- Asia Science Editing- SPI Publisher Services - Diacritech Language Editing ServiceUse of a
43、n English-language editing service listed here is not mandatory, and will not guarantee acceptance for publication in Elsevier journals,Writing a quality manuscriptTechnical details,Layout,Keep line spacing, font and font size consistent throughout double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman is preferred
44、 Use consistent heading styles throughout and no more than three levels of heading Number the pages Number lines if journal requires check the Guide for Authors Order and title sections as instructed in the Guide for Authors Figure and Table sections are normally together following References,Length
45、,“25-30 pages is the ideal length for a submitted manuscript, including ESSENTIAL data only” Julian Eastoe, Co-editor, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science,Consult the Guide for Authors for word and graphic limitsLetters or short communications have stricter limits on the length. For example, 30
46、00 words with no more than five illustrations.,Abbreviations,Define non-standard abbreviations on first use in both the abstract and the main text Check the Guide for Authors for a list of standard abbreviations that dont need defining Dont abbreviate terms used only once or twice in the entire manu
47、script spell these out in full Acronyms: capitals not required in the definition unless a proper noun or start of a sentenceubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) NOT Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS),Cover letter,This is your chance to speak to the editor directly Keep it brief, but convey the particula
48、r importance of your manuscript to the journal Suggest potential reviewersThis is your opportunity to convince the journal editor that they should publish your study, so it is worth investing time at this stage,Revisions and Response to Reviewers,Final checks,Revision before submission can prevent e
49、arly rejection What can I do to ensure my paper is in the best possible state prior to submission?,Ask colleagues to take a look and be critical Check that everything meets the requirements set out in the Guide for Authors again! Check that the scope of the paper is appropriate for the selected journal change journal rather than submit inappropriately,Final checks,Revision before submission can prevent early rejection What can I do to ensure my paper is in the best possible state prior to submission?,
