How to Get Published In Scientific Journals

Chris Pringle, Executive Publisher November 4, 2011

c.pringle@elsevier.com

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Thought Question

•  What is it that distinguishes a very good scientific manuscript from a bad one?

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Objectives

•  What steps do I need to take before I write my paper?

•  How can I ensure I am using proper scientific

language? •  How do I build up my article properly?

What steps do I need to take before I write my paper?

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Determine if you are ready to publish

This could be in the form of: •  Presenting new, original results or methods •  Rationalizing, refining, or reinterpreting published results •  Reviewing or summarizing a particular subject or field

If you are ready to publish, a strong manuscript is what is needed next

You should consider publishing if you have information that advances understanding in a certain scientific field

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What is a strong manuscript?

•  Has a clear, useful, and exciting message

•  Presented and constructed in a logical manner

•  Reviewers and editors can grasp the scientific significance easily

Editors and reviewers are all busy scientists – make things easy to save their time

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Decide which type of manuscript is most appropriate

•  Conference papers

•  Full articles/Original articles

•  Review papers/perspectives

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Conference Paper •  Excellent for disseminating early or in-progress

research findings •  Typically 5-10 pages, 3 figures, 15 references •  Draft and submit the paper to conference organisers •  Good way to start a scientific research career

Sample conference paper titles: •  “Pedestrian Modelling” at European Transport Conference 2009 •  “Road Pricing as a Marketplace” at Transportation Research Board 89th

Annual Meeting, 2010

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Full Article •  Standard for disseminating completed research

findings •  Typically 8-10 pages, 5 figures, 25 references •  Draft and submit the paper to appropriate journal •  Good way to build a scientific research career

Sample full article titles: •  “Revisiting Hughes’ dynamic continuum model for pedestrian flow and the

development of an efficient solution algorithm” •  “Effect of advanced traveler information systems and road pricing in a

network with non-recurrent congestion”

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Review Paper •  Critical synthesis of a specific research topic •  Typically 10+ pages, 5+ figures, 80 references •  Typically solicited by journal editors •  Good way to consolidate a scientific research career

Sample review paper titles:

•  “Including aviation emissions in the EU ETS: Much ado about nothing? A review”

•  “Willingness to pay for travel time reliability in passenger transport: A review and some new empirical evidence”

•  “Review: State of teleactivities”

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Citation impact varies by publication type

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Choose the target journal

•  Choose one journal

•  Your references can provide candidate journals

•  Read recent publications in your field

•  Find out specific journal details

Beware of Phishing: Publishers and editors rarely solicit papers from authors, and usually only as an invitation for review articles.

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Use the journal’s “Guide for Authors”

•  “Guide for Authors” includes: –  Types of papers accepted –  Editorial team contact information –  Graphics specifications –  Acceptable language –  Paper length –  Other details

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Summary – What steps do I need to take before I write my paper?

•  Determine if you are ready to publish

•  Decide on the type of manuscript

•  Choose the target journal

•  Check the Guide for Authors

How can I ensure I am using proper scientific language?

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Thought Question

•  What are some characteristics of the best scientific writing you have seen?

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Why Is Language Important?

Save your editor and reviewers the trouble of guessing what you mean

Complaint from an editor: “[This] paper fell well below my threshold. I refuse to spend time trying to understand what the author is trying to say. Besides, I really want to send a message that they can't submit garbage to us and expect us to fix it. My rule of thumb is that if there are more than 6 grammatical errors in the abstract, then I don't waste my time carefully reading the rest.”

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Do Publishers Correct Language?

•  Yes… –  Publishers often provide resources for authors who are less

familiar with the conventions of international journals –  Some publishers may perform technical screening prior to

peer review

•  But… –  It is the author’s responsibility to use proper language prior

to submission –  Full copyediting is only done after an article is accepted

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Scientific Language- Overview

•  Key to successful scientific writing is to be alert to common errors: –  Sentence construction –  Incorrect tenses –  Inaccurate grammar –  Mixing languages

Check the Guide for Authors of the target journal for any language specifications

Write with clarity, objectivity, accuracy, and brevity.

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Scientific Language – Sentences

•  Write direct and short sentences •  One idea or piece of information per sentence is sufficient •  Avoid multiple statements in one sentence

ABSTRACT (GOOD) Delays in the completion of highway construction and maintenance projects are important concerns to state highway agencies and contractors alike because such time delays can have a number of adverse consequences such as extending the duration of active workzones, contributing to road-user dissatisfaction, and increasing the risk of litigation regarding delay responsibility. In this paper, using data from 1,722 highway projects in Indiana, random-parameter statistical models are estimated to study the factors that contribute to the likelihood of encountering a project time delay and its duration. The model estimation results show that the likelihood and duration of project time delays are significantly influenced by factors such as project cost (contract bid amount), project type, planned project duration and the likelihood of adverse weather. - The poor abstract contains too much information and is not concise and to the point (given extraneous and somewhat irrelevant findings such as the observations that the average delay was 110 percent of the original contract duration). The good abstract is far more concise while conveying the critical information.

ABSTRACT (POOR) Time delays on construction projects are common problems faced by highway agencies. Time delays have adverse effects such as extending workzone durations, road-user dissatisfaction, increased risk of litigation regarding delay responsibility, and liquidated damage charges. Using statistical and econometric methods, this paper investigates the influence of contract bidding characteristics and project environment attributes on the time delays of highway construction contracts. The paper also develops relationships that can be used to predict the duration of time delays for future highway construction projects. Using data from Indiana, for contracts that experience time delays, it was observed that the average delay was 110 percent of the original contract duration. Our statistical analysis of these data show that time delays are significantly influenced by the contract bid amount, project type, planned construction duration and the percentage of adverse weather days which are expected during the planned construction duration. The study results provide a useful basis to: better identify the attributes of contract administration and project environment that result in time delays; develop mitigation strategies, where possible, on the basis of the attributes; and estimate time delays that are deemed unavoidable due to the attributes.

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Scientific Language - Tenses

•  Present tense for known facts and hypotheses: “Subscription services are often marketed by means of a free trial period”

•  Past tense for experiments you have conducted:

“Copenhagen car owners received a free month travel card …” •  Past tense when you describe the results of an

experiment: “the free month travel card led to a significant increase in commuting by public transport…”

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Scientific Language - Grammar

•  Use active voice to shorten sentences –  Passive voice: “It has been found that there had been …” –  Active voice: “We found that …” –  Passive voice: “cars were used by the residents …” –  Active voice: “… residents used cars ...”

•  Avoid abbreviations: “it’s”, “weren’t”, “hasn’t” –  Never use them in scientific writing –  Only use abbreviations for units of measure or established

scientific abbreviations, e.g. DNA

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Scientific Language - Grammar

•  Minimize use of adverbs: “However”, “In addition”, “Moreover”

•  Eliminate redundant phrases

•  Double-check unfamiliar words or phrases “Never say ‘and references therein’ - as in [1] and [25]. Any intelligent reader knows to look at the references in a paper in order to get even more information.” - Editor “Delete ‘In present report’. It is impossible for it to be in a different report! You start the conclusions "In this report, we have prepared....." This is nonsense. The samples were prepared in the laboratory!” -Editor

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Language

Finally, you should use English throughout the manuscript, including figures

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Summary – How can I ensure I am using proper scientific language?

•  Proper scientific language is important so that editors and reviewers can easily understand your messages

•  Refer to the journal’s Guide for Authors for specifications

•  Check that your paper has short sentences, correct tenses, correct grammar, and is all in English

•  Have a native English speaker check your manuscript

How do I build up my article properly?

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General Structure of a Full Article

•  Title •  Abstract •  Keywords •  Main text (IMRAD)

–  Introduction –  Methods –  Results –  And –  Discussions

•  Conclusion •  Acknowledgement •  References •  Supporting Materials

Journal space is precious. Make your article as brief as possible.

Make them easy for indexing and searching! (informative, attractive, effective)

Each section of a paper has a definite purpose The progression of the thematic

scope of a paper: general à particular à general

However, we often write in the following order:

–  Figures and tables –  Methods, Results and

Discussion –  Conclusions and Introduction –  Abstract and title

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Title

•  Attract the reader’s attention

•  Be specific

•  Keep it informative and concise

•  Avoid jargon and abbreviations

Tell readers what your paper is all about

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Original Title Revised Remarks Likelihood and duration of contract time delay in highway construction

An empirical assessment of the likelihood and duration of highway project time delays

The revised title provides more information (telling the reader the paper is empirical) and also is more precise – some highway projects are maintenance and some are construction (so using construction in the title is limiting and is not correct).

Analysis of travel time reliability on Indiana interstates

Analysis of freeway travel time using Bluetooth detection

The revised title expands the interest of the work (although Indiana data are used, the results are applicable to many geographic locations so mentioning Indiana in the title is unnecessarily restrictive) and is more precise by identifying freeways. The good title also underscores the use of Bluetooth detection which is a key data-collection contribution of the paper.

Title: Examples

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Abstract Tell readers what you did and the important findings

•  One paragraph (between 50-300 words) •  Advertisement for your article •  A clear abstract will strongly influence if your work is considered

further To be best prepared for tomorrow's cities we need to forecast urban travel demand. To this end, this study calibrates an urban travel demand model, which uses the principal structural variables that have been identified in the literature. It uses a robust econometric method, which has been little applied in the sphere of transportation. The results show that two variables stand out from the others: the user cost of transport – by private car and public transport – and urban density. It is surprising, but explicable with the available data, that the demand functions estimated for a given country are independent from the group of countries to which it belongs.

What are the main findings

What has been done

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Keywords Used by indexing and abstracting services

•  They are the labels of your manuscript. •  Use only established abbreviations (e.g. CBA) •  Check the “Guide for Authors”

Article Title Keywords “Understanding successful workplace travel initiatives in the UK”

Workplace travel; Smarter choices; Travel planning; Commuting; Traffic reduction

“Assessing transport investments – Towards a multi-purpose tool”

CBA; Dynamic; Congestion; Passenger; Freight transport

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Introduction

Provide context to convince readers that you clearly know why your work is useful

•  Be brief

•  Clearly address the following: –  What is the problem? –  Are there any existing solutions? –  Which solution is the best? –  What is its main limitation? –  What do you hope to achieve?

•  Try to be consistent with the nature of the journal

Sample 1st paragraph of an Introduction

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Describe how the problem was studied •  Include detailed information

•  Do not describe previously published procedures

•  Identify and describe equipment or techniques used such as software, models etc

Methods

Sample paragraph of a Methods section

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Results What have you found?

•  Present essential/primary results

•  Use sub-headings

•  Use figures/illustrations –  Graphs –  Tables –  Photos –  Video!

Type of attack Classical (%) Pop (%) Jazz (%)

Echo addition 0 0.10 0.27

Noise addition 1.20 1.42 1.60

Band equalization 2.31 2.50 2.73

Type of attack Classical (%) Pop (%) Jazz (%)

Echo addition 0 0.10 0.27

Noise addition 1.20 1.42 1.60

Band equalization 2.31 2.50 2.73

Zhang, XR; Yamaguchi, H. “An experimental study on evacuated tube solar collector using supercritical CO2” Applied Thermal Engineering © Elsevier

Ikeda, S., Tabata, Y., Suzuki, H., Miyoshi, T., Katsumura, Y. “Formation of crosslinked PTFE by radiation-induced solid-state polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene at low temperatures ” Radiation Physics and Chemistry © Elsevier

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Discussion What the results mean

•  Most important section

•  Make the Discussion correspond to the Results

•  You need to compare the published results with yours

Sample 1st paragraph of an Discussion section

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Conclusion How the work advances the field from the present state

of knowledge

•  Should be clear

•  Justify your work in the scientific field

•  Suggest future experiments

Sample Conclusion

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Acknowledgments Ensures those who helped in the research are recognised Include individuals who have assisted with your study, including: •  Advisors •  Financial supporters •  Proofreaders •  Typists

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•  Do not use too many references

•  Always ensure you have fully absorbed material you are referencing and do not just rely on checking excerpts or isolated sentences

•  Avoid excessive self-citations

•  Avoid excessive citations of publications from the same region

•  Conform strictly to the style given in the Guide for Authors

References

Cite the main scientific publications on which your work is based

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Cover Letter

Your chance to speak to the editor directly

•  Submitted along with your manuscript

•  Mention what would make your manuscript special to the journal

•  Note special requirements (reviewers, conflicts of interest)

Final approval from all authors

Explanation of importance of research

Suggested reviewers

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Revision Revise before submission

•  Vet the manuscript as thoroughly as possible before submission

•  Ask colleagues and supervisors to review your manuscript

Finally, SUBMIT your manuscript with a cover letter and await a response…

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After Submission

•  Refereeing speed varies tremendously between journals

•  The Editor will decide to “Accept”, “Accept with Revision (Minor or Major)”, or “Reject” the manuscript

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Summary: How do I build up my article properly?

•  Title •  Abstract •  Keywords •  Main text (IMRAD)

–  Introduction –  Methods –  Results –  And –  Discussions

•  Conclusion •  Acknowledgement •  References •  Supporting Materials

•  Structure your article properly

•  Make sure each section of the paper fulfills its purpose clearly and concisely