The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Researchers

1
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Researchers

• Steve Wallace

2
Introduction

• Technical writing teacher NCTU, NTHU, ITRI -
  Motivation
• Research Researchers
• Habits to produce more papers in higher impact
  journals.

3
Method

• Collected data from interviews, phone,
  conferences and universities
• Position as editor has allowed me this
  opportunity
• Compiled into 7 basic habits which summarize
  advice and tips in 7 areas

4
Overview of Researchers

• Effective researcher was defined as a researcher
  who has publish a average of five or more SCI or
  SCCI papers a year every year for the last five
  years.
• There were a total of 146 effective researchers
  involved from the following domains
• 34 - Engineering
• 17 - Management and Business
• 11 - Foreign Language and Literature
• 10 - Education
• 31 - Natural sciences
• 20 - Medicine
• 12 - Social sciences
• 6 - Law
• 5 - History and Liberal Arts

5
Anonymity of Responses

• In order to get the most honest responses
  specific researchers remain anonymous. This was
  an important condition to getting practical
  material
• This was especially true in the area of
  submission and handling the political elements of
  review.

6
Develop your own habits

• Pay attention to the habits and borrow those
  ideas that will be beneficial to your research
  habits.
• Try to create your own style and method for
  writing and publishing.
• 7 habits and practices that support those habits.

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Habit 1 Effective researchers have a routine
for writing, submitting and revising papers.

• Quote
• I view producing every paper like producing a
  product, a creative product like a movie. We have
  screenings, editors and deadlines to release our
  product. I am not always the director of the
  movie, that might be me or it could be one of my
  students. But I am always the producer. The
  producer needs to push everybody so that the
  movie can be released on time. - Civil
  Engineering Professor 78

8
Practice Capturing ideas when away from the
computer

• Collect ideas - notebook, post it notes
• Transferred to ongoing files on the subject.
  Notes could be organized and edited into the
  beginning of a paper.
• Easier to begin writing when there were already
  ideas on the page than it was to start from
  nothing.

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PracticeRecycle parts of other papers to make
new papers

• Suppose there are two important papers, paper 1
  A, B, C, and D, paper 2 C, D, and E where
  A, B, ... are ingredients. Let a new paper A,
  B, E
• Does the new combination make sense? Does it
  describe an important phenomenon in a certain
  country or does it capture an interesting
  situation?
• If paper new A, C, X where X is totally new,
  and if it makes sense, it may be an original
  idea.

10
Practice Creating a Supply Chain for Paper
Publication.

• Some effective researchers use a research log
  a list of papers under review and where each
  paper is in the review process. The purpose of a
  log is to
• 1) know when to send a reminder to the editor
• 2) prevent resubmission of a rejected paper to
  the same journal and
• 3) avoid multiple submission of several papers to
  the same journal within a short period of time.

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PracticeCollect a pool of potential journals

• For each paper, note the pool of potential
  journals. When a paper is rejected, do not lose
  time resubmitting the paper to another journal.
• Do not submit two papers to the same journal in
  two months, especially if the two articles are
  related.
• Other things being equal, editors prefer to
  publish two articles by different authors, rather
  than two articles by the same author.
• You may submit more papers to the same journal
  simultaneously if there is more than one editor.
  They do not often communicate with one another.
  In this instance, acceptance of one article by
  one editor does not adversely affect the chance
  of another being accepted by a different editor.

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PracticePick journals like you pick stocks

• Do homework on journals.
• Submit paper to a journal with a rising impact
  factor and higher acceptance rates. avoid
  declining journals with low acceptance and
  diminishing impact factor.
• Could cause the journal to be removed from the
  SSCI and SCI ranking.

13
Practice Identifying journals with rising impact
factors

• Good specialty journals impact factors are
  rising.
• General journals impact factor, except for a few
  at the top, are expected to decline
• In general journals, "readers are confronted with
  a decreasing probability of finding at least one
  important article in their field." (Holub,
  Tappeiner, and Eberharter, 1991).
• In the 1970s, the top ten journals in every field
  were general journals.
• In the 1990s, half of the top ten journals were
  specialized journals.

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Practice Betting your research where you have
the highest probability for publication.

• Sometimes journals have groups of researchers
  they prefer papers from and other groups of
  researchers they dont like papers from.
• Subject matter preferences are seen by checking
  back issues of a journal. Empirical papers?
  Theory papers?
• Check past issues of the journal. If you find few
  or no other Chinese names in that journal, it
  might be better to try your luck somewhere else.
  However, if there are many other Taiwanese and
  Chinese authors who have previously published in
  that journal than it is reasonable that they will
  consider your paper as well.
• Preferences are known biases are difficult to
  detect.

15
Practice for masters students Generate papers
from your thesis

• You invested two or more years writing your
  thesis.
• Try to generate a couple of papers from the most
  important chapters of the thesis.
• This is easier than writing a totally new paper
  from scratch. Work jointly with your advisor to
  help market your papers.

16
Practice Maintain a stock of papers under review
constantly

• If the acceptance rate of the top-ranking
  journals is 15, one needs about 7 papers under
  review at all times to have one paper accepted
  per year at the targeted journals.
• If your goal is to get 10 papers accepted in the
  first 5 years of your career, you need about a
  dozen papers under review at all times.
• Half a dozen papers should be under review at all
  times for untenured authors. This does not mean
  that you should write 7 new papers each year.

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PracticeDon't put two good ideas in one paper

• Separate them into two papers.
• As the paper's length increases beyond 15 pages,
  the chance of acceptance drops.
• When a topic is appropriately split into two
  papers, the probability of getting at least one
  of them accepted more than doubles.
• You also will get a paper accepted sooner.
• If x original length, and p probability of
  acceptance, then p(x/2) 2p(x) a, where a gt 0
  and x gt 15 pages. The alpha (a) factor
• Editors like short papers.
• The chance that a referee will detect a
  mathematical error declines.
• Referees will return the report faster.
• The chance that a referee will misunderstand the
  paper also decreases.

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Practice Approach different types of journals

• Sending all papers to top journals is risky.
• Sending all papers to low-quality journals also
  is unsatisfactory.
• Your curriculum vitae should contain some
  publications in the top journals.
• Quantity of publications also is important.
• Having three papers in different journals is
  better than three in one journal, if the relative
  quality of the journals is the same.

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Practice Incorporate English Editing into your
supply chain

• Use professional editorial assistance
• Particularly if you are not a native English
  speaker
• Editors will not publish papers with grammatical
  errors.
• It is safe to assume that referees are biased
  they have an excuse to recommend rejection when
  grammatical errors are detected.
• You can easily find a copy editor who charges a
  reasonable fee.

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Reasons for major revision or rejection of
Taiwanese journal papers
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Habit 2 Sacrificed social or physical endeavors
to be a better researcher.

• The dark side of writing. Many researchers
  mentioned that they still had time for family,
  but less TV, computer games, etc

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Habit 3Writers practice their research and
writing in functional areas in order to identify
weaknesses.

• No one is born as a talented English writers but
  rather improves through deliberate practice.
• Two elements of practice 1) regularity and 2)
  focus on errors to improve.
• Continue to improve throughout their life. Say
  they are not talented, just practiced.
• Writing is 20 percent inspiration and 80 percent
  perspiration.

23
PracticeFocus on specific skills

• Researcher talk about methods, writing, grammar,
  etc.. like a golf player talking about different
  swing
• Writers revise all the time. No one writes
  perfect sentences the first time. They are edited
  and reworked many times

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PracticeDont trust spell check!

• After the paper is completed, do not immediately
  submit it to a journal. (It is not finished yet.)
  
• You always will find many small errors in text,
  notations, explanations, or missing references,
  etc. in your finished paper.
• Reread the introduction, conclusion, and abstract
  before submission any mistake is expensive
• Use, but do not rely totally on spelling checkers
• (Spelling checkers do not check word meanings. )

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PracticeImitate skillful writers

• Nobody loves English writing. It is only a
  tool.
• Observe how other successful writers introduce
  their topic, cite literature, and get on with
  their task.
• Imitate their words and phrases, and modify them
  to suit your purpose.
• It is easier to imitate what someone else has
  written than to create a totally new paragraph.

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Habit 4 Writers dramatize their work by
creating mental models of the paper writing
process.

• See their writing and researching in dramatic
  terms like and metaphor and use this to encourage
  their lab.
• the great struggle House model, dragon model.
• The struggle is the glory. Enjoy the results and
  so they put up with the process.

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PracticeFind meaning and purpose in their
research

• Not because that is their intention, but as a
  by-product
• Listen to them telling challenging stories and
  their faces lit up.
• Happiness pursuit
• Theres always the next question

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Habit 5 Writers use the competitive, political
and supportive energy of other researchers.

• Supportive energy Effective researchers
  integrate with a support group. Support groups
  read and review papers and keep other group
  members producing. This is especially helpful at
  the PhD level. Create deadlines for themselves
  and tell it to others, who hold them accountable.
• Competitive energy Compare themselves with other
  researchers. Keep score of number and impact
  factor.
• Political Researchers are somewhat political and
  use this to gain an advantage in publishing.
• Often great researchers are very friendly people.
  Make friends easily. The dark side is that half
  of peer reviewed articles in top rated journals
  are never referenced by anyone. (Holub,
  Tappeiner, and Eberharter, SEJ 1991).

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PracticeDont Criticize References

• I think that the author knows his subject better
  than I do. I usually use his references to find a
  suitable reviewer - Associate Editor, Journal of
  Retailing 
• Dont emphasize the importance of your paper by
  putting down on other papers. Your references are
  probably your reviewers and they are sensitive.
  When citing other papers avoid using negative
  terms.

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PracticeReviewers comments

• I dont think you treated Smith fairly in your
  literature review, his insights deserve more
  respect.
• You forgot to include Smith as a reference in
  you paper. His work is fundamental to
  understanding your research.

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PracticeCite the papers of potential referees in
the introduction

• Important references should be mentioned in the
  first page.
• Usually, the editor will read the first page (or
  the next) when choosing the reviewers.
• The editor may choose reviewers from those
  mentioned in the introduction and references.
• Works of potential referees should be mentioned
  in the introduction, rather than buried in
  footnotes or the main body.
• Give (accurate) credit generously to the most
  likely referees
• Be generous to all authors cited, but
  particularly to those who are likely to be
  referees.
• Explain why their works are significant for your
  analysis.
• Write one or two sentences about the
  contributions of each of the most likely referees
  and how their works are related to yours.
• This takes up less than 1 of the space, but it
  can affect the probability of acceptance
  significantly.

32
PracticeAttend conferences and meetings to meet
people in your field

• There are about a hundred people in your field
  who are likely to be referees of your papers.
• Prepare a list of one hundred active people in
  your main research areas. Try to meet them within
  a five-year period.
• Present papers at, or at least attend, two
  professional meetings a year.
• When presenting papers or attending regional,
  national, or international meetings, try to get
  to know these people. This is your best
  opportunity for networking.
• When you go to conferences smile and work the
  room.

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Practice Cite researchers who like you

• Include references to authors who are known to
  like your papers. Perhaps they might become
  referees.
• Include references to people with whom you have
  had favorable correspondence.
• This is not to bias opinions, but to get a fair
  hearing.
• Referees have to make a conscious effort and must
  be alert in order to be fair to unknown authors.

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Scan journal for related articles

• Try to find some related articles in the journal
  to which you wish to submit your paper.
• Authors who published a paper on a related
  subject are likely to be referees. The editor's
  memory is still fresh.
• Obviously, you need to say something about, or at
  least cite, their papers.
• Even if they are marginally related, try to
  incorporate their references. Make some effort to
  explain how your work is related.

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PracticeDelete or hide the references to
undesirable potential referees

• Even with double blind reviews, one can often
  guess the identity of the referee from the report
  because of references and writing style, etc.
• Editors often select referees from your
  references.
• If some referees consistently recommend rejection
  of your papers, drop their papers from your
  references (in the initial submission).
• You can add them later (after the paper is
  accepted).
• This may require rewriting the introduction with
  a somewhat different perspective, but it is
  probably worth the effort.
• Depending on the journal, you may ask the editor
  to eliminate some persons from the pool of
  referees. But you should ask informally (e.g.,
  via e-mail).

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Habit 6 Writers have a thick skin

• One gets rejection letters more often than not.
• If you cannot swallow rejection easily, don't
  submit papers.
• A good paper deserves at least three chances at
  publication in ranking journals.
• If you ignore a rejected paper more than one
  month, you are likely to lose interest. Do
  something about it.
• Bad luck eventually comes to an end.

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Eliminate any trace of prior rejections

• Do not indicate when the paper was first written.
  If the original version was written a few years
  earlier, the editors and the referees clearly see
  that it has been rejected a few times.
• Do not indicate how often the paper has been
  revised. This suggests you do not listen and
  properly modify the paper to make it more
  publishable.
• In the references, eliminate any references to
  papers that were "forthcoming" a few years back.
  This not only indicates that your paper was
  previously rejected a few times, but also that
  you are sloppy in updating the references.

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PracticeAvoid the journals which consistently
reject your papers

• Avoid (temporarily) the journals which have
  rejected your papers consistently, say three
  times in a row.
• The editor still remembers all those bad remarks
  about your papers.
• Wait until a new editor is appointed.
• First and middle names, as well as last name,
  often reveal the sex, race, or nationality of the
  authors.
• If you have reason to believe that you are being
  discriminated against on the basis of sex, race,
  or nationality, you may consider using initials
  instead of spelling out the first and middle
  names.
• You may reveal your full name after the paper is
  accepted.

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Practice When rejected, try again

• Even Nobel Laureates get rejection letters.
• Papers lying dormant in the file drawer do not
  bring any good news!
• Submit the paper to another journal within one
  month. But wait!
• If a referee points out a major problem, you need
  to address it.

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Practice Revise and Resubmit

• You do not have to revise a paper every time it
  is rejected.
• But if a paper is rejected 4 times, there is a
  serious flaw in the paper. Find and fix the
  problem.
• Make a modest effort to incorporate the valuable
  suggestions of the referee before submitting to
  another journal.
• Why? The same referee might get it again.
• Do whatever possible to make sure the negative
  referee does not get the paper again. You are
  entitled to new referee reports.

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Problems of Journals

• Association journals Editors change every few
  years, and they tend to accept more papers by
  colleagues and friends while they are in charge.
  Since the editors are chosen from among a few
  major institutions, they tend to get a larger
  share of publications than under ideal academic
  conditions. The are subsidized by associations.
  (AER, Econometrica, IEEE)
• University journals Promoting truth and
  knowledge is not necessarily the primary concern
  of these journals. The universities need to
  protect their own interests. Will often have a
  stated preference for their own teachers and
  students papers. Subsidized by universities.
  (HBR, MIT Sloan)
• Commercial journals To maximize profits they are
  least likely to have preferences or biases.
  However, they cannot survive without reader
  subscriptions. (Blackwell, North-Holland)

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Habit 7Writers write (and dont always enjoy
it.)

• One of the most common misunderstandings that I
  find is that my students believe that good
  writers enjoy writing, that they have always
  enjoyed it and do it out of pure joy.
• This couldnt be further from the truth. In my
  conversations with researchers I found that many
  hated the process of writing but enjoyed the
  results. They maintained their motivation to
  overcome their hatred of the writing process.
• This routine is often daily, where they write
  whether or not they feel like it.

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Quotes about action

• Inspiration is overrated, its all about hard
  work and theres really no way around it..
• Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin
  it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
  Begin it now. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  (1749-1832)
• The gods favor the bold. Ovid (43 BC - c. 18
  AD)

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Practice Thinking vs. Action

• Talking about writing isnt writing. Thinking
  about writing isnt writing. Dreaming or
  fantasizing isnt writing. Neither are outlining,
  researching, or making notes. All these may be a
  part of the whole milieu of the writing life and
  necessary to getting a project completed, but
  only writing is writing.
• You cant sit around thinking, said fiction
  writer David Long. You must sit around writing.

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PracticeMaintain intrinsic motivation in their
topic but it often didnt begin that way.

• Initially forced and later the interest came.
• Often as a result of a perceived advantage in an
  area.
• Are conscious of their total impact.
• Desire to be great.

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PracticeResearcher are proud of their work

• Researchers are proud of the name researcher or
  writer. They dont say they should write, they
  just write.
• Researchers motivation for writing is different
  than creative writers, rather than writing for
  enjoyment, they viewed writing as a tool, rather
  than an end. They needed it to communicate their
  findings to a larger audience.

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Conclusion

• 1) Effective researchers have a routine for
  writing, submitting and revising papers.
• 2) Effective researchers sacrifice social or
  physical endeavors to be a better researcher.
• 3) Effective researchers practice their research
  and writing in functional areas in order to
  identify weaknesses.
• 4) Effective researchers dramatize their work by
  creating mental models of the paper writing
  process.
• 5) Effective researchers use the competitive,
  political and supportive energy of other
  researchers.
• 6) Effective researchers have a thick skin
• 7) Effective researchers write (and dont always
  enjoy it.)