How to write and get a paper published

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How to (write) and get a paper published

• Derek Eamus
• Prof, Department of Environmental Sciences
• Director, Institute of Water Environmental
  Resource Management

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Overview

• Ill talk about three things
• First the process of submission, the process
  within the journal office and how to deal with
  referees comments

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Overview

• Ill talk about three things
• Second some hints about the different sections
  of the manuscript
• Third a few thoughts about writing style

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There are several important steps to getting a
paper published

• (I shall only spend a short time on the issue of
  making sure the paper itself is worth publishing
  or making sure the paper is written well enough
  there is a 3 hour talk I give on writing)

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The Process at the Journal

• Chief Editor looks at the title and decides
  whether it is broadly within the remit of the
  Journal
• Assigns the corresponding Editor (someone most
  closely aligned with the subject of the paper and
  who is an Appointed Editor of the Journal
• The corresponding Editor assigns two or three
  referees

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The Process at the Journal

• Referees comments sent to corresponding Editor
• Editor decides whether referees comments are
  acceptable/sufficiently in agreement not to
  require additional referees
• If additional referees required, another report
  is sought. If not, Editor sends referees
  comments and his SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS to the
  author, stating what action is required

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The Process at the Journal

• Action required might be
• Reject outright dont bother re-submitting
• Minor corrections as outlined by referee
• Major corrections/re-write, but not requiring
  referees to see it again
• Major corrections and re-submission as a new
  paper
• New data/analyses suggested - come back in 6
  months when these are done

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Steps to getting a paper published

• Choose the journal
• Read the Rules for Authors - twice
• Write the paper according to the rules
• Proof read the paper prior to submission
• Have someone else experienced in your field read
  the paper and provide feedback

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Steps to getting a paper published

• Submit the paper according to the Guidelines
• Deal with the referees comments and Editors
  comments properly and politely
• Return the Ms quickly with a letter detailing
  your responses to the Editor and Referees

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Let us now go through these steps in more detail
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Choosing the Journal

• Check that the journal has recently published a
  paper in the same topic as yours
• Use International journals of repute
• Seek advice from your peers/supervisors
• (You can email the Editor asking whether your
  proposed paper is in an area covered by the
  journal)

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Reading the Guidelines for Authors

• Common errors in papers submitted that dont
  conform to Guidelines for the journal
• Citation style and References in wrong format
  (reference formats differ substantially between
  journals)
• Headings of sections not correct (Abstract vs
  Summary, for example)
• Too long (word limit)
• Figures not formatted correctly

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Writing in the required format

• Look at
• Citation style in the text and reference list
  format
• Use of bold/italics for headings
• Line spacing
• Rules governing figures and tables
• No of copies to be sent
• Electronic and paper copies required?
• Number the lines of the text?

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Proof reading

• Do it!
• Get a mate to do it too!
• The professional way is to read each page
  backwards
• Do not rely on spell check and grammar cheque
  to do it for you
• If your knowledge and ability to write well is
  poor learn, sloppy writing wont be published
  and Editors wont correct it for you

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Dealing with referees comments

• Read the referees comments, get angry, and then
  put the comments away for two days
• Re-read the comments
• Respond to each and every comment specifically
• BE HUMBLE, admit errors and acknowledge where you
  could have written something better

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Dealing with referees comments

• Deal with each referee in turn dont jump from
  referee to referee
• Agree, wherever possible, that the referees
  comments are valid and make the adjustments
  requested. Keep a list of your changes,
  page-by-page, line-by-line
• Where you disagree with a referees point,
  explain how you disagree and why you disagree

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Dealing with referees comments

• Where you disagree with a referees point, give
  a rationale for your disagreement, including
  citing the work of others to justify your
  position
• Do not call the referee a complete wa(. This
  merely pisses off your Editor.

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Dealing with referees comments

• Sometimes referees miss a point or dont
  understand a point you have made
• If they dont understand a point you have made
  youve written it poorly so re-write it and
  explain to the Editor what you have done
• If the referee missed a point, gently explain
  where you made it in the text

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Dealing with referees comments

• Write a detailed explanatory letter to the Editor
  listing what changes you have made in response to
  each referees comments. Justify where you
  disagree with the referee.

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What to do if the Editor rejects a paper outright

• Read the reports, including the Editors letter,
  then put them away for 1 week
• Re-read the letter/comments and make amendments
  to the paper as suggested
• Determine whether more data/analyses are
  required. If yes, collect/reanalyse. If no, send
  to another Journal after making the corrections
  suggested. Use these referees to improve the
  paper for a second attempt.

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The golden rules for getting a paper published

• The paper must be written well
• The paper must be written well
• The paper must be written well
• The paper must make a significant contribution to
  the field
• The paper must be sent to an appropriate Journal
  and conform to the guidelines

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Getting a paper published

• Do not get upset if it takes a few attempts to
  get the process right it is a steep learning
  curve, but the buzz from being published is GREAT

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A few thoughts on writing

• Materials and Methods
• This is often the easiest part to write, so it
  is often good to start with this section first

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Materials and Methods

• Use sub-sections e.g.
• site
• climate
• species studied (species names in italics AND
  taxonomic authorities provided)
• growth conditions
• measurements made
• statistical tests applied

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Results

• Results are obviously important
• There are TWO, interweaving parts to a results
  section

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Results - Part One

• Set of TABLES and FIGURES
• Tables and figures are numbered sequentially
  throughout the thesis - a good way to do this is
  Fig 2.1, Fig 2.2, Fig 2.X, Fig 3.1, Fig 3.2 etc.
• The first number refers to the chapter number,
  the second refers to the figure number

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Results - Part One

• Set of TABLES and FIGURES
• Tables and figures must have a legend that is
  self explanatory and which defines any
  abbreviations and symbols used in the
  figure/table
• Tables all columns must have headings and units
• Figures axes labeled and units given

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Results - Part Two

• Written description of the data
• Tell the reader what you want him/her to get from
  the data
• State which differences are significant
• Highlight the important trends and
  differences/comparisons
• Take the reader by the hand and lead them gently
  through the data, starting at Figure 1! (Yes -
  some people start with Fig 3)

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Results

• So - dont omit meaningful comparisons in your
  data. I stress the word MEANINGFUL.
• A common error is to include a figure or table
  and then not to write about it in the results
  section. DO NOT do this!

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Results

• Think about the sequence in which you present the
  data. Think about the NARRATIVE TALE that you
  wish to tell.
• Have the results in a logical, meaningful
  sequence. It might be that you dont present the
  data in the order that you obtained it.

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Discussion and Conclusion

• This is where people have the most problem - why?
• BECAUSE THEY DONT DRAW UP A SKELETON/FRAMEWORK
  BEFORE THEY START WRITING THE DISCUSSION
• A small effort now, in arranging the discussion
  in skeleton format, will save much work later on

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Discussion

• You need two things
• First an intimate knowledge of the literature
• Second an intimate knowledge of your data

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Discussion

• First - deal with the trivia
• Second - decide, before you start writing, the
  story you believe the data show. You must have a
  sense of narrative before you write.
• Third - construct a framework on paper. Do this
  by
• Write two sentences for each key result. Order
  them into the correct sequence for the story.
  Dont put unrelated results next to each other.
• If the results dont link with each other - its
  a bad paper you are trying to write. Stop now!

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Discussion

• Highlight internal consistencies and
  inconsistencies in your data sets

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Discussion

• NOTE THE FOLLOWING POINTS
• If you use comparative statements (e.g. larger
  than or smaller than) then you must define
  both sides of the statement i.e. say that X is
  larger than Y. Dont just say X is larger it
  begs the question larger than what?
• Cite references to support statements

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Discussion

• Keep sentences and paragraphs small and dont be
  verbose. For example
• It has been previously shown that X increases
  with increased Y.
• This is verbose
• replace with X increased with increased Y (so
  delete the it has previously been shown)

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Discussion

• Keep sentences and paragraphs small and dont be
  verbose. For example
• look at what you write and see how many words and
  phrases are actually redundant or can be reduced

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Discussion

• If no one else has found that result INTERPRET
  it
• What does this result mean, from the perspective
  of the plant, ecosystem, management technique,
  you are investigating?
• What are the ramifications of this result? How
  does this result relate to the stated hypotheses/
  questions you are addressing?

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Discussion

• Each paragraph contains a linked set of
  interdependent one, two or three results, which,
  when put into the correct sequence and structure
  leads the reader through the following sequence
  of thoughts

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Conclusions

• Address the following points in this section
• Have the results supported or refuted your
  hypotheses?
• Have you answered ALL of your original questions?

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Now What?

• Put the paper youve just written away for 10
  days
• Re-read every paragraph critically. Ask yourself
  the following questions

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Now What?

• Does the writing lead the reader along a simple
  logical path from an observation, by way of
  discussion, involving comparisons of your data
  with others and discussing similarities and
  differences, and INTERPRETING the results?

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Now What?

• A common mistake with discussions is to make it
  merely a re-statement of results. This is not
  good!

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Now What?

• Are any sentences more than 25 words? Can they be
  shortened?
• Are there any paragraphs more than 200 words
  long? Can they be shortened or turned into two
  paragraphs?

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Now What?

• What is the conclusion you want the reader to
  reach in each paragraph? Is it explicitly stated?

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• NOW -
• some style pointers

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Reference Lists

• There are many styles decide on the journal of
  your choice and FOLLOW their RULES COMPLETELY
• A typical reference list structure is
• Name, initial., name, initial. (date). Title of
  paper. Journal name volume No, pp.

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Reference Lists

• Is the date in (brackets), or not? Is there a
  full stop after the date?
• Are the journal names in full or abbreviated? Are
  the journal names italicised? Is there a comma
  after the journal name?

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Reference Lists

• Is the volume number in bold?
• Note the dot comma after the initials in the
  authors
• Books need publisher and place of publication

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References in the Text

• In the text, are references listed alphabetically
  or chronologically?
• For example
• (Jones 1986, Williams 1980)
• or
• (Williams 1980, Jones 1986)
• Are references separated by a comma, or
  semi-colon, in the text?
• Is et al italicised, and does it have a full
  stop after?

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Writing Guides

• The word data is PLURAL so should be followed by
  the word ARE not IS
• Use the past tense in papers to refer to work
  described in the paper
• The word however is usually followed by a
  comma. The phrase
• However, it was removed..
• is not the same as
• However it was removed..

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Writing Guides

• The phrase Figure 3 presents the relationship
  between stomatal aperture and transpiration rate
  is better written as Transpiration rate
  increased with increasing aperture (Fig 3)
  because
• (a) it is shorter and more concise
• (b) the first version tells us nothing about the
  relationship between the two variables, but the
  second version is explicit about the relationship

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Writing Guides

• Remove excess verbage at all costs, e.g.
• It can be seen that..
• It is known that..
• The present study shows that..
• Reports on savannas worldwide indicate that..
• Comparative evaluation of the total leaf area of
  the two species shown in Table 3 reveals that.

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Writing Guides

• Avoid colloquialisms and slang
• Make the subject and object agree and make the
  tenses agree, within a sentence. For example

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Writing Guides

• The seven books found on the shelf, stacked into
  a neat pile, is unlikely to remain untouched in
  the future
• What is wrong with this sentence?
• First the seven books are plural, so it
  should be .are unlikely
• Second the use of two negatives which causes
  confusion unlikely and untouched

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Writing Guides

• Another example
• This study is funded by the CRC for Tropical
  Savannas. We were also ably supported by the
  technical assistance of Fred.
• First problem the study WAS funded by the CRC
• Second problem the is (present tense) does
  not agree with the were (past tense)

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Writing Guides

• The word fewer is NOT the same as the word LESS.
  Use fewer for comparing discontinuous variables,
  use less for continuous variables
• Most sentences with commas in should have two
  commas present

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Format

• Type the MS in double space
• Study and memorise the rules for authors for the
  journal, especially
• page size, margins
• section headings and subsection headings for
  bold, UPPER CASE, underlined, etc.
• the use of et al. - is it every time a paper is
  cited with more than two authors, or do you cite
  the full author list the first time the citation
  appears in the text?

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Format

• Check figure and table structure legend on the
  same page or separate page?
• Should the table have vertical and horizontal
  lines separating each column and row?
• Should figures have all 4 sides boxed in or only
  the x and y axes drawn? Should ticks go in or
  out?
• Should pages be numbered?

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Structure

• Title Page
• Title (check style)
• Authors (check style)
• Address - dept/school, faculty, university, PO
  Box, etc.
• Key Words 2-6 words that describe the content
• Running title - not all journals want these,
  limited to 4-6 words to appear at the top of each
  page
• Date of submission

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Structure

• Abstract on its own page
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods less detail than a thesis
• Results selective, not all results included
• Discussion and Conclusions
• Reference List

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• The end and good luck