HowtowriteaGreatResearchPaper

andGetitAcceptedbyaGoodJournal
Fromtitletoreferences
From submissiontorevision

Presented by:

Anthony Newman
Elsevier, Amsterdam

Whatwillwecover?

Whoarepublishersandwhatdowedo?
Practicaltipsbeforeyouwrite
Whatmakesagoodmanuscript?
Thearticlestructure
Thereviewandeditorialprocess
Authorethics

No of titles launched and still extant 2001

PeerReviewedJournalGrowth16652001

10000

100

Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society (London)

1
1665

1765

1865

Year
Source:
M A Mabe The number and growth of journals
3
Serials
16(2).191-7, 2003

1965

ElsevierandPublishing
Solicitand
manage
submissions
Archiveand
promoteuse

Manage
peerreview

Publishand
disseminate

Editand
prepare
Production

450,000newarticlesproducedeachyear
185yearsofbackissuesscanned,processedanddatatagged

Whypublish?
Publishing isoneofthenecessarystepsembeddedinthe scientific
researchprocess.Itisalsonecessaryforgraduationandcareer
progression.
Whattopublish:
Newandoriginalresultsormethods
Reviewsorsummariesofparticularsubject
Manuscriptsthatadvance theknowledge andunderstandingina
certainscientificfield
WhatNOTtopublish:

Reportsofnoscientificinterest
Outofdatework
Duplications ofpreviouslypublishedwork
Incorrect/unacceptableconclusions

YouneedaGOODmanuscripttopresentyourcontributionstothe
scientificcommunity
5

The Process

Publishing speed
Timetopublish is important.

3
2
1
Many journals have now introduced aFastRejection process by the journal Editor
7

WhatistheImpactFactor(IF)?
ImpactFactor
[theaverageannualnumberofcitationsperarticlepublished]

Forexample,the 2008impact factor for ajournal is calculated asfollows:

A =the number oftimes articles published in2006and2007were cited in
indexed journals during 2008
B =the number of"citable items"(usually articles,reviews,proceedings or
notes;not editorials andletterstotheEditor)published in2006and2007
2008impact factor =A/B

e.g.600citations
150+150articles

=2

ImpactFactor andother bibliometricparameters

Subject Area Influence onImpactFactors

10

HowToGetYourArticlePublished
Beforeyoustart

Beforeyoustart..

Dont Panic!

12

Questionstoanswerbeforeyouwrite
ThinkaboutWHYyouwanttopublishyour
work.

Isitnewandinteresting?
Isitacurrenthottopic?
Haveyouprovidedsolutions tosome
difficultproblems?
Areyouready topublishatthispoint?

Ifall answersareyes, thenstart

preparationsforyourmanuscript
13

Whattypeofmanuscript?

Fullarticles /Originalarticles:themostimportantpapers.Often
substantialandsignificantcompleted piecesofresearch.

Letters /RapidCommunications/Shortcommunications:quickandearly
communicationofsignificantandoriginaladvances.Muchshorterthan
fullarticles(checklimitations).

Reviewpapers /perspectives:summarizerecentdevelopmentsona
specifictopic.Highlightimportantpreviouslyreportedpoints.Notthe
placetointroducenewinformation.Ofteninvited.

Selfevaluateyourwork. Isitsufficientforafullarticle?Orareyourresultsso
thrillingthattheyshouldbeshownassoonaspossible?
Askyoursupervisorandyourcolleagues foradviceonmanuscripttype.
Sometimesoutsiderscanseethingsmoreclearlythanyou.

14

Identifytherightaudienceforyourpaper

Identifytheaudience

Verifytheirinterestinthetopic

Determinetherangeofinterest localvs
international?

15

Knockdownofmdr1activityintransiently
transfected HEKcells in Pharmazeutische Industrie?

Abioequivalencestudyofibuprofentabletsmarketed
inSouthernKosovo

Selectthebestjournalforsubmission

16

Look at your references these will help you narrow

your choices.
Review recent publications in each candidate journal.
Find out the hot topics, the accepted types of articles,
etc.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Is the journal peer-reviewed?
Who is this journals audience?
What is the average time to print?
What is the journals Impact Factor?
Decide on one journal. DO NOT submit to multiple
journals.

Aninternationaleditorsays
Thefollowingproblemsappearmuchtoofrequently

Submissionofpaperswhichareclearlyoutofscope
FailuretoformatthepaperaccordingtotheGuidefor
Authors
Inappropriate(orno)suggestedreviewers
Inadequateresponsetoreviewers
InadequatestandardofEnglish
Resubmissionofrejectedmanuscriptswithoutrevision
PaulHaddad,Editor,JournalofChromatographyA

17

Whatmakesagoodmanuscript?

18

Containsaclear,useful,andexciting
scientificmessage.

Flowsinalogicalmanner thatthe
readercanfollow.

Isformattedtobestshowcasethe
material.

Iswritteninastylethat transmits
themessageclearly.

AWordaboutYourWords
ThisisNOTcreativewritingclass.
Journalspaceisprecious.
Beconcise.
Ifclaritycanbeachievedinn words,
neverusen+1.
Moredifficultthanyouimagine!

19

Whatmakesagoodmanuscript?
Itisallaboutthereader.(Remembereditors
andreviewersareinthisgroup!)

Writing agoodmanuscriptisNOTeasy.
Bepreparedtoworkhardonit.

Cherishyourwork ifyoudonottakecare,
whyshouldthejournal?
Thereisnosecretrecipeforsuccess just
somesimplerules,dedication,andhardwork.
Editorsandreviewers areallbusyscientists,
justlikeyou makethingseasytosavetheir
time!

Presentationiscritical!
20

Thegeneralstructureofafullarticle

Title
Authors
Abstract
Keywords
Maintext(IMRAD)

21

Introduction
Methods
Results
And
Discussion(Conclusions)

Acknowledgements
References
Supplementarymaterial

WriteBackwards!

Writeinthefollowingorder:
Figuresandtables
Methods,ResultsandDiscussion
ConclusionsandIntroduction
Abstractandtitle

Eachsectionhasadefinitepurpose.

22

DevelopingYourTitle

23

Thisisyouropportunitytoattractthereadersattention.
Remember:readersarethepotentialauthorswhowill
citeyourarticle

Keepitinformativeandconcise.
Reviewerswillcheckwhetherthetitleisspecificand
whetheritreflectsthecontentofthemanuscript.
Editorshatetitlesthatmakenosenseorfailtorepresent
thesubjectmatteradequately.

Avoidtechnicaljargonandabbreviations.
Youwishtohaveareadershipaslargeaspossible,right?

Discusswithyourcoauthors.

TheAbstract

Shouldstandalone!

Considerittheadvertisementofyourarticle.
Shouldtelltheprospectivereaderwhatyoudid
andhighlightthekeyfindings.

Youmustbeaccurateandspecific!

24

Avoidusingjargonanduncommonabbreviations.

Usewordswhichreflecttheprecisemeaning

Aclearabstractwillstronglyinfluencewhetherornotyour
workisfurtherconsidered.

Followwordlimitations(50300words)!!!

Keywords

Thesearethelabelsofyourmanuscriptand
criticaltocorrectindexingandsearching.

Useonlythoseabbreviationsthatare
firmlyestablishedinthefield.

e.g.DNA

ChecktheGuideforAuthors!

25

Shouldntbetoobroadortoonarrow(thinkGoogle)

Number,label,definition,thesaurus,range,andother
specialrequests

TheIntroduction

Yourchancetoconvincereadersoftheimportanceofyourwork.

Describetheproblem.Arethereanyexistingsolutions?Whataretheir
mainlimitations?Andwhatdoyouhopetoachieve?

Provideaperspectiveconsistentwiththenatureofthejournal.

Introducethemainscientificpublicationsonwhichyour
workisbased.

Editorshatereferencesirrelevanttothework,orinappropriate
judgmentsonyourownachievements.

26

Citeacoupleoforiginalandimportantworks,including
recentreviewarticles

Theywillthinkthatyouhavenosenseofpurposeatall!

PitfallsofTheIntroduction

Toowordy

Amixedbagofintroductionwithresults,discussion,
andconclusionthrowninforgoodmeasure.

27

Neverusemorewordsthannecessary.
Donotturnthissectionintoahistorylesson.Readers
looseinterest.

Alwayskeepsectionsseparatetoensurethemanuscript
flowslogicallyfromonesectiontothenext.

Hastheusedcarsalesmanfeel ofoversell

Excessiveuseofexpressionssuchasnovel,first
time,firstever,paradigmchanging (usethese
sparingly!)

TheMethodsSection

Details,details,details aknowledgeablereadershould
beabletoreproducetheexperiment.

However,usereferencesandSupplementaryMaterials
forpreviouslypublishedprocedures.

Reviewerswillcriticizeincompleteorincorrect
descriptions.

28

Donotrepeatthedetailsofestablishedmethods.
Ageneralsummarywithreferenceissufficient.

andmayevenrecommendrejection

Results

29

Results

Onlyrepresentativeresults,essentialforthe
Discussion,shouldbepresented.

Donothide datainthehopeofsavingitfora
laterpaper.

30

Youmayloseevidencetosupportyour
conclusion.

Usesubheadingstokeepresultsofthesame
typetogether

Showdataofsecondaryimportancein
SupplementaryMaterials.

Easiertoreviewandread.

Tellaclearandeasytounderstandstory.

Appearancecounts!

Uncrowdedplots:3or4datasetsperfigure;wellselected
scales;appropriateaxislabelsize;symbols
cleartoreadanddatasetseasytodiscriminate.

Eachphotographmusthaveascalemarkerofprofessional
qualityononecorner.

UsecolorONLYwhennecessary.Ifdifferentline
stylescanclarifythemeaning,neverusecolors
orotherthrillingeffects.

Colorneedstobevisibleanddistinguishablewhen
printedoutinblack&white.

DoNOTselectivelyadjust anyimagetoenhance
visualizationofresults.

Donot includelongboringtables!

31

Discussion Whattheresultsmean

Itisthemostimportantsectionofyourarticle.Hereyou
getthechancetoSELLyourdata!

MaketheDiscussioncorrespondingtotheResults.

Butdonotreiteratetheresults

Youneedtocomparethepublishedresultswithyours.

32

ManymanuscriptsarerejectedbecausetheDiscussionisweak

DoNOTignoreworkindisagreementwithyours confrontit
andconvincethereaderthatyouarecorrectorbetter

MorePitfallstobeAwareof:
Statementsthatgobeyondwhattheresultscansupport
Unspecificexpressionssuchashighertemperature,atalower

rate.

Quantitativedescriptionsarealwayspreferred.

Suddenintroductionofnewtermsorideas
Speculationsonpossibleinterpretationsareallowed.Butthese

shouldberootedinfact,ratherthanimagination.
Checktheorganization,numberandqualityofillustrations,the

logicandthejustifications.

RevisionofResultsandDiscussionisnotjustpaperwork.You
mayneedtodofurtherexperiments,derivations,orsimulations.
Sometimesyoucannotclarifyyourideainwordsbecausesome
criticalitemshavenotbeenstudiedsubstantially.
33

ScientificLanguage Tenses

Presenttenseforknownfactsandhypotheses:
Theaveragelifeofahoneybeeis 6weeks

Pasttenseforexperimentsyouhaveconducted:
Allthehoneybeeswere maintainedinanenvironmentwith
aconsistenttemperatureof23degreescentigrade

Pasttensewhenyoudescribetheresultsofan
experiment:
Theaveragelifespanofbeesinourcontainedenvironment
was 8weeks

34

34

Conclusions

35

Conclusions

Tellshowyourworkadvancesthefieldfromthepresent
stateofknowledge!

WithoutclearConclusions,reviewersandreaderswill
finditdifficulttojudgethework,andwhether or
notitmeritspublicationinthejournal.

DoNOTrepeattheAbstract,orjustlistexperimentalresults.

Provideaclearscientificjustificationforyourwork,and
indicatepossibleapplicationsandextensions.

36

Trivialstatementsofyourresultsareunacceptableinthissection.

Youshouldalsosuggestfutureexperimentsand/orpointoutthose
thatareunderway.

Acknowledgements
Recognizethosewhohelpedintheresearch(you
wantthemtohelpagain,dontyou?)
Includeindividualswhohaveassistedyouinyour
study:
Advisors
Financialsupporters
Proofreaders
Typists
Supplierswhomayhavegivenmaterials

37

References

38

Moremistakesarefoundinthereferencesthananyotherpartof
themanuscript.
Itisoneofthemostannoyingproblems,andcausesgreat
headachesamongeditors

Citethemainscientificpublicationsonwhichyour
workisbased

Donotinflatethemanuscriptwithtoomany
references itdoesntmakeitabettermanuscript!

Avoidexcessiveselfcitations

Avoidexcessivecitationsofpublicationsfromthesame
region

Coverletter yourchancetospeaktotheEditordirectly

Viewitasajobapplicationletter;youwanttosell your
work

WHYdidyousubmitthemanuscripttoTHISjournal?

39

Donotsummarizeyourmanuscript,orrepeattheabstract
Mentionwhatwouldmakeyourmanuscriptspecialtothe
journal

Mentionspecialrequirements,e.g.ifyoudonotwish
yourmanuscripttobereviewedbycertainreviewers,
andanyconflictsofinterest.

Albeitthatmosteditorswillnotrejectamanuscriptonly
becausethecoverletterisbad,butagoodcoverletter
mayacceleratetheeditorialprocessofyourpaper.

Suggestpotentialreviewers

40

YoursuggestionswillhelptheEditortomoveyour
manuscripttothereviewstagemoreefficiently.

Youcaneasilyfindpotentialreviewersandtheir
contactdetailsfromarticlesinyourspecificsubject
area(e.g.,yourreferences).

Thereviewersshouldrepresentatleasttwo
regionsoftheworld.Andtheyshouldnotbe
yoursupervisororclosefriends.

Bepreparedtosuggest36potentialreviewers.

Thereviewandeditorialprocess

HowToGetYourArticlePublished

41

Submissionisnotablackhole
Author

Editor

Reviewer

START

Submit a
paper

Basic requirements met?

[Yes]
Assign
reviewers
[No]

REJECT
Revise the
paper

Collect reviewers
recommendations
[Reject]

Make a
decision

[Revision required]

Michael Derntl. Basics of Research Paper Writing and Publishing.

42
http://www.pri.univie.ac.at/~derntl/papers/meth-se.pdf

[Accept]

ACCEPT

Review and give

recommendation

InitialEditorialReview
Manyjournalsuseasystemofinitialeditorialreview.Editors
mayrejectamanuscriptwithoutsendingitforreview
Why?
Thepeerreviewsystemisgrosslyoverloaded
andeditorswishtousereviewersonlyfor
thosepaperswithagoodprobabilityof
acceptance.

43

Itisa disservicetoaskreviewerstospend
timeonworkthathasclearandevident
deficiencies.

Revisionbeforesubmission checklist

44

Reasonsforearlyrejection:content
(aimsandscope)
Paperisoflimitedinterestorcovers
localissuesonly(sampletype,
geography,specificproduct,etc.).
Paperisaroutineapplicationof
wellknownmethods

Doestheworkaddsignificantvaluetoan
existingmethod?

Istheperspectiveconsistentwiththe
journal?

Aretherightconclusionsdrawnfromthe
results?

Doesyourworkaddtotheexistingbodyof
knowledge? Justbecauseithasnotbeen
donebeforeisnojustificationfordoingit
now.Andjustbecauseyouhavedonethe
studydoesnotmeanthatisvery
important!

Paperpresentsanincremental
advanceorislimitedinscope
Noveltyandsignificancearenot
immediatelyevidentorsufficiently
welljustified

Whatshouldyoucheck?
Isyourworkofinteresttoaninternational
audience?

Revisionbeforesubmission checklist
Reasonsforearlyrejection:
Preparation

Whatshouldyoucheck?

Failuretomeetsubmission
requirements

ReadtheGuideforAuthorsagain!Checkyour
manuscriptpointbypoint.Makesureevery
aspectofthemanuscriptisinaccordancewith
theguidelines.(Wordcount,layoutofthetext
andillustrations,formatofthereferencesand
intextcitations,etc.)

Incompletecoverageofliterature

Aretheretoomanyselfcitations,or
referencesthataredifficultforthe
internationalreadertoaccess?

UnacceptablypoorEnglish

Didthefirstreadersofyourmanuscripteasily
grasptheessence?Correctallthegrammatical
andspellingmistakes.

45

Reviewing is a procedure

Consider reviewing as a procedure in which several

peers discuss your work. Learn from their comments,
and join the discussion.

Nearly every manuscript requires revision.

Bear in mind that editors and reviewers mean to help

you improve your article

Minor revision does NOT guarantee acceptance after

revision.

Do not count on acceptance, but address all comments

carefully

Revise the whole manuscript

46

Do not take offence.

not just the parts the reviewers point out

Revisionaftersubmission
Carefullystudythecommentsandpreparea
detailedletterofresponse.

47

A second round of reviews is common

Asecondreviewoftherevisedmanuscriptiscommon.Cherishthe
chanceofdiscussingyourworkdirectlywithotherscientistsin
yourcommunity.Pleaseprepareadetailedletterofresponse.

Cutandpasteeach commentbythereviewer.Answeritdirectly
below.Donotmissanypoint.

Statespecifically whatchanges(ifany)youhavemadetothe
manuscript.Givepageandlinenumber.

48

Atypicalproblem Discussionisprovidedbutitisnotclearwhat
changeshavebeenmade.

Provideascientificresponse tothecommentyouaccept;ora
convincing,solidandpoliterebuttal tothepointyouthinkthe
revieweriswrong.

Writeinawaythatyourresponsescanbegiventothereviewer.

Do NOT resubmit elsewhere without revision!

49

Nevertreatpublicationasalotterybyresubmittinga
rejectedmanuscriptdirectlytoanotherjournalwithout
anysignificantrevision!!!Itwillnotsaveanyofyour
timeandenergy
Theoriginalreviewers(eveneditors)mayeventually
findit,whichcanleadtoanimositytowardstheauthor.
Apossiblestrategy
Inyourcoverletter,declarethatthepaperwas
rejectedandnamethejournal.
Include thereferees reportsandadetailedletterof
response,showinghoweachcommenthasbeen
addressed.
Explainwhy youareresubmittingthepapertothis
journal,e.g.,thisjournalisamoreappropriatejournal;
themanuscripthasbeenimprovedasaresultofits
previousreview;etc.

Importanttoremember

50

Preparationisimportantbutdonotspendtoomuchtimeon
yourpreparations

Submittotherightjournal (scopeandprestige)

Submittoonejournalonly

ChecktheEnglish

Payattentiontostructure

Payattentiontojournalrequirements

Behonest

Questions?

Or for questions later, please contact a.newman@elsevier.com

51

APPENDIX notpartofpresentation
PublishingEthics
Literaturesearchingsuggestions
Links
References

52

PublishingEthics

HowToGetYourArticlePublished
Ethics

53

CopyrightIssues inPublishing

54

PublishAND Perish! ifyoubreakethicalrules

55

Internationalscientificethicshaveevolved
overcenturiesandarecommonlyheld
throughouttheworld.

Scientificethicsarenotconsideredtohave
nationalvariantsorcharacteristics thereisa
singleethicalstandard forscience.

Ethicsproblemswithscientificarticlesareon
theriseglobally.

Thearticleofwhichtheauthorscommittedplagiarism:it
wontberemovedfromScienceDirect.Everybodywho
downloadsitwillseethereasonofretraction

56

EthicsIssuesinPublishing
Scientificmisconduct

Falsificationofresults

Publicationmisconduct

Plagiarism

57

Differentforms/severities
Thepapermustbeoriginaltotheauthors

Duplicatesubmission
Duplicatepublication
Lackofacknowledgementofpriorresearchandresearchers
Inappropriateidentificationofallcoauthors
Conflictofinterest

Datafabricationandfalsification
Themostdangerousofallfalsehoodsisaslightlydistortedtruth.
G.C.Lichtenberg (17421799)
Fabricationismakingupdataorresults,andrecordingor
reportingthem.
thefabricationofresearchdata hitsattheheartofour
responsibilitytosociety,thereputationofourinstitution,the
trustbetweenthepublicandthebiomedicalresearch
community,andourpersonalcredibilityandthatofour
mentors,colleagues
Itcanwastethetimeofothers,tryingtoreplicatefalsedata
ordesigningexperimentsbasedonfalsepremises,andcan
leadtotherapeuticerrors.Itcanneverbetolerated.
ProfessorRichardHawkes
DepartmentofCellBiologyandAnatomy,UniversityofCalgary
58

Plagiarism

59

Ashortcuttolongtermconsequences!

Plagiarismisconsideredaseriousoffense byyourinstitute,by
journaleditors,andbythescientificcommunity.

Plagiarismmayresultinacademiccharges,butwillcertainly
causerejectionofyourpaper.

Plagiarismwillhurtyourreputation inthescientific
community.

Multiplesubmissions

Multiplesubmissionssaveyoutimebutwasteeditors
andreviewerstime

Theeditorialprocessofyourmanuscriptswillbe
completelystoppediftheduplicatedsubmissionsare
discovered.
ItisconsideredtobeunethicalWehavethrownoutapaper
whenanauthorwascaughtdoingthis.Ibelievethattheother
journaldidthesamething.

JamesC.Hower
Editor,theInternationalJournalofCoalGeology

60

DonotsendyourmanuscripttoasecondjournalUNTIL
youreceivethefinaldecisionofthefirstjournal

DuplicatePublication

61

Twoormorepapers,withoutfullcrossreference,sharethesame
hypotheses,data,discussionpoints,orconclusions

Anauthorshouldnotsubmitforconsiderationinanotherjournal
apreviouslypublishedpaper.
Publishedstudiesdonotneedtoberepeated unlessfurther
confirmationisrequired.
Previouspublicationofanabstractduringtheproceedingsof
conferencesdoesnotprecludesubsequentsubmissionfor
publication,butfulldisclosure shouldbemadeatthetimeof
submission.
Republicationofapaperinanotherlanguageisacceptable,
providedthatthereisfullandprominentdisclosureofits
originalsource atthetimeofsubmission.
Atthetimeofsubmission,authorsshoulddisclosedetailsof
relatedpapers,evenifinadifferentlanguage,andsimilar
papersinpress.
Thisincludestranslations

Onliteraturesearching:
Manystudieshavereportedthatresearchersare
overwhelmedbytheamountofmaterialtoreview
andfeelthattheydonotfindalltheinformation
onthetopicforwhichtheyaresearching with
onestudyfindingthatathirdofphysiciansfelt
theycouldnotcopewiththeinformationflow
only10%oftheresearchersrespondingthatthey
areveryconfidenttheyarefindingeverything
Informationseekingbehaviorofacademicscientists,
Hemminger,B.M.,D.Lu,K.T.L.Vaughan,andS.J.Adams,J.
Am.Soc.InformationSc.andTech.,58(14):22052225,2007

62

SearchMethodologyofResearchers
Thesearchmethodologyoftheresearcherscanbe
characterizedbytrialanderror. Theyhavenoplanned
searchstrategy,butstartatrandom,experimenting
bothwiththeactualwordsandsourcestouse.
theyneverusemanuals,etc.,forinstructions.The
ideaofcontactingthelibraryforhelpdoesnotoccurto
them.Theyhavelittleornoknowledgeofthefiner
pointsofmanyinformationsources
researchersseldomusethelibraryWebpageas
startingpoint ,andinsteadusebookmarks/shortcuts
addedbythemselves
researchershavedifficultiesinidentifyingcorrect
searchterms.Searchesareoftenunsuccessful.
(Haglund andOlson,2008)

63

PracticalAdvice

FindoutwhatsHot

Findthetrendsofthesubjectarea

ImpactFactor
SubjectSpecificImpactFactor(http://tinyurl.com/scopusimpact)
SCImago Journal&CountryRanking(http://scimagojr.com/)
JournalAnalyzer
hIndex

Findoutmoreaboutthejournals
Whoaretheeditors?

Guideforauthors

Articleofthefuture
http://beta.cell.com/erickson/

64

Searchtips(includingalerts)
Journals,authors,publicationsperyear(Scopus)

Evaluatewhichjournalisrightforyourarticle

http://info.scopus.com/topcited/
http://top25.sciencedirect.com/

IF

Usedatabasestofindifyourresultsarenewandoriginal
Formanyresearchers,especiallyinthe
sciences,Googleisthefirstchoicefor
informationallkindsofinformation.
Some[researchers]evenstatehavingmoved
fromsubjectspecificdatabasestoGoogle.

Theimpactonuniversitylibrariesofchangesininformation
behavioramongacademicresearchers:amultiplecasestudy,
L.Haglund andP.Olson,J.Acad.Librarianship,34(1):5259,
2008

65

Usetheadvancedsearchoptions

WithinGoogleandGoogle
Scholarusetheadvanced
searchesandcheckoutthe
SearchTips.

InScienceDirectand
Scopus,useproximity
operators:

w/n
pre/n

Within (nonorderspecific)
Precedes (orderspecific)

E.g.windw/3energy
66

PracticalAdviceContinued

FindoutwhatsHot

Findthetrendsofthesubjectarea

ImpactFactor
SubjectSpecificImpactFactor(http://tinyurl.com/scopusimpact)
SCImago Journal&CountryRanking(http://scimagojr.com/)
JournalAnalyzer
hIndex

Findoutmoreaboutthejournals
Whoaretheeditors?

Guideforauthors

Articleofthefuture
http://beta.cell.com/erickson/

67

Searchtips(includingalerts)
Journals,authors,publicationsperyear

Evaluatewhichjournalisrightforyourarticle

http://info.scopus.com/topcited/
http://top25.sciencedirect.com/

IF

Yourpaperisworthless ifnoonereads,uses,orcitesit

Aresearchstudyismeaningfulonlyif
itisclearlydescribed,so
someoneelsecanuseitinhis/herstudies
itarousesotherscientists interestand
allowsotherstoreproducetheresults.

68

Bysubmittingamanuscriptyouarebasicallytryingtosell
yourworktoyourcommunity

Journalpublishersandeditorswanttobringdownthenumberof
uncitedarticlesasmuchaspossible

Editorsnowregularlyanalyzecitationsper
article.
Thestatisticthat27%ofourpaperswerenotcitedin
5yearswasdisconcerting.Itcertainlyindicatesthat
itisimportanttomaintainhighstandardswhen
acceptingpapers...nothingwouldhavebeenlost
excepttheCV'softhoseauthorswouldhavebeen
shorter
Marv Bauer,Editor,RemoteSensingofEnvironment
69

Isthisaprestigiousjournal?
ImpactFactor
[theaverageannualnumberofcitationsperarticlepublished]

70

Forexample,the 2008impact factor for ajournal would be calculated asfollows:

A =the number oftimes articles published in2006and2007were cited in
indexed journals during 2008
B =the number of"citable items"(usually articles,reviews,proceedings or
notes;not editorials andletterstotheEditor)published in2006and2007
2008impact factor =A/B
e.g.600citations
=2
150+150articles

Alsoaprestigiousjournalpublishesnoncitedarticles
However,not allarticles inhighimpact journals (e.g.about 20%imNature,ImpactFactor=32.2)are cited!

71

ArticleoftheFuture
Redefinehowascientificarticleispresentedonline,
allowingreadersindividualizedentrypointsand
routesthroughthecontent
KeyFeatures:
Takefulladvantageofonline
capabilities
Allowingreadersindividualized
entrypointsandroutes
Usingthelatestadvancesin
visualizationtechniques
http://beta.cell.com/erickson/
72

PracticalAdviceContinued

FindoutwhatsHot

Findthetrendsofthesubjectarea

ImpactFactor
SubjectSpecificImpactFactor(http://tinyurl.com/scopusimpact)
SCImago Journal&CountryRanking(http://scimagojr.com/)
JournalAnalyzer
hIndex

Findoutmoreaboutthejournals
Whoaretheeditors?

Guideforauthors

Articleofthefuture
http://beta.cell.com/erickson/

73

Searchtips(includingalerts)
Journals,authors,publicationsperyear

Evaluatewhichjournalisrightforyourarticle

http://info.scopus.com/topcited/
http://top25.sciencedirect.com/

IF

References&Acknowledgements furtherreadingforyou

74

MarkWareConsultingLtd,Publising andElearningConsultancy.Scientificpublishingintransition:anoverviewofcurrent
developments.Sept.,2006.
www.stmassoc.org/storage/Scientific_Publishing_in_Transition_White_Paper.pdf
GuideforAuthorsofElsevier journals.
EthicalGuildlines forJournalPublishing,Elsevier.
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/ethical_guidelines#Duties%20of%20Authors
InternationalCommitteeofMedicalJournalEditors.UniformRequirementsforManuscriptsSubmittedtoBiomedicalJournals:
WritingandEditingforBiomedicalPublication.Feb.2006
http://www.publicationethics.org.uk/guidelines
http://www.icmje.org/index.html#ethic
http://www.onlineethics.org/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
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