ASSIGNMENT REPORT

August 22, 2017

OVERVIEW

Steps to organize your manuscript

1. Need for well labeled plots and figures

We should include well labeled plots and figures in our research paper. It is often said
a figure is worth a thousand words. Hence, illustration, including figures and tables
are the most efficient way to present the results. Another important point is that figure
and table legends must be self-explanatory. Also we should crowded plots. We should
scale the plots properly with proper axis label size. Also we should never include long
boring tables in our paper we can include that as a supplementary material.

As we can see above the plot is provided as a screenshot which has very poor
resolution and we could barely see the labels so this should be avoided instead we
should just insert the picture of the plot which increases the readability of the paper.
Below here we can see this looks more appealing and clear.

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 This is a very good example for a self-explanatory figure. Also one thing I noticed is
that we should pay attention to the use of decimals. A very good example of it is shown
below.

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 2. Abstract write-up
The abstract tells prospective readers what we did and what were the important
findings in our research were. Together with the title, it's the advertisement of your
article. Make it interesting and easily understood without reading the whole article. We
should avoid using jargon, uncommon abbreviations and references.

A poorly written abstract

This paper presents and assesses a framework for an engineering capstone design
program. We explain how student preparation, project selection, and instructor
mentorship are the three key elements that must be addressed before the capstone
experience is ready for the students. Next, we describe a way to administer and
execute the capstone design experience including design workshops and lead
engineers. We describe the importance in assessing the capstone design experience
and report recent assessment results of our framework. We comment specifically on
what students thought were the most irnportant aspects of their experience in
engineering capstone design and provide quantitative insight into what parts of the
framework are most important.

The critiques for the above abstract are that the abstract is written in the first person
which we should avoid by all means. Also no results are presented in this abstract. It
describes only the organization. So we should avoid these. A very well written abstract
I found was

Although solving arithmetic problems approximately is an important skill in everyday

life, little is known about the development of this skill. Past research has shown that
when children are asked to solve multi-digit multiplication problems approximately,
they provide estimates that are often very far from the exact answer. This is
unfortunate as computation estimation is needed in many circumstances in daily life.
The present study examined 4th graders, 6th graders and adults ability to estimate the
results of arithmetic problems relative to a reference number. A developmental pattern
was observed in accuracy, speed and strategy use. With age there was a general
increase in speed, and an increase in accuracy mainly for trials in which the reference
number was close to the exact answer. The children tended to use the sense of
magnitude strategy, which does not involve any calculation but relies mainly on an
intuitive coarse sense of magnitude, while the adults used the approximated
calculation strategy which involves rounding and multiplication procedures, and relies
to a greater extent on calculation skills and working memory resources. Importantly,
the children were less accurate than the adults, but were well above chance level. In
all age groups performance was enhanced when the reference number was smaller
(vs. larger) than the exact answer and when it was far (vs. close) from it, suggesting

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 the involvement of an approximate number system. The results suggest the existence
of an intuitive sense of magnitude for the results of arithmetic problems that might help
children and even adults with difficulties in math. The present findings are discussed
in the context of past research reporting poor estimation skills among children, and
the conditions that might allow using children estimation skills in an effective manner.

This abstract is very well written as it provided the reader with past researches and
the problem statement is also very well defined. It also provides a very good idea on
the results achieved in the research.

3. Compose a concise and descriptive title

The title must explain what the paper is broadly about. It is our first and probably only
the opportunity to attract the readers attention. Also the readers are the potential
authors who will cite our article, so the first impression must be powerful.

Below are some examples of the original titles and the proposed changes.

Original title: - Preliminary observations on the effect of salinity on benthic community

distribution within an estuarine system, in the North Sea.

Proposed change: - Effect of salinity on benthic distribution within the Scheldt estuary
(North Sea).

Comments: - Long title should be avoided as it tends to distract readers. We should

also try to remove redundancies.

4. A compelling introduction must be written

A good introduction is very important as this is our opportunity to convince readers
that you clearly why you work is very useful. The introduction summarizes the relevant
literature so that the reader will understand why you were interested in the question
you asked. One to four paragraphs should be enough. End with a sentence explaining
the specific question you asked in this experiment. Your introduction should answer
the following questions:

What is the problem to solved?

Are there any existing solutions?
Which is the best?
What is the main limitations?
What do you hope to achieve?

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 The introduction summarizes the relevant literature so that the reader will
understand why you were interested in the question you asked. One to four
paragraphs should be enough. End with a sentence explaining the specific
question you asked in this experiment.

State the purpose of the paper and research strategy adopted to answer the
question, but do not mix introduction with results, discussion and conclusion.
Always keep them separate to ensure that the manuscript flows logically from one
section to the next.

However, editors hate improper citations of too many references irrelevant to the
work, or inappropriate judgments on your own achievements. They will think you
have no sense of purpose.

5. Write up the results

This section responds to the question "What have you found?" Hence, only
representative results from your research should be presented. The results should
be essential for discussion. Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also
summarize your main findings in the text. Do not repeat extensively in the text the
data you presented in tables and figures. But do not restrict yourself to passing
comments either.

Original result: Response rates differed significantly between diabetic and

nondiabetic patients.

Proposed change: The response rate was higher in nondiabetic than in diabetic
patients

6. Discussion

Here you must respond to what the results mean. Probably it is the easiest section
to write, but the hardest section to get right. This is because it is the most important
section of your article. Here you get the chance to sell your data. Take into account
that a huge numbers of manuscripts are rejected because the Discussion is weak.

You need to make the Discussion corresponding to the Results, but do not reiterate
the results. Here you need to compare the published results by your colleagues
with yours (using some of the references included in the Introduction). Never
ignore work in disagreement with yours, in turn, you must confront it and convince
the reader that you are correct or better.

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 Some other important tips:

We should always avoid statements that go beyond what the results

support.
Avoid unspecific expressions such as "higher temperature", "at a lower
rate", "highly significant". Quantitative descriptions are always preferred
(35C, 0.5%, p<0.001, respectively).
Avoid sudden introduction of new terms or ideas; you must present
everything in the introduction, to be confronted with your results here.
End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion, emphasizing why
it is relevant.

7. A clear conclusion must be written

This section shows how the work advances the field from the present state of
knowledge. In some journals, it's a separate section; in others, it's the last
paragraph of the Discussion section. Whatever the case, without a clear
conclusion section, reviewers and readers will find it difficult to judge your work
and whether it merits publication in the journal.

A common error in this section is repeating the abstract, or just listing experimental
results. Trivial statements of your results are unacceptable in this section.

You should provide a clear scientific justification for your work in this section, and
indicate uses and extensions if appropriate. Moreover, you can suggest future
experiments and point out those that are underway.

You can propose present global and specific conclusions, in relation to the
objectives included in the introduction.

By looking at only the introduction and conclusion, a reader should have a good
idea of what the researcher has investigated and discovered even though the
specific details of how the work was done would not be known.

8. Literature cited
This section lists, in alphabetical order by author, all published information that
was referred to anywhere in the text of the paper. It provides the readers with the
information needed should they want to refer to the original literature on the
general problem. Note that the Literature Cited section includes only those
references that were actually mentioned (cited) in the paper. Any other

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 information that the researcher may have read about the problem but
did not mention in the paper is not included in this section. This is why the
section is called "Literature Cited" instead of "References" or "Bibliography".

Minimize personal communications, do not include unpublished observations,

manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted for publication, publications that are
not peer reviewed, grey literature, or articles not published in English.

We can use any software, such as Mendeley, to format and include your
references in the paper. Make the reference list and the in-text citation conform
strictly to the style given in the Guide for Authors. Remember that presentation of
the references in the correct format is the responsibility of the author, not the
editor. Checking the format is normally a large job for the editors. Make their
work easier and they will appreciate the effort.