160109 Edanz Kyushu

Effectively Communicating Your Research

Kyushu University Program for Leading Graduate Schools

Advance Graduate Course on Molecular Systems for Devices

9 January 2016

Andrew Jackson, PhD Trevor Lane, PhD Kate Harris, PhD

S

Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to publish, but also to be widely read and cited

Prepare well for academic publishing

Read effectively

Write your ideas clearly for your audience

Academic publishing

Section 1

Academic publishing Peer review process

Accepted—publication!

Editor Author

Peer review

Reject

Results novel? Topic relevant? Clear English? Properly formatted?

Revision • New experiments • Improve readability • Add information

Academic publishing How long does it take?

Submission Peer

review Revision Publication

~1 week 4–6 weeks 0–8 weeks ?

How can I make the process quicker?

3–12 months

• Seek language assistance • Follow author guidelines • Prepare cover letter • Recommend reviewers

• Fully revise manuscript • Contact editorial office if

there are any queries • Respond to all comments

• Evaluation • Finding

reviewers

Academic publishing

(over 2 years)

Increase impact

High quality research

What editors want

Impact factor

Number of citations

Number of citable items published

=

Academic publishing

Increase impact

High quality research

Logically organized; engages readership

Original and novel research

Well-designed, well reported,

transparent study News value, importance, timeliness

What editors want

High scientific & technical quality, sound

research/publication ethics

High readability & interest; clear, real-

world relevance

Academic publishing Meaning of journal impact

Conceptual results relevant to broad audience

Conceptual results relevant to specific audience

Small advance relevant to broad audience

Small advance relevant to specific audience

High Impact

Medium Impact

Low Impact

36.503

17.490

2.693

Check the journal’s Aims & Scope!

Activity 1

Please see Activity 1 in your Workbook

Evaluating the literature

Section 2

Reading strategies How often do you read?

Read often!

Learn how native English speakers write

Learn proper argument structure

Learn manuscript structure and style

Get new ideas, identify problems

Discuss with colleagues

Reading strategies Make time to read

Most researchers read 60–90 min per day

Spend 20–30 min every day reading abstracts

Spend 60 min 2 or 3 days a week reading papers

Join a journal club

Reading strategies What should I read?

What do you already know? understanding basic advanced

Primary literature Secondary literature

Tertiary literature

Author does the work Author summarizes work




Tertiary literature

Encyclopedias Wikipedia Instruction manuals

Review articles

Research articles Thesis Dissertations Reports Conference proceedings

News magazine Text books Bibliographies




Tertiary literature

Peer review often rarely




Tertiary literature

Literature cited always rarely



Understand a new topic

• Specific questions • Find a method • Compare your results

Latest developments


Tertiary literature

Reading strategies Searching literature

• Wide coverage • Ability to analyze citations

• Extensive coverage of chemistry-related topics

• Option to search by structure/reaction

• Less extensive coverage than SciFinder • Option to search by structure/reaction • Good for finding properties of materials

• Free • Extensive but uncurated coverage • May allow you to find full articles

Reading strategies Journal websites

Stay up to date with the latest

developments

Reading strategies Searching literature

Perform a complete literature search before you start a project

Choose appropriate keywords

Read tertiary and secondary literature

Synonyms Alternative spellings

Refine and narrow your search

Read abstracts

>10000 papers

~100 papers

Activity 2 (1)

Please see Activity 2 (1) in your Workbook

Reading strategies

Why should you use it?

Keeps your references organized

Simplifies in-text citations

Prepares the reference list in the “correct” format

Allows you change reference style easily if you change journals

Reference management software

Reading strategies Reference management software

EndNote Most established Styles easy to find on journal websites

Which one to use?

RefWorks Web-based Widely used

Mendeley Newer (and free!) Allows collaborations

Papers Easy-to-use interface (iTunes) Great for paper management

Reading strategies How to read an article

From start to finish?

Section by

section?

Not efficient!

What do you want to know?

Where can you find it?

Reading strategies

Self-assess knowledge of topic

Skim Title and Abstract first

Strategies for reading

Have you read similar papers?

Are you familiar with the terminology?

Do you understand the relevance of the hypothesis?

What information do you want?

Reading strategies

Skim Figures and then Results

What information do you want?

Skim Title and Abstract first

Skim reading

Skim Introduction to identify the research problem

Skim Experimental for methods

Skim Discussion for interpretation

Reading strategies Re-read critically

Over 5 days of reverse bias

reliability testing the current of

the devices increased from 32 μA

to 43 μA (Figure 2). This rise in

current may be explained by…

Is this information fact or opinion?

0

10

20

30

40

50

1 2 3 4 5Time (days)

Cu

rren

t (μ

A) Fact

Opinion




the devices increased from 32 μA

to 43 μA (Figure 2). This rise in

current may be explained by…

Is the information true / false?

0

10

20

30

40

50


Cu

rren

t (μ

A)

Multiple devices tested.

Where are error bars?




the devices increased from 32 ±

10 μA to 43 ± 17 μA (Figure 2).

This rise in current may be

explained by…

Do you agree / disagree with the opinion?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Cu

rren

t (μ

A)

What happens after 5 days? Is this real?

Activity 2 (2-3)

Please see Activity 2 (2-3) in your Workbook

Section 3

Presenting your work

Presentations When should you

present your work?

Before you publish

After you publish

Conferences, Seminars, Lab Meetings, Journal Clubs

Conferences, Seminars, Press Conferences, Media Enquiries, Media Interviews,

Social Media, Open Days, Public Education

Presentations Advantages of presenting

Before publishing

Identify new trends Meet similar researchers

Get advice Identify problems, gauge

interest

After publishing Actively promote your

article Advice on future

directions

Networking with researchers

Networking with journal editors

Poster presentations


Benefits of poster presentations

Gives you the opportunity to interact with other researchers

Allows you to share pre-published results with your peers (don’t let them read!)

Allows you to discuss one-on-one with other researchers about your study

• More interactive than oral presentations • Improve discussing your research in English • Help build international collaborations


Logo Short Descriptive Title of Your Research

Authors and Affiliations

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Methods

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Poor poster layout

Results Discussion

Model


Logo Short Descriptive Title of Your Research

Authors and Affiliations

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Results

Methods References

Discussion Results

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 3 Fig. 6

Model

Aims

Good poster layout

Poster presentations Poster formatting

Colors

• 2–3 colors maximum, 300 dpi CMYK • Light background with dark letters

• Title: 85 pt • Authors: 50 pt • Headings: 36–44 pt • Text: 24–34 pt

• Read from 1.5 m • Use sans serif font

(e.g., Arial; not serif)

Font

Poster presentations Preparing your poster

Important points to include

Not necessary

Brief introduction General methodology Main results (specific

methods/findings in legends)

Brief discussion Put conclusion at eye

level!

Abstract Detailed methods Many references

Prefer pictures and bullets to text!

Poster presentations Example poster

Clear title

Concise Introduction

Schematics

Graphical Methods

Large figures with clear

figure legends

Bullet point Conclusion with model

Contact info

Oral presentations

Oral presentations

Younger/ Broader

• More introduction • More graphics (e.g., methodology) • Simpler explanation of results • Clearer/broader implications

Experienced/ Specialized

• Less introduction • More data and figures • Detailed implications • Future research directions

Match experience level and area of expertise

Keep your audience in mind

Tell a story…Beginning, Middle, End

Oral presentations Beginning

Brief introduction

Background information

Aims of your study

Use pictures and diagrams

Oral presentations Middle

Methods

Flow chart or schematic

Figures

Important results, organized clearly

Oral presentations End

Conclusions

Summary and implications

Future directions

How is this being further developed?

Oral presentations Slide layout

Font

• Sans serif (e.g., Arial, not serif) • 40 pt for titles • 30+ pt for major points • 24+ pt for minor points

Layout

• Limit 8 lines of text per slide • Use bullet points, not sentences • Organize and align clearly • 72 ppi, RGB

Well-designed slides show that you care about the presentation

Oral presentations Bullet points

You should never write complete sentences like this on your slides. Therefore, try to use bullet points instead to

communicate your ideas to your audience. Bullet points are also a great way to list the main points for your

audience on the slide. However, it can also be boring for them as well. If this happens, you can quickly lose the

attention of your audience. As we discussed earlier, once you lose the attention of your audience, your

presentation is essentially over and you have not communicated the significance or relevance of your work to

them. Another problem with bullet points is that it might suggest hierarchy in the list that you are sharing with

your audience, which can be misleading for your audience. They may assume that the first point is more

important that the last point, when this may not necessarily be the case. Lastly, having one large block of text to

read takes more time for your audience and can be more difficult, especially for non-native English attendees.

Serif font style (Times New Roman)

Font is too small (14 point)

Full sentences (unnecessary text)

Written as paragraph

Oral presentations Bullet points

Advantages

• Are easier to read than sentences • Are a good way to list information

Disadvantages

• Can be boring – Can lose your audience’s attention

• Can suggest hierarchy • Can still be difficult to read

• Sentence fragments

• Parallel grammar

• 2 levels of bullets

• 26/32 point font; bold

• Color

Oral presentations

Don’t let the audience read ahead

Focus the attention of your audience

Animate simply: appear, fade, wipe

Don’t distract from your information!

Animation & graphics

Contrasting colors, easy to read

Simple and organized

For information, not decoration

For pictures, use compressed images

Presentation skills

Presentation skills Before you present…

Most important thing you can do…

Practice

Learn your presentation, don’t read it

Don’t memorize, these are your ideas

Practice alone and with others, record yourself

Practice builds confidence!

Presentation skills

Presentation tips – Appear confident

Non-verbal

Use hand gestures

Make eye contact Always face

your audience

Smile!

Stand upright

Don’t be stiff, move naturally

Presentation skills

Presentation tips – Speaking style

Verbal

Avoid filler words

Pause for emphasis

Speak slowly

Show enthusiasm

Vary tone and pitch

Don’t talk to the screen

Presentation skills

Start positive and get their attention early

Never read your title slide

Start with what is important about your talk

Say what the implications are Keep your audience in mind! For long talks: make an Agenda or Goals list

(sets direction; activates prior knowledge)

Never apologize for your English or for being nervous!

Presentation skills Start positive

Introduction

Thank the organizers

Opening comments

Start your presentation

“I would like to thank [organizer] for kindly inviting me here today.”

“I’m very happy to be able to speak to you today.”

“Today, I would like to talk about...”

Presentation skills Develop your story

Body of presentation

Introduce the sections

Start the sections

Summarize each section

“This is how I will discuss...” “As you can see, my presentation

is divided into four sections.”

“First, I would like to discuss...” “In this section, I will show that…”

“I’d like to summarize the main findings from this section.”

“…So that’s what we found when...”

• It is well known that… • It has been reported

that… • It has been found that… • In this method, it is

important to note that…

Presentation skills

Figures – Guide the audience

Describing data/figures

Introduce the figures

Talk about the data

Focus on important information

“Now, I’d like to show you data from our recent experiments.”

“What we did here was…”

“Here, you can see...” “The top graph shows…”

“Here’s…”, “On this axis is...”

“I’d like to draw your attention to...” “There are three things to note…”

• It can be seen that… • It is clear from these

experiments that… • It seems that… • It was found that…

Presentation skills

Finishing your presentation

Conclusions

Conclusion & Implications/Future

Thank people

“In conclusion, the main findings of this study are...”

Thank the audience: “Thank you for your attention today.”

Acknowledge assistance: “I’d like to thank the people who

were involved in this project.”

“I’d now be happy to answer any questions that you may have.”

Invite questions

• It can be concluded that…

• It can be implied that… • It is expected that…

Presentation skills Answering questions

1. Thank the audience member

2. Understand the question

3. Repeat/rephrase the question

4. Answer the question (be concise!)

5. Ensure you have answered the question

6. Thank the audience member again

Gives you time to think

of the answer!

Activity 3

This activity will be explained in class

Publication Ethics

Section 4

Customer Service Publication ethics

Always follow ethics guidelines

Good publication ethics

State conflicts of interest

No plagiarism or redundancy

Clear author contributions

No fabrication or falsification

Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE

Customer Service Publication ethics Four criteria for authorship

1. Significantly involved in study design, data collection/analysis

2. Writing and revising the manuscript

3. Approval of final version

4. Responsible for the content (accuracy and integrity)

http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html

Customer Service Publication ethics Gift/ghost authorship

Making someone an author when they do not deserve it (friends, colleagues, etc.)

Gift authorship

• Try to make paper more prestigious by adding a “big name” • Adding the department head to every paper from their department • Thanking someone for a contributed material

Not making someone an author when they do deserve it

Ghost authorship • Hide conflict of interest by excluding an author (e.g., company

employee); hide contribution by junior members (e.g., students) [People who helped write the paper should be included in the Acknowledgements or else they are “ghost writers”]


Acknowledgements

Nugraha et al. Biomaterials. 2011; 32: 6982–6994.

Thank those who have made positive contributions

Funding agencies (some journals have a

separate Funding section)


What are they?

Conflicts of interest (COIs)

Financial or personal relationships that may bias your research

Being objective is essential in scientific research


Personal COIs

You are researching a new drug, and your spouse works for the drug company

Biased for personal reasons

You are writing a review on animal research, and you are an active member of PETA*

*People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals


Financial COIs

You are researching a new material, and…

• an author works for the company making the material

• the company funded your study

• an author owns stock in the company

Biased for financial reasons


A company is funding your research

Avoiding conflicts of interest

What should you do?

• State the company’s role in the study design • State the company’s role in data analysis • State the company’s role in manuscript writing • Should be disclosed in the cover letter

Some journals will ask you to include a statement such as: “I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility

for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis”*

*http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/ author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html


An author works at the company

Avoiding conflicts of interest

What should you do?

• Ensure study design not unfairly manipulated • Ensure author is blinded during data analysis • Restrict role of the author in manuscript writing • Should be addressed BEFORE study begins! • Should be disclosed in the cover letter

Customer Service Publication ethics Does disclosing COIs lead to rejection?

No! It makes the journal editor aware of the COIs and confident that you were not biased in your study

Not declaring a COI during submission may lead to the rejection or retraction of your paper

Journal editors may or may not publish these COIs along with your article


Sequential submissions

Author Editor Reviewer 1 wk

4 wks 2 wks

Total ~2 months

3 journals = over 6 months!


Multiple submissions

Author Editor2 Reviewer2

3 journals = ~2 months!

Editor1 Reviewer1

Editor3 Reviewer3

You can submit your manuscript to only one journal at a time


Why is it unethical?

Wastes editors’ time & resources

• After first acceptance, have to withdraw submission from the others

• Damages your reputation with publishers

Duplicate publication • It will be noticed in the field; copyright problems • One or both articles may be retracted • Wastes time and damages your reputation with both

the publisher and your peers


You can submit to another journal only if:

You have been rejected by the first journal You have formally withdrawn the submission

When can you submit to another journal?

Customer Service Publication ethics Can you publish a paper translated into English?

What do you need to do?

1. Obtain permission from the first publisher

2. Tell journal editor of English journal: – You already obtained permission to re-publish – Why necessary to publish in English

3. Cite the original publication

Note: many journal editors will not be interested in publishing non-original articles


Salami publishing

Don’t slice your research to increase your

publication output!

One study

4 publications

Why unethical? Readers will not have access to all the relevant information to

critically evaluate the study


Salami publishing

One study

4 publications

Same sample population Same controls Experiments concurrent Dependent results

Distinct populations Different controls Experiments sequential Independent results

One larger paper will have more impact in the field and more citations!


Makes readers think others’ words or ideas are your own

Copying published text (even with a citation)

Stating ideas of someone else without citing the source

Plagiarism


Copying text that you have written and published before into your manuscript

Self-plagiarism

May violate copyright

Makes readers think you are presenting something new


Expressing published ideas using different words

Paraphrasing

Tips on paraphrasing:

• Write the text first into another language, and then later translate back into English

• Verbally explain ideas to a colleague • Name a published method and cite it • Consider text location

– Introduction vs. Discussion

Customer Service Publication ethics Paraphrasing 1

“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are altered temporally under different land

uses.”

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

Use synonyms


“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are altered temporally under different land

uses.”

The size of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed temporally under different land uses.24

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

Use synonyms


The size of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed temporally under different land uses.24

The size of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

Change word class

• Nouns verbs • Adjectives nouns • Adverbs prepositional phrases


The size of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24

Changes in chemical, biological, or physical processes over time under different land uses affect the size of the carbon storage change.24

24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.

Change vocabulary and word order

A depends on B

B affects A


Activity 4: Paraphrasing

Effective writing

Section 5

Effective writing Language requirements

Journals are clear regarding their English requirements

American Chemical Society: Manuscripts with grammar or language usage deficiencies are handicapped during the scientific review process and may be returned to the author for rewriting before peer review or before acceptance.

Royal Society of Chemistry: A manuscript may be returned to the author(s) without external review if…the quality of the English in the manuscript is so poor as to render the science presented unclear.

Effective writing High readability

Your reader should…

Understand your logic immediately

Not have to read slowly

Only have to read once

Effective writing

Readers expect…

verbs to closely follow their subjects heavy ends (not starts) of clauses

Subject

The device leakage current on transistors fabricated on SiO2 with different self-assembled monolayers decreased by two orders of magnitude after annealing.

The transistors were fabricated on SiO2 with different self-assembled monolayers. The device leakage current decreased by two orders of magnitude after annealing.

Verb

Write clear sentences

Effective writing

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode for molecular sensing applications, having a high surface area and uniform porous structure, was synthesized by using electrospray deposition.

Readers become confused when the subject and verb are separated by too much content

Subject-verb placement

What is the subject of the sentence?

What is the verb of the sentence?

Effective writing

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode for molecular sensing applications, having a high surface area and uniform porous structure, was synthesized by using electrospray deposition.



Effective writing

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications. The electrode had a high surface area and uniform porous structure.



Effective writing

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications. The electrode had a high surface area and uniform porous structure.



?

?

Effective writing

In this study, we used electrospray deposition to synthesize a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode for molecular sensing applications. The electrode had a high surface area and uniform porous structure.



Active > Passive Subject-verb closeness Heavy end > heavy start Method – Purpose logic

Effective writing Active voice

Sentences written in the active voice are:

simple direct clear easy to read

The mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity were investigated.

Passive

We investigated the mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity.

Active

Effective writing

Avoid reader confusion

Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?

In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.

Effective writing


Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?

Passive voice


Effective writing


Tunn et al. developed electrospray methods to enhance sensitivity.3


Part of the Introduction

Effective writing





Who did the work in this study?

The author ? Tunn et al. ?

Effective writing




In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.

Effective writing Journals prefer the active voice

“Use the active voice when it is less wordy and more direct than the passive”. (3rd ed., pg. 42)

“Use the active voice rather than the passive voice…”. www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/effective-verb-use.aspx

“As a matter of style, passive voice is typically, but not always, inferior to active voice”. (15th ed., pg. 177)

“In general, authors should use the active voice…”. (10th ed., pg. 320)

ACS Style Guide

APA Style

Chicago Style Guide

AMA Manual of Style

“Nature journals prefer…the active voice…” (http://www.nature.com/authors/author_resources/how_write.html)

Nature

Effective writing Use strong verbs

…estimation?

…decision?

…confirmation?

We made a…

Subject Verb

Still no idea what this sentence is about! …cake?

Effective writing Use strong verbs

We estimated…

We decided…

We confirmed…

We made a…

Subject Verb

Still no idea what this sentence is about! Clear and direct


Activity 5: Effective writing

Effective writing

Nature’s guide to authors:

Nature is an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language.

www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/index.html#a4

“I should use complex words to make my writing more impressive.”

Effective writing

To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the participants upon completion.

Simple language

Effective writing

To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the participants upon completion.

To determine the success of the program, we questioned the participants upon completion.

Simple language

Effective writing Complex words to avoid

Prefer Enough Clear Determine Begin Try Very Size Keep Enough End Use

Avoid Adequate Apparent Ascertain Commence Endeavor Exceedingly Magnitude* Retain Sufficient Terminate* Utilization *OK in certain fields (magnitude of earthquakes, to terminate gene expression)

Effective writing

Avoid At a concentration of 2 g/L At a temperature of 37C At a wavelength of 340 nm In order to In the first place Four in number Green color Subsequent to Prior to

Prefer At 2 g/L At 37C At 340 nm To First Four Green After Before

Unnecessary words

Effective writing

In the first place, in order to determine the critical point of the material, we incubated it at a

temperature of 95°C until it became black in color.

In the first place, in order to determine the critical point of the material, we incubated it at a

temperature of 95°C until it became black in color.

First, to determine the critical point of the material, we incubated it at 95°C until it became black.

28 words

18 words

Unnecessary words

Effective writing

“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”

“...as described in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”

“As a matter of fact, such a low-temperature reaction…”

“That is another reason why, we believe…”

“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...”

Unnecessary words

“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”

“...as described previously in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”

“As a matter of fact, such a This low-temperature reaction…”

“That is another reason why Therefore, we believe…”

“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...”

Effective writing

Data is the plural form of datum

Don’t forget: “Data” is plural

The data was analyzed...

The data were analyzed…

Effective writing

Compared with is for saying how things are different

The accuracy of the new program was reduced

compared to the previous program.

The accuracy of the new program was reduced compared with that of the previous program.

The accuracy of the new program was lower than that of the previous program.

Avoid mistakes

Effective writing Stress position

Readers focus at the end of the sentence to determine what is important.

1. You deserve a raise, but the budget is tight.

Which sentence suggests that you

will get a raise?

2. The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise.

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/

Effective writing

The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise. Your salary

will increase at the beginning of next year.

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/

Stress position Topic position

The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence

The stress position also introduces the topic of the next sentence

Stress position

Effective writing

TiO2 surface modification of the scaffold considerably

improved its catalytic efficiency. The increased efficiency was

prominent early in the reaction but decreased over time. The

lack of long-term effects of TiO2 surface modification was likely

due to the reaction being conducted in an aqueous

environment. Evaluating additional solvents to improve the

catalytic efficiency over time is currently being investigated.

idea idea idea idea

Topic link

sentence

Academic English writing style

Effective writing

One method of producing carbon fibre precursors, with the potential of commercial applicability, is electrospinning. It has previously been demonstrated that electrospinning can successfully produce precursor fibres that can be converted into high quality carbon fibres with controlled fibre diameters and morphologies. The majority of electrospun carbon fibre precursors reported in the literature are PAN-based. The high cost of PAN, depleting petroleum resources and the toxicity of its solvent, dimethylformamide, has motivated research to look into alternative electrospinnable materials to produce cheaper and more environmentally friendly carbon fibres. Because petroleum-based carbon resources exhibit negative environmental impacts and are of limited availability further motivates research towards green carbon fibres.

Recently, a wide range of renewable resource-based materials have been investigated for the fabrication of carbon materials. Among them, lignin has been looked at as a very promising candidate…

Schreiber et al. J Mater Sci. 2014; 49: 7949–7958.

Topic sentence

Stress sentence Topic sentence

Supporting sentences

Sentence and paragraph structure

Choosing the right journal

Section 6

Journal selection

1. After you have written your manuscript?

2. Before you write your manuscript?

When should you choose a journal?

Journal selection Choose your journal first!

Author guidelines • Manuscript structure • Word limits, referencing • Procedures, copyright

Aims and scope • Topics • Readership • Be sure to emphasize

Relevant references Writing style

Journal selection Novelty

Incremental advance Conceptual advance

Blouin, N.; Michaud, A. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 732-742. Umeda, T.; Hashimoto Y. et al. Synth. Met. 2005, 152, 1-3, 93-96

IF: 11.444 IF: 2.222

Journal selection Factors to consider when

choosing a journal

Aims & scope, Readership

Publication speed/frequency

Online/Print, Open access

Indexing, Rank, Impact factor

Acceptance rate/criteria

Article type / evidence level

“Luxury” / Traditional / Megajournal

Online first, Supplemental materials, Cost

Fast track

Journal selection Aims & Scope

Discusses the research topics that are published by the journal

Aims & scope The Journal of Physical Chemistry A publishes studies on kinetics and dynamics; spectroscopy, photochemistry, and excited states; environmental and atmospheric chemistry, aerosol processes, geochemistry, and astrochemistry; and molecular structure, quantum chemistry, and general theory.

Journal selection Readership

Discusses the types of researchers that read the journal regularly

Readership Material scientists, chemists, physicists,

ceramicists, engineers, metallurgists

Journal selection Publication models

Subscription-based

• Mostly free for the author • Reader has to pay

Open access • Free for the reader • Author usually has to pay

Hybrid • Subscription-based journal • Has open access options

Journal selection Open access myths

Open access (OA) is expensive and low quality

• Not all OA journals charge a fee

• Many research grants and universities pay for OA fees

• Journals may offer waiver for authors who cannot afford it

• OA journals are peer reviewed

• Impact factors may be lower partly because they are newer

Journal selection Predatory journals

Some Open Access journals are not good

Easy way to get money from authors

• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a “submission/handling” fee • May copy name of real journal; false IF • May not exist, or may be of low quality • Beware of spam e-mails!

If you are ever unsure, please check Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers

http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/01/02/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2015/

Journal selection

a

Reputable publisher Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, PLoS, etc.

Editorial board International and familiar

Indexed Indexed by common databases

Authors Do you recognize the authors?

Fees Paid only after acceptance

Trustworthy journals

Journal selection

THINK Trusted and appropriate?

SUBMIT Only if OK

thinkchecksubmit.org

CHECK Do you know the journal?

Trustworthy journals

Journal selection Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

Insert your proposed abstract or keywords

Journal selection

Matching journals

Filter/Sort by: • Field of study • Impact factor, SCI • Open access • Publishing

frequency

Journal’s aims & scope, IF,

and publication frequency

Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

Journal selection

• Author guidelines • Journal website

Are they currently publishing similar articles?

Similar published articles

Have you cited any of these articles?

Shows the editor that your study builds on research

already published in their journal

Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

S

Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to publish, but also to be widely read and cited

Prepare well for academic publishing

Read effectively

Write your ideas clearly for your audience

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Andrew Jackson: [email protected] Trevor Lane: [email protected]

Kate Harris: [email protected]

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160109 Edanz Kyushu

Education

Transcript of 160109 Edanz Kyushu