1、The EZ way to write a prospectus, thesis, publishable paper,John M. Hoenig, Ph.D. Department of Fisheries Science,The EZ Way to Write a Prospectus,Define the problemSay what youre going to doSay what you need,4) Show youve reviewed the literature, but only in context of 1, 2, & 3,All you need to do
2、is,11 - 15 pages, MAX!,(but check with your committee),Can you believe its so simple?,Do you understand the problem and its complexities? Will your approach work? Are you reinventing the wheel?You have no business going in the lab or the field if you dont know what youre going to do. Are you familia
3、r with the procedures?Are you going to be able to get the data, specimens, equipment youll need?,Think of the purpose of the prospectus: your committee wants to know,What if you dont stick to the plan in the prospectus?,Its an action plan, not a contract. Unforseeable problems arise. Plans change. G
4、et over it. Youll be judged on whether you did good work, not on whether you stuck to the plan.Unforseeable problems happen. A good prospectus has a back-up plan.The prospectus is to help you. Done after the fact its a waste of time. Do you want to waste your committees time?,Writing a thesis or dis
5、sertation,chapter vs manuscript format,Writing a thesis or dissertation,Introduction (review of literature) All Materials and Methods All Results All Discussion,Chapter format the old way to do it,Complete rewrite to publish this!,Short(er) Introduction (define the problem) Manuscript 1 (in format f
6、or journal 1)IntroductionMaterials & Methods Results & Discussion Manuscript 2 (in format for journal 2)Introductionetc. Concluding chapter (pull things together),Manuscript format the modern way,Some things in the thesis wont go in the published version (maybe put them in an appendix),Use this to y
7、our advantage: things you dont want in the publication but that need documenting can go in the thesis (e.g., negative results),Example: youre interested in how growth of clams varies with depth, temperature and salinity but you measure 15 other environmental variables just to eliminate the possibili
8、ty that theyre influencing growth. None of the correlations are significant. Including all of these data would take up a lot of space and be tedious. So, put the results in your thesis or a technical report and simply refer to it in your journal article.,So the secret to writing a thesis is to write
9、 manuscripts. OK.So whats the secret to writing manuscripts?,Cardinal Rule: Write the paper before you do the research.,! ? !,Write the Materials and Methods first.Its easy. And you need to know what to do (preferably before you do it!),(Hopefully, you can lift this from your prospectus),Next, write
10、 the Introduction,EZ Formula: Whats the problem? Why is it of interest? How does your work contribute to an understanding of the problem?,There are other ways to write the introduction but the EZ formula works every time,Also write the Results section,! ? !,Make up plausible resultsI might see this,
11、 or this, or maybe this,How are you going to graph the data? How are you going to analyze the data? How are you going to interpret the data?,Is it unethical to write the results before you do the research?No. Its good practice. You get to- review your design- think about assumptions- anticipate prob
12、lems- plan your analysis,For the discussion section, just list points you want to remember to discuss,After the researchUpdate everything Insert resultsNow, a major portion of your thesis is already done. (This is important sitting down to write a 100 page thesis is intimidating. Having it half done
13、 makes it MUCH easier.),Generally, its easier to combine results & discussion into one section, and most journals will let you do this.,The sphaghetti problem: sometimes the ideas are all tangled up and its hard to find the start and end of the story you want to discuss,make a list of the points you
14、 want to make, in any order. Then try to put them in sequence. Then fill in with more detail. Then make an outline, & keep adding detail If youre still having problems, say your discussion instead of writing it. Do it again and again until it stabilizes. Typically, the first time itll take you 20 mi
15、nutes to explain your findings, the second time it will take 10 minutes, then 5. Then write it down.,When youre too tired to think but still want to make progress,Type up the bibliography, title page, etc. (Its got to be done sometime). Congratulations, you now have 8 of your 100 pages finished. Jus
16、t 92 left to go,Common Errors (thought police)Results occurring in introduction Results in methods section Methods in results section,EZ Publishing,Pick a journal before you start writing, and type manuscript (especially references) in the right style from the startNOTE: its i.e., e.g., (get it righ
17、t the first time)Generally, no more than 35 pages per manuscriptFigures & tables must be able to stand alone,Submit papers as early as possible for publication. Dont wait until youre about to defend.,If a paper is a “done deal” (i.e., in press) your committee probably wont give you a hard time about
18、 the paper (e.g., making you work on organization, style, etc. After all, why bother if its already in press.) Its nice to get the ms back from the journal while youre still at VIMS because it will be easier to revise “at home” than in your new surroundings after you leave VIMS.,Suggest reviewers wh
19、en you submit msWhen ms is returned by the journal- respond to all reviewers comments- make all changes you can live with- always take the high roadIf your ms is rejected - rebut reviewers errors- take your lumps if its a matter of opinion,Baseball Rule: strike 3 and youre out!If your paper is rejected, try another journal. If its rejected again, try again. If its rejected a 3rd time, throw it in the garbage. But dont give up until youve tried 3 times. (Rejections by Science and Nature dont count. Those are badges of honor.),
