1、Pointers on Preparing Papers for Professional Publication: A Perspective from a Researcher, Reviewer, and Editor Patrick A. Cabe, Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Pembroke,About US 关于我们,2,波士顿， 美国,English Language Editing 论文英语母语化润色,Manuscript Formatting 论文格式整理,Professional Translation 论文专业翻译,Sub
2、ject-specific Editing 同行资深专家修改润色,中国 上海,3,我们已经成功完成 10,000+ 项目，帮助发表数以千计的科技论文。 We have assisted many international researchers and delivered over 10,000 projects in the past three years.,About US 关于我们,27: 1298-1308 (2012),57: 794-802 (2012),91: 849862 (2012),134: 10803-10806 (2012),9: e1003231 (2013),3
3、1: 838850 (2013),4: 1424 (2013),97: 1371-1374 (2012),9: 175-195 (2013),86: 13841-13842 (2012),47: 946-956 (2013),18: 290297 (2013),4,OUR PRIMARY AIM: Helping you develop publishable research papersHow to achieve that aim: Choosing research problems Writing up your results Interacting with journals G
4、eneral tips for improving your writing Some common writing and style issues,Overview,My suggestions come from my experience as a reviewer, editor, and teacher.,5,Choosing research problems,What makes a research problem worth working on? Historical importance viewed as important over many years, but
5、still not completely settled Theoretical importance tests some proposition derived from theory (Q: Is the theory itself important?), esp. if the test can falsify the theory Practical importance helps solve/resolve some problem that has practical significance,Trivial, unimportant, dead-end research p
6、roblems take just as much time, effort, and resources as good problems are harder to get published, especially in high visibility journals,Choose problems wisely! Research is expensive. Your time can never be replaced.,Choosing research problems,6,A good general plan for an individual paper: Experim
7、ent 1: Demonstrate the effect Further experiments: (Partial) replications + extensions to test reliability, robustness of the effect probe generalizability of the effect resolve possible confounds address alternative explanations The best papers, in the best journals, often report multiple related e
8、xperimentsChain such papers into a series of related papers,7,Writing up your results,Gather your writing tools Journal guidelines for your target journal Disciplinary style manual (e.g., APA, AMA, ICMJE) Dictionaries (standard, specialized) Thesaurus, synonym finder General grammar and usage guides
9、,8,Writing up your results,Choosing a target journal: Questions to ask How important are your results? Which journals publish results similar to yours? Your experience Journals you cite Does the manuscript fit journal requirements? Content specificity, journal scope Single vs. multiple experiments L
10、ength limits,9,Writing up your results,Develop a priority list of target journals, based on: Acceptance and rejection rates Impact factors (high impact factor = high rejection rate) Review and publication lags Electronic availability/open access Indexing Publication costs Guidance from a professiona
11、l editing service might be helpfulConsider “aiming high,” submitting to a journal better than you think will accept your paper.,10,General pointers: CONTROL THE THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL ALWAYS follow journal style requirements closely Papers can be rejected solely for manuscript preparation deficienci
12、es Content Style Language DONT RELY ON YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECKER! Remember quality of your publication is ultimately YOUR responsibility NOT the editors NOT the reviewers NOT the publishers,Writing up your results,Mistakes in the published paper are YOUR mistakes. and they are there forever!
13、,11,Writing up your results,Plagiarism, Duplicate publication, Piece-meal publication Plagiarism: Presenting another authors writing as your own Many journals routinely check the internet makes that easy Plagiarism can destroy a reputation and career The ONLY solution is to use appropriate direct qu
14、otation or paraphrasing Duplicate publication: Publishing the same data in more than one paper Unethical, irresponsible, and a disservice to your discipline and profession Journals may bar authors who are caught Piece-meal publication (salami slicing): Publishing parts of a larger research project i
15、n several smaller papers It is unethical and wastes journal resources It is a disservice to the discipline Combine related studies into a single, more comprehensive reportBOTTOM LINE: PRACTICE ETHICAL BEHAVIOR,12,Writing up your results,Title Aim for Clarity Informativeness BrevityA big issue is ele
16、ctronic retrieval that depends on title words,The title is the first filter readers use to decide if your article is worth reading,13,Writing up your results,TitleA generic model for titles: The effect of variable X on variable Y, under conditions C1Cn, for population P,14,Writing up your results,Ab
17、stract Objective: Amplify title Common problems Length: Stay within journal word limits Subheads often are wasted words (unless required) References: Generally omit them Too much detail (e.g., statistical information) Undefined abbreviations or acronyms EditorializingThe abstract is the second filte
18、r readers use to decide if your article is worth reading,15,Writing up your results,Introduction State a clear research question Use the funnel plan broad to specific issues Connections to theory Connections to existing literature Clear definition of an empirical gap your results fill Clearly state
19、your hypothesis(es) In terms of constructs In terms of specific operationalizations Use “ifthen” statements Emphasize novelty and surprisingness of results Dont hide the punch line! You are writing history, not mystery!,16,Writing up your results,Methods Participants Identify participant population
20、and sample adequately Describe Recruitment (inclusion, exclusion criteria) Assignment to test conditions Any motivational considerations Always acknowledge compliance with ethical standards Apparatus, materials, instruments: Provide adequate detail, background Procedure: Clearly describe all steps C
21、riterion for the Methods section: Readers could replicate the experiment, given the Methods section and reasonable common knowledge,17,Writing up your results,Results Clearly separate chunks of the results (subheads help) General flow: global to more specific statistical tests Focus on how statistic
22、s address hypotheses Draw conclusions “Marginally significant differences” = ZERO differences Follow journal style for statistical reporting Figures, tables stand alone - dont repeat text materialStatistics are work-horses, not window dressing,18,Writing up your results,Discussion Use the inverted f
23、unnel plan more specific to broader issues Summarize the findings Re-emphasize novelty, surprisingness Connect results to literature (how results fill an empirical gap) Connect results to theory Interpret results (but minimize speculation),The Discussion section is (often) the third filter readers u
24、se to decide how useful your paper is,19,Writing up your results,Anticipate reviewer objectionsSuggest possible practical applications Suggest future research directions, next steps: Some possibilities Change the IV (including parametric changes) Change the DV Change conditions Change the population
25、 (cross-cultural studies are immediate possibilities),20,Dealing with journals,Some general points: Journals want to ACCEPT papers, not reject them. WHY? Demand Around 25,000 peer-reviewed journals Publishing 1 - 2 million articles a year Many publishers are in business to make a profit Manuscripts
26、are free raw materials (but expensive to you!) Much labor is donated (editors, reviewers) Institutions may subsidize editor efforts KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER: Follow journal guidelines for submission EXACTLY Practice good language skills Make your paper as near perfect as you can (but expect to make re
27、visions) Make it easy for the reviewers and editors to like your paper,21,Dealing with journals,Reviewer Context Volunteer labor Try to be fair Competition for their time Likely to look for shortcuts What looks good is good Known is better than unknown News is better surprise, novelty Using this per
28、spective Recommend reviewers Highlight importance relative to theory, existing knowledge, practical problems Highlight novelty, surprisingness Perfect language, perfect style, perfect mechanically,22,Dealing with journals,Questions reviewers want to see answered Is there a clear research question? W
29、hy is it important? Does the work fill a gap in the existing literature? Is the logic of the research adequate to answer the research question? Is the methodology appropriate for the research question? Do the results adequately address the hypotheses? Are interpretations consistent with the design,
30、the data, and the literature? Is the research explained clearly and understandably (language, readability)? Are the results novel, surprising? Does the paper conform to journal style guidelines?The confused mind says “No!” Dont confuse reviewers or editors.,23,Dealing with journals,Submission cover
31、letters Some guidelines (electronic submission portals often ask about these issues) Use the editors name and the title of the journal Include manuscript details (title, word count, numbers of figures and tables) BRIEFLY, tell why the paper is worth publishing (importance, novelty, surprisingness, r
32、obustness) Recommend preferred, non-preferred reviewers: Tap your network Affirm the paper is not under consideration elsewhere Affirm conformity with ethical requirements (use available protocols) Acknowledge potential conflicts of interest Include contact information for corresponding author,24,De
33、aling with journals,Submission cover letters Potential problem areas to avoid Using a form letter “Dear editor” (editors have names!) “Your honored journal” (it has a title!) Including too much information about the content of the paper (dont copy-and-paste the abstract!) Leaving out administrative
34、and mechanical details (help the editor manage the manuscript!) Using an obsequious, pleading tone (respect yourself and your work!),25,Dealing with journals,Dealing with the review process Initial contacts Its okay to contact editors, especially about paper appropriateness DO recommend reviewers in
35、 your cover letter People who know you and your past work People whose work is related to your own Mention people who you would prefer not to be reviewers Waitingthe hard part! Give the reviewers and editor time to do their work If the time seems excessive, inquire politely,Eventually, you get THE B
36、IG DECISION!,26,Dealing with journals,27,Dealing with journals,Response letters with re-submissions Google search: “how to respond to manuscript reviewers“ yielded 2 million hits DONT WRITE IN ANGER! DONT ATTACK THE EDITOR OR REVIEWERS! Common elements of response letters Express appreciation for th
37、e reviewers time and effort Answer every point every reviewer makes Indicate where revisions have been made and their nature Organize your responses (possibly parallel columns) Categories of response to reviewer comments “I see the reviewers point and have revised the ms. in the following way“ “I do
38、 not agree with the reviewer, for the following reason(s), and have left the original wording.“ “I dont understand the reviewers point and therefore dont know what changes to make“ The response letter is as important as the revised manuscript!,28,Some common writing and style issues,Mostly language
39、(grammar, syntax, and spelling) problems Long sentences, long paragraphs, big words Check average sentence length aim for about 15 20 words/sentence Check readability: AS A ROUGH GUIDE, aim for Flesch score ca. 30 (lower is harder to read) Flesch-Kincaid 16 (higher is harder to read Use good judgeme
40、nt about these numbers Alternate short, simple sentences with longer, more complex ones,29,Passive voice sentence construction Example: “It has been established that” (by whom?) Passive voice often leaves agent ambiguous often uses more words Prefer active voice: “Past researchers have established”
41、Okay to use personal pronouns (I, we) to achieve active voice,Some common writing and style issues,Mostly language (grammar, syntax, and spelling) problems,30,Mostly language (grammar, syntax, and spelling) problems Unclear pronoun antecedents Example: “Participants completed three tests. They indic
42、ated” Generally, pronoun refers to the most recently occurring noun When in doubt, repeat the nounArticles (a, an, the) “a” and “an” are used to indicate one of many possible instances “a” where the noun begins with a consonant sound “an” when the noun begins with a vowel sound “the” is used to indi
43、cate a particular instance,Some common writing and style issues,31,Some common writing and style issues,Mostly language (grammar, syntax, and spelling) problems Number disagreement (subject-verb, noun-pronoun) Subject-verb: singular subject, plural verb; plural subject, singular verb Examples: “The
44、set of responses include” (subject is “set,” not “responses”) “The colors of the rainbow is” (subject is “colors,” not “rainbow”) The verb must agree with the subject, not just the closest noun Noun-pronoun: singular noun, plural pronoun; plural noun, singular pronoun Examples: “Everyone forgot thei
45、r notebook” (“everyone” is singular; “their” is plural) “Neurons are polar units and it fires in only one direction” (“neurons” is plural; “it” is singular) The pronoun must agree with the actual referent, not just the closest noun,32,Some common writing and style issues,Mostly language (grammar, sy
46、ntax, and spelling) problems Punctuation, especially commas Commas can completely change the sense of a sentence Example: “The panda eats, shoots, and leaves”: Now, remove the commas! “The panda eats shoots and leaves” Removing the commas turns VERBS (“shoots,” “leaves”) into NOUNS English has many
47、words that can be both nouns and verbs! Example: “Woman, without her man is nothing.” (Put in a second comma!) “Woman, without her man, is nothing.” OR “Woman, without her, man is nothing.”,33,Comma splices Joining two complete sentences with only a comma to separate them Use a semi-colon, or a peri
48、od and start a new sentence Incomplete sentences Lack a subject or predicate Often dependent clauses that should be attached to preceding sentence Example: “The data showed an effect of the IV. Which supported the hypothesis.” Reword to add a subject or predicate, or connect the clause to the preced
49、ing sentence Verb tenses Present tense to describe current states of affairs, circumstances Past tense to describe completed actions, past circumstances,Some common writing and style issues,34,Some common writing and style issues,Mostly language (grammar, syntax, and spelling) problems Spelling prob
50、lems Homographs: words spelled the same, sound different, different meaning Examples: lead (guide, metal); bass (voice, fish); does (performs, deer) Homophones: spelled differently, sound the same, different meaning Ex: read/reed; by/buy; sight/site/cite; rain/rein/reign; there/their/theyre Confusab
51、le words Ex: affect/effect, advice/advise, adapt/adopt, and many more! Words with multiple meanings Ex: knot, bank, fine Irregular verbs (is, was, were; go, went) Irregular noun plurals: mouse, mice (but not house, hice) Phonemic spelling (“meens” for “means;” “fotograph” for “photograph”) Typos: missing letters, letters in the wrong order, added letters A word may be correct in one context and misspelled in another Spell checkers will not catch those!,
