20140825 Edanz Kyushu Session 1
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Transcript of 20140825 Edanz Kyushu Session 1
Kyushu University Department of Agriculture Seminar Series – Session 1
Dr Jeffrey Robens
25 August 2014
Seminar series
Session 1 Session 2
Effective writing Manuscript structure
Journal selection Cover letters
Methodology Peer review
What are your research goals?
Seminar Series Goals
Why publish? Exchange ideas globally
Your research is not complete until it is
published
Communicate on a global stage
One publication per year
International language of academics
People want to hear from Japanese
researchers
International reputation
Funding Career
advancement
Why English?
Publication success = Academic success
S
Publication Metrics and Success on the Academic Job Market van Dijk et al. Current Biology. 2014; 24: R516-R517.
• >25,000 researchers in PubMed • Determined which factors positively correlated
with academic success
• Number of publications • Impact factor of the journal • Number of citations • University ranking • Gender
Publication output of Japan
S
www.scimagojr.com
1.37
14.57
1.58
4.87
Publication output of Kyushu University
S
www.scimagojr.com
~1.7
Top 5 journals for Kyushu University
S
www.scimagojr.com
Journal name Number of articles
Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 1115
Chemistry Letters 614
Lecture Notes in Computer Sciences 569
Journal of Biological Chemistry 503
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan 403
What do international journal editors want?
Interesting to journal’s readership
Increase impact
High quality research
Original and novel research
Clear and concise English
Real-world applications
Relevant topic
Significant results
Logical presentation
High readability
Addresses an important problem researchers are facing
Findings that advance the knowledge in the field
Information and results clearly presented in a logical manner
Ideas are easily understood
Qualities of a well-written article
Professional writing skills
Section 1
Writing skills Use your figures to structure your manuscript
Where to start?
Your findings are why you want to publish your work
Form the basis of your manuscript
First step, is to logically organize your findings
Figure 1
Figure 2
Table 1
Figure 3
Logical presentation
Is anything missing? ? Additional analyses?
Writing skills
Where to start?
Your findings are why you want to publish your work
Form the basis of your manuscript
First step, is to logically organize your findings
Figure 1
Figure 2
Table 1
Figure 3
Figure 4
Logical presentation
New data
Use your figures to structure your manuscript
Writing skills Prepare an outline
Now that you know what findings you are going to present, you know what you need to write about
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
What background information you will introduce
What techniques you will describe
What findings you will discuss
What interpretations, limitations, and implications you will discuss
Writing skills Prepare an outline
I. Introduction A. General background B. Related studies C. Problems in the field D. Aims
II. Methods A. Subjects/Samples/Materials B. General methods C. Specific methods D. Statistical analyses
III. Results A. Key points about Figure 1 B. Key points about Table 1 C. Key points about Figure 2 D. Key points about Figure 3 E. Key points about Figure 4
IV. Discussion A. Major conclusion B. Key findings that support conclusion C. Relevance to published studies D. Limitations E. Unexpected results F. Implications G. Future directions
Knowing what you need to discuss, write down the key ideas
Use short bullet points to list ideas
Don’t let “writing correct English sentences” get in the way of outlining your ideas
List important information from your reading in the appropriate section with citations
Writing skills Prepare an outline
I. Introduction A. General background B. Related studies C. Problems in the field D. Aims
II. Methods A. Subjects/Samples/Materials B. General methods C. Specific methods D. Statistical analyses
III. Results A. Key points about Figure 1 B. Key points about Table 1 C. Key points about Figure 2 D. Key points about Figure 3 E. Key points about Figure 4
IV. Discussion A. Major conclusion B. Key findings that support conclusion C. Relevance to published studies D. Unexpected/negative findings E. Limitations F. Implications G. Future directions
What background information you will introduce
Introduction
What analyses you will describe
Methods
What findings you will present
Results
What interpretations, limitations, and implications you will discuss
Discussion
Writing skills Getting feedback
After completing your outline, discuss it with your colleagues
Make the necessary changes before you begin writing
Write your manuscript section-by-section, do not get overwhelmed by thinking about writing an entire manuscript
Set deadlines as to when the first draft of each section will be completed
Get feedback from you colleagues after each section and make changes before beginning the next section
Writing skills The ‘write’ order
Manuscript sections
• Title • Abstract • Introduction • Methods • Results • Figures • Discussion
Writing order
• Methods • Figures • Results • Discussion • Introduction • Abstract • Title
Writing skills The ‘write’ order
Methods
Figures
Results
• Write as you are doing experiments • Include any changes you’ve made • Methods sections are usually consistent
• Prepare figures after choosing journal • Repeat experiments if necessary
• Based on prepared figures • Subsections based on each figure
Writing skills The ‘write’ order
Discussion
Introduction
Abstract
• Conclusions based on presented data • Discuss relevant studies
• Narrow- or broad-focused journal • Introduce ideas necessary for
understanding the Results/Discussion
• Concisely summarize manuscript • According to author guidelines
Title • Concisely summarize key finding • Include key words
Writing skills After the first draft….
Update references
• 75% from the last 5 years • Avoid too many self citations • Include international citations
Most references Introduction
Discussion Methods Some references
No references Conclusion Abstract Results
Writing skills After the first draft….
Format manuscript
• Journal template • Word limits • Reference formatting
Revise manuscript
• Proofread • Input from colleagues • Reduce by 15% • Clear Figures/Tables • Logical flow
In groups:
1. Briefly discuss your writing strategies
2. Identify one ‘ideal’ writing strategy per group
3. Share this strategy with others
Professional writing skills
Improving readability
Section 2
Readability Japanese vs. English
scientific writing style
Japanese English
Followed by conclusion
Cause/reason comes first
Passive voice
Followed by explanation
Conclusion comes first
Active voice
Readability Reader expectations
Information is easier to understand when it is placed where readers expect to find it
Good writers are aware of these expectations
Readability Subject-verb placement
Readers expect verbs to closely follow the subject
Subject Verb
Readability Subject-verb placement
Readers expect verbs to closely follow the subject
Subject Verb
Readability Subject-verb placement
The viral infection that the patient caught on her recent trip to the outbreak-prone areas in Africa spread quickly.
The patient caught a viral infection on her recent trip to the outbreak-prone areas in Africa, and this infection spread quickly.
Readability Short sentences
Reading once… 4% of readers can understand a 27-word sentence
75% of readers can understand a 17-word sentence
Pinner and Pinner (1998) Communication Skills
Goals to aim for: One idea per sentence
15–20 words
Readability
30 words
Economists considered Tanaka Industries, a large Japanese trading corporation founded in 1916 outside of Osaka by Ichiro Tanaka, to be a model in the development of modern employee conditions worldwide.
Short sentences
Readability Short sentences
Economists considered Tanaka Industries to be a model in the development of modern employee conditions worldwide. This large Japanese trading corporation was founded in 1916 outside of Osaka by Ichiro Tanaka.
16 words
15 words
One idea per sentence
Readability Active voice
Sentences written in the active voice are:
simple direct clear easy to read
The mechanisms regulating seed dormancy were investigated.
Passive
We investigated the mechanisms regulating seed dormancy.
Active
Readability Active voice is preferred
“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 authors to write in the active voice” (http://www.nature.com/authors/author_resources/how_write.html)
Nature
Readability 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/
Readability
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
The stress position also introduces the topic of the next sentence
Stress position
Topic position
The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence
Readability Topic position
The patient went to the hospital to see a gastroenterologist. The doctor then performed a series of diagnostic tests. The results showed the patient suffered from a bacterial infection. Antibiotics were prescribed to treat the infection before the patient developed an ulcer.
idea idea idea idea
Topic link
sentence
Readability
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality for men and women. Despite smoking prevention and cessation programs and advances in early detection, the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is only 16% with current therapies. Although lung cancer incidence rates have recently declined in the United States, more lung cancer is now diagnosed when considered together in former- and never-smokers than in current smokers. Thus, even if all of the national anti-smoking campaign goals are met, lung cancer will remain a major public health problem for decades. New ways to treat or prevent lung cancer are therefore needed. One potential therapeutic target for lung cancer is the Wnt signaling pathway. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway in mammals consists of a family of secreted lipid-modified Wnt protein ligands that bind to a family of 7-pass transmembrane Frizzled (Fzd) receptors, as reviewed…
Busch et al. BMC Cancer. 2012; 13: 211.
Linking your ideas in your manuscript
Topic sentence
Stress sentence
Topic sentence
Support
Common mistakes
Section 3
Customer Service Common mistakes
Compared with is for comparing similar things
Compared to is for comparing different things
This year’s deforestation rates were compared to those from last year.
This year’s deforestation rates were compared with those from last year.
Comparisons
Customer Service Common mistakes
Use between for comparisons of two items
Use among for more than two items
‘Between’ or ‘among’?
… the only difference between the control group and the experimental group is ...
… significant differences were observed in the values among the five groups.
Customer Service Common mistakes Data is plural
Data is the plural form of datum
The data was analyzed... This data suggests…
The data were analyzed… These data suggest…
Customer Service Common mistakes
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.”
Customer Service Common mistakes Complex words
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.
Customer Service Common mistakes Simple words
Preferred Enough Clear Try Very Size Asked Keep Later Enough End Use
Avoid Adequate Apparent Endeavor Exceedingly Magnitude Requested Retain Subsequently Sufficient Terminate Utilization
Customer Service Common mistakes
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
Preferred At 2 g/L At 37C At 340 nm To First Four Green After Before
Unnecessary words
Customer Service Common mistakes
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 activity
In the paragraph in your handout, identify as many mistakes as you can
• Subject-verb placement • Short sentences • Active voice
• Common mistakes • Simple words • Unnecessary words
…and others?
A new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university was contrived. This program had three stages; to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students, once the number of local students increased, recruit students nationally, and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
A new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university was contrived. This program had three stages; to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students, once the number of local students increased, recruit students nationally, and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph. Passive voice Complex words
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages; to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students, once the number of local students increased, recruit students nationally, and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages; to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students, once the number of local students increased, recruit students nationally, and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Colon/semicolon usage
1 2
3 4
Parallel structure
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we find that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Verb tense Respectively
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase between the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Between/among
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase among the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase among the three schools. One of the many potential possibilities was that the students in school C were wealthier compared to schools A and B; therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Too long (43 words) Unnecessary words Compare with
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase among the three schools. One possibility was that the students in school C were wealthier compared with those in schools A and B. Therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase among the three schools. One possibility was that the students in school C were wealthier compared with those in schools A and B. Therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, this data suggests that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first in order to more quickly aggrandize university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Data is plural Unnecessary words Complex words
Effective writing activity
We developed a new program to increase the enrollment of students at the university. This program had three stages: to recruit at regional schools to first increase the enrollment of local students; once the number of local students increased, to recruit students nationally; and finally to recruit students internationally. In the first stage, we found that recruiting students from schools A, B, and C augmented their enrollment by 5, 9, and 22%, respectively. It was not clear why school C had a much larger increase among the three schools. One possibility was that the students in school C were wealthier compared with those in schools A and B. Therefore, they may have had more financial resources to pay the tuition fees at our university, which increased by 32% this year. Together, these data suggest that schools from wealthier areas should be targeted first to more quickly increase university enrollment.
Identify all the mistakes you can find in this paragraph.
Effective writing activity
Thank you!
Any questions?
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Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]
Journal selection
Section 4
Journal selection Timing
Choose your target journal:
– After you have decided you have enough results for a publication
– After you have decided on how high to aim—high, medium or low impact
– After you have decided how broadly relevant your findings are
– Before writing your manuscript
Journal selection
Choose your journal first
Author guidelines • Manuscript structure • Word limits • Reference style
Aims and scope • Topics • Readership • Be sure to emphasize
Relevant references Writing style
Journal selection Broad vs. narrow focus
Aims and scope
Broad focus
Narrow focus
Make sure your findings will be of broad interest
Make sure your findings will be of interest to
specific area(s)
Journal selection
Aims and scope
Planta publishes timely and substantial articles on all aspects of plant biology. We welcome original research papers on any plant species.
Planta
Broad focus
Journal selection
How did related articles target the journal?
Chlorophyll is present in many plant organs, including immature fruit where it is usually degraded during ripening. Mature green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) are an exception, with high concentrations of chlorophyll remaining in the fruit flesh. In gold-fleshed kiwifruit (A. chinensis), chlorophyll is degraded to colourless catabolites upon fruit ripening, leaving yellow carotenoids visible. We have identified candidate genes for the control of chlorophyll degradation in kiwifruit…
Pilkington et al. Planta. 2012; 236: 1615−1628.
The control of chlorophyll levels in maturing kiwifruit
Broad interest
Broad interest
Broad focus
Journal selection
Aims and scope
The aim of Paddy and Water Environment is to advance the science and technology of water and environment related disciplines in paddy-farming. The scope includes the paddy-farming related scientific and technological aspects in agricultural engineering such as irrigation and drainage, soil and water conservation, land and water resources management, paddy multi-functionality, agricultural policy, regional planning, bioenvironmental systems, and ecological conservation and restoration in paddy farming regions.
Paddy and Water Environment
Narrow focus
Journal selection
Aims and scope
The aim of Paddy and Water Environment is to advance the science and technology of water and environment related disciplines in paddy-farming. The scope includes the paddy-farming related scientific and technological aspects in agricultural engineering such as irrigation and drainage, soil and water conservation, land and water resources management, paddy multi-functionality, agricultural policy, regional planning, bioenvironmental systems, and ecological conservation and restoration in paddy farming regions.
Paddy and Water Environment
Make sure your manuscript specifically targets one of these areas of interest!
Narrow focus
Journal selection
How did related articles target the journal?
Effects of tillage and irrigation on the occurrence and establishment of native wetland plant species in fallow paddy fields
Traditional weed management, such as tillage and irrigation, has led to an enhanced maintenance of wetland plant species in fallow paddy fields. Recent herbicide usage and improvements in irrigation and drainage systems however have caused habitat loss of these species, especially in fields on open lowlands…
Takanose et al. Paddy Water Environ. 2013; 11: 1−4.
Keywords from the Aims and Scope
Narrow focus
Journal selection Factors to consider when choosing a journal
Aims & scope Readership
Open access
Which factor is most important to you?
Impact factor
Varies by field
Indexing
Journal selection Open access
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcbiol/about#openaccess
¥270,000!
Journal selection Open access myths
Open access is too expensive!
• Not all OA journals charge a publication fee (~1/3)
• Many grants (59%) and universities (24%) pay for OA
fees (only 12% of authors paid)*
• May offer waiver for authors who cannot afford
*SOAP survey: http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5260
Journal selection Open access myths
The quality of OA journals is not good
• OA journals have the same peer review process as subscription-based journals
• IFs are lower partly because they are newer
Less visibility in the field Fewer citations
Journal selection Predatory journals
Some OA journals are not good
Easy way to get money from authors
• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a ‘submission/handling’ fee
If unsure, please check the Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers
http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2013/
Journal selection Choosing a target journal
Significance Aims and Scope Impact
Journal selection must be based on an
honest evaluation of your findings
Journal selection
New findings
Evaluating significance: Novelty
Medium to high impact
Low to medium impact
Incremental advances
Conceptual advances
How new are my results compared with those already published?
Journal selection Evaluating significance: Relevance
How broadly relevant is your work?
Species specific? Relevant to human condition? How common is the disease?
Biology
Geographically restricted? Relevant to business or government policy?
Forestry
International or regional journal?
Broad- or narrow- focused journal?
Journal selection Evaluating significance: Importance
Area of popular appeal
Global warming, genetically modified crops, deforestation
Important real-world applications
Rice resistant to high salt conditions, shrimp resistant to viral infections
Journal selection Journal Selector www.edanzediting.co.jp/journal_selector
Insert your proposed abstract
Journal selection
Recommended journals
Filter by: • Impact factor • Publishing frequency • Open access
Journal Selector www.edanzediting.co.jp/journal_selector
Journal selection
Semantic matching terms
Journal’s aims & scope, IF, and publication frequency
Are they recent?
Similar published articles
Have you cited these articles?
Journal Selector www.edanzediting.co.jp/journal_selector
Journal selection Tips to identify the most suitable journal
S
Identify the interests of the journal editor
Identify the interests of the
readers
• Editorials • Review articles • Special issues
• Most viewed • Most cited
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science (IF = 31.477)
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
European Journal of Forest Research
Journal selection activity
European Journal of Forest Research
And the word ‘malaria’ is not even in the title or the abstract!
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science (IF = 31.477)
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences
VERY broad aims and scope
Journal selection activity
International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences
Editorial Board are almost all from India
Journal selection activity
Beall’s List
www.scholarlyoa.com
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science (IF = 31.477)
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
EcoHealth Aims and scope
Journal selection activity
EcoHealth
Journal selection activity
Activity 1
Based on the abstract in your handout, which journal do you think is most appropriate and why?
1. EcoHealth
2. Science (IF = 31.477)
3. European Journal of Forest Research
4. International Journal of Plant, Animal and
Environmental Sciences
Journal selection activity
Activity 2
Using the Journal Selector, find the most appropriate journal for the abstract in your handout.
Journal selection activity
Activity 2
Journal selection activity
Activity 2
Journal selection activity
Activity 2
Journal selection activity
Activity 2
1. Who is the Editor-in-Chief?
2. What is the word limit of the abstract and manuscript?
3. How much does OA cost?
Dr Loren Riesberg (Chief Editor)
abstract: 250 words; manuscript: 8000 words
US$3000
Methods
Section 5
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods
Ezeala et al. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2013; 3: 376–379.
Reasons for rejection
Analyzed 42 manuscripts rejected from 8 biomedical journals
Flaws found in:
Introduction 66.7%
Methods 85.7%
Results 66.7%
Discussion 71.%
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods
How it was done
General methods Specific techniques (discuss controls)
Data analysis Quantification methods
Statistical tests
What/who was used
Samples or participants Materials
How it was analyzed
Study design
Who reads this section?
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods
Participants Age and gender
Enrollment Inclusion/exclusion criteria
Animals, plants, cells
Materials
Species/cell type Age, weight, genotype
Living/incubation conditions
Where purchased [city, state (if US), country]
How much was used
What/who was used
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods How it was done
Previously used methods
• Cite previous publications • XXXX was done as previously
described23. Briefly…
• Give enough detail to be reproducible
• Validation for new technique
Order • General methods first • Specific techniques in order
of appearance
New methods
Always state sample number and controls
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods How it was analyzed
Computer programs
• Where obtained • Which version • Specific parameters
• Choose right test! • P-value for significance
Quantification methods
• Explain how the data was quantified
• Rationale
Statistical analyses
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods
Fernandes-Taylor et al. BMC Res Notes. 2011; 4: 304.
Statistical problems
Surveyed 25 editors from high impact medical journals
“…respondents expressed concern over researchers’ choice of statistical tests. Specifically, frequent problems exist in the appropriateness of statistical tests chosen for the questions of interest and for the data structure.”
When in doubt, consult a statistician
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods Statistical tests
2 categorical endpoints
Paired (within sample)
Unpaired (between sample)
McNemar Fisher’s exact test
2 treatment groups
*for sample sizes > 60
Chi-square test* 2+ treatment groups
du Prel et al. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107: 343–8.
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Methods
Continuous endpoints
Parametric Nonparametric
Paired Unpaired Paired Unpaired
2 groups: Paired t-test
>2 groups: ANOVA
2 groups: Unpaired t-test
>2 groups: ANOVA
2 groups: Wilcoxon rank
sum test
>2 groups: Friedman
test
2 groups:
Mann–Whitney U test
>2 groups: Kruskal–Wallis
test
du Prel et al. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107: 343–8.
Statistical tests
Methods Activity
Please logically organize the Methods section in your handout. Identify any
missing information that should be included to make this clearer for the readers.
Methods Activity
Exposure Protocols
Learning Assays
Adjuvants Evaluated
Statistical Analyses
Animals
Correct order
Exposure Protocols
Learning Assays
Adjuvants Evaluated
Statistical Analyses
Animals
Methods Activity
Correct order
Inclusion/exclusion criteria Manufacturer information
Anaesthetization protocol How bees were harnessed
Exposure protocol Control for ingestion
How UC and CS were presented to the bees
P-value for significance?
What’s missing
Exposure Protocols
Learning Assays
Adjuvants Evaluated
Statistical Analyses
Animals
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Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]