How to Prepare a Good Scientific Manuscript - Some Thoughts

Kai Sundmacher1,2

1 Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems,

Department of Process Systems Engineering

2 Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Chair of Process Systems Engineering

sundmacher@mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de

DocDay, Magdeburg, 24 September 2012

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Scientific Publishing Industry

Elsevier – by disciplines

250,000+ English language research

articles published with Elsevier every year

Physics

Mathematics & Computer Science

Social Sciences Earth Sciences

Environmental Science

Life Sciences

Materials Science & Engineering

Chemistry & Chemical Engineering

All scientific research articles

1.2 million English language research

articles published globally each year

Learned Societies

Other

Commercial University Presses

Other

Springer

Wiley-Blackwell

Informa /

Taylor & Francis

Elsevier

Dr. Angela Welch, Elsevier (2012)

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My Role in this Publishing Industry

Executive Editor of Chemical Engineering Science

Review Editor of Fuel Cells

Author (First, Senior, Co) of > 240 articles (WoS)

Reviewer for peer-review journals (AIChE J, CES, CEJ, EA, IECR, JES, JMS, Science, ...)

Publisher: Elsevier Publisher: Wiley-VCH

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1) What steps do I need to take before I write my paper ?

2) How can I ensure I am using proper manuscript language ?

3) How do I build up my article properly ?

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You should consider publishing if you have information that advances understanding in a specific research field.

Determine if you are ready to publish

This could be in the form of: • Presenting new, original results or methods • Rationalizing, refining, or reinterpreting published

results • Reviewing or summarizing a particular subject or field

If you are ready to publish, a strong manuscript is what is needed next.

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What is a strong manuscript?

• Has a clear, useful, and exciting message.

• Is presented and constructed in a logical manner.

• Reviewers and editors can grasp the significance easily.

Editors and reviewers are all busy people. Make things easy to save their time !

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Decide the most appropriate type of manuscript

• Conference papers

• Full articles / original articles

• Short communications / letters

• Review papers / perspectives

Self-evaluate your work: Is it sufficient for a full article? Or are your results so thrilling that they

need to be shown as soon as possible?

Ask your supervisor and colleagues for advice on the manuscript type. Sometimes outsiders see things more

clearly than you.

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Types of manuscripts

• Conference papers in-progress research findings (5-10 pages, ~ 3 figures)

• Short communications early reports of significant, original advances

• Original articles disseminating completed research findings (8-10 pages, 5-8 figures, ~ 25 references)

• Review papers typically solicited by journal editors (10+ pages, 8+ figures, > 80 ref.)

If patent is planned, wait with manuscript submission until patent application is documented!

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Visit the journal homepages:

Aims and scope (see: guide for authors)

Accepted types of articles

Readership

Current hot topics (go through the abstracts of recent publications)

TIP: Articles in your references will likely lead you to the right journal.

Journal Selection

DO NOT gamble by submitting your manuscript to more than one journal at a time. International ethics standards prohibit

multiple submissions !

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1) What steps do I need to take before I write my paper ?

2) How can I ensure I am using proper manuscript language ?

3) How do I build up my article properly ?

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Write with clarity, objectivity, accuracy, and brevity !

Manuscript Language

The key to successful manuscript writing is to

be alert to common errors: Sentence construction

Incorrect tenses

Inaccurate grammar

Mixing languages

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Publishers do not correct the language. It is the author’s responsibility to make sure his paper is in its best

possible form when submitted for publication. But: Publishers often provide resources for authors who are less

familiar with the conventions of international journals.

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Proper manuscript language is important so that editors and reviewers can easily understand your messages.

Refer to the journal’s Guide for Authors for specifications.

Check that your paper has short sentences, correct tenses, correct grammar, and is all in English.

Have a native English speaker check your manuscript or use a language editing service.

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Manuscript Language

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1) What steps do I need to take before I write my paper ?

2) How can I ensure I am using proper manuscript language ?

3) How do I build up my article properly ?

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• Title • Abstract • Keywords

• Main text (IMRAD) – Introduction – Methods – Results – And – Discussions

• Conclusions • Acknowledgements • References • Supplementary Data

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Make sure each section of the paper fulfills its purpose clearly and concisely.

Make them easy for indexing and searching! (informative, attractive, effective)

How do you search for a paper?

Write in the same order you read: 1) Figures and tables 2) Methods, Results and

Discussion 3) Conclusions and Introduction 4) Abstract and Title

Research Article Structure

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Article Title

A good title should contain the fewest possible words that adequately describe the content of a paper.

Effective titles: - identify the main issue of the paper - begin with the subject of the paper - are accurate, unambiguous, specific, and

complete - are as short as possible - do not contain rarely-used abbreviations

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Article Title Original Title Revised Remarks Preliminary

observations on the

effect of Zn element

on anticorrosion of

zinc plating layer

Effect of Zn on

anticorrosion of zinc

plating layer

Long title distracts readers.

Remove all redundancies such as

“observations on”, “the nature of”, etc.

Action of antibiotics

on bacteria

Inhibition of growth

of mycobacterium

tuberculosis by

streptomycin

Titles should be specific.

Think to yourself: “How will I search for this

piece of information?” when you design the

title.

Fabrication of

carbon/CdS coaxial

nanofibers displaying

optical and electrical

properties via

electrospinning

carbon

Electrospinning of

carbon/CdS coaxial

nanofibers with

optical and electrical

properties

“English needs help. The title is nonsense. All

materials have properties of all varieties. You

could examine my hair for its electrical and

optical properties! You MUST be specific. I

haven’t read the paper but I suspect there is

something special about these properties,

otherwise why would you be reporting them?”

– the Editor-in-chief

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It is freely freely available in electronic abstracting & indexing services [PubMed, Medline, Embase, SciVerse Scopus, ....]

This is the advertisement of your article.

Make it interesting, and easy to be understood without reading the whole article. What has been done? What are the main findings?

Follow the Rule of 10:

- 2 sentences: introduction / aim

- 3 sentences: materials & methods

- 3 sentences: results

- 2 sentences: discussion/conclusions

Abstract

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Keywords

Keywords are used by indexing and abstracting services.

They are the labels of your manuscript.

Use only established abbreviations (e.g. DNA).

Check the “Guide for Authors”.

Article Title Keywords

“Silo music and silo quake: granular

flow-induced vibration”

Silo music, Silo quake, stick-slip

flow, resonance, creep, granular

discharge

“An experimental study on evacuated

tube solar collector using supercritical

CO2”

Solar collector; Supercritical CO2;

Solar energy; Solar thermal

utilization

Example:

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Clearly address the following:

– What is the problem ?

– Are there any existing solutions ?

– Which is the best solution so far?

– What is its main limitation?

– What do you hope to achieve?

– How will you fill the gap?

Introduction

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TIP: Hypothesis/aim of the study is typically found in the last paragraph

of the introduction.

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Methods

Include detailed information. The reader should be able to reproduce the experiment / the simulation.

Previously published procedures need not be described in depth:

- Cite methods and note any changes to the protocol

- Provide detailed methods in Supplemental Material

Identify the equipment and materials used

- Provide source and related product information (company, molecular weight, etc.)

Write out full chemical/biological compound names (followed by abbr.), then use abbreviations throughout paper.

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Results

Tell a clear and easy-to-understand story:

- The main findings

• Analytical description of data from experiments described in the Methods section.

• Findings/data of secondary importance should be captured in Supplementary Materials

• Minimal interpretation of results and/or comparison with literature unless the journal combines the Results & Discussion sections

- If applicable: Results of statistical analysis

- Figures and tables

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Illustrations are critical because

- Figures and tables are the most efficient way to present results and

- Results are the driving force of the publication

Captions and legends should be self-explanatory; figures should be able to stand alone - What is the take home point?

Maximize space; make sure final versions of figures can be easily read (watch use of legends)

Use consistent formatting between figures

- Plots: labels and scale - Micrographs: scale bar, point out key features

Results: Figures & Tables

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Discussion

Most important section

Critical interpretation - Make the discussion correspond to the results - Compare your results to published results

Significance & implications - How does your data relate to the “big picture” /

applications? - Can you identify a mechanism or form new

hypotheses?

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Conclusions

How your work advances the field from the present state of knowledge

Justify your work in the research field

- Uses ?

- Extensions ?

- Applications ?

Suggest future experiments and/or theoretical investigations

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References

Conform strictly to the journal citation style specified in the Guide for Authors

Editors may use plagiarism detection software to validate authenticity; give credit to original articles

Avoid excessive self-citations

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Submission: Cover Letter

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Submitted along with your manuscript

State final approval of all co-authors

State prior reviews, revisions, etc.

Mention what would make your manuscript special to the journal

Nominate possible referees: experts, not collaborators, not best friends, not from your institution

Your chance to speak to the editor directly !

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Revision(s) Prepare a detailed Response Letter:

– Copy-paste each reviewer comment and type your response below it.

– State specifically which changes you made to the manuscript (include page/line numbers; be specific – no generalized statements like “the discussion was changed accordingly”).

– Provide response to accept the reviewers’ suggestions or a convincing, solid, and polite rebuttal when you feel the reviewer was wrong.

– Write in such a manner, that your response can be forwarded to the reviewer without prior editing.

Revisions improve the quality of your article ! 27

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Kai Sundmacher Docday@OvGUMagdeburg

24 September 2012

I which you great success when preparing your articles!

Questions ?