how to prepare a manuscript for international publication

How to prepare a manuscript for international publication

Dr. Ahmed Morad Asaad, MBBS, M.Sc., MDProfessor of Microbiology

Scientific Deputy of Brince Meshaal ChairHead of Scientific Research Committee

College of Medicine

By:

Why we need international publication?

Ideally

• To get a job• To keep a job

• To get promoted

• To get funding

Practically

What are the types of articles?

TechnicalNote

Originalarticle Review

Mini Review

CaseReport

Letter

Editorial

Types of Articles

What’s general structure of an article?

TitleAbstractKeywords

Main textIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussions

ConclusionAcknowledgementReferencesSupplementary data

Journal space is not unlimited

Make your article concise as possible.

Make them easy for indexing and searching (informative, attractive,

effective)

Additional files:Cover Letter

Title pageAuthorship contribution

Copyright transfer

What is a strong manuscript?

A novel, clear, useful and exciting message

Well presented – well written

Latest results in the field

Controls: adequate - sufficient Reliable and suitable statistical methods

Ethical issues

Hot interesting topic

Reading – Reading – Reading

A strong manuscript: The Study DesignCONSORT

•Randomized-control studies

TREND•Non Rand.-control studies

STROBE•Cross-sectional studies

STRAD•Diagnostic studies

COREQ•Qualitative research

EQUATOR Network:www.equator-network.org

A strong manuscript: Deadly mistakes

Fabrication•Making up data or results and reporting them

Falsification•Manipulating data or results

A strong manuscript: Deadly mistakes

Plagiarism

•Taking someone else’s work without attributing the source and claiming it to be one’s own.

Plagiarism Easily detected

A serious offense Hurt your reputation End your career

An article in which the authors committed plagiarism: it will not be removed from ScienceDirect ever. Everybody who downloads it will see the reason for the retraction…

2009

Plagiarism

Publication ethics – How it can end .....

Plagiarism

Recently – US Presidential Elections

The Pathway to Publication

Author

Editor In-Chief

Assigned EditorReviewer-1

Reviewer-2&3

Manuscript

The Pathway to Publication

How can I select the journal?

> 700 Publishers> 26000 Journals

How can I select the journal?General Journals

• Multi-disciplines

Field-specific Journals

• Specialty – Sub-specialty

About the Journal

Scope

Aim

Hepatitis B Virus genotyping in chronic Hepatitis B patients in southwestern Saudi Arabia

JJIDIF = 1.2

Personal Experience:

JJIDIF = 1.2

BJIDIF = 1.8


Journal’s prestige and metrics (Impact factor)

A journal’s “impact factor” is an annual measure of the extent to which articles in that journal are cited.

The number of citations to articles published in previous 2 years, divided by the total number of articles published in these years.

Number of source items published in 2014 - 2015_________________________________

Impact Factor2016 =

Number of citations in 2016 to articles published in 2014 and 2015

The Journals Impact Factor

SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) Impact factor

Journal Citation Report (JCR) Impact factor

Google Scholarly (GS) Impact factor





Quality

Coverage

Selecting a Journal with High Impact factor

ISI-Listed JournalsHigher IF

Higher Rejection Rate(70 - 90%)


Global Impact factor (GIF)

Universal Impact factor (UIF)




Misleading Journals Metrics

Journals

Still…..!!!!

Selecting a Journal: What are other factors?

Open Access

CostTime to

publish

Publication

Frequency

Read Authors’ guidelinesAgain….again….again

Follow guidelinesStrictly

Don’t waste timeA sign of disrespect

What’s the Next step?

Editor-in-chief

Assigned Editor

Reviewers (2-6)

Decision

Submission

Accept

Reject

Minor Revision Major Revision Major Revision and

Re-submission

Reject

Authors’ Response

Accept RejectRevision

Cycle

Authors’ Response to Reviewers:

One• Don’t respond

immediately• Upset - Angry

Two• Avoid personal attack• Be polite – tactful – Thank

Reviewers

Three• Carefully read all

comments• Address each point

Four• Each change should be stated

clearly and highlighted• Explain

Reasons for manuscript rejection: COMMON

• Picking wrong journal1• Not matching Journal

style2• Not following Journal

guidelines3• Poor writing/design4

• Data manipulation5• Unrevealed conflict of

interest6• Unrevealed ethical

issues7• Duplicate manuscripts8

Reasons for manuscript rejection: SERIOUS

We are not

alone

Many famous authors had their work rejected

Be Positive

To write a better manuscript

Keep writing

REJECTIONIt starts from an early age. Get used to it…!!

From this… …to this!

It Really deserves

Thank You