How to write first research paper

Shameel FarhanPhD student2013 batch

NPU Xi’an China2015/10/10

About me Development of carbon foam containing in situ nano

materials like CNTs, nano-wires and particles

Paper published as 1st author (2013-to date) SCI-2 04 papers SCI-3 02 papers

Journals Ceramics International (Elsevier) SCI-2 Materials Letters (Elsevier) SCI-2 Journal of Applied and Analytical Pyrolysis (Elsevier) SCI-3 J Porous Materials (Springer) SCI-3

Fantastic or weedy just do it!!

Fantastic Idea Knowledge Get Published

Any Idea Knowledge Get Published

Insignificant Idea Knowledge Get Published

Fantastic idea is a fallacy. any idea,

no matter how weedy and insignificant it may seem to you

Your research paper

Here is a problem It’s an interesting problem It’s an unsolved problem

Here is my idea

My idea works (details, data) Here’s how my idea compares to other

people’s approaches

• Author behaviour– Want to publish more– Peer review essential– Other journal

functions crucial– Wider dissemination

• Reader behaviour– Want integrated

system– Browsing is crucial– Quality information

important– Want to read less

Author versus Reader Behaviour

Lets start writing first paperstep by step

First Step Download at least 25-30 research papers.

Science Direct, Scopus, ACS, AIAA, Google etc. Be careful in paper selection, citation, affiliation etc.

StatisticsJournal IF =6

SCI-1Article References = 218

Citation = 3

First Step Be careful in paper selection, citation, affiliation etc.

StatisticsJournal IF =26.9

SCI-1Article References = 239

Citation = 235

Step Two Read the selected papers and make a list of target journals

and conferences taken from most common references. For example I made the following list. Journal of European Ceramics Society SCI-1 Carbon SCI-1 Nano Letters SCI-1 Composite Science and Technology SCI-1 Ceramics International SCI-2 Materials Letters SCI-2 Microporous and Mesoporous Materials SCI-2 Journal of Applied and Analytical Pyrolysis SCI-3 J Porous Materials SCI-3 Nano-micro Letter SCI-3 Chemical Vapor Deposition SCI-4

Step Three Read and select further 15 out of 25-30 and print. 15 papers = Review papers+Full length+Letters+Conference Underline/ mark important information related to your

idea. Make first draft of your paper with sections as following;

1. Proposed Title2. Introduction3. Methods/Experimental4. Results5. Discussion6. References

• Title• Authors• Abstract• Key words• Introduction• Methods• Results• Discussion• References• Acknowledgments

Expanded IMRAD Model

Copied First Draft Introduction

Cut/paste important lines/paragraphs from introduction of 15 most important papers.

Methods/ExperimentalCut/paste important lines/paragraphs from methods /experimental of 15 most important papers.

ResultsCut/paste important lines/paragraphs from results of 15 most important papers.

DiscussionCut/paste important lines/paragraphs from discussion of 15 most important papers.

Copied First Draft

Copied First draft is ready now. Be careful that you only cut/paste the most relevant information/tables/graphs/equations etc. out of the 15 papers to make your first copied draft of your first paper.

Replace all data in the first copied draft with your actual data/information/results etc.

You will get Your First Draft.

Your First Draft

Your first draft with your original data /information /results is ready now.

Discuss your observations/calculations/results in the light of others’ work, who have already published the work similar to you.

Compare and contrast. Now Your First Draft with Experimental and results

is ready.

Your Second Draft

For your second draft; Rearrange the introduction part. Give the

background of your research by citing others work in brief.

Select the references from the journal more where you want to submit your paper.

Give objective and novelty in your work at the last paragraph of the introduction and must be very clear.

Your Third Draft

Your third draft is ready without abstract and conclusions.

Rethink the title of the paper if not appropriate, change.

Write the conclusions and abstract. Format the references. Write down the acknowledgements. Check for English language and spelling errors. Your third draft is ready now.

Final Draft

See the guidelines of the target journal and re-format. Mostly the journals accept the paper in your own style

without extensive formatting. The minimum requirement is just to follow the common

paper writing rules like; Double space Times new roman Wide margin Align text to the right

Write cover letter/graphical abstract/ Significance etc.

Submit.

The abstract

I usually write the abstract last

It should summarize the research contributions,

not the paper.

1. State the problem

2. Say why it’s an interesting problem

3. Say what your solution achieves

4. Say what follows from your solution

The conclusion

It is just a reminder.

A reminder of what you’ve said and why it’s important.

Review Process

After paper submission it may take some time for;

Editorial review, 1-4 weeks

Technical Review, 1-24 weeks

Minor/Major Revision

Rejection

Rebutal

Review Process

Treat every review like gold dustBe (truly) grateful for criticism as

well as praise

This is really, really, really hard

But it’s really, really, really, really, really, really,

really, really, really, reallyimportant

Listening to your reviewers

Read every criticism as a positive suggestion for

something you could explain more clearly

DO NOT respond “you stupid person, I meant X”. Fix

the paper so that X is apparent even to the stupidest

reader.

Thank them warmly. They have given up their time

for you.

Impact Factor

Impact factor is a measure of the frequency with

which the “average article” in a journal has been

cited in a particular year.

The impact factor will help you evaluate a journal’s

relative importance, especially when you compare it

to others in the same field.

Consider a journal named X,

2014 impact factorCitations in 2014 to articles published in 2013 = 168 Citations in 2014 to articles published in 2012 = 293

TOTAL = 461

Number of article published in 2013 = 54Number of article published in 2012 = 54

TOTAL = 108

X’ 2014 impact factor: 461 ∕108 = 4.269

Understanding impact factors

IF variations between disciplines Medical

• Annual Review of Immunology = 54• JAMA = 24

General • Nature and Science IF = 30

Materials science• Carbon = 6• Journal of European Ceramic Society = 2.9

Aerospace Engineering•Progress in Aerospace Science = 2.9•AIAA Journal = 1.08

Variation in Impact Factor!!

Cave paintings were the first attempts to leave records. In 105 AD, the Chinese invented paper. In 1100 AD, the Chinese invented movable type. In 1455 AD, Gutenberg printed his 42-line Bible from movable type

on a printing press. In 1665, the first scientific journals were published.

Early journals published descriptive papers.

By the second half of the 19th century, The methods section became all important since Louis Pasteur. confirmed the germ theory of disease.

IMRAD format slowly progressed in the latter half of the 19th

century.

Historical overview

Visual structure

Visual structure

Visual structure

Visual structure