how to write scientific papers …. and get them published dr sue silver editor in chief frontiers...

How to write scientific papers …. and get them published

Dr Sue SilverEditor in ChiefFrontiers in Ecology and the EnvironmentEcological Society of AmericaWashington DC

Dr Laura A MeyersonAssistant ProfessorDept of Natural Resources ScienceUniversity of Rhode IslandKingston, RI

Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China December 15-16, 2008

Overview of 2-day course

Thanks to• Dr Philippa Benson, The Wildlife Society, USA

• Dr Lindsay Haddon, British Ecological Society, UK

• Dr Roy Turkington, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

• Dr Iain Taylor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

• Lennie Rhine, HINARI

Zhejiang University, Hangzhou – 15/16 December 2008 How to get published


Format of the workshop

Short talks

Questions and discussion

Exercises

How to get publishedZhejiang University, Hangzhou – 15/16 December 2008


Topics we will cover

Deciding what sort of paper to write

Deciding which journal to send it to

How to write the different sections of a paper

What to do after you have received the

decision letter



Main sections of a research paper Introduction

Materials & methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Title, abstract, keywords, conclusions, citations, etc




Figures and tables

Who should be an author

Cover letter

Peer review




Decision letters

• Rejection (what happens next)

• Acceptance (what happens next)

Electronic publishing

Ethical issues


Exercise 1

Top reasons authors choose a journal Divide into teams and put on team colors

With your team, rank the four most important reasons for choosing a journal for your paper

Give the most important reason a score of 4 the next most important a 3, and so on

Write your scores on the paper handed out and give them to Sue or Laura


Deciding what kind of paper to write

Laura A. Meyerson


The type of paper you write should depend on:

I. What you have to say:– Is it based on data? – Are your results theoretical or applied?– Are you presenting new ideas based on

published literature (e.g., a synthesis)? – Have you developed new tools or methods? – Are you informing a policy or expressing an

opinion?


The type of paper you write should depend on:

II. Who your intended audience is:– Scientists in your field– Scientists outside of your field– Policy makers and managers– Public


Types of papers

• Research paper

• Review paper

• Methods paper

• Policy paper

• Opinion paper


Research Paper = original paper• Types of research papers

– Standard data paper– Application – Rapid communication– Note

• Purpose and audience– Presents results or applies results– Generally aimed at colleagues

DO YOU WANT TO PRESENT YOUR DATA?


Standard research papers

• Evidence-based– Experimental– Theoretical– Synthetic

• Clear conclusions

• Yields valuable insights for journal readers


Example of a standard research paper

Shorter papers: Rapid communications and notes

• Papers may be shorter because:– Topic is less complex but still complete– Cover only a single aspect of a study– Develop methods in a new way

• Journals may fast-track publication:– In rapidly developing fields– If your data is ‘novel’, ‘exciting’ or ‘important’


Rapid communications

• Journals often want fast-breaking material

They will offer:– Faster processing and publication– Prominent position

• In return for– Clear cut results– Concise presentation– Justification of importance


Opinion papers

• Intended to provoke debate

• May be speculative

– Too soon to publish as full paper

– Alternative viewpoints

– Attempt to resolve conflicts

• Will still be peer-reviewed


Reviews

• Many journals include reviews.

• Topical synthesis of a major area in your field.

• Offer new perspectives on future research.

• Often by invitation, but not always.


Do you want to present new ideas based on published literature?

– Reviews and synthesizes existing literature.

– Overview, critical commentary, or historical perspective.

– Generally reaches a (new) conclusion and/or develops new insights for future research.

– Often aimed at colleagues but may also be accessible to scientists outside of your narrow field.

– Usually lays the basis for new research directions

Review Paper


Example of a review paper


Methods Paper

• Methods paper– Describes or presents new methods of

analysis or approaches– Laboratory, field or statistical– Generally aimed at scientists within your field

Do you want to publish a new method that you have developed?


Examples of a methods paper


Policy or Opinion paper

• Policy / Opinion paper– Recommends a policy position or solution– Generally aimed at decision makers– Clearly states why the suggested approach is

a better way– Meant to encourage discussion or debate

Do you want to share information with policy makers or express your opinion?


Example of a policy or opinion paper


Example of dissertation work that produced 5 papers by a single author

• PNAS – Cryptic invasion by a non-native genotype of the common reed, Phragmites australis, into North America

• Molecular Ecology - Microsatellite variation within and among North American lineages of Phragmites australis

• Molecular Ecology Notes - A set of primers for amplification of noncoding regions of chloroplast DNA in the grasses

• Wetlands - A Rapid Method for identifying the origin of North American Phragmites populations using RFLP analysis

• Estuaries – Genetic variation in Phragmites australis – implications for management


Summary: Making the decision

• If you ran an experiment and want to report results research paper

• If you developed new methods and this is the main point methods paper

• If you reviewed published literature and reached new conclusions or insights review paper

• Time to publication – how fast do you need to get this out – Letters, rapid communications, etc. Sue will send slide


Sue Silver

How to get published

Understanding impact factors

Zhejiang University, Hangzhou – 15/16 December 2008

What is an Impact Factor?

How is it calculated? By whom?

What can it tells us? What can it NOT tell us?

Some other considerations



Impact factors: original purpose

Invented by Eugene Garfield (late 1950s/early 1960s)

A method for identifying the most influential science journals ( which journals publish science that is cited most often by other scientists)

Originally intended only as a measure applied to journals (NOT researchers and NOT individual papers)



Where do impact factors come from?

Thomson Scientific calculates IF of journals they index

Published every year , in May/June, in Journal Citation Reports (JCR)




Thomson ISI journal index

About 16,000 peer-reviewed journals world-wide (1.4 million articles/year)

Every year, about 2000 new journals sent to Thomson Scientific for evaluation (accept about10%)

Index over 7,600 journals (814,000 papers), in 200 disciplines, from 3300 publishers, in 60 countries


Journal criteria for indexing in JCR

Descriptive title

Named authors

An abstract

Citation list

Regular publication schedule

Published on time



Frontiers impact factor – 2007

2007 impact factorCitations in 2007 to articles published in 2006 = 168 Citations in 2007 to articles published in 2005 = 293

TOTAL = 461

Number of article published in 2006 = 54Number of article published in 2005 = 54 TOTAL = 108

Frontiers’ 2007 impact factor: 461 ∕108 = 4.269




How to get published

= IF 30

Wu paper published

Wu paper cited

Li paper published

Li paper cited

Wu cited x 30

Li cited x 30

= 60

60

2

2007 impact

factor.

Published in JCR in June 2008

2005 2006 2007 2008


IF variations between disciplines Medical

• Annual Review of Immunology = 54• JAMA = 24• Lancet = 21

General • Nature and Science IF = 30

Ecology & Environmental science• Trends in Ecology and Evolution = 14• Environmental Health Perspectives = 5



What is counted as a citable item? Papers must include:

Informative title

Named authors + contact details

Abstract

Data or other new scientific information

Citations



Counted

• Research papers

• Reviews

Not counted?

• Editorials

• News stories

• Letters to the Editor

BUT, If News items, letters to the Editor, etc, are cited, they are added to the numerator, so increasing the IF



Authors • Identify journals in which to publish their research • Decide which journals to read

Employers • Compare and choose candidates for job vacancies• Give tenure

Grant awarding organizations• Used as a criterion for receiving research grants



Librarians • Identify most influential journals for their collections •Decide which to subscribe to and which to drop from collections

Publishers• Compare journals “influence” against competitors• Monitor success of new publication strategies

Editors • Assess effectiveness of editorial policies • Monitor the influence of their journals vs competitors



Acceptable strategies for increasing IF

Reviews receive more citations than research papers

Longer articles receive more citations than shorter ones

Articles in open access journals receive citations sooner Editorials, news items, etc, may be cited

Editorials and overviews – “best papers last year“



Bad strategies for increasing IF

Editors ‘invite’ authors of submitted articles to

cite papers in their journal (not professional)

Editors discourage authors from citing papers in a rival journal (not professional)



Criticisms of the IF system

Authors only want to do research on “hot” topics

Editors only want to publish “hot” topics

Basic research gets more citations than applied research

Less than ¼ of the world’s journals are covered and the

majority of those are English language publications

Journals in other languages have low IF because not

many indexed journals are likely to cite them



Criticisms of the IF system (continued)

Thomson can make mistakes!

Authors can make mistakes!

Different areas of science have different citation patterns

For some sciences, 3 years is a better timeframe

Can’t assess quality of a particular article or its author

Can only measure interestingness – not usefulness or

importance



The journal 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.

Definition taken from ISI Web of KnowledgeJournal Citation Reports 2008



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how to write scientific papers …. and get them published dr sue silver editor in chief frontiers...

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