Preparing your res ication Maxigaising your chances to get your manuscript rapidly accepted iffleY school of Plant Biolog /The University of Western Australia Perth. Australia
Preparing your results for publication Hans Lambers School of Plant Biology The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia Maximising your chances to get your manuscript rapidly accepted
Editor-in-Chief of plant and soil Senior author of Plant Physiologica/ Ecology Member of (Advisory) Editorial Boards
Editor-in-Chief of Plant and Soil Senior Author of Plant Physiological Ecology Member of (Advisory) Editorial Boards
What to publish? Full-length articles are about 5,000 words:a series of experiments making a coherent story Short notes are about 200 words General rule: it is better to publish one solid paper than to split it into two or three short notes Articles in books and reports are less prestigious: publish your primary data in international journals
What to publish? • Full-length articles are about 5,000 words: a series of experiments making a coherent story • Short notes are about 200 words • General rule: it is better to publish one solid paper than to split it into two or three short notes • Articles in books and reports are less prestigious: publish your primary data in international journals
Where to publish? Carefully select the right journal From which journals do you cite papers in your reference list? Which journals publish on a similar topic? Final decision Prestige(“ impact factor”) Time to publish(check time between submission of the manuscript and publication) Your experience with a specific journal (attitude of reviewers and editors)
Where to publish? • Carefully select the right journal – From which journals do you cite papers in your reference list? – Which journals publish on a similar topic? • Final decision – Prestige (“impact factor”) – Time to publish (check time between submission of the manuscript and publication) – Your experience with a specific journal (attitude of reviewers and editors)
What exactly is the impact factor(IF)? Put simply: IF is a rough indicator for the quality of a journal in a narrowly defined discipline, e. g Agriculture Plant sciences Molecular biology It is silly to compare impact factors between disciplines, e.g., Ecology and Molecular Biology More accurately: IF is the number of citations of all papers published in a journal over two years divided by number of papers published in the preceding two years, e.g IF for 2001: (number of citations in 2001+2000)/(number of papers published in 2000+1999)
What exactly is the “impact factor” (IF)? • Put simply: IF is a rough indicator for the quality of a journal in a narrowly defined discipline, e.g., – Agriculture – Plant sciences – Molecular biology • It is silly to compare impact factors between disciplines, e.g., Ecology and Molecular Biology • More accurately: IF is the number of citations of all papers published in a journal over two years divided by number of papers published in the preceding two years, e.g., – IF for 2001: (number of citations in 2001+2000)/(number of papers published in 2000+1999)
Plan your experiments in such a way that the data can be published Make sure you have a sound question (hypothesis) before you begin your research That hypothesis may not be the same you wish to use when publishing the data Research without a sound hypothesis is hard to write up, but sometimes there are good reasons to make an inventory(no sound hypothesis required Think three times before you start your experiments
Plan your experiments in such a way that the data can be published • Make sure you have a sound question (hypothesis) before you begin your research • That hypothesis may not be the same you wish to use when publishing the data • Research without a sound hypothesis is hard to write up, but … • sometimes there are good reasons to make an “inventory” (no sound hypothesis required) • Think three times before you start your experiments
Data that have not been published do not exist If you do not publish your data, you might as well not do the experiments Published data can make a lasting impression, like the Great Wall Photo Dr Jianbo Shen, CAU Beijing, PR China
Data that have not been published do not exist! If you do not publish your data, you might as well not do the experiments Published data can make a lasting impression, like the Great Wall Photo Dr Jianbo Shen, CAU, Beijing, PR China
The structure of a scientific paper Authors addresses Title, running title Abstract Where do i start? Keywords, abbreviations Introduction Materials and methods Results Discussion Acknowledgments References Tables and Fiqures
The structure of a scientific paper • Authors + addresses • Title, running title • Abstract • Keywords, abbreviations • Introduction • Materials and methods • Results • Discussion • Acknowledgments • References • Tables and Figures Where do I start?
Begin with the Results section Arrange your data in figures and tables Are the data best presented as figures or as tables? Decide which figure/table comes first Decide the order of all other figures/tables Make a structure for your results Decide what you wish to describe Design the sections in the Results(dot points) Then make a structure for each section(dot point) Decide what you wish to describe in each section Then start writing Write your results in the past tense
Begin with the Results section • Arrange your data in figures and tables – Are the data best presented as figures or as tables? • Decide which figure/table comes first • Decide the order of all other figures/tables • Make a structure for your Results – Decide what you wish to describe – Design the sections in the Results (“dot points”) • Then make a structure for each section (dot point) – Decide what you wish to describe in each section • Then start writing • Write your results in the past tense
The choice between a Figure or a Table Age malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aco succinic fumaric trans-ad Total 161 371 119109 7 484 1252 1.5 14 86 2.5 0000000 0000700 0000000 000 0000 5 68 5.5 929 00 824 19 2066 13.5 3217 3020 14 16o 54 6471 25 0 11 11 malic 0.400 malonic 0.350 0.300 lactic 0.250 acetic 0.200 *-maleic citric 80100 0.050 0.000 Time(days)
The choice between a Figure or a Table Age malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aconitic sucinic fumaric trans-aconitic Total 0 161 0 371 0 0 119 109 0 7 484 1252 1.5 0 0 66 0 0 0 4 0 2 14 86 2.5 17 0 41 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 68 5.5 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 27 8.5 929 0 0 57 0 824 6 209 22 19 2066 13.5 3217 0 0 0 0 3020 14 160 7 54 6471 25 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 0.300 0.350 0.400 0 10 20 30 Time (days) OA (nmol g-1 FW s-1 ) malic malonic lactic acetic maleic citric cis-aconitic succinic fumaric transaconitic