6/30/18

Homework
Outline a Discussion for your paper
In English!
Dot points only … don’t worry about
Science Writing: Peer-to-Peer grammar and spelling

Accept or reject? Hypothesis

Experiment OK?
Graem e M artin Compare to literature
Professor of Anim al Science What is next?
Conclusion, relevance ‘Big picture’ (Real world)

Com ponents of a Scientific Paper Com ponents of a Scientific Report

W here do we start? Sum m aries

n Title ! Last A good Summary should say :

n Summary ! Fifth 1) Why? – the hypothes(es)
n Introduction ! Second
2) How? – very brief, general description of
n Materials and Methods
experiment (design, methods)
! First
3) Main Results
n Results
! Third 4) Main Conclusion(s)
n Discussion
! Fourth
n Acknowledgements ! Sixth
Each element in only 1 or 2 statements
n References
! Sixth

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Com ponents of a Scientific Report Com ponents of a Scientific Report

Sum m aries Titles
Useful tips Primary aim of writing a report?
Accept that the reader knows the title Get someone to read it!
Make the Summary self-supporting Title
T h e firs t th in g th e re a d e r re a d s
G iv e im p o rta n t d a ta p re c is e ly
A v o id a b b re v ia tio n s M a y b e th e la s t th in g th e y re a d ...
N o re fe re n c e s So must be
Check maximum allowable length F a c tu a l, a ttra c tiv e , c o n ta in k e y w o rd s
Avoid useless statements:
R e s u lts a re d is c u s s e d in re la tio n to p u b lis h e d w o rk

Your Scientific Paper is finished!

Now, the only thing left

to do is subm it it to the
journal!

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W orking with the Journal: The Editor W orking with the Journal: Reviewers
Follow the advice of
Prof Abdul Rohman
Read the instructions After some time, you will
before submitting receive a letter from the
editor containing:
Correct structure
Correct length 1) The Editor’s decision (defended by personal
Correct referencing opinion plus major points made by reviewers.
Correct figures and tables 2) The reviews (usually 2 or 3, usually anonymous).
Correct English …
Online English (https://www.oleng.com.au/)

W orking with the Journal: The Editor W orking with the Journal: The Editor

If the paper is accepted … Common: the paper is accepted with

… celebrate! major corrections
… celebrate!

There will be corrections. There are always

corrections. Do them as quickly as possible, Do the corrections as quickly as possible, but
but do not rush … do them carefully. do not rush … do them very carefully.

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W orking with the Journal: Reviews W orking with the Journal: Reviews

Responding to the reviewers Responding to the reviewers

Stay calm! Stay calm!
Put paper and comments Respond to every criticism
away for 1 week. logically (science!)
Discuss with your co-authors Improve the paper.
and team members (peer
review). Argue logically against incorrect opinions (science!)
Respond to every criticism logically (science!) Respond to
Referees areevery criticism logically (science!)
not Gods.
Improve the paper. The
Improve the paper.Do what the Editor wants!
Editor is God!

W orking with the Journal: Reviews W orking with the Journal: The Editor

The paper is rejected … The paper is rejected …

Stay calm! Stay calm!
Put the paper and
comments away
for a week.

Think about every comment logically; use your

co-authors and team members (peer review).
Do not post a letter Improve the paper. Submit it to another journal!
bomb to the journal Don’t give up!

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Predatory Journals Predatory Journals

and Conferences
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/paging-
dr-fraud-the-fake-publishers-that-are-ruining-
science
Pressure to publish can cause you to becom e a victim :
You accept what you read: it is in a “journal”, but it could be rubbish;
If you publish in these “journals”, your work will never be seen, never
cited, and could even disappear, with your papers, and you will not
know; these journals will certainly not help your reputation;
Predatory Conferences are the same: you pay, you attend the
conference with a few other victims; the conference is often linked to a
predatory a journal where you are told you must submit your paper; you
then lose copyright!
Predatory publishers will contact you and suggest you give them your
thesis and they will make it into a book! No-one will see the book
except you. You also lose copyright and cannot publish your papers.
and Conferences
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/paging-
dr-fraud-the-fake-publishers-that-are-ruining-
science
How to recognize predatory journals
No history: maybe only a few volumes and issues
Papers by authors you have never heard of (developing countries)
Editor-in-Chief: someone you d not know, maybe with no publications
Editorial Board: noone you know; many people on such boards never
accepted to be there!
Appear to be based in the USA (xxx.com): USA business address, but
the style is obviously not American (colours, grammar, spelling)
Use SPAM to attract you as an author, or even an editor!
Promise rapid publication, especially if you pay (often no peer reviews)
They are not honest with their impact factor …

Predatory Journals
and Conferences
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/paging-
dr-fraud-the-fake-publishers-that-are-ruining-
science
How to recognize real journals
History

Often linked to a scientific society: you should go here first, if you can
… profits go back into science, for students, travel, conference fees …

Big publishing houses … eg, Elsevier … but …

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are known, with long histories in
science