1/20/2010 WHY SHOULD WE PUBLISH AT ALL? WHY PUBLISH? INNOVATION ANALOGY HOW TO WRITE A PUBLISHABLE PAPER?

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1 WHY SHOULD WE PUBLISH AT ALL? HOW TO WRITE A PUBLISHABLE PAPER? ANDREW KUSIAK THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IOWA CITY, IA USA ANDREW-KUSIAK@UIOWA.EDU Could academia survive without publishing? Not Medieval knowledge is not useful today Research is a guarantor of relevancy of the teaching content Proof of competence and productivity WHY PUBLISH? INNOVATION ANALOGY Educate better students than we are Make progress Gain recognition for making the world a better place A manuscript = Creative work (an invention) that ideally should become Innovation Measure of success = Number of citations Ultimate measure of success = Market or societal value 1

2 INNOVATION ANALOGY PUBLICATION DECISION MAKERS Editors Different structures of editorial boards Reviewers Almost always selected by the editors Ultimate market: The readers PUBLICATION RULE 1 PUBLICATION RULE 2 Select the right journal for your paper Scope (not necessarily obvious) Level of mathematics Make the job of the editor easy by providing all files (attachments) the journal asks for Publishing experience helps 2

3 PUBLICATION RULE 3 PUBLICATION RULE 4 Beware of hard and soft factors of publishing Hard: Formal requirements Soft: Editor-in-Chief preferences, e.g., areas of research interests Think how a reviewer is going to react to your paper The manuscript needs be suitable and look Appropriately for the journal submitted THE OUTCOME GENERAL RULE OF WRITING If all hard and soft requirements are met You will receive comments The paper will be recommended for revision, or even accepted Chances of acceptance after the revision are high Writing needs to be appropriate for the journal of interest, e.g., level of mathematics, form Write clearly Concisely, and be Accurate 3

4 DO NOT IMPORTANT Do Not Repeat concepts sentences Ambiguity could work both ways Exaggerate the results In technical writing, once you name a concept use this term throughout the manuscript However, do not use your preferred words too freqently Beware of your own cultural background and the culture represented in a journal Globalization has made us more tolerant VERY IMPORTANT Language of the manuscript Grammar Spelling Sloppiness is not well tolerated, e.g., different types of font and letter sizes for no reason This is often leads to a credibility issue. Papers with poor grammar might sound not believable. MOST IMPORTANT Title Authors and their affiliations Abstract Main body of the manuscript Conclusion References All other details 4

5 PAPER TITLE PAPER TITLE Short Understandable Reflective of the content Short is better than too long Look at other titles in the journal Error in the title can lower the probability of a favorable review between 10% to 50 % Title = Perfect poster analogy ABSTRACT CONCLUSION SECTION Most often written in the present tense Almost non technical Often impersonal form Reflects the content of the paper Look at other abstracts in the journal Errors are costly Some abstract follow specific format Most often written in the past tense Make it understandable It could be read first 5

6 REFERENCES MANUSCRIPT EXTRAS Same format even if not identical with the particular journal Consistency Correctness Completeness Keywords List of symbols (variables) Acknowledgement Journal checklist Sometimes list of suggested reviewers HOW MUCH CAN YOU LOOSE? BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT Flaws in the abstract, conclusions, and references may cut the probability of a favorable review between 20% to 70 % Clear Concise Accurate Grammatically correct Grammar is an issue for non English and English speaking authors 6

7 BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT Hints Read what you write (as a novice do it many times) Do not invent new words, e.g., researches, literatures Must look convincing Appropriate for the journal level Art of writing = Analogy of a defendable research proposal CONTENT OF THE PAPER BODY INTRODUCTION Introduction Literature survey Problem (model) statement Solution approach Results Conclusion Usually present tense, impersonal form Encouraging the reviewer to read the material Technical writing is different than the language used in the literature 7

8 LITERATURE REVIEW MAIN PART 1: MODEL Usually past tense Many journal want you cite papers published with them; Sometimes they are very specific Do not include just any papers Number of papers appropriate to the journal Make sure that you convey what is new in the paper Model complexity can be exploited Make sure that all symbols are defined Remember: This could be the third part that the reviewer has read MAIN PART 2: SOLUTION APPROACH Present novelty of your approach Define all symbols Make sure that there is a structure Use steps Flow diagrams For complex algorithms Present a high level description, then Discuss details MAIN PART 3: RESULTS Demonstrate significance of what you have accomplished Use tables and charts Use high level summary for complex results Do not duplicate information presented in the text with tables or graphs 8

9 FORMAT REQUIREMENTS PAPER CATEGORY Single column vs double column Manuscript length Figures and tables in the body vs at the end of the manuscript Research article Review article Technical note Correspondence Some journals are very particular about it Submissions get screened RESEARCH ARTICLE REVIEW ARTICLE New model New algorithm A hybrid of both A new algorithm usually requires benchmark tests Make sure there is a need for one Add value to the existing body of the literature, e.g., new typology, a new generalization Organization (structure) is important Review papers are usually frequently cited 9

10 TECHNICAL NOTE CORRESPONDENCE A paper that is not complete may become a technical note New discovery lacking a compete proof Reaction to the previously published paper Errors in the previously published paper Beware of author s rebuttal usually published along DECISION TIME DECISION TIME Good days Bad days The quality of reviews vary The quality of review letters vary Can be sloppy Can be well prepared What is the difference between the two? The life is not perfect 10

11 DECISION TIME MANUSCRIPT LENGTH Prepare a response to review comments You do not have to agree with all comments, however, you need to address them all in the response Address all comments Number of pages Number of words Number of characters Number of figures Number of tables MANUSCRIPT APPEARANCE ACRONYMS Good looking figures and tables Watch letter sizes and line thickness as often figure/table sizes get reduced Avoid in the abstract and in the conclusion section Do not use acronyms if the phrase is mentioned only a few times Commonly used acronyms are OK 11

12 PRINTER S REQUIREMENTS PUBLICATION ETHICS Though figures and tables can appear in color in the electronic version of the paper all must be interpretable when printed in black and white Proper use of font sizes as the size of figures and tables is usually reduced when printed Over-cite rather than under-cite Not cited paragraph could end up coming from the paper reviewer's publication Many reviewers know who does what LIST OF NEVER DO ITEMS BEWARE Present ideas developed by others as yours Double submit Plagiarism is very dangerous; I have not seen any person who has built career on it Be careful when submitting joint work with your students This is really a school: Different expectations, motivation, culture Get to know your students 12

13 GOOD LUCK! Recent Papers 13