Workshop How to write a world class paper

Transcription

1 Workshop How to write a world class paper University of Twente Wednesday, 19th April 2017 Prof.dr.ir. Alfred Stein, ITC, University Twente Editor in Chief: Spatial Statistics Dr. Anthony Newman, Elsevier Sr. Publisher: Life Sciences 1

2 What will we cover in this workshop? Understanding scholarly publishing & Publishing ethics How to get published: Q & A Preparing Structuring & Writing Using Proper Scientific Language 2

3 Understanding Scholarly Publishing 3

4 Let s Start at the Beginning Journal publishing has thrived for over 340 years but the fundamental role of Publishers remains unchanged Registration Timestamp Certification Peer review validity & integrity Dissemination Medium to share findings Elzevirianas circa 1629 First scientific journals published in 1665 Preservation Preserve and archive records of science 4

5 5 Origins of Scholarly Publishing 1439 Gutenberg and moveable type Henry Oldenburg ( ) Founding Editor and Commercial Publisher of the first scientific journal 1580 Founding of the House of Elzevir March 6,1665 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society First true scholarly journal

6 The Publishing Industry Over Time Today

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8 The Publishing Cycle 30-60% Solicit rejected & manage by > 7,000 submissions editors 10 million Archive articles & promote in archive use Manage 500,000+ peer reviewers >480 million downloads Publish by & >30 million disseminate researchers in >180 countries! Nearly Edit ½ million & articles prepare accepted 9.8 million articles Production available 8

9 How To Get Published Preparing Your Manuscript May

10 Are you ready to publish? Guiding questions Have you done something new and interesting? Have you provided solutions to any difficult problems? Have you checked the latest results in the field? Have you verified the findings? Did you perform the appropriate controls? Do your results fit - is the story complete? 10

11 Choosing the right journal Find the journal that best suits your work: Look at the Aims & Scope of a journal Spatial Statistics Spatial Statistics publishes articles on the theory and application of spatial and spatiotemporal statistics. It favours manuscripts that present theory generated by new applications, or in which new theory is applied to an important practical case. Spatial statistics concerns the quantitative analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal data, including their statistical dependencies, accuracy and uncertainties.

12 Read the Guide for Authors Find it on the journal homepage of the publisher, e.g. Elsevier.com Keep to the Guide for Authors in your manuscript Editors do not like wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts 12

13 The Process of Writing Building the Article Title & Abstract Conclusion Introduction Methods Results Discussion Figures/Tables (your data) 14

14 Principles of Peer Review A well understood concept Without it there is no control in scientific communication OUT Initial changes rejection rejection Submission Editor (preliminary Assessment) Reviewer 1 Reviewer 2 Editor: Decision minor/major revisions required Journal Editors evaluate and reject certain articles prior to external peer review Branding, logos, page numbers Print Proof In Press Published accepted Typesetting, copy editing 15

15 Suggest potential reviewers Your suggestions may help the Editor to pass your manuscript to the review stage more efficiently The reviewers should represent at least two regions of the world. They should not be your supervisor, direct colleagues at the same institute or close friends Generally you are requested to provide 3-6 potential reviewers. Check the Guide for Authors!

16 How is Spasta organized Spasta has one editor-in-chief 5 Associate editors with different backgrounds and experiences, all senior scientists Some 50 editors with different backgrounds from various parts of the academic worlds A large database of reviewers 17

17 What happens if a paper enters The ed-in-chief checks the ms: does it fall within the scope of the journal. If not: desktop rejection If so: he selects an AE (or himself) to do the review process Reviewers are selected and invited from The editors of the journal Suggested reviewers by the authors Otherwise knowledgeable scientists Scientists suggested by reviewers that are unable to do the review 18

18 Types of editorial decisions Accept Reject Minor revision Major revision Decisions Reality: editorial decision making is NOT a democracy The interpretation of what constitutes minor and major revision can vary considerably among reviewers and editors 19

19 Post-review revision Carefully study the reviewers comments and prepare a detailed letter of response Respond to all points - even if you disagree Write a polite, scientifically solid rebuttal State specifically what changes you have made to address the reviewers comments, mentioning the page and line numbers where changes have been made Perform additional calculations, computations, or experiments if required; these usually serve to make the final paper stronger Avoid repeating the same response over and over

20 Thank You & questions Contact for further questions: 21

21 Scholarly Publishing Today Scientific,Technical and Medical communities around the world are united through STM Publishing 22