1

How to write a paper?

byGholamreza Zahedi

Chem. Eng Department,Universiti Teknologi MalaysiaUTM Skudai 81310 Malaysia

Why to publish a paper?Why to publish a paper?• Letting researchers to know about

your findings• Helps professionals for new ideas• Networking and

internationalization• Person satisfaction and credibility

of the work

2

Thesis title is important in Thesis title is important in publicationpublication• Thesis should be novel and

interesting• Supervisor plays key role here• Literature survey will show novelty

of thesis and subjects• If you did search and found your

work is already done try to add new parts and researches on it like:

• Optimization, sensitivity anlaysis,

3

How to select the journal?How to select the journal?1. Processing time

4

2. Higher impact factor

How to find higher impact factor journals?

Use data banks3. Use your key words for finding

suitable journals

5

• Sciencedirect• Library (all databases, spent about

13 M/YEAR)• Yahoo, Google search (put key

words)/Internet, www.scirus.com• Scopus• WoS• Engineering Village• Pro-quest-digital dissertation• Ingentaconnect• …

6

7

8

9

10

11

Types of papersTypes of papers• Full length article• Short communications• Review paper• Data bank

Letter to editor, erratum's are not considered paper

Do not submit to more than one journalConference materials can be sent to

journal

12

Full length research Full length research articlearticle• Most of papers have this theme. It

contains:• Title, abstract, key words,

introduction, material and methods, results, conclusion,

references

13

Title of paperTitle of paper• Should be brief and informative• Should be attractive• New ideas can come with new

phrase• Abbreviation should be avoided in

title

14

Authors name and Authors name and affiliationsaffiliations• Follow journal guidelines• Corresponding author should

provide details like Tel. No and fax No.

15

16

abstractabstract• What you have done and what you

have found• Should be brief in 200-300 words

based on journals policy.• Avoid using introduction if it is

possible

17

Key wordsKey words• The words when you used them in

data banks you will be able to find your paper

• Describe area of your research• Usually 5 is maximum limit of key

words• Usually are separated by ;

(depending on journal format)• Avoid abbreviation in key words

except very well known abbreviations like pH.

18

Introduction Introduction 1- start with problem statement2- literature review:• use updated references• Use some papers from the journal

you want to submit• Previous work of you will help3- statement of novelty of your work

in one or two section4- one paragraph on remaining

sections of paper

19

Material and methodsMaterial and methods

• For process modeling works:• Process description, modeling

technique like ANN, and numerical solution or how you have solved the model should be presented.

• Software detail should be mentioned.• Data source for validation of model is

important.• For experimental works:• Deatails of experiment, devices with

20

• Details of equipment used,• You should mention also why you

are using the specific experimental methods

• All details regarding accuracy should be followed.

• Figures with exp. Rig usually is fruitful.

21

Results and discussionResults and discussion• Any result should be justified and

each figure or table should be followed by reasonable interpretations.

• Any results should be justified.• Errors in modeling work should be

reported and justified.• Supporting from other works will

help.

22

Conclusion and remarksConclusion and remarks• It should not be similar to abstract• It should tell how the objective of

the research has been met.• Include important founding and

aspects of results here.

23

acknowledgementacknowledgement• If you need acknowledge from

sponsorship of work or any organization,.. You will bring it in this section.

•

24

referencesreferences• Follow exactly journal guideline.• Using End note will help you in this

case as if your paper is rejected you need to re arrange the references.

• Sample of journal referencing: Francois B, Daniel SK. Centralised

and distributed electricity systems. Energy

Policy 2008;36:4504–8.• Sample of internet referencing:

25

• Walt P. Electricity: decentralized futures, electric futures: pointers and possibilities-transforming electricity:working paper 3; 1997. Available from: http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/research/eedp/papers/view/-/id/83/ [cited 2010 July]

• DOI• Salas V, Olı´as E. Overview of the state of technique for

PV inverters used in low voltage grid-connected PV systems: inverters below 10 kW. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2009. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2008.10.003.

Book referencing• Hartley CWS. The oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq., Third

edition, 1988,London.

Document• Hiremath R, Ravindranath NH, Somashekhar H. Status of

decentralized• energy planning – case studies report. Bangalore: Center for

Sustainable• Technologies (CST), IISc; 2007.

26

appendixesappendixes• Will give further detail of calculations,

questioners, result of analysis,…• Language quality should be excellent as

paper.

27

Paper languagePaper language• Level of "English language” is very

important. Paper must be edited and proofed by professional in English language if the authors have doubt in English level of the paper.

• Reviewer #2: You should rewrite completely your paper and ask for help of someone who is proficient in chemical engineering English. Also, you should use the latest information and papers published in the domain of GB models applied for chemical reactors modelling and, also, how others took into consideration the catalyst deactivation with respect to the dynamic of the reactor/system. Presently, the paper is far below the standards needed to be considered as a submission to Computers & Chemical Engineering.

28

Manuscript lengthManuscript length

• Depends on journal policy and normally is 20-40 double spaced pages.

• No. of figures also should be reasonable. 8-10 seems reasonable but is not a rule.

• All the figures and tables should be cited in the paper body.

• All references should appear in the manuscript.

29

Review paper writingReview paper writing• Review papers are usually by invitation• You should be expert in the field• A review paper should review previous

papers• You should have some of your works in

the reference section• Comparison between various research

should be carried out• If a researcher reads a review he

should not need doing search on the data banks

30

Short communicationShort communication• If you do not that much to present• They are easy to pblish

31

grzahedi@cheme.utm.mygrzahedi@cheme.utm.my• Tel:• 5535583

32