Publishing Your Research · Publishing Your Research Writing a scientific paper and submitting to...

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

November 2016

Publishing Your Research Writing a scientific paper and submitting to the right journal

Publishing Your Research | 2016|

Publishing Scientific Articles – The Perspective From a Publisher

• Who are we?

• The Publishing Landscape

• Selecting a Journal

• Writing the Article

• Getting ready to submit


The perspective of a Publisher Who we are

Springer Science+Business Media

PLUS

Macmillan Science and Education


The new company: SpringerNature


Springer – some key numbers

• Founded in 1842

• More than 13000 employees worldwide, over 50 countries

• Over 10.000 new book titles published in 2015

• Some 2800 journals

• Covering all disciplines from mathematics, to life sciences to humanities

• Over 350 Open Access journals: largest OA portfolio worldwide

• Springerlink (http://link.springer.com): our searchable content platform with

journal papers, books and major reference works

http://link.springer.com/


Springer – who am I

The team of editors working in physics, astronomy, earth sciences, chemistry and engineering at Springer

• At Springer since 1997

• Vice President Physics & Astronomy

• PhD Utrecht University (1997) Research performed at AMOLF, Amsterdam

The Publishing Landscape


The Publishing Landscape

• Why you should publish

• The status of scholarly publications today

• Impact Factors

http://www.springer.com/biomed/cancer/journal/10456


http://www.springer.com/computer/bioinformatics/book/978-1-84996-103-5

http://www.springer.com/mathematics/algebra/journal/10469

http://www.springer.com/mathematics/mathematical+biology/journal/11538

http://www.springer.com/environment/journal/13280

http://www.springer.com/computer/ai/journal/10994


Why you should publish

• Publish or Perish:

Your research is NOT complete until it has been published

• Present new and original results or methods

• Exchange ideas, communicate with peers -> Advance (not repeat) scientific knowledge and

enhance scientific progress

• Grant writing, research funding

• Recognition and career advancement

• Personal prestige and satisfaction

Funding Bodies

Researchers Grant writing

Scientific Publication


Competition to be read

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050

Log

# ar

ticl

es

Year

Historical increase in annual article output

Based on data published in Jinha, A. E. (2010). “Article 50 million: An estimate of the number of scholarly articles in existence.” Learned Publishing 23 (3): 258–263.


The status of scholarly publications today

The number of article submissions is growing exponentially compared to number of new journals

• Growing pressure on Editors and Peer Reviewers of journals

• Competition to get published

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

%

Year

Journal numbers

Journal submissions

Relative growth from baseline, Source: Daniel McGowan, Edanz, 2012


Many Rankings and Measures of Quality

• An important one you will often encounter is the journal Impact Factor

• Measure of the average number of citations articles in a particular journal receive in a particular year

Formula for the 2015 Impact Factor:

Number of citations in 2015 to articles published in 2013 + 2014

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total citable articles published in 2013 + 2014


Selection of Springer’s Physics and Astronomy Journals

Journal ImpactFactor

JournalofHighEnergyPhysics 6.02

EPJC 4.91

NanoResearch 8.89

CommunicationsinMathematicalPhysics 2.37

LivingReviewsinRelativity 32.00

LivingReviewsinSolarPhysics 19.33

Astronomy&AstrophysicsReview 12.14

SpaceScienceReview 7.24


Impact Factor – Points to consider

• Compare the IF only with journals within the same discipline because the average IF is very

different among different disciplines (see chart)

• E.g. In mathematics researchers will usually cite older work, while only citations in the two years

after publication count toward the IF. This is quite different in e.g. nanoscience

• There is much debate over the Impact Factor (IF) in the scientific and publishing community,

particularly with regard to the fairness of the system

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

Economics Computing,Cybernetics

EnvironmentalSciences

Physics,Multidisciplinary

Infectiousdiseases

BiochemicalMethods

Average Impact Factor 2010


Types of articles

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

mean cites/article

mean cites/review

Relative ISI cites to articles vs reviews: articles published 2008, cited in 2009.

Selecting a Journal


Publishing scientific articles

Selecting a Journal

• Types of journals

• Before you begin

• What journal editors want

• How to choose the right journal









Types of journals

• Letters journal - Rapid communication, peer-reviewed, a good way to get time sensitive, preliminary or ongoing research published

• Traditional academic research journal - The main venue for primary research, rigorously peer-reviewed

• Reviews journal - Publishes overviews of research, perspective on the state of a field and/or where it is heading, peer-reviewed, often contains invited papers

• Mega journal – technically sound papers, not necessarily innovative or important

• Professional journal - Mainly review and how-to articles, heavily edited, not necessarily peer-reviewed, but the audience may be who you want to reach with your research outcome: practitioners


Before you begin

• To Write = To Read

• Know the status quo of your field of research - scientific communication is about advancing - not repeating - scientific knowledge

• Make sure you have access to the most up-to-date scientific literature, (remember your library provides access to most of the scientific publications, e.g. on SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, Wiley Online)

• Refine your writing skills by reading and reviewing papers of colleagues. This will help you form a strong framework for your own research writing

• Determine a feel of the (kind of) journal you wish to publish in:

• Interdisciplinary Journal: e.g. Nature, Science, Nature Communications

• Discipline-specific Journal: Solar Physics, Inventiones Mathematicae, BMC Biology

• Megajournal publishing “sound science”: e.g. Scientific Reports, PLoS One

http://link.springer.com/


How to choose the right journal

• Check where collaborating / competing research groups and researchers publish their work

• Follow the references. Where were the original papers you would like to cite published?

• Is an Impact Factor important to you? Or are you more concerned about usage / visibility?

• Talk to colleagues about their experiences with the journal

• Check publisher sites, you can often find useful information in the ‘for authors’ section

• Avoid journals with no clear submission and reviewing process

• Consider the costs (publishing in traditional - subscription based - journals is in most cases free to the author, however, in Open Access publishing there is an Article Processing Charge)


How to choose the right journal - springer.com journal pages


What journal editors want

• Good quality science!

• Work which will stand up to peer review (quality / language)

• Novel to the scientific community, original research

• Research that is interesting to the journal’s readership (so also make sure to choose the right journal!)

• Active research areas (many citations)

• Clear concise writing

“Thank you for your article submission, the

results are new and interesting.

Unfortunately the new results are not

interesting, and the interesting results are

not new.”


Evaluating significance: what is the importance, novelty and relevance of your paper?

• Of specific interest only or of interest to many

• Support for (or contradiction of) an existing theory

• Substantially improves our understanding of a phenomenon or provide a new technology or disease treatment

• Does it have international significance

• Is it in an area of ‘popular appeal’? E.g. is it likely to be reported in mainstream or lay scientific media

Does your paper offer conceptual advances or incremental ones


Nature and Nature Sister Journals – High Impact

•Nature • Publishes the MOST important advances

with the WIDEST implications.

• The significance of a Nature paper should be obvious to any scientist working in any field of research.

Nature sister titles Publishes the MOST important advances across each discipline.

Significance should be apparent to anyone in that discipline.


Wow?

Writing the Article


Writing and publishing scientific articles • How to structure your article

• Discoverability of your work: metadata









How to structure your article

• Follow the author instructions of the journal you chose to submit to

• You are telling a story:

• Beginning (introduction)

• Middle (main body: results)

• End (conclusion)

• The order in which you actually write your paper should be:

• Methods and Results

• Introduction

• Discussion and Conclusion

• Abstract and Title


Title Read first and most. Keep it short and to the point. Must reflect the content of the paper.

Authors Correct spelling, consistency in affiliation.

Abstract 100-300 word summary of objective and results. Includes key message of paper.

Keywords Synonyms relevant as search terms e.g. in Google. Ideally not words from the title because title words are automatically keywords.

Introduction Explain i) why the work was conducted ii) what methodology was employed iii) why you chose this particular methodology iv) How the methodology accomplished the hypothesis set out in your abstract.

Methodology Written clearly and concisely so that someone can follow how you did your research and can reproduce it.

How to structure your article (cont.)


How to structure your article (cont.)

Analysis/Results What: Present the results clearly and carefully.

Discussion So what? Discuss the results here. If the results were not what you were expecting this is where you can provide insights or speculations as to what happened and/or what you could have done differently.

Conclusions Write down your conclusions from the study.

Acknowledgements & Conflict of Interest Statement

Acknowledge the people and institutions who have made your research possible e.g. funding.

References Properly cite your referenced material; use the style of the journal.

Supplementary Material List any supplementary materials, appendices.


How to structure your article - References

• Format your references according to the author instructions

• Be precise in your references; references form the link between your paper and the scientific literature

• Tools available to manage your own scientific library


Discoverability of your work: metadata

• Your article needs to be found, read, used and cited!

• Metadata ensures your work appears with the proper audience through for example

• Abstracting and Indexing Services

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)


• The majority of people will only read this section

• It must be able to ‘stand alone’

• An accurate summary of your research; objectives, methods, results and major conclusions reached

• Structured or unstructured?

ALWAYS consult the Instructions for Authors for specific requirements

• Avoid abbreviations unless necessary

• Avoid references

Abstract


A good title

Poor

Late Quaternary evolution of a loess landscape over

glacial and interglacial cycles in a region of high

tectonic vertical uplift and lateral strike-slip movement

in the Charwell Basin located in the South Island of

New Zealand

Too long

Better

Late Quaternary loess landscape evolution on an

active tectonic margin, Charwell Basin, South Island,

New Zealand

Shorter and easy to understand


Key words

Direct observation of nonlinear optics

in an isolated carbon nanotube

Poor

molecule, optics, lasers, energy

Too general

Better single-molecule interaction, Kerr effect, carbon nanotubes, energy level structure

More specific

Use established key words and terminology from

the literature or keyword databases (MeSH, PACS, MSC)

Getting Ready to Submit


Writing and publishing scientific articles • Getting ready to submit

• Publishing ethics

• Peer review

• Rejection

• Acceptance and publication of your article

• ORCID: Open Researcher and Contributor ID









Getting ready to submit

• Get the agreement from all co-authors on what is submitted and to which journal

• Prepare a cover letter (when appropriate)

o Give the background to your research

o Explain the importance of your article in relation to the scope of the Journal

o Emphasize the key take away points

o Recommend reviewers. Usually the journal editor makes a different selection, but it shows knowledge of the field.

o Exclude reviewers and include the reason (e.g. members from a competing research group)

• Language editing – many papers are rejected for language reasons

• Conform to the author instructions in terms of set up, reference style, etc.


Getting ready to submit – Publishing ethics

• The work described has not been published before

• It is not under consideration anywhere else – do not submit your paper to more than one journal at the same time, that would be violating publishing ethics

• Publication has been approved by co-authors and responsible authorities

• Conflict of Interest statement included

• Permissions have been obtained from copyright owners.

• No data fabrication or falsification

CrossCheck powered by iThenticate is an initiative started by CrossRef to help its members actively engage in efforts to prevent scholarly and professional plagiarism


Peer review - What it is

• When you submit an article, other experts in the field evaluate your article, your research and methodology, to determine if your paper is suitable for publication

• Peer review is employed to maintain a high quality standard of published papers and to provide credibility


Peer review – How to deal with the feedback

• Nearly every manuscript requires revisions, often two or three revisions

• If you receive reviewer comments for re-submission, act on them

• Consider peer review feedback as advice to help you improve your article, do NOT take offense

• Minor revision does not guarantee acceptance after revision; address all comments carefully

Acceptance Minor

revision

Major revision

Rejection

(Daniel McGowan, Edanz, 2012)

Very few manuscripts get accepted without the need for any revision


Rejection

• Do not be disheartened if you receive a rejection: very often the article and the research are good, but you have not found the right journal

Science

• Novelty

• Research question

• Methodology

• Statistics

• Analysis

• Conclusion

Manuscript

• Formatting

• References

• Language

Other

• Scope

• Expected Impact

• Audience

• Too hypothetical


Acceptance and publication of your article

• Accepted articles will be typeset, proofread and published online. The article receives a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) and can be read and cited, e.g.: DOI: 10.1007/s10681-012-0632-1

• This is the official publication of the article and can not be changed afterwards

• For many journals, page numbers and an issue number are assigned once the article is published in an issue, in other cases, the DOI or article number will be the unique identifier

• Share your work. SpringerNature offers shareable links to a read-only version of your article

• Articles in Springer journals where the corresponding author is from the VU are automatically open access

• Present your work. Network.


ORCID: Open Researcher and Contributor ID

• Go to www.orcid.org and register for your own Digital Identifier

http://www.orcid.org/


Further reading

Is Publication Success a Matter of Dumb Luck? http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6312/aaf5239 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf5239

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6312/aaf5239

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6312/aaf5239


Acknowledgement

Alex Cheronet and Nathalie Jacobs (Springer)

Daniel McGowan (Edanz)

Defining impact in academic publishing


The h-index

• The h-index is intended to measure simultaneously the quality and quantity of scientific output.

• A scholar with an index of h has published h papers each of which has been cited in other

papers at least h times

• Evaluation of impact of the work of individual researcher, the h-index grows over time, depends

on the academic age of the researcher

• The index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a group of scientists, such as a

department or university or country, as well as a scholarly journal

• A journal with an index of h has the largest number of h such that at least h articles in that

publication were cited at least h times each.

• The h-index serves as an alternative to more traditional journal impact factor metrics in the

evaluation of the impact of the work of a particular researcher


Article Level Metrics

• Article-Level Metrics (ALMs, altmetrics, alternative metrics) are not just about citations and

usage; the concept refers to a whole range of measures which might provide insight into

‘impact’ or ‘reach’


Article Level Metrics (cont.)

• Visit http://article-level-metrics.plos.org for more information

• Here you can find real time listing of:

• Usage

• Citations

• Mention in social networks

• Post publication review

http://article-level-metrics.plos.org/






Google Scholar citations databases

• Visit http://scholar.google.com/scholar/citations.html for more information

• Google Author citations are available since 2011

• Authors should set up their profile at http://scholar.google.com and claim their articles

• Provides citation information for authors and calculates the h-index

• Most author analyses limited to authors with profiles

• Google Scholar Journal citation database with rankings available since May 2012

• Journal ranking

• No quality selection, only need 100 articles in previous five years

• h5-index for journals

http://scholar.google.com/scholar/citations.html

http://scholar.google.com/

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