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HOW TO WRITE RESEARCH PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC JOURNALS

HOW TO WRITE RESEARCH PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC JOURNALS. Dr. Abdelaziz TERCHI. Hunting for facts or truth about a subject. Organized scientific investigation to solve problems, test hypotheses, develop or invent new products. Definition of Research. What is research?. Identify a problem

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HOW TO WRITE RESEARCH PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC JOURNALS

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  1. HOW TO WRITE RESEARCH PAPERS FOR ACADEMIC JOURNALS Dr. Abdelaziz TERCHI

  2. Hunting for facts or truth about a subject Organized scientific investigation to solve problems, test hypotheses, develop or invent new products Definition of Research

  3. What is research? • Identify a problem • Find out what others have done • Develop a solution • Show your solution: • Works • Better • Sound & complete

  4. What is Research? Research must be systematic - It follows certain steps that are logical in order. These steps are: • Understanding the nature of problem to be studied and identifying the related area of knowledge. • Reviewing literature to understand how others have approached or dealt with the problem. • Collecting data in an organized and controlled manner so as to arrive at valid decisions. • Analyzing data appropriate to the problem. • Drawing conclusions and making generalizations.

  5. High Quality Research! • It is based on the work of others. • It can be replicated (duplicated). • It is generalizable to other settings. • It is based on some logical rationale and tied to theory. • It is doable! • It generates new questions or is cyclical in nature. • It is incremental. • It is apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the betterment of society.

  6. What is bad research? • The opposites of what have been discussed. • Looking for something when it simply is not to be found. • Plagiarizing other people’s work. • Falsifying data to prove a point. • Misrepresenting information and misleading participants.

  7. Why do we need research? • To get PhDs, Masters and Bachelors?? • To provide solutions to complex problems • To investigate laws of nature • To make new discoveries • To develop new products • To save costs • To improve our life • Human desires

  8. Why publish research papers? • Ideally • to share research findings and discoveries with the hope of improving healthcare • Practically • To get funding • to get promoted • to get a job • to keep your job!

  9. Why write research papers? • Every research needs good and proper documentation. • To attend conferences. • To share research results with other researchers. • To get views for improvement of your research. • To obtain some form of degree. • To get recognition and promotion (“Publish or Perish” Dilemma)

  10. Types of Publications • Theses: MSc. MPhil /PhD • Conference Publications • Focus on a piece of work with limited discussion • Journal Publications • More complete (extensive) discussion • Monographs / Book chapters / Text books • Literature review • Book review • Research note (work in progress) • Working paper • Book

  11. Where to publish your work • Journals Ranking Review process Publication cycle • Conferences Ranking Review process N.B. A good journal / conference usually to have rigorous review process and long review time

  12. Conference: 3 kinds Accept “everything?” IEEE (accept less than 50%) Accept less than 20% Quick Workshop PASTE IWPC ICSE Workshops Journal Archival Respectable Experience Magazine Where to send?

  13. Select an outlet • Level • Workshop: 30 – 50 submissions with 50% acceptance rate • Conference: 100 – 500 submissions with a 10-25% acceptance rate • Journal: 30% acceptance rate with long lead times • Subject: Narrow, Medium,Broad • Region: National,European, Americas, Asia, Australia, Nordic, Worldwide • The higher the level the more competitive • For students it is most successful to focus on a narrow focused workshop

  14. Conferences • Fast publication • Usually need a smaller idea • Smaller trick can be acceptable • Depends on conference • Just accept or reject; no rewrite • It may be incomplete • It may lack key references • Good for networking and Q&A

  15. Journal publication • Academic reputation • Journals have ~4x more status than conferences • Gives a “quality stamp” • Reviewers demand corrections & clarifications • Archive your work • Wider scope • More theory and technical information • More references • Highly competitive • Accept 36% • Reject 58% • Refer to other Journal 3% • Withdrawn 3%

  16. What makes a good research paper? Good science Good writing Publication in good journals

  17. What constitutes good science? Novel: new and not resembling something formerly known or used Mechanistic: testing a hypothesis - determining the fundamental processes involved in or responsible for an action, reaction, or other natural phenomenon Descriptive: describes how things are but does not test how things work – hypotheses are not tested.

  18. What constitutes a good journal? Impact factor: average number of times published papers are cited up to two years after publication. Immediacy Index : average number of times published papers are cited during year of publication.

  19. Journal Citation Report, 2003 Journal Impact Factor Immediacy Index Nature 30.979 06.679 Science 29.162 05.589 Hypertens 05.630 00.838 AJ P Heart 03.658 00.675 Physiol Rev 36.831 03.727 Am J Math 00.962 00.122 Ann Math 01.505 00.564 5907 journals

  20. Things to consider before writing 1. Time to write the paper? - has a significant advancement been made? - is the hypothesis straightforward? - did the experiments test the hypothesis? - are the controls appropriate and sufficient? - can you describe the study in 1 or 2 minutes? - can the key message be written in 1 or 2 sentences? 2. Tables and figures - must be clear and concise - should be self-explanatory 3. Read references - will help in choosing journal - better insight into possible reviewers

  21. Things to consider before writing 4. Choose journal - study “instructions to authors” - think about possible reviewers - quality of journal “impact factor” 5. Tentative title and summary 6. Choose authors

  22. Getting a paper published • Competition for space in journals is intense • Cost of publication is high, $360/page for APS • Rejection rates vary • AJP = 50% • JBC = 65% • Nature = 90%

  23. Reasons for rejection Confirmatory (not novel) Poor experimental design - Poor controls - Hypothesis not adequately tested Inappropriate for journal Poorly written

  24. Reasons for rejection • The topic does not relate to the journal’s aims • The paper does not appear to have engaged with the work of others in the same area and may therefore be repetitious • The paper’s purpose is unclear • The argument in the paper is under-developed • The claims made by the paper are not justified • The style/length/format is not what’s requested by the journal • The paper is poorly presented with missing references, typos, poor grammar etc.

  25. Publication Process Completion of research Preparation of manuscript Submission of manuscript Assignment and review Decision Rejection Revision Resubmission Re-review Acceptance Rejection Publication

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