Author Workshop: Effectively Communicating Your Research

Author Workshop: Effectively Communicating Your Research

National Taiwan University26 March 2014

Jeffrey Robens, PhD

Download at: edanzediting.com/ntu

About Jeff…

Author

Senior Editor

Peer reviewer

University of Pennsylvania

Be an effective communicator

S

Choose the best journal to reach your target audience

Logically present your research in your manuscript

Prepare effective titles and abstracts

Convey the significance of your work to journal editors

Properly revise your manuscript after peer review

Your goal should not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited in the field

Journal selection

Section 1


Journal selection Factors to consider when choosing a journal

Aims & scope Readership

Open access

Which factor is most important to you?

Indexing

Journal selection Evaluating significance

How new are your findings?Novelty

How broadly relevant are your findings?Relevance

What are the important real-world applications?Appeal

Journal selection

Insert your proposed abstract

Journal Selector – www.edanzediting.com/journal_sele

ctor

Journal selection

Recommended journals

Filter by:Impact factor

Publishing frequencyOpen access


ctor

Journal selection

Semantic matching terms

Journal’s IF, aims & scope, and publication frequency

Similar published articles

Have they published similar articles recently?Have you cited some of these articles?


ctor

Journal selection Tips to identify the most suitable journal

S

Identify the interests of the journal editor

• Editorials• Review articles• Special issues


S• Editorials• Review articles• Special issues



Manuscript

Journal editor’s interests

Journal A Journal B Journal C


S

Identify the interests of the journal editor

Identify the interests of the

readers


• Most viewed• Most cited


S • Most viewed• Most cited



Manuscript

Reader’s interests

Journal A Journal B Journal C

Manuscript structure

Section 2


Coverage and Staffing PlanManuscript

structure Introduction

General introduction

Specific aimsAims

Current state of the field

Problem in the field


structure Literature review

How did these lead to more recent studies?What are the knowledge gaps?

What is your hypothesis?

What did earlier studies show?Previous studies

Currentstudy


structure

Identify an important problemState aims that directly address this problem

Writing the Introduction

Problem…little has been conducted to qualitatively assess whether self-efficacy and peer influence affect the likelihood of students engaging in academic dishonesty.

Nora & Zhang Asia Pacific Educ Rev. 2010; 11: 573–584.

AimsThe purpose of this study is threefold: first, to determine the effect of peer attitudes and behaviour on the likelihood of cheating; secondly, to establish the significance of self-efficacy in promoting academic integrity; lastly, to ascertain effective ways of deterring academic dishonesty.


structure Methods

How it was done

Methodology/analysesConstructs/parameters

Measures/outcomes

Quantification methodsStatistical tests

Who/what was used

ParticipantsInstruments

Data collection

How it was analyzed

Study design

Consult a statistician


structure Results

1. Initial observation2. Characterization3. Application

Logical presentation

Example:1. Observe a correlation between depression and

Internet use2. Characterize the severity of depression, time spent

online, websites visited3. Demonstrate decreased Internet use improves

severity of depression


structure Results

1. Initial observation2. Characterization3. Application

Each subsection corresponds to

one figure

What you found, not what it means

Logical presentation

Subsections

Factual description


structure Discussion

Summary of findings

Relevance of findings

Implications for the field

Similarities/differencesUnexpected resultsCounter-argumentsLimitations


structure Discussion – the end

The Spanish version of AIDA showed good psychometric properties in Mexico and can be used to assess the construct “pathology-related identity integration vs. diffusion” with reliability, validity, and content equivalence in comparison with the original AIDA questionnaire. This finding supports the cross-cultural generalizability of the underlying concept and confirms the importance of culture-specific test adaption in addition to literal translation of the questionnaire. Nevertheless, some items should be improved. Therefore, the test version of “AIDA Spanish – Mexico” should be further adapted and should be tested in a more heterogeneous population.

Conclusion

Implications

Future directions

Why your work is important to your readers

Kassin et al. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2013; 7: 25.


structure Linking your ideas

General background

Objectives

Methodology

Results and figures

Summary of findings

Implications for the field

Relevance of findings

Problems in the field

Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript

Current state of the fieldIntroduction

Methods

Results

Discussion


structure Linking your ideas

…no research has examined how interacting with Facebook influences subjective well-being over time.

We addressed this issue by…measuring in-vivo behavior and psychological experience over time.

These analyses indicated that Facebook use predicts declines in…subjective well-being…

Problem

Objectives

Conclusion

Discussion

Introduction

Kross et al. PLoS ONE 2013; 8: e69841.


structureWriting effective

conclusions

Your conclusion is a summary of your findings

Your conclusion should be the answer to your research problem that is supported by your findings

Emphasizes how your study will help advance the field

Thank you!

Any questions?

Follow us on Twitter@JournalAdvisor

Like us on Facebookfacebook.com/EdanzEditing

Download and further readingedanzediting.com/ntu

Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]

Who’s hungry?

First impressions are important!

Titles and abstracts

Section 3


Customer ServiceTitles and abstracts

Important points

Summarize key finding Contains keywords Less than 20 words

Avoid

Effective titles

Your title should be a concise summary of your most important finding

QuestionsDescribing methodsAbbreviations“New” or “novel”

Customer ServiceTitles and abstracts Abstract

First impression of your paper

Importance of your results

Validity of your conclusions

Relevance of your aims

Judge your writing style

Probably only part that will be read

Customer ServiceTitles and abstracts Sections of an abstract

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your hypothesis

Analyses

Most important findings

Conclusion/implications

Concise summary of your research

Customer ServiceTitles and abstracts Unstructured abstract

Political thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to parliamentary and presidential elections. However, little is known about how the individual's political attitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle national cues that are so prevalent in our environment. We report a series of experiments that show that subliminal exposure to one's national flag influences political attitudes, intentions, and decisions, both in laboratory settings and in “real-life” behavior. Furthermore, this manipulation consistently narrowed the gap between those who score high vs. low on a scale of identification with Israeli nationalism. The first two experiments examined participants' stance toward the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3 examined voting intentions and actual voting in Israel's recently held general elections. The results portray a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's nationality significantly influence political thought and overt political behavior.

Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.

Customer ServiceTitles and abstracts Unstructured abstract

ConclusionThe results portray a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's nationality significantly influence political thought and overt political behavior.

Results

Furthermore, this manipulation consistently narrowed the gap between those who score high vs. low on a scale of identification with Israeli nationalism. The first two experiments examined participants' stance toward the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3 examined voting intentions and actual voting in Israel's recently held general elections.

MethodsWe report a series of experiments that show that subliminal exposure to one's national flag influences political attitudes, intentions, and decisions, both in laboratory settings and in “real-life” behavior.

Background

Political thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to parliamentary and presidential elections. However, little is known about how the individual's political attitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle national cues that are so prevalent in our environment.

Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.

Journal Editors are busy!

Cover letters

Section 4


Coverage and Staffing PlanCover letters

Abstract:First impression for readers

Cover letters are the first impression for the Journal Editor

SignificanceRelevance

Writing styleInteresting to their readers?

Is your work important?


Dear Dr Ellenbogen,

Please find enclosed our manuscript entitled “Presenteeism among Taiwanese employees: Personality and job stress”, which we would like to submit for publication as a Research Paper in Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.

This study examines presenteeism, the situation in which workers are present at work, but their ability to do their jobs is impaired by physical or mental symptoms. This topic is important to companies as studies have found that the costs of presenteeism can be higher than medical costs associated with treating the underlying conditions. Currently, the relationships between common mental health symptoms and presenteeism, as well as the effects of job strain and workplace social support, are unclear. We aimed to evaluate these relationships and consider the effect of personality traits on both presenteeism and common mental health symptoms.

We used an online questionnaire incorporating several well-established and verified questionnaires to assess presenteeism, mental disturbance, job strain and workplace support, and temperament and character. We found that common mental health symptoms are a good predictor of presenteeism. Although workplace social support is generally agreed to reduce the severity of common mental health symptoms, we found no direct effect on presenteeism.

Our results clearly link presenteeism to common mental health symptoms, and also show the negative effects of strain and poor workplace support. This study is of interest to researchers, managers, mental health clinicians and occupational health specialists interested in the issue of workplace stress and its management. This study is likely to lead to an improved approach to preventing and managing both presenteeism and common mental health symptoms, and is applicable worldwide. Therefore, we feel this manuscript is particularly suitable for Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal and of great interest to its readers.

Give the background to the research

What was done and what was found

Interest to journal’s readers

A good cover letter

We would also like to suggest the following reviewers for our manuscript…

Editor’s name Manuscript title

Publication type

Recommend reviewers

“Must-have” statements


“Must-have” statements

Not submitted to other journals

Source of funding

Authors agree on paper/journal

Original and unpublished

No conflicts of interest

Authorship contributions

Disclaimers about publication ethics

Coverage and Staffing PlanCover letters Recommending

reviewers

Where to find them?

From your reading/references, networking at conferences

How senior? Aim for mid-level researchers

Who to avoid? Collaborators (past 5 years),researchers from same institution

Look for reviewers who have published in your target journal

Coverage and Staffing PlanCover letters Choose

internationally

• 1 or 2 reviewers from Asia• 1 or 2 reviewers from Europe• 1 or 2 reviewers from North America

Journal Editors want to see an international list for 2 reasons:

1. Shows that you are familiar with your field worldwide

2. Shows that your research is relevant worldwide• Increased readership → increased citations → increased impact factor

Peer review

Section 5

Peer review What reviewers are looking for

The study

The manuscript

Relevant hypothesis Good study design Appropriate methodology Good data analyses Valid conclusions

Logical flow of information Manuscript structure and formatting Appropriate references High readability

Abstract and IntroductionMethodsResults and FiguresDiscussion

Peer review

Dr Mark EllenbogenEditor-in-ChiefAnxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal

3 September 2013

Dear Dr Ellenbogen,

Re: Resubmission of manuscript reference No. WJS-07-5739

Please find attached a revised version of our manuscript originally entitled “Presenteeism among Taiwanese employees: Personality and job stress,” which we would like to resubmit for consideration for publication in the Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.

The reviewer’s comments were highly insightful and enabled us to greatly improve the quality of our manuscript. In the following pages are our point-by-point responses to each of the comments.

Revisions in the manuscript are shown as underlined text. In accordance with the first comment, the title has been revised and the entire manuscript has undergone substantial English editing. We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publication in the Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.

Address editor personally

Manuscript ID number

Thank reviewers

Highlight major changes

Writing response letters

Peer review Agreeing with reviewers

Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to compare to previous results.

Response: We agree with the reviewer’s assessment of the analysis. Our tailored function, in its current form, makes it difficult to tell that this measurement constitutes a significant improvement over previously reported values. We describe our new analysis using a Gaussian fitting function in our revised Results section (Page 6, Lines 12–18).

Agreement

RevisionsLocation

Peer review Disagreeing with reviewers


Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored function allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model [Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this function and the Smith model in our revised Discussion section (Page 12, Lines 2–6).

Peer review


Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored function allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model [Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this function and the Smith model in our revised Discussion section (Page 12, Lines 2–6).

Evidence

Revisions

Location

Disagreeing with reviewers

If rejected, what should you do?

Option 1: New submission to the same journal Fully revise manuscript Prepare point-by-point responses Include the original manuscript ID number

Option 2: New submission to a different journal Revise manuscript Reformat according to the author guidelines

If accepted, what’s next?

Promote your work on social networks • Twitter, LinkedIn

Respond to post-publication comments

Present your work at conferences• Allows you to discuss your work personally with your peers• Get feedback about your work and future directions• Networking and collaborations

Be an effective communicator

S

Choose the best journal to reach your target audience

Logically present your research in your manuscript

Prepare effective titles and abstracts

Convey the significance of your work to journal editors

Properly revise your manuscript after peer review

Your goal should not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited in the field

Thank you!

Any questions?

Follow us on Twitter@JournalAdvisor

Like us on Facebookfacebook.com/EdanzEditing

Download and further readingedanzediting.com/ntu

Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]

Documents

Author Workshop: Effectively Communicating Your Research