How to Write a ManuscriptGet Your Paper Accepted Daniel McGowan

7/30/2019 How to Write a ManuscriptGet Your Paper Accepted Daniel McGowan

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How to write a manuscript

Get your paper accepted

Daniel McGowan, PhD

Science Director, Edanz Group Limited

Spring 2010


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Presentation

Introduction

Section One: Preparations before writing

Section Two: Manuscript structure

Section Three: Tips for getting accepted

Edanz Group Limited| 2


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To share your research findings and opinions

with the international research community

Publication success is linked to funding successand career advancement

Many PhD programs require candidates to

achieve a set number of peer-reviewed

publications

Edanz Group Limited | 3

Why publish?


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Funding

Bodies

Scientists /Clinicians

GrantWriting

Journal

Publication

Regularly publishing research findings ensures ongoing grant

support for new research

Publish or perish



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Increased competition


0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

%

Year

Journal numbersJournal submissions

Relative growth from 100% baseline in 1990


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How to identify hot topics

Study design

What do journal editors want?

Choosing an appropriate journal

Ethical issues


Section One Preparations before writing


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Look for clues

unexplained findings,

controversies

Read the literature,

including related

fields

Attend

international

meetings

Greater interest = Greater competition

Identify your advantages and use them

How to identify hot topics



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Have an hypothesis or research question

Use appropriate methods and controls

Ensure sample sizes are large enough

Use appropriate statistical tests

Remove investigator/researcher/patient bias

Comply with ethical requirements

Study design Get it right first time



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Good quality science Robust to peer review

Well designed and executed original research

Findings of interest to the journals readership

Work in an active research area (=citations!)

Work that advances the field in some way Compliance with ethical regulations

Clear, concise writing


What do journal editors want?


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Can be the difference between success and rejection

What is the main focus of your research and who will

be interested in it?

What are its strengths and weaknesses? How significant are your findings?

Are your findings preliminary or are they sufficient to

make a story? How widely will your research appeal? To researchers

in the same field or to the broader scientific

community?

Journal Selection



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Publishing frequency

Impact factor

Target audience

Aims and scope

Rejection rate

Lead times

Access (open or subscriber)

Prior publications

Publication fees

Publication types

What should you consider?

How do these relate to your publication needs?


Journal Selection


12/76Edanz Group Limited | 12


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Unethical behavior could lead to rejection and a possibleban from a target journal.

Multiple submissions

Redundant publications

Plagiarism

Data fabrication and falsification

Improper use of human subjects and animals in

research

Improper author contribution

Publication ethics



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The write order

Title

Abstract and keywords

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results

Display items

Statistics

Discussion and

Conclusions

References

Section Two Manuscript structure



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IMRaD manuscripts: for maximum clarity andconsistency, write in this order:

Methods

Results

Introduction

Discussion

Title

Abstract

Write after selecting your

target journal

Write during the research

The write order



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Hook to catch

readers

Sells your

manuscript

to the editor

Relevant readers

increase citations

Journal editors like citations


The importance of your title


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Convey the main findings of the research

Be specific and concise without focusing on only

one part of the content Avoidjargon, non-standard abbreviations and

unnecessary detail

Comply with character limits

Some journals also require a short running title

A good title



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Poor

Degeneration of neurons in the CA3 and DG following

OA administration: involvement of a MAPK-dependent

pathway in regional-specific neuronal degeneration

Better

Region-specific neuronal degeneration after okadaic

acid administration

MAP kinase-dependent neuronal degeneration after

okadaic acid administration


A good title


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Many researchers will only read the abstract somust be able to stand alone

Must give an accurate summary of your research,

and enough information so that readers canunderstand:

What you did

Why you did it

What your findings are

Why your findings are useful and important


Abstract


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General rules for abstracts:

Within the word limit

Avoid technical jargon

Avoid abbreviations unless necessary

Avoid references

Always consult the target journals Guide for Authors todetermine allowable length, style and abbreviations


Abstract


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Abstracts are often followed by a list ofkeywords selected by the authors.

Choosing appropriate keywords is important for

indexing purposes. Your manuscript can more easily identified,

read and cited.

Keywords should be specific to your manuscript General terms should be avoided.


Keywords


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Manuscript title:

Region-specific neuronal degeneration after okadaic acid

administration

Poor keywords:

neuron, brain, OA (as an abbreviation), regional-specific

neuronal degeneration, signaling

Better keywords:

okadaic acid, hippocampus, neuronal degeneration,

MAP kinase signaling


Keywords


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Must give the reader enough background informationto put your work into context

Enough information to understand the rationale for

your study is all that is required

Do not write a comprehensive literature review of the

field

Do cite reviews that readers can refer to if they want

more information


Introduction


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Define technical and non-familiar terms

Present the problem, research question and/or

hypotheses to explain the rationale for the study Briefly explain how you addressed this problem

and what was achieved (12 sentences for each)

Citations must be balanced, current and relevant


Introduction


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IntroductionLiver resection has become an increasingly safe procedure, but certainprocedures remain high risk, such as massive liver resection and small-for-

size (SFS) liver transplantation. Massive hepatic resection is the only option

for some patients.

The failure of a partial liver to regenerate is considered a critical contributing

factor in postsurgical primary liver dysfunction and liver failure, and minimal

viable liver volume required for regeneration, following either massive liver

resection or SFS transplantation, is an important concept...

Thus, although the studies outlined above indicate that complement

inhibition represents a potential therapeutic strategy to protect against

hepatic IRI, the important role of complement in liver regeneration would

appear to be a contraindication for such a strategy in the context of liver

resection and SFS liver transplantation, even though IRI is associated with

impaired regeneration

In the current study, we investigated the role of complement in the

relationship between hepatic IRI and liver regeneration using 3 murine

models: a warm total hepatic IRI model (similar to the Pringle maneuver), a

70% PHx model, and a combined IRI/PHx model designed to recreate clinical

massive liver resection under the Pringle maneuver. In these studies, we

used the complement inhibitor CR2complement component


A complement-dependent balance between hepatic

ischemia/reperfusion injury and liver regeneration in mice

Songqing He, Carl Atkinson, Fei Qiao, Katherine Cianflone, Xiaoping Chen and Stephen Tomlinson

The Journal of Clinical Investigation (doi:10.1172/JCT38289; reproduced with permission)

Statement of the problem

Background

Rationale

What was done


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Clear subheadings for methods/materials

Describe methods in the past tense

Novel methods must be described in sufficient detail

for a capable researcher to reproduce the experiment

Give manufacturers/suppliers and their locations

Describe any statistical tests used

Established methods can be referenced


Materials and methods What You Did


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Proapoptotic signaling induced by RIG-I and MDA-5 results in type I

interferon-independent apoptosis in human melanoma cells.Robert Besch, Hendrik Poeck, Tobias Hohenauer et al.

Reagents and antibodies. Anticaspase-3, anticaspase-8 (1C12), anticaspase-9, antiBcl-xL, antiBcl-w,

and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies were obtained from New England Biolabs. Anticytochrome c

(clone 7H8.2C12) was from BD Biosciences. Anti-Noxa (N-15) antibody was from Santa Cruz BiotechnologyInc. AntiBcl-2 (Ab-1) and anti-p53 (Ab-6) antibodies were from Merck Biosciences. AntiIPS-1 antibody

was obtained from Bethyl Laboratories Inc. Anti-actin (AC-15) and anti-Puma (bbc3) antibodies were

purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. PCR primers and siRNAs were purchased from MWG Biotech.

Immunostimulatory and siRNAs. Poly(I:C) was purchased from Amersham Biosciences. 5-Triphosphate

conjugated RNAs (pppRNAs) were transcribed in vitro from DNA templates as described in ref. 6. They

contained a T7 RNA Polymerase consensus promoter sequence followed by the sequence of interest to be

transcribed (MEGAshortscript Kit; Ambion). Reactions were treated with DNAse I (Ambion

siRNAs were designed according to published guidelines (48, 49) 3Overhangs were carried out as twodeoxythymidine residues (dTdT). Sequences of specific siRNAs are listed in Supplemental Table 1.

Nonsilencing control siRNAs were designed to contain random sequences that do not match within the

human genome...

Cell culture. Human melanoma cell lines were a gift of M. Herlyn (Wistar Institute, Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania, USA)

Analysis of lung metastasis. For metastasis analysis at day 10, we isolated genomic DNA from lungs.

Mouse lungs were reduced to small pieces and digested overnight at 56C in a buffer containing 10 mM

Tris, pH 8.0, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1% SDS, 0.5 mg/ml Pronase E (Sigma-Aldrich), and 150 g/mlProtease K (Sigma-Aldrich). Genomic DNA was purified by phenol/chloroform extraction. The amount of

human and murine DNA was determined by quantitative PCR using the LightCycler TaqMan Master Kit

(Roche) together with the Universal Probe Library system (Roche). A 72-bp portion in the second intron of

the human -actin

Statistics. For statistical analysis, 2-tailed Students ttest was used to assess the significance of mean

differences. Differences were considered significant at a P value of 0.05 or less.

Materials

describedfirst

References

to savespace

Clear

subheadings

Detailedinformation

given

Suppliers

Statistical

test

information

The Journal of Clinical Investigation (doi:10.1172/JCI37155; reproduced with permission)


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Assemble your findings in a logical order to make a story

Present your findings in subsections (the same as those in yourmethods section)

Present complementary evidence when possible

Describe results in the past tense

Refer to figures and tables in the present tense

Do not discuss implications do that in the discussion section

Do not duplicate data among figures, tables and text

Show the results of statistical analyses, (e.g., p values) in thetext


Results What did you find?


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Proapoptotic signaling induced by RIG-I and MDA-5 results in type I

interferonindependent apoptosis in human melanoma cellsRobert Besch, HendrikPoeck et al

pppRNA and poly(I:C) induce apoptosis in melanoma cells.

We tested the ability of RIG-I and MDA-5 ligands to induce cell death in human melanoma cell lines. Five celllines derived from advanced melanomas (vertical growth phase or metastatic origin) were analyzed.

Activation of RIG-I and MDA-5 by pppRNA1 and poly(I:C) strongly reduced viability from 100% in controls to

20%50% within 24 hours (Figure (Figure1A).1 A). Viability was reduced due to induction of apoptosis as

determined by staining with annexin V. Apoptosis strictly required intracellular delivery, as neither pppRNAs

nor poly(I:C) without transfection were active (Figure (Figure1B).1 B). Different pppRNAs were tested, and all

reduced cell viability (Figure (Figure1C).1 C). The 5-triphosphate moiety was required, since synthetic RNAs

carrying a free OH group at the 5 end (e.g., OH-RNA1) had no effect (Figure (Figure1C,1 C, left panel). Strong

dose-dependent reduction of viability was observed for poly(I:C) (Figure (Figure1C,1 C, right panel). Reduced

viability was reflected in an increased number of cells undergoing apoptosis (Figure (Figure1D).1 D).

Confirming the onset of apoptosis, caspase-3 was activated in cells transfected with pppRNAs or poly(I:C) but

not in cells exposed to pppRNA or poly(I:C) in the absence of transfection reagent (Figure (Figure1E).1 E).

Together, these results show high sensitivity of human melanoma cell lines toward apoptosis induction by

pppRNAs or poly(I:C) when delivered to the cytosol.

Apoptosis induction by pppRNA and poly(I:C) involves IPS-1 but is independent of IFN signaling.

The RNA ligands pppRNA and poly(I:C) both induced IFN- expression in melanoma cells

(Figure (Figure3A).3A). Silencing of RIG-I and MDA-5 confirmed that induction of IFN- by pppRNA andpoly(I:C) required RIG-I and MDA-5, respectively, and that both required

Melanoma cells are more sensitive to RIG-I and MDA-5induced apoptosis than primary cells.

We next compared healthy primary cells of the skin with melanoma cells to evaluate tumor specificity of

apoptosis induction by RIG-I and MDA-5. Primary human melanocytes, primary fibroblasts, and primary

keratinocytes were significantly less sensitive to pppRNA and poly(I:C) compared with melanoma cells

(Figure (Figure7A).7A).

Graphics used to

show data with

only brief

descriptions in

text

Clear

subheadings

It is clear what

was compared

with what



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Some readers will only look at the figures and their legends

Figures and tables are the best way to present your results

Data shown in figures and tables must be easy to interpret use separate

panels if necessary

Avoid redundancies or duplication

Clearly label all components

Show trendlines, scale bars and statistical significance

Legends must be able to stand alone: write them in the present tense

(except when describing methods)

Comply with journal guidelines on display items


Display items Tables and figures


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Tables are a great way to present large amounts of necessarydata with minimal description required

Part of a table in a paper published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (doi:10.1172/JCI37622; reproduced with permission)



Clear concise heading

Data divided into

categories for

clarity

Percentages as well as

absolute values


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Trend lines

Multi-panel:

different kinds of

data groupedtogether in a single

figure

Complicated data

separated into

simpler components

Scale bars

Figure 5

RCP knockdown attenuates

tumor formation and metastasis.

Effects of RCP inhibition on

tumor growth using (A) MCF7

cells in nude mice and (B) MB231

cells in NOD-SCID mice are

shown. (A) Left panel shows

mean tumorvolume plotted as a

function of time (mean SEM).

Right panel shows tumorweightplotted at 5 weeks; mean weight

indicated by solid line. (B) Left

panel, tumor weight plotted at

indicated number of weeks;

mean weight indicated by solid

line. Right panel, the average

number of lung micrometastases

per section is shown. (C)

Representative lung sections and

fluorescently imaged whole lungs

(right panel) of NOD-SCID mice

are shown. Micrometastases are

indicated by arrows. Scale bars:200 m.

Clear, stand

alone legend



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Today, few professional activities are untouched by

statistical thinking, and most academic disciplines use it

to a greater or lesser degree Statistical thinking is a way

of recognizing that our observations of the world cannever be totally accurate; they are always somewhat

uncertain.

Rowntree D (1981). Statistics without tears. A primer for non-mathematicians. Penguin Books Ltd., London,England


Statistics


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Statistical analysis is at the heart of scientific inquiryConsider statistical analysis when you design yourstudy. Before you start your research.


Statistics

Datacollection

Dataanalysis

Interpretation


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Reporting statistics in your manuscript:

Indicate the parameters described, e.g., meansS.D

Indicate the statistical tests used to analyze data

Give the numerator and denominator with

percentages, e.g., 40% (100/250)

Report p values, e.g., use p=0.0035 rather than

p


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Figure 7

Opposing effects of high- and low-dose complement inhibition on hepatic injury and regeneration in a model incorporating both IRI

and PHx. Mice were treated with normal saline or CR2-Crry at a dose of either 0.25 mg or 0.08 mg immediately after surgery. C3/

mice received no treatment. All determinations made 48 hours after I/R and PHx. (A) Mouse survival. (B) Serum ALT levels. (C)

Histological quantification of hepatic necrosis and injury determined on a scale of 04. (D) Assessment of regeneration by BrdU

incorporation. (E) Restitution of liver weight. (F) MPO content in liver samples. #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 versus WT group; **P < 0.01

versus WT group (similar to WT normal saline group); P < 0.01 versus all other groups; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus WT group.

Results are expressed as mean SD; n = 610.

A complement-dependent balance between hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury

and liver regeneration in miceSongqing He, Carl Atkinson et al



Statistics. Data are expressed as mean SD. Significant

differences between groups were determined by ANOVA, with

a Bonferroni correction for continuous variable and multiple

groups. Two-tailed Students ttest was used for the

comparison of a normally distributed continuous variable

between 2 groups. For the survival studies, Kaplan-Meier log-

rank analysis was performed. P values of less than 0.05 were

considered statistically significant.

ALT levels were significantly lower at 24 and 48 hours after PHx in

low-dose CR2-Crrytreated mice compared with those in saline-

treated controls.

Compared with WT mice, surviving C3/mice had significantly

increased hepatic injury and an impaired proliferative response

(Figure 7, BE)...

Methods Results

Data type defined Statistical tests clearly described

significant only used forstatistical significance

Significance indicated in figure/table legend

Significance threshold defined


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Restate your research question and/or any hypothesespresented in the introduction

Summarize your main findingsmake it clear how your

study has advanced the field

Begin with your most important finding

Past tense to describe results (current and published)

Present tense to describe their implications

Minimize repetition with other sectionsDescribe inconsistencies with other papers

Describe the limitations of your study


Discussion What does it all mean?


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Be humble

Dont overstate the importance of your results

Our findings prove that

Our findings show that

Our findings suggest that


Discussion


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Restate key findings and their significance

Propose future studies that might follow

on from your current study

Give the reader a take-home message


Conclusions

i h b i i h i i f i


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Discussion

Genome-wide microarray analysis of primary tumors has enabled the discovery of novel, clinically

relevant tumor subtypes defined by unique patterns of gene expression. More recently, however,

the inverse of this concept has been explored through bottom-up analytical strategies that seek toidentify gene subtypes with functional roles in tumorigenesis

In the present work, we have built on this concept of data integration and functional discovery and

identified RCP, located on the 8p1112 recurrent breast cancer amplicon, as a novel breast-cancer

promoting gene with Ras-activating potential.

Amplification of the 8p1112 locus has been observed in approximately 10%25% of breast tumor

cases and 15% of breast cancer cell lines and has been associated with poor patient survival and

short interval to distant metastasis. Recently, this amplicon has been the focus of several

functional genomics investigations involving primary breast tumors and cell lines. Using a high-resolution BAC microarray specific for chromosome 8p, Gelsi-Boyer and colleagues

However, that the growth and metastatic properties of the tumor xenografts were dependent on

the endogenous expression of RCP suggests an oncogene addictionlike scenario, whereby RCP

may play a vital role in the maintenance and potentiation of the malignant and metastatic

phenotype

In conclusion, through integrated genomic analysis, we identified RCP as a candidate oncogene at

the 8p1112 amplicon, with expression levels significantly correlated with aggressive breast

cancer behavior

The broader involvement of RCP in the pathogenesis of human cancers and the mechanisms

underlying its oncogenic effects will be the focus of future investigations.

RCPis a human breast cancerpromoting gene with Ras-activating function

Jinqiu Zhang, Xuejing Liu et al



Restate the

question/problem

Restate main findings

Put in context of

previous work

Future research plans

Use suggests and may

Restate main findings


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Your chance to acknowledge anyone who has helped with thestudy:

Individuals who did not qualify for authorship based on

ICMJE criteria

Any researchers that supplied materials or reagentsAnyone who provided technical assistance

Anyone who helped with the preparation of the manuscript

or provided a critical assessment of it

Funding bodies

State why each individual is being acknowledged


Acknowledgments


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Always format your references: check your target journalsGuide for Authors for the appropriate format

Harvard style or Vancouver style or APA

Formatting is required both in textand in the referencessection

Use a reference manager like Endnote. Makes it easy to

edit, reformat, add or remove references

Some journal limit the number of references: check your

target journals Guide for Authors


References


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Your cover letter

Recommending reviewers

Language

Good writing

Common language problems

What do reviewers look for?

Submission

Final checks

Post-referee revisions

Checklist

Section Three Tips for getting accepted



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Cover letters


Journal Editors receive hundredsof manuscripts each month

They dont have time to read each

manuscript

Society journal editors are

especially busy they are usually

practicing researchers too

Your cover Letter is an opportunity

to get the journal editors attention


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Competition for publication space and for editors

attention is very high

It is not enough to send a manuscript to a journal editor

like this:

Cover letters


Dear Editor-in-Chief,

I am sending you our manuscript entitled Large Scale Analysis of Cell Cycle Regulators in

bladder cancer by A. Honda, K. Tanaka, J. Suzuki, and myself. We would like to have the

manuscript considered for publication in Pathobiology.

Please let me know of your decision at your earliest convenience.

With my best regards,

Sincerely yours,

Shinsuke Izumi, PhD


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General rules for cover letters:Address to the editor personally

Begin by giving your manuscript title and publication type

Give a brief background, rationale and description of results

Explain why your findings are important and why they would be

of interest to the journals target audience

Consult the journals Guide for Authors for cover letter

requirements (e.g., disclosures, statements, potential reviewers)

Give corresponding author details

Your cover letter



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Dear Dr Lisberger,

Please find enclosed our manuscript entitled Amyloid-like inclusions in the brains of Huntingtons disease patients, byMcGowan et al., which we would like to submit for publication as a Research Paper in Neuroscience.

Recent immunohistochemical studies have revealed the presence of neuronal inclusions containing an N-terminal portion

of the mutant huntingtin protein and ubiquitin in the brain tissues of Huntingtons disease (HD) patients; however, the role

of these inclusions in the disease process has remained unclear. One suspected disease-causing mechanism in

Huntingtons disease and other polyglutamine disorders is the potential for the mutant protein to undergo a

conformational change to a more stable anti-parallel -sheet structure

To confirm if the immunohistochemically observed huntingtin- and ubiquitin-containing inclusions display amyloid

features, we performed Congo red staining and both polarizing and confocal microscopy on post-mortem human brain

tissues obtained from five HD patients, two AD patients, and two normal controls. Congo red staining revealed a small

number of amyloid-like inclusions showing green birefringence by polarized microscopy, in a variety of cortical regions....

.detected inclusions observed in parallel sections, suggesting that only a relatively small proportion of inclusions in HD

adopt an amyloid-like structure.

We believe our findings would appeal to a broad audience, such as the readership of Neuroscience. As a wide-reaching

journal publishing original research on all aspects of neuroscience

We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal. Allauthors have approved the manuscript and agree with submission to Neuroscience. We have read and have abided by the

statement of ethical standards for manuscripts submitted to Neuroscience. The authors have no conflicts of interest to

declare.

Please address all correspondence to.

Give the

background to

the research

Explain what

was done and

what was found

Explain why this

is interesting to

the journals

readership

Conforms tothe journals

requirements

Your cover letter



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Recommend

Your work supports their hypotheses and ideas

Your research builds on their work

International collaborators in the same field

Exclude

Researchers working on the same research question

Your study refutes their work

The findings in your manuscript are are opposite to their

findings or ideas

Reviewers Recommendations and exclusions



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Journal editors are overloaded with quality manuscripts.They may make decisions on manuscripts based on

formal criteria, like grammar or spelling.

Don't get rejected for avoidable mistakes: make sureyour manuscript looks perfect

Language


A senior executive at a large international publishing house


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Introduction of language

screening protocols to

check submissions

Editors dont want to send poorly written manuscripts forpeer review

Editors receive enough well written submissions to reject

poorly written manuscripts

Language screening



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Language


Some journals are very clear regarding their English requirements,

and about what happens to manuscripts that do not meet their

standards

European Polymer Journal

Language and Style: Manuscripts should bewritten in English in a clear and concise manner.

Manuscripts which are not written in fluent

English will be rejected automatically withoutrefereeing.


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Clarity

Conciseness

Correctness (accuracy)

Good scientific writing possesses the following three Cs:

Key points:Be as brief as possible without omitting essential details

Be as specific as possible

Scientific writing



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Avoid:

Spelling and grammatical errors

Insufficient detail/vagueness

Repetition

Redundancy

Ambiguity

Inconsistency

They annoy editors, peer reviewers and readers

Scientific writing Common problems



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Tense

Articles

Plural or singular

Proper nounsHyphen or dash

That/which

Making comparisons

Respectively

Between or among

Nomenclature

Numbers

PunctuationSuch as/namely

Etc.

Asian fonts

UK or US spelling

Language Common English problems



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Language Dash or hyphen


Hyphenation: for joining usually separate words

Incorrect use can lead to ambiguity

twenty-four hour reactions

twenty four-hour reactions

is different to


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Language Dash or hyphen


En dash (): means through.

October 2829; pp. 25. (dont use ~)

Em dash (): Used to break a sentence, introduce

something, or introduce an afterthought.

These two metalsthat is, titanium and magnesium

are very light.


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Language Asian fonts


Be careful of Asian fonts such as MS Mincho and SimSum

Do not use Asian fonts in your manuscripts

For example:

Why not?

Because they look like this on some computers: or ?


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Use simple language: it is often clearer, more precise andmore concise than using more complex language

Say what you mean in as few words as possibleDelete unnecessary words

Avoid circular sentences, redundancies and repetition

One sentence: one idea

Simple is best



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Language UK or US spelling


Be consistent

Check the journals Guide for Authors

Generally, American journals require US spelling and British

journals require British spelling, but many accept either formas long as the spelling used is consistent

fibre or fiber

centre or center

labelling or labeling

colour or color


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Language Comparisons


Frequently made in the results sections of papersCompare like with like

Do not be vague

Use with, not to

The material from the river bank was compared with the

landfill.

The material from the river bank was compared with that

from the landfill.


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Expression levels of p53 in smokers were compared with non-smokers

Expression levels of p53 in smokers were compared with p53levels in non-smokers

Expression levels of p53 in smokers were compared withthose in non-smokers


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62



Relative terms, such as more, higher and greater, require areference for comparison

Use than or compared with

Reactions with the new machine were faster than those with theold machine

Reactions with the new machine were faster. than what?


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Language Between or among


Use between for comparisons oftwo groups

Use among for comparisons ofmore than two groups

..significant differences were observed in the H values among bio-

, fully- and semi-synthetic

the only difference between the original molecule and the new

molecule is...


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Language Respectively


Use to refer to two corresponding lists, but not more

For example:

Oxygen detector flow Nitrogen detector flow Hydrogen detector flow

85 mL/min 7 mL/min 4 mL/min

Oxygen, Nitrogen and Hydrogen detector flows were set at85, 7 and 4 mL/min, respectively.


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Language Such as or namely


such as: to give examples

namely: to define

.there were other factors, such as nutrient status, primary

production, microbial biomass, and coagulation processes.

we used certified reference materials, namely C36 n-alkane and

phenanthrene, obtained from


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Language Colon or semicolon


The colon : is used to introduce a list or a clause thatexplains what precedes it

Semicolon ; is used to separate the items in a list too long

for commas or where commas could be ambiguous. Useand before the last item in the list.

There are a number of journals for organic chemistry

manuscripts: Organic Electronics, produced by Elsevier; The

Journal of Polymer Science, produced by Wiley; The Journal

of


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Language Minimizing errors


The internet can help you

Google Scholar to check for word usage

Check your target journals home page for full instructions

MS Word

Track changes functionComment function

Find (and replace) to check for consistency

Word Count function

Spell Check (but be careful)Custom Dictionaries (provided by some academic societies for

specific fields)

Online glossaries provided by academic societies


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Is the manuscript sufficiently novel?Is the manuscript of broad enough interest?

Reviewers What do they look for?


Novelty

Significance

Aims and Scope

Impact Factor


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Are the methods used appropriate?

Are any additional experiments/analyses necessary?

Are the statistical tests used appropriate?Are all possible interpretations of the data considered?

Reviewers About the research



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Reviewers About the manuscript


Are the rationale and objectives defined? Is enough background given to understand the rationale?

Could a capable researcher reproduce the experiments?

Are the results clearly explained and in the best format?

Are the findings described in context?

Are the limitations discussed?

Are the conclusions supported?

Is the literature cited appropriate?


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Critically self-evaluatecould anything be done better? Double check the Guide for Authors

Are all files in the correct file format and of the appropriate

resolution or size?

Is your spelling/grammar correct? Do you have contact information for all authors?

Have you completed online registration?

Or have you prepared the requested number of print copies

plus CD?

Have you written a persuasive cover letter?

Submission Final checks



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Rejection from journals is an important part of the

publication process

It is not a negative experience

It exists to ensure that your paper is as scientifically

robust and complete as possible before joining the

collective knowledge as part of the literature

Revisions Post-referee revisions



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Reasons for rejection: Inappropriate target journal

Poor study design

Poor written language Inappropriate or incompletely explained methodology

Inappropriate statistical tests

Incorrect description or overstatement of results

Lack of balance or detail in introduction and/or discussion

Lack of novelty




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Only 1.5% of papers are immediately accepted withoutneed for any revisions

Journal editor

decision

Complete rejection

Acceptance

Rejection with major revisions

Rejection with minor revisions




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When revising your manuscript:

Address all points raised by the editor and/or reviewers

Describe the revisions in your response letter

Perform any additional experiments or analyses requested

(unless you feel that they would not add to the strength of yourpaper: explain why not in your response letter)

Provide a polite and scientific rebuttal to any points or comments

you disagree with

Differentiate comments and responses in your letterClearly show the major revisions in the text

Return revised manuscript and response letter within the

requested time period


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Appropriate study design

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Appropriate statistical tests

Novel and interesting results Clear, concise, accurate writing

Compliance with the Guide for Authors

Significance of findings explained

Appropriate choice of journal

Summary Checklist for acceptance

Documents

How to Write a ManuscriptGet Your Paper Accepted Daniel McGowan