PUBLISH OR PERISH Skills Building Workshop. Journal of the International AIDS Society Workshop Outline 1.Journal of the International

PUBLISH OR PERISHSkills Building Workshop

www.jiasociety.orgJournal of the International AIDS Society

Workshop Outline

1. Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS)

2. Writing a Manuscript

3. Submitting a Manuscript

4. Manuscript Mentoring


Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS)

• Online www.jiasociety.org

• Open access (free of charge to view)

• Peer-reviewed

• Indexed in PubMed



What type of article do you read? Do you write?

Case study

Debate

Case report

Commentary

Meeting reportMethodology

Review

Research

Short report


How easy is it to get published?

0102030405060708090

100

Ac

ce

pta

nc

e r

ate

BMJ JAMA J InfectDis

AIDS Plos One

Journal


Writing Science


It’s all about the hypothesis…

HypothesisHypothesisAnalysis of

the data

Design and implementation

of research

Discussion of the findings


The Structure

Title/title page

Abstract

Introduction

Methods/materials

Results

Discussion

This is how it is structured,

But how do you read it?

And how do you write it?


Introduction: What was your question?

• General background

• General research question

• Previous research on the topic

• Objective of study

• Hypothesis

Funnel-shaped, from general to specific


Methods/Materials: How did you examine your hypothesis?

• May include different components, depending on the type of study

• Detailed enough to allow replication– Procedures, materials used, data collected, data

analysis and statistical methods– Ethical approval

• Past tense• No results yet!


Results: What did you find?

• What is the best way to present your data: table, figure or text?– Avoid repetition

• Present only the results relevant to your hypothesis

• Relate results to methods, but do not describe them again

• Do not discuss yet!


Tables and Figures

• Only when helpful to convey information

• Should be understandable without text

• Choose type based on the kind of data you have


Tables

• When exact values are important

• Not too simple (useful)

• Not too complex (understandable)


Table: example


Figures

• Visual presentation of results

• To show a trend or patterns of relationship

• Different types of graphs


Figures: Different figures for different messages

Change over time

Source: UNAIDS/WHO, 2008

0

5

10

15

20

25

1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005

Adult HIVprevalence (%)

High estimate

Low estimate


Figures: Different figures for different messages• A bar graph would work for a different

type of data:

Source: UNAIDS/WHO, 2006

Ratios


Additional information

• “Almost Everything You Wanted to Know About Making Tables and Figures,” Department of Biology, Bates College

http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWtablefigs.html


Discussion: What do your findings mean?

• Do not repeat results!

• Discuss the importance of your findings

• Describe any limitations of the study

• Conclude with the key points

• Did the results confirm your hypothesis?


Finishing with the beginning: Writing the abstract

Why is the

abstract essential ?


Finishing with the beginning: Writing the abstract

• First impression of the article

• Guide the invited reviewer in its decision to review or not your manuscript

• Key words for search engines so your article is found

• Help the reader to decide if he will read or not your article


Abstract – what goes in it?

• Brief summary

• Complete – Background– Experimental design– Major findings– Conclusion

• Stand alone (“Acid test”)

• Must be consistent with the paper


Are all abstracts the same?

Article– Present a summary

of an article– Brief and concise

Conference– Present preliminary

new data – Methodology more

detailed– More results


Title

• Short and simple

• Specific — describe the study

• Keywords

• Advertisement for the manuscript


Title

Abstract

Full article


Ethics of authorship

• Study authors– Sequence– Corresponding author– Ghostwriting– Gift authorship

• All authors must be able to take responsibility for content


References

• Credibility– Knowledge and awareness of the field

• How to write references:– Pay attention to the Instructions for

Authors of your selected journal

• Copyright: – When should I cite an article?– What is plagiarism? What are the

consequences?


So, to recap, follow these tips

• Make sure you have enough data before you make a conclusion

• Confirm or reject your hypothesis

• Follow the Instructions for Authors and concentrate on correct structure

• Use simple and clear language —should be straightforward


Submitting Manuscripts to JIAS

• Online at:http://www.jiasociety.org/info/instructions/

• Read the Instructions for Authors page

• Follow the steps on the submission checklist



Peer-Review Process

Online submission

Initial decision by Editors-in-Chief and Executive Editor

Reviewed by at least 2 selected experts

Accept

Revision

Reject

Published in JIAS - open access

Revision reviewed

Reject

Mentoring

Mentoring


Common Reasons for Failure to Publish

*Research question not clear

*Poor study design

*Lack of ethical approval

*Not enough data

*Poorly written*Incorrect format*Poor structure*Poor language quality


Fear not: Manuscript mentoring

• Mentors can support you for initial submission or for resubmission

• Here’s what mentors can help you with:• Research methods & design• Writing style & language• Targeting suitable journals


An example of mentor’s support:



Resources

• BioMed Central Tools for Authors– http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/

authortools

• BioMed Central Tips– http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/ifora/report

• AuthorAid– Mentoring, training, workshops, discussions,

documents and presentations– http://www.authoraid.info


Thank you!

Any questions?


Evaluation

• As your feedback is of most importance to assess the success of IAS 2009, you will be invited shortly after the conference to complete an online survey (available in both English & French) - all data will be kept confidential

• In order to participate in the evaluation process, please make sure we have scanned your badge

Documents

PUBLISH OR PERISH Skills Building Workshop. Journal of the International AIDS Society Workshop Outline 1.Journal of the International