Writing and Publishing Research Papers

Research Publications

• First, do original research
• “If you want to be published in good journals, do good research” – Xin Yao

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Research Publications

• There are many kinds of research publication
• Monograph
• Edited volume
• Book chapter
• Tech report
• Journal article
• Conference paper
• Conference abstract
• Research student thesis

Journal Papers Format

• In science, there is an expected format for papers
• 5/6 sections, excluding title
• Each serves a specific purpose
• Need a good title
• Succinctly communicate the main message of the paper
• Main message is the major point of the paper

Abstract

• Overview of the paper
• Usually the last thing written
• Should contain answers to:
• What did we do?
• Why did we do it?
• What did we find?
• What does this mean?
• What is this good for?

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Introduction

• Lays out the background and motivation of the work
• Surveys / review relevant literature
• Can state the research questions
• Describes at the end what you are trying to achieve

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Methods

• Describes what you did and how you did it
• Needs enough detail for reproducability
• Reference well-established things, don’t describe

Results

• Focus on the key results
• Present results clearly and concisely
• Don’t interpret results in the results section

Discussion

• Often combined with Results
• Where the results are interpreted
• What do the results show us?
• Link it back to the Introduction
• Shortcomings / limitations / further lines of research

Conclusion

• Summarises the paper
• Not commonly used
• Obviated by a good Discussion section

The Writing Process

• Different approaches exist
• Bullet-point approach
• Put bullets under each section heading
• Each bullet == one point or idea
• Expand to sentences / paragraphs

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• Stream-of-consciousness approach
• Start writing
• Iteratively edit

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• Helpful to have tables / figures / references organised first

Peer Review

• AKA refereeing
• A process for scrutinizing submitted publications
• Peer reviewed publications have some authority
• Used for journal articles and many conferences
• Referees are usually experts in the field
• Referee reports are used to make publication decisions

Peer Review

• Only filters obviously bad research
• Can’t easily detect fraud
• The Schön Scandal
• Easily fooled
• The Sokal Affair
• Can be tainted by grudges, self-interest and self-perpetuating orthodoxy

Submitting Peer-reviewed Publications

• Select a journal to submit to
• How?
• Don’t submit to more than one journal at a time
• Format the paper
• Write a cover letter

Handling Peer-reviewed Publications

• Submissions are assigned to AE by the EiC
• AE reads the submission and decides whether to send it out for review
• AE selects potential reviewers
• The editorial system handles the processing of invitations
• If reviewer accepts, they are given access to the submission and review site
• Reviewers make recommendations and AE make decisions

Reviewing a Paper

• Reviews are often double-blind
• Different publications ask reviewers to focus on different things
• Originality
• Clarity
• In scope of the journal / conference
• References
• Rigour
• English used
• Reviewers are given a time frame to complete the review

Responding to Peer-review

• Recommendations range from Accept as is to Reject
• Reviewers also submit comments to justify their recommendations
• If Reject
• Revise and resubmit to the same journal
• Revise and submit to another journal
• If Revise and Resubmit
• Read reviewers’ comments
• Revise the paper
• Resubmit with a rebuttal

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Responding to Peer Review

• Remember, EiC, AE & reviewers are all volunteers
• None are getting paid
• So if your paper is in review a long time, don’t get shirty about it

Final Steps

• Creating final proofs
• Done by editorial staff
• Will have a short period to review and correct / approve
• Sometimes production questions to answer