Research Papers

I have my data/results – now what?

Dr. Nathan Hancock, USC Aiken�Associate Professor, Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences

Dr. Heather Dunn, Clemson University�Assistant Professor, Bioengineering

Dr. Chiara Gamberi, Coastal Carolina University�Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Jessica Larsen, Clemson University�Carol and John Cromer ’63 Family Endowed Associate Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

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Why publish your results?

Because…

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• … it is cool
• … to share knowledge
• … to gather feedback
• …

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvzfZkoN_hp/

Where to publish your results?

• Work with your research mentor to identify the appropriate journal
• Peer-reviewed, IF
• Pre-prints (BioRxiv, MedRxiv…)
• Non-peer reviewed, but public. Early sharing, demonstrate existence of preliminary data while undergoing peer-review, gather feedback
• Find the matching journal’s scope and publication criteria

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• Limited Results
• Undergraduate Research Journal Listing (https://www.cur.org/resources-publications/student-resources/student-journals/undergraduate-research-journal-listing/)
• microPublication Biology (https://www.micropublication.org/)
• SCAS Journal
• Full Story (combined with other results)
• i.e. The New England Journal of Medicine, PNAS, Nature Medicine, PLoS Biology, PLoS Genetics….

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Beginning with the end in mind

Before starting, think about what your final paper will look like.

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Storyboard your figures

• this helps you lay out your experiments/ identifies what experiments are needed to prove or disprove your hypothesis

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Start with some background research to help build your introduction

• why does your research topic of interest matter to the scientific community?

Components of the manuscript

• Title
• Abstract (Write last)
• Introduction (Write after results and conclusion)
• Methods (Write any time, even in short spurts with only few minutes available)
• Results (Write first, iterate with discussion and introduction as needed)
• Discussion/Conclusions (Write second last, iterate with discussion and introduction as needed)
• References (Curate and format carefully)
• Acknowledgements (Mention all the relevant enablers, typically: funding, constructs, constructive feedback etc.)

Turn your raw data into figures

• Follow the journal guidelines

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• High resolution images, good contrast

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• Clearly labeled axis, error bars, data and antibodies.
• The best figures are self-explanatory

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• Figure legends

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• Several journals require that you include the raw data in supplementary files
• Data transparency is becoming customary

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• Deposit data into repositories

Writing the results

• Outline your paper
• How does this story develop logically?
• May not be how it developed chronologically
• Why does this story matter?
• In the field?
• Across fields?
• Generally?
• Be realistic

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• Describe the experimental results
• Results and figures should go hand-in-hand
• Include in-text citations as needed

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Document the methods

• Provide enough detail that it can be replicated

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• Brief summary with key details and references as appropriate, not a logbook
• If a method is new and/or modified and “tricky” it should be published in detail separately and cited in the main paper.
• e.g., Nature Methods, STAR Protocols, Current Protocols etc.

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• Cite sources of all protocols/software, critical reagents

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Writing the discussion

Your data was not collected in a vacuum and your idea was (usually) not one spun out of thin air.

• Literature was likely used to motivate your project
• Literature was likely used to help facilitate your experiments

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Pay homage to the literature that inspired you.

�Explain to your reader where your work is similar or different to what is already out there.

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Put it in context!

Writing the introduction

• Background information
• Introduce the specific research in the context of existing knowledge.
• Not an encyclopedia
• Summarize previous results relevant to the paper
• Introduce the knowledge gap(s) that the paper is addressing
• Include in-text citations

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• Introduce the Question/Hypothesis

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• Provide a brief summary of experimental strategy

Writing the Reference List

• Cite all relevant sources
• Use correct format for the journal (style, type and # of references, caps on self-citation).
• Make sure all in-text citations are found in the reference list
• Make sure that all the reference listed are cited in-text
• Referencing software may help

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Writing the Acknowledgements

• Cite all funding sources
• Clearly identify grants and awards (some journals require specific formats)

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• Acknowledge relevant contributions from non-authors
• Reagents, critical information shared prior to publication
• Constructs, cell lines, animals from colleagues and public repositories
• Important discussion or critical comments that helped steer the project
• Important personal acknowledgements as needed/desired (free format)

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Who Should Be an Author?

• Authorship policies designed for “credit, accountability, transparency” (PLoS Genetics)
• Open science is self-correcting
• Authors expectations: to “have made substantial contributions to the submitted work and and to be accountable for the work before and after publication” (ib.)
• Substantial contributions to design of the work, data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, “creation of new software used in the work, drafting or substantially revising the article” (ib.).

AND

• “Approved the submitted version (and any substantially modified version that involves the author’s contribution to the study”. (ib.)

AND

• “Agrees to be personally accountable for the author’s own contributions AND to ensure that questions related to the accuracy of integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.” (ib.)
• Acknowledge relevant contributions from non-authors