How to Write a World-Class Paper
… and improve your chances of publication
Wendy Hurp - Publisher, Food Science, Elsevier w.hurp@elsevier.com
April 2011
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Elsevier publishes more than 20 journals in the food science area
In 2010, more than 20,000 papers were submitted to these journals
In 2010, 5000 papers were published in these journals
Outline
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Why is it important to write a good paper?
Before submitting an article make sure it is
as good as you can make it.
Not only because it makes YOUR life easier
- your chances of acceptance will be increased -
…but also the lives of the Editors and Reviewers
Editors and Reviewers are already overloaded.
Incomplete or poorly written manuscripts create great frustration.
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An international editor says:
“The following problems appear much too frequently”
Paul Haddad, Editor, Journal of Chromatography A
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…and my own publishing advice is:
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Why do scientists publish?
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What is your personal reason for publishing?
Get Promoted?
Get funding?
PhD degree?
However, editors, reviewers and the research community
do not care about these reasons!
Your article should be of value…
A research study is meaningful only if it is clear/understood/reproducible….. and USED
Your article is your passport to your scientific community
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Are you ready to publish?
You should consider publishing if you have information that advances understanding in a certain scientific field
This could be in the form of:
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Can I publish this?????
If all answers are “yes”, a good, strong manuscript is what is needed next
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What is a good manuscript?
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2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded to Elizabeth Blackburn
How to write a good manuscript:�Preparations before starting
Decide which type of paper is most appropriate
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Who is the audience??
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Preparations before starting:�Choose the right journal
Investigate all candidate journals to find out
“Never submit work to a journal that you do not read yourself. If you do, the chances are your work will be rejected. This is because you will not have the necessary ‘feel’ about what is appropriate. You won’t have the necessary sense of the ‘culture’. “(Prof Michael Curtis)
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What about the Impact Factor?
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What influences the Impact Factor?
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WARNING!
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Preparations before starting:�Read the Guide for Authors
CRITICAL ADVICE
Apply the Guide for Authors to your manuscript, even to the first draft (text layout, paper citation, nomenclature, figures and table, etc.). It will save your time, and the editor’s.
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Building your article
Each section of a paper has a definite purpose
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Make them easy for indexing and searching (informative, attractive, effective)
Journal space is precious. Make your article as brief as possible.
If clarity can be achieved in n words, never use n+ 1
The Title
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The Abstract
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Keywords – for indexing and searching
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TIP: Search for your keywords online.
Would readers find YOUR article using these keywords?
Introduction – convince readers you know why your work is useful
Introduction
Proteins are efficient emulsifying agents and stabilizers of food oil-in-water emulsions under conditions where solubility is good and the aqueous phase environment is suitable for effective steric and electrostatic stabilization (Dickinson & Stainsby, 1982Proteins are efficient emulsifying agents and stabilizers of food oil-in-water emulsions under conditions where solubility is good and the aqueous phase environment is suitable for effective steric and electrostatic stabilization (Dickinson & Stainsby, 1982). On the other hand, emulsifying behaviour can become poor under certain conditions due to aggregation or precipitation of protein and the associated loss of colloidal stabilizing characteristics. This instability is typically most pronounced at pH values close to the protein's isoelectric point and at high concentrations of electrolytes (Damodaran, 1996).
It is now well-recognized that impressive improvements in protein solubility and interfacial functionality can be achieved via the complexation and covalent linking of proteins to polysaccharides (Dickinson, 1995It is now well-recognized that impressive improvements in protein solubility and interfacial functionality can be achieved via the complexation and covalent linking of proteins to polysaccharides (Dickinson, 1995; Ledward, 1994It is now well-recognized that impressive improvements in protein solubility and interfacial functionality can be achieved via the complexation and covalent linking of proteins to polysaccharides (Dickinson, 1995; Ledward, 1994; Samant, Singhal, Kulkarni, & Rege, 1993It is now well-recognized that impressive improvements in protein solubility and interfacial functionality can be achieved via the complexation and covalent linking of proteins to polysaccharides (Dickinson, 1995; Ledward, 1994; Samant, Singhal, Kulkarni, & Rege, 1993; Schmitt, Sanchez, Desobry-Banon, & Hardy, 1998It is now well-recognized that impressive improvements in protein solubility and interfacial functionality can be achieved via the complexation and covalent linking of proteins to polysaccharides (Dickinson, 1995; Ledward, 1994; Samant, Singhal, Kulkarni, & Rege, 1993; Schmitt, Sanchez, Desobry-Banon, & Hardy, 1998; Syrbe, Bauer, & Klostermeyer, 1998). In particular, for the stabilization of emulsions and foams, it has been demonstrated that Maillard-type conjugates produced by the dry-heating of a mixture of these two kinds of biopolymers can have excellent functional properties
Whey protein–maltodextrin conjugates as emulsifying agents: An alternative to gum arabic
Mahmood Akhtara and Eric Dickinson, Food Hydrocolloids Volume 21, Issue 4, June 2007, Pages 607-616
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Give overall picture, keep it brief
Current state of know-ledge
Introduction – convince readers you know why your work is useful
Most of the previous investigations of emulsion stabilization by protein–polysaccharide conjugates have been concerned with model systems based on hydrocarbon oils or triglyceride oils under nearly ideal aqueous solution conditions. The present paper aims to demonstrate the potential of this type of conjugate for making and stabilizing more challenging and complex emulsion systems of low pH and raised ionic strength. The compositional conditions are focused here towards carbonated beverage systems based on an emulsified flavour oil in the presence of a commercial colouring agent.
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What is the problem? Are there any existing solutions?
What are the main limitations?What do you hope to achieve?
Do NOT mix introduction with results, discussion and conclusion
Methods – how was the problem studied?
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Include detailed information
so that a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment
However, use references and supplementary materials to indicate the previously published procedures
Results – what have you found?
Results and discussion
3.1. Appearance and solubility of whey protein–maltodextrin conjugates
The dry mixture of WP and MD was white. After heat treatment at 80 °C for 2 h the mixture was of a pale golden brown and silky appearance, and having a pleasant smell.
The most obvious immediate benefit of coupling poly-saccharide to WP is the striking improvement in the ease of dissolution and the solubility around pI. Conjugates were found to dissolve immediately in citrate buffer (pH 3, ionic strength 0.2 M) to give pale brown solutions. In contrast, the original WP sample took about 2 h to dissolve into a clear solution whilst stirring at ambient temperature. And at pH 4.7 the WP solutions were turbid, whereas the equivalent conjugate solutions remained clear throughout the tested pH range from 3.0 to 5.5.
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Discussion – what the results mean
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Don’t ignore work in disagreement with yours – confront it and convince the reader you are correct
Describe
Avoid
Conclusions – how the work advances the field – don’t repeat the abstract!
A major potential application of this type of protein–polysaccharide complex is in the stabilization of citrus oil emulsions as an alternative to GA. We have demonstrated here that concentrated orange oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by WP–MD19 conjugates of 1:2 or 1:3 ratio do indeed have excellent stability in terms of the absence of precipitation, flocculation or phase separation upon mixing with colouring material over the pH range 3.2–5.5. In addition to the extended shelf-life of the concentrates, it has been shown that these systems can be successfully diluted with carbonated sugar syrup to produce stable dilute coloured emulsions, with direct relevance for commercial soft drink applications.
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What have you shown?
What does it mean for the field?
Indicate possible applications and extensions
Acknowledgements
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References
Typically, there are more mistakes in the references than any other part of the manuscript.
It is one of the most annoying problems, and causes great headaches among editors…
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Cover letter
This is your chance to speak to the editor directly
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Some technical details
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Check the Guide for Authors of the selected journal for specific instructions – not all guides are the same!
Language – Why is it important?
Correct use of language saves your editor and reviewers the trouble of guessing what you mean
Complaint from an editor:
“[This] paper fell well below my threshold. I refuse to spend time trying to understand what the author is trying to say. Besides, I really want to send a message that they can't submit garbage to us and expect us to fix it. My rule of thumb is that if there are more than 6 grammatical errors in the abstract, then I don't waste my time carefully reading the rest.”
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Characteristics of good writing
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Do publishers correct language?
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Final checks before submission
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Revision and response to reviewers
Many journals adopt a system of initial review by the editor. Editors may reject a manuscript without sending it for review.
Why?
The peer review system is overloaded
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Example from one journal’s Guide for Authors
“…..The Editor-in-Chief and Editors have the right to decline formal review of the manuscript when it is deemed that the manuscript is 1) on a topic outside the scope of the Journal, 2) lacking technical merit, 3) focused on foods or processes that are of narrow regional scope and significance, 4) fragmentary and provides marginally incremental results, or 5) is poorly written.”�
Make sure your manuscript does not fall in any of these categories or it will fall at the first hurdle!
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How to respond to a request to revise your paper
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…and if your paper is rejected
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Accepting rejection – and moving on
Suggested strategy for submitting elsewhere:
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Ethical issues in publishing
Unethical behaviour can earn rejection and even a ban from publishing in some journals. Unethical behaviour includes:
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Consequences of breaking ethical rules
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Authors of this article committed plagiarism. It won’t be removed from ScienceDirect. Everyone who downloads it will see the reason for retraction
What leads to acceptance???
Attention to details
Check and double check your work
Consider the reviewers’ comments
English must be as good as possible
Presentation is important
Take your time with revision
Acknowledge those who have helped you
New, original and previously unpublished
Critically evaluate your own manuscript
Ethical rules must be obeyed
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Nigel John Cook
Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews
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A final thought…..
If your paper is accepted, you may be asked to review papers for the journal in future.
Please accept this invitation – your accepted paper is only published thanks to the work of editors and other reviewers, and your participation in the review process will be a positive contribution to the scientific community.
For more information
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