Acknowledgments & References of a
Journal Article
Bill Knowlton1,2
1Department
of Materials Science & Engineering
of Electrical Engineering
Boise State University
2Department
MSE 478/578 Scientific Communication in Materials Science &
Engineering
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Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments:
Acknowledge those that aided and funded the
research:
Authors – each author may have been funded by
separate grants, scholarships or fellowships.
Funding agencies that aided your work even if the
aid is small.
Fellowships & Scholarships that have paid your
graduate stipend, tuition, & fees (e.g., MSE Micron
PhD, NSF Grad Student Fellowship, etc.)
Knowlton
Acknowledge people and funding entities - its
free.
Ask your PI!
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Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments:
Check spelling:
USA – “Acknowledgments”
British/European – “Acknowledgements”
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Acknowledgments & References
References:
Reference only the most significant of
published literature
Reference the earliest work
Should have an actual copy of the paper
Check all parts of every reference against the
original publication
Before the manuscript is submitted
At the proof stage
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Acknowledgments & References
References:
Typically, there are many more mistakes in the
Reference section of a manuscript than anywhere else
in the manuscript
Be complete and ensure that the references are
correct and the format is correct
Major mistakes to avoid:
Incorrectly citing a reference
Incorrect volume, year, title, etc.
Ref. has nothing to do with the subject in the sentence, table,
plot, or paragraph that you’ve reference.
Not citing pertinent work that is in the literature
Not citing the first work covering the subject that you are
citing
This can cause:
Your paper to be rejected
Proposals to be declined
Potential collaborations to not materialize
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Tenses:
Tenses:[3]
Present tense:
For the general case and statements on what is
currently known.
E.g., statements that are:
General knowledge
Widely accepted
Those that can be referenced in the present tense
Past tense:
Experimental results
Observations that were made during your study
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References for this overview:
[1] Eschew Obfuscation: Advice on Writing
Clearly, Larry J. Forney, Dept. of Biological
Sciences, Professor Trish Hartzell, PhD.
Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology,
and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow,
ID; presented at the 2008 INBRE Conference,
Boise, ID
[2] Day, R. “How to write and publish a scientific
paper”, 5th ed. (Orynx Press, 1998)
[3] Michael Jay Katz, "From Research to
Manuscript: A Guide to Scientific Writing"
Springer; 2nd ed. edition (January 29, 2009) pp.
210.
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