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Author Workshop:
Effectively Communicating Your Research
National Taiwan University
26 March 2014
Jeffrey Robens, PhD
About Jeff…
University of Pennsylvania
Author
Peer reviewer
Senior Editor
Be an effective communicator
Your goal should not only to be published,
but also to be widely read/cited in the field
 Choose the best journal to reach your target audience
S
 Logically present your research
in your manuscript
 Prepare effective titles and abstracts
 Convey the significance of your work to journal editors
 Properly revise your manuscript after peer review
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Section 1
Journal selection
Journal selection
Factors to consider when
choosing a journal
Aims & scope
Readership
Open access
Indexing
Which factor is most important to you?
Journal selection
Evaluating significance
Novelty
How new are your findings?
Relevance
How broadly relevant are your findings?
Appeal
What are the important real-world
applications?
Journal selection
Journal Selector –
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Insert your proposed abstract
Journal selection
Journal Selector –
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Recommended journals
Filter by:
Impact factor
Publishing frequency
Open access
Journal selection
Journal Selector –
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Semantic matching terms
Journal’s IF, aims & scope,
and publication frequency
Similar published articles
Have they published similar articles recently?
Have you cited some of these articles?
Journal selection
Tips to identify the most
suitable journal
• Editorials
• Review articles
• Special issues
Identify the
interests of the
journal editor
S
Journal selection
Tips to identify the most
suitable journal
Journal editor’s interests
Journal A
•
•
•
Editorials
Review articles
Special issues
Journal B
•
•
•
Editorials
S articles
Review
Special issues
Manuscript
Journal C
•
•
•
Editorials
Review articles
Special issues
Journal selection
Tips to identify the most
suitable journal
• Editorials
• Review articles
• Special issues
Identify the
interests of the
journal editor
S
Identify the
interests of the
readers
• Most viewed
• Most cited
Journal selection
Tips to identify the most
suitable journal
Reader’s interests
Journal A
•
•
Most viewed
Most cited
Journal B
•
•
Most Sviewed
Most cited
Manuscript
Journal C
•
•
Most viewed
Most cited
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Section 2
Manuscript structure
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Introduction
General introduction
Current state of the field
Problem in the field
Aims
Specific aims
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Literature review
Previous
What did earlier studies show?
studies
How did these lead to more recent studies?
What are the knowledge gaps?
What is your hypothesis?
Current
study
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Writing the Introduction
Identify an important problem
State aims that directly address this problem
Problem
…little has been conducted to qualitatively assess whether selfefficacy and peer influence affect the likelihood of students engaging
in academic dishonesty.
Aims
The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to determine the effect of
peer attitudes and behaviour on the likelihood of cheating; secondly,
to establish the significance of self-efficacy in promoting academic
integrity; lastly, to ascertain effective ways of deterring academic
dishonesty.
Nora & Zhang Asia Pacific Educ Rev. 2010; 11: 573–584.
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Methods
Study design
Who/what
was used
Participants
Instruments
Data collection
How it was
done
Methodology/analyses
Constructs/parameters
Measures/outcomes
How it was
analyzed
Quantification methods
Statistical tests
Consult a statistician
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Results
Logical presentation
1. Initial observation
2. Characterization
3. Application
Example:
1. Observe a correlation between depression and
Internet use
2. Characterize the severity of depression, time spent
online, websites visited
3. Demonstrate decreased Internet use improves
severity of depression
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Results
Logical presentation
1. Initial observation
2. Characterization
3. Application
Subsections
Each subsection
corresponds to
one figure
Factual description
What you found, not
what it means
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Discussion
Summary of findings
Relevance of
findings
Similarities/differences
Unexpected results
Counter-arguments
Limitations
Implications for
the field
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Discussion – the end
Why your work is important to your readers
The Spanish version of AIDA showed good psychometric
properties in Mexico and can be used to assess the construct
“pathology-related identity integration vs. diffusion” with
reliability, validity, and content equivalence in comparison
with the original AIDA questionnaire. This finding supports
the cross-cultural generalizability of the underlying concept
and confirms the importance of culture-specific test
adaption in addition to literal translation of the
questionnaire. Nevertheless, some items should be
improved. Therefore, the test version of “AIDA Spanish –
Mexico” should be further adapted and should be tested in a
more heterogeneous population.
Conclusion
Implications
Future
directions
Kassin et al. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2013; 7: 25.
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Linking your ideas
General background
Introduction
Current state of the field
Problems in the field
Objectives
Methods
Results
Methodology
Results and figures
Summary of findings
Discussion
Relevance of findings
Implications for the field
Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Linking your ideas
Introduction
…no research has examined how interacting with
Facebook influences subjective well-being over time.
Problem
We addressed this issue by…measuring in-vivo
behavior and psychological experience over time.
Objectives
Discussion
These analyses indicated that Facebook use predicts
declines in…subjective well-being…
Conclusion
Kross et al. PLoS ONE 2013; 8: e69841.
Coverage
and
Manuscript
Staffing
Plan
structure
Writing effective
conclusions
Your conclusion is a summary of your findings
Your conclusion should be the answer to your
research problem that is supported by your findings
Emphasizes how your study will help
advance the field
Any questions?
Thank you!
Jeffrey Robens: jrobens@edanzgroup.com
edanzediting.com/ntu
Download and further reading
@JournalAdvisor
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Who’s hungry?
First impressions are
important!
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Section 3
Titles and abstracts
Customer
Service
Titles
and abstracts
Effective titles
Important points
Avoid
 Summarize key finding
 Contains keywords
 Less than 20 words
Questions
Describing methods
Abbreviations
“New” or “novel”
Your title should be a concise summary of
your most important finding
Customer
Service
Titles
and abstracts
Relevance of
your aims
Abstract
Importance of
your results
Validity of your
conclusions
First impression
of your paper
Judge your
writing style
Probably only part
that will be read
Customer
Service
Titles
and abstracts
Sections of an abstract
Concise summary of your research
Background
Why the study was done
Aims
Your hypothesis
Methods
Analyses
Results
Most important findings
Conclusion
Conclusion/implications
Customer
Service
Titles
and abstracts
Unstructured abstract
Political thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic
tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to
parliamentary and presidential elections. However, little is known about how
the individual's political attitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle national
cues that are so prevalent in our environment. We report a series of
experiments that show that subliminal exposure to one's national flag
influences political attitudes, intentions, and decisions, both in laboratory
settings and in “real-life” behavior. Furthermore, this manipulation
consistently narrowed the gap between those who score high vs. low on a
scale of identification with Israeli nationalism. The first two experiments
examined participants' stance toward the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the
Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3 examined voting intentions
and actual voting in Israel's recently held general elections. The results portray
a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's nationality significantly
influence political thought and overt political behavior.
Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.
Customer
Service
Titles
and abstracts
Unstructured abstract
Political thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic
tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to
parliamentary and presidential elections. However, little is known about how
the individual's political attitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle national
cues that are so prevalent in our environment.
Background
We report a series of experiments that show that subliminal exposure to
one's national flag influences political attitudes, intentions, and decisions,
both in laboratory settings and in “real-life” behavior.
Methods
Furthermore, this manipulation consistently narrowed the gap between those
who score high vs. low on a scale of identification with Israeli nationalism. The
first two experiments examined participants' stance toward the Israeli–
Palestinian conflict and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3
examined voting intentions and actual voting in Israel's recently held general
elections.
Results
The results portray a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's nationality
significantly influence political thought and overt political behavior.
Conclusion
Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.
Journal Editors are busy!
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Section 4
Cover letters
Coverage and
Cover letters
Staffing Plan
Significance
Relevance
Is your work
important?
Cover letters areAbstract:
the first impression for
Firstthe
impression
readers
Journalfor
Editor
Interesting to
their readers?
Writing style
Coverage and
Cover letters
Staffing Plan
Dear Dr Ellenbogen,
A good cover letter
Editor’s name
Manuscript title
Please find enclosed our manuscript entitled “Presenteeism among Taiwanese employees: Personality and job stress”, which
we would like to submit for publication as a Research Paper in Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.
Publication type
This study examines presenteeism, the situation in which workers are present at work, but their ability to do their jobs is
impaired by physical or mental symptoms. This topic is important to companies as studies have found that the costs of
presenteeism can be higher than medical costs associated with treating the underlying conditions. Currently, the relationships
between common mental health symptoms and presenteeism, as well as the effects of job strain and workplace social support,
are unclear. We aimed to evaluate these relationships and consider the effect of personality traits on both presenteeism and
common mental health symptoms.
Give the
background to
the research
We used an online questionnaire incorporating several well-established and verified questionnaires to assess presenteeism,
mental disturbance, job strain and workplace support, and temperament and character. We found that common mental health
symptoms are a good predictor of presenteeism. Although workplace social support is generally agreed to reduce the severity
of common mental health symptoms, we found no direct effect on presenteeism.
What was
done and what
was found
Our results clearly link presenteeism to common mental health symptoms, and also show the negative effects of strain and
poor workplace support. This study is of interest to researchers, managers, mental health clinicians and occupational health
specialists interested in the issue of workplace stress and its management. This study is likely to lead to an improved approach
to preventing and managing both presenteeism and common mental health symptoms, and is applicable worldwide. Therefore,
we feel this manuscript is particularly suitable for Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal and of great interest to its
readers.
Interest to
journal’s readers
We would also like to suggest the following reviewers for our manuscript…
Recommend reviewers
“Must-have” statements
Coverage and
Cover letters
Staffing Plan
Original and
unpublished
Disclaimers about
publication ethics
Not submitted
to other journals
Authors agree on
paper/journal
“Must-have”
statements
No conflicts of
interest
Source of
funding
Authorship
contributions
Coverage and
Cover letters
Staffing Plan
Recommending
reviewers
Where to find
them?
From your reading/references,
networking at conferences
How senior?
Aim for mid-level researchers
Who to avoid?
Collaborators (past 5 years),
researchers from same institution
Look for reviewers who have published in your target journal
Coverage and
Cover letters
Staffing Plan
Choose internationally
• 1 or 2 reviewers from Asia
• 1 or 2 reviewers from Europe
• 1 or 2 reviewers from North America
Journal Editors want to see an international list for 2 reasons:
1. Shows that you are familiar with your field worldwide
2. Shows that your research is relevant worldwide
•
Increased readership → increased citations → increased impact factor
Section 5
Peer review
Peer review
The study
The
What reviewers
are looking for





Relevant hypothesis
Good study design
Appropriate methodology
Good data analyses
Valid conclusions
 Logical flow of information
 and
Manuscript
structure and formatting
Results
Discussion
Methods
Figures
Abstract
and
Introduction
manuscript
 Appropriate references
 High readability
Peer review
Writing response letters
Dr Mark Ellenbogen
Editor-in-Chief
Address
Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International
Journal editor personally
3 September 2013
Manuscript ID number
Dear Dr Ellenbogen,
Re: Resubmission of manuscript reference No. WJS-07-5739
Thank reviewers
Please find attached a revised version of our manuscript originally entitled “Presenteeism among Taiwanese
employees: Personality and job stress,” which we would like to resubmit for consideration for publication in the
Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.
The reviewer’s comments were highly insightful and enabled us to greatly improve the quality of our manuscript. In
the following pages are our point-by-point responses to each of the comments.
Revisions in the manuscript are shown as underlined text. In accordance with the first comment, the title has been
revised and the entire manuscript has undergone substantial English editing.
We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our
manuscript suitable for publication in the Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal.
Highlight major changes
Peer review
Agreeing with reviewers
Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen
to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my
opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed.
Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to
compare to previous results.
Agreement
Response: We agree with the reviewer’s assessment of the
analysis. Our tailored function, in its current form, makes it difficult
to tell that this measurement constitutes a significant
improvement over previously reported values. We describe our
new analysis using a Gaussian fitting function in our revised Results
section (Page 6, Lines 12–18).
Revisions
Location
Peer review
Disagreeing with
reviewers
Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen
to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my
opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed.
Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to
compare to previous results.
Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate
comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored function
allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model
[Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this
function and the Smith model in our revised Discussion section
(Page 12, Lines 2–6).
Peer review
Disagreeing with
reviewers
Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen
to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my
opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed.
Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to
compare to previous results.
Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate
Evidence
comparison with the results of other
studies, our tailored function
allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model
[Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this
function and the Smith model in Revisions
our revised Discussion section
(Page 12, Lines 2–6).
Location
If rejected, what should you do?
Option 1: New submission to the same journal
 Fully revise manuscript
 Prepare point-by-point responses
 Include the original manuscript ID number
Option 2: New submission to a different journal
 Revise manuscript
 Reformat according to the author guidelines
If accepted, what’s next?
 Promote your work on social networks
• Twitter, LinkedIn
 Respond to post-publication comments
 Present your work at conferences
• Allows you to discuss your work personally with your peers
• Get feedback about your work and future directions
• Networking and collaborations
Be an effective communicator
Your goal should not only to be published,
but also to be widely read/cited in the field
 Choose the best journal to reach your target audience
S
 Logically present your research
in your manuscript
 Prepare effective titles and abstracts
 Convey the significance of your work to journal editors
 Properly revise your manuscript after peer review
Any questions?
Thank you!
Jeffrey Robens: jrobens@edanzgroup.com
edanzediting.com/ntu
Download and further reading
@JournalAdvisor
Follow us on Twitter
facebook.com/EdanzEditing
Like us on Facebook