Doctoral Training Workshops
Getting published and the reviewing
process
Steve Potter, Alex Borda-Rodriguez, Sue
Oreszczyn and Julius Mugwagwa
February 2014
Todays session will focus on the process of getting
published and a key aspect - demonstrating rigour in
your research.
Slides will be placed on the VRE
Rigour:
• applies to all your academic outputs
• is always assessed in publications
• will be assessed in your viva
• is something you need to consider throughout your
academic career
Rigour in Birdsong Studies
BBC Today Programme
7 February 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16886717
Birds await proof of the medical
benefits of their song
It's the bleedin' obvious
vs
Clinical measures of stress levels and neurological well-being to try and tease
out whether it's going for a walk in the countryside or the birdsong itself
that makes the difference.
PhD student Ellie Ratcliffe
https://www.facebook.com/SurreyPsychology/posts/388164551298741
Activity:
What is Rigour?
In threes or pairs consider:
What do you understand by rigour?
You need to:
show that you have evidence to:
• justify your conclusions;
• that the evidence has been obtained
properly
• that contrary evidence has been sought,
but was either not found or found to be
relatively unconvincing.
(From Research skills for policy: Finding Out Fast.
A. Thomas and G. Mohan)
Validity and Reliability
Rigour involves the principles of Validity and
Reliability
• Validity is about the design of the research and
analysis – the use of an appropriate method, the
sample or cases used etc.
•
•
Are you actually measuring or studying the right
thing to draw the conclusions you do?
Reliability is about the accuracy and
consistency of the research results.
•
If your study were repeated would the outcome be
the same?
Indicators of rigorous research
•
•
•
•
Clear goals, well defined and feasible
Choice of valid methods for the study
Study conducted in a reliable manner
Significance of the results: positioning your
findings in the field of knowledge
• Effective communication: sharing work with
others with a plan for reporting and
dissemination
• A reflective critique in which one’s own
learning is developed.
Activity:
My rigour
What are the main ways that you will
demonstrate rigour in your research?
Thinking about papers
early on as a well as later
Publishing your research
Know your
Research
Community
Before submission
What are the recent lines of thought or arguments in the
journal? – can your work tap into these?
Take a look at the information pages for authors
What are the aims of the journal?
Are you familiar with the work of the people on the
editorial board?
Make sure you send the paper off in the required format
and have checked the refs.
Being reviewed
1. The
eternal wait
and the
black box
2.
Responding
to comments
3. The
boomerang
effect – when
it keeps
coming back
4. Getting out
of the rut
How Reviews are done
Usually electronically via journal’s website with email
invitation
2 or 3 referees appointed
Blind vs. Revealed reviewing
Forms usually have section for editor and for comments to
authors
Decisions are 1) Publish; 2) Amend (minor or major);
3) Not yet ready, and 4) Reject
Review process and revisions can take a good deal of time
Special Issues – Often 2 stages (e.g. select conference papers
that then go to reviewers)
Evaluating Papers (and thesis)
It is essential that you do not make the
reader work too hard.
Clear structure, easy to read, good English,
diagrams easy to understand, good
signposting.
Activity
In groups of 3-4 come up with 10 questions
that a reviewer might ask of a paper that
they have been given to review.
Open Access Publishing
• “Making research literature available
online without price barriers and without
most permission barriers”
• Green Open Access - eg. Institutional or
subject repository, personal web site
• Gold Open Access – peer reviewed
Journal open access
- journals charge authors – requires a
publication budget