Research publications in HDR Programs

Professor Paul Gorry,

Director HDR, College of Science Engineering & Health

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-Main currency of the research community

-Do all global currencies have equal value?

-Most stringent pathway to communicating research results

-Obligations

Importance of Research Publications

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-Discuss early with your supervisor, be aware of expectations

-Be familiar with supervisors publications and writing style

-Does your supervisor publish a lot, or not much?

-Talk to other group members, what has their experience been like?

-Be aware of the publication culture in your group, but be proactive and take the initiative

Approach to publications in a HDR program

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Be proactive, but don’t get ahead of yourself

-Enjoy your work, keep a focus on the big picture questions, and the paperswill come.

-Avoid incremental research to fill gaps

-Read broadly

-Understand the literature in your field and related fields

-Know what the most important questions are in your field

-Collaborate

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-Where do you think it will be published, small discipline journal or broad interest multi-disciplinary journal with high impact?

-Will doing more research increase the likelihood of targeting a better journal?

-Are you at risk of being scooped?

-Is there a grant being written that depends on the results being published?

OK, so now you have enough results for a paper….

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Maximising the impact of your paper

-Be aware of impact factors

-stay clear of predatory publishers!

-consult broadly for appeal outside your discipline

-Aim high, no shame in being rejected from “ambitious” journals

-Be aware legacy of publishing in poor quality journals

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Consider quality “open access” options

-Emphasis on quality, make sure stringently peer reviewed with solid IFs

-PLoS journals (PLoS One, PLoS Pathogens, PLoS Medicine etc..)

-Biomed Central (Retrovirology, BMC Infect Dis, BMC Microbiology etc..)

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-Consult supervisor first…..

-Check out the Editorial Board and the EIC

-Nature Communications, Scientific Reports

-eLife

Consider “emerging” top- journals

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Consider different article formats

-Full paper versus short report/short communication?

-possible avenue to higher impact paper

-Commentary/opinion

-Reviews

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-Depends on program, discipline and outcomes

-Difficult to plan for

-Excellent pathway to consider, if appropriate

-Maximizes future competitiveness

Is “thesis with publications model” worth considering?

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-High Impact Journals (eg., Nature journals, Science, Cell, NEJM, Lancet)

-No technical jargon, avoid acronyms, understandable to broad audience-Brevity, whilst communicating complex data-Fine tune abstract to articulate major advance and broad applicability-Cover letter of major importance!-Sometimes invite pre-submission enquiries

-Top ranked specialty journals (eg., PLoS Pathogens, J. Virol, Retrovirology)

-Can be more technical and usually have less space restrictions-Pay particular attention to conclusions being supported by data-Advance must be significant, not incremental.

-Lower ranked highly specialized journals (eg, J. NeuroVirology)

-Advances to literature, scientifically sound. -Technically savvy readership

Writing styles for different journals

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Manuscript preparation, some tips

-First draft; put in your best effort!

-Doesn’t matter if still needs a lot of work, so long as its your best effort

-Take responsibility, don’t farm out sections.

-Its usually a lengthy process, can be frustrating, but good learning opportunity.

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How to get started

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-Map out the story of your study, does it flow seamlessly?

-Can you identify an experiment or 2 that would solidify the data?

-Do you have adequate controls?

-Have you applied statistical tests (if necessary), and what does that tellyou about your data?

Step 1; Prepare Figures and Tables

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-Formulate Results sub-headings based on flow of Figures/Tables

-Don’t be ambiguous, consider stating the conclusion of the section within the subheading, eg., “Receptor usage of HIV is constrained by virus subtype”, ratherthan “Receptor usage characteristics of HIV subtypes”

-Follow a basic formula:

-Do not discuss results, simply provide a narrative of them as they appear, andof the controls too.

-Round off each results section with a “lead in” sentence justifying why you didthe experiment, and finish off with a sentence stating briefly what it meansEg., “These data suggest…..”

-Repeat for each result section, but make sure your “lead ins” and “finishing”sentences tell an evolving story of your paper

Step 2; Write Results section

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Step 3; Write the Methods section

-This is usually the easiest part, but pay attention to detail

-No need to repeat details if previously published.

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-Be brief, no more than 2 double spaced pages.

-Focus on only what is necessary for the reader to interpret your data and knowwhat it means (you will know this better now that the Results section has been done).

-Make sure referencing is accurate and comprehensive

Step 4; Write the Introduction

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Step 5; Write the Discussion

-Usually the trickiest section to write

-Don’t just reiterate your Results

-Commence with summary paragraph

-Further paragraphs discussing implications of your results and (importantly) howthey fit with what’s known (and unknown) in the literature. No need to be sequential,start with most important.

-Needs to be tightly argued

-End with a conclusions paragraph.

-Keep relatively short, aim for 4-5 double spaced pages.

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Step 6; Write the Abstract and finalise Title

-Abstract is easiest to write last, since now you are intimate with your study findings

-Same for Title, you will better know what words/phrases best capture the mainmessage of your study

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Step 7; Finalise Figure/Table captions and legends

-Relatively straightforward

-Don’t repeat methods (can refer back to methods though if appropriate)

-Provide just enough information so the reader can interpret the data

-Explain p values

-Indicate if data is representative of “X” independent experiments etc..

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Step 8; Polishing

-Go over the entire manuscript and find ways to improve language, style, flow etc..

-Repeat the above step again and again until you feel that there is absolutely nothing more you can do to improve the manuscript by yourself.

-Forget about it for a week or so, then come back to it with “fresh eyes” and polish further.

-Send to your supervisor for comments (your journey in manuscript editing has not finished, its just about to commence!!)

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Good luck!