151116 edanz ubd day1
TRANSCRIPT
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
16 November 2015
Trevor Lane, PhD Andrew Jackson, PhD
Ruth Tunn, PhD
Author Success Workshop: Effectively Communicating Your Research
S
Be an effective communicator
Your goal is not only to publish, but also to be widely read and cited
Prepare well for academic publishing
Write your ideas clearly for your audience
Logically present your research
Section 1
Plan well
Academic publishing
Publication success = Academic success
S
Publication Metrics and Success on the Academic Job Market van Dijk et al. Current Biology. 2014; 24: R516-R517.
• >25,000 researchers in PubMed • Determined which factors were linked to
academic success
• Number of publications • Impact factor of the journal • Number of citations • University ranking • Male vs. Female
Academic publishing
Increase impact
High quality research
Logical and engaging message
Original and novel research
Well-designed, well-reported,
transparent study News value, importance, timeliness
What editors want
High scientific & technical quality, sound research/publication ethics,
registered human trials
High readability & interest; clear, real-
world relevance
Impact factor (for past 2 years) = No. of cites / No. of articles
Academic publishing
Choose your journal early!
Author guidelines • Manuscript structure • Word limits, References • Procedures, Copyright
Aims and scope • Topics • Readership • Be sure to emphasize
• Check relevant references • Check originality, importance & usefulness!
Academic publishing Research with impact
Identify an important question, gap in knowledge/evidence, or incomplete answer…
• Do you have the expertise/resources?
• Is the question focused?
• What is new? How is the study useful?
• What is the best/most practical study design?
Academic publishing Impact and study design
Systematic
reviews of RCTs
Randomized controlled
trials (RCTs)
Other controlled trials
Observational studies (cohort, case-control,
cross-sectional surveys/audits, diagnostics)
Computer models (in silico), animal models (in vivo),
in vitro, case studies
Case studies, anecdote, opinion, technical,
simulation
Hypothesis
testing
{ Descriptive
Methodological {
{
Secondary
research
Primary
research
{ } Experimental (exposure assigned)*
}
} Non-
experimental
*
Academic publishing
Research Article
Short Communication Case Study Technical Note Review Article Editorial Letter to the Editor
Brief report about a specific finding
Most common; full-length paper
Brief report about a specific situation
Brief report about a new methodology
Summary of recent advances in a field
Brief discussion about an interesting topic
Brief discussion about a published article
Type of articles
Academic publishing
Logically organizing your ideas
Communicating in English
Two factors to consider when writing a manuscript
Importance of logic
Draft outline & abstract/title; Draft & revise
manuscript
Edit manuscript & finalize
abstract/title
Academic publishing
Start with your illustrations
Where to start?
Your findings form the basis of your manuscript
First step: logically organize your display items
Logic, then language
Figure 1
Figure 2
Table 1
Figure 3
Logical flow (Chronology, Least to most
important, General to
specific, Whole+parts)
Is anything missing?
? Additional analyses?
Academic publishing Use reporting guidelines
PRISMA Systematic reviews &
Meta-analyses
STROBE Observational studies
CARE Case reports
CONSORT Randomized controlled
clinical trials
ARRIVE Animal studies
http://www.equator-network.org/
Academic publishing
State conflicts of interest
No plagiarism or redundancy
Clear author contributions
No fabrication or falsification
Always follow ethics guidelines
(1) Study design/data analysis, (2) Writing, (3) Approval,
(4) Responsibility
Possible financial, personal bias
Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Good Publication Practice 3, GPP3
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, ICMJE
Good publication ethics
Academic publishing Ethics declarations
Declare in your cover letter…
Not submitted to other journals
Funders, donors of materials
All authors agree and contributed
Original and unpublished
State potential conflicts of interest
Research ethics
Select the best journal
Section 2
Journal selection Evaluating impact
How new/important are your findings? How strong is the evidence?
Incremental or large advance? Low or high impact journal
Novelty
Assess your findings honestly & objectively
Create new algorithm for detecting and filtering spam • Medium to high impact factor journal Improve the accuracy and efficiency of an existing spam filter • Low to medium impact factor journal
Journal selection Evaluating impact
How broadly relevant are your findings? International or regional journal
General or specialized journal
Relevance/Application
Aims & scope, Readership
Assess your findings honestly & objectively
Journal selection Factors to consider when choosing a journal
Aims & scope, Readership
Publication speed/frequency
Online/Print, Open access
Indexing, Rank, Impact factor
Acceptance rate/criteria
Article type / evidence level
“Luxury” / Traditional / Megajournal
Online first, Supplemental materials, Cost
Fast track
Journal selection Publication models
Subscription-based
• Mostly free for the author • Reader has to pay
Open access • Free for the reader • Author usually has to pay
Hybrid • Subscription-based journal • Has open access options
Journal selection Open access models
Green
• Can self-archive accepted version in personal, university, or repository website
• May allow final version to be archived
• May have embargo period before self-archiving is allowed
Gold • Free for public on publication • Author might keep © but may
pay (e.g., US$1000–3000)
Journal selection Open access myths
Open access (OA) is expensive and low quality
• Not all OA journals charge a fee
• Many research grants and universities pay for OA fees
• Journals may offer waiver for authors who cannot afford it
• OA journals are peer reviewed
• Impact factors may be lower partly because they are newer
Journal selection Predatory journals
Some Open Access journals are not good
Easy way to get money from authors
• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a “submission/handling” fee • May copy name of real journal; false IF • May not exist, or may be of low quality • Beware of spam e-mails!
If you are ever unsure, please check Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers
http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/01/02/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2015/
Journal selection
Reputable publisher Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, PLoS, etc.
Editorial board International and familiar
Indexed Indexed by common databases
Authors Do you recognize the authors?
Fees Paid only after acceptance
Trustworthy journals
Journal selection
THINK Trusted and appropriate?
SUBMIT Only if OK
thinkchecksubmit.org
CHECK Do you know the journal?
Trustworthy journals
Journal selection Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Insert your proposed abstract or keywords
Journal selection
Matching journals
Filter/Sort by: • Field of study • Impact factor, SCI • Open access • Publishing
frequency
Journal’s aims & scope, IF,
and publication frequency
Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Journal selection
• Author guidelines • Journal website
Are they currently publishing similar articles?
Similar published articles
Have you cited any of these articles?
Shows the editor that your study builds on research
already published in their journal
Journal Selector www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Please see Activity 1 in your Workbook
Activity 1: Journal Selection
Write effectively 1
Section 3
Customer Service Effective writing
Nature’s guide to authors:
Nature is an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language.
www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/index.html#a4
“I should use complex words to make my writing more impressive.”
Customer Service Effective writing
To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the participants upon completion.
Complex words
Customer Service Effective writing
To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the participants upon completion.
To determine the success of the program, we questioned the participants upon completion.
Complex words
Customer Service Effective writing Avoid complex words
Preferred Enough Clear Determine Begin Try Very Size Keep Enough End Use
Avoid Adequate Apparent Ascertain Commence Endeavor Exceedingly Magnitude* Retain Sufficient Terminate* Utilization *OK in certain fields (magnitude of earthquakes, to terminate gene expression)
Customer Service Effective writing Delete unnecessary words
“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”
“...as described in our previous study.”
“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”
“As a matter of fact, such a low-temperature reaction…”
“That is another reason why, we believe…”
“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...” “It is well known that Most of the intense diffraction peaks...”
“As a matter of fact, such a This low-temperature reaction…”
“A number of studies have shown that The charged group...”
“That is thus another reason why Therefore, we believe…”
“...as described previously in our previous study.”
“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”
Customer Service Effective writing Delete unnecessary words
Avoid At a concentration of 2 g/L At a temperature of 37C In order to In the first place Four in number Green color Subsequent to Prior to Future plans; past history
Prefer At 2 g/L At 37C To First Four Green After Before Plans; history
Customer Service Effective writing Active voice
Sentences written in the active voice are:
simple direct clear easy to read
The mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity were investigated.
Passive
We investigated the mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity.
Active
Customer Service Effective writing Active voice is preferred
“Use the active voice when it is less wordy and more direct than the passive”.
“Use the active voice rather than the passive voice…”.
“As a matter of style, passive voice is typically, but not always, inferior to active voice”.
“In general, authors should use the active voice…”
ACS Style Guide
APA Style
Chicago Style Guide
AMA Style
“Use active voice. The use of active rather than passive voice produces clearer, more concise writing”
SPE Style
“Wherever possible, use active verbs that demonstrate what is being done and who is doing it…”
ASCE Style
“Use active voice by default; research shows readers comprehend it more quickly than passive voice…”
IEEE
Customer Service Effective writing Avoid reader confusion
Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized, using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Customer Service Effective writing Avoid reader confusion
Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?
Passive voice
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized, using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Customer Service Effective writing
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized, using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Lane et al. developed electrospray methods to enhance sensitivity.3
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
Customer Service Effective writing
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode was synthesized, using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Lane et al. developed electrospray methods to enhance sensitivity.3
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
Who did the work in this study?
The author ? Lane et al. ?
Customer Service Effective writing
Lane et al. developed electrospray methods to enhance sensitivity.3
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide nanoparticle electrode, using electrospray deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Customer Service Effective writing Use strong verbs
…estimation?
…decision?
…confirmation?
We made a…
Subject Verb
Still no idea what this sentence is about! …cake?
Customer Service Effective writing
Avoid nominalizations
Use strong verbs instead of converting a verb into a noun
Estimate Estimation
Decide Decision
Assess Assessment
We made a/an… We conducted a/an…
Extra, weak verb
We decided… Clear, short, and direct
Use strong verbs
Please see Activity 2 in your Workbook
Activity 2: Effective Writing 1
Think of your audience
Section 4
Attract your readers Title and abstract
First impression of paper: clear/concise/convincing
Importance of your results
Validity of your conclusions
Relevance of your aims
Your title & abstract should attract readers
It sells your work: Readers judge your style & credibility
Often first or only part that is read by readers/reviewers
Attract your readers Title and abstract
Match the language to your expected readers
Scientists produce clearest-ever images of enzyme that plays key roles in aging, cancer
Structure of Tetrahymena telomerase reveals previously unknown subunits, functions, and interactions [Abstract]…We report the cryoelectron microscopy structure of Tetrahymena telomerase at ~9 Å resolution.
“,” = journalism for “and”
Technical language
Topic = people
Topic = findings
Includes explanation
Public
General scientists
Lay language, short words
Molecular biologists
Specialist language; noun stacking, units
www.eurekalert.com, 19 October 2015; Jiang et al, Science. 15 October 2015, DOI 10.1126/science.aab4070
Attract your readers Title and abstract
Title
Important points
Only main idea/s Accurate, simple Population/model Include keywords Fewer than 20 words Include method/
study type
Avoid
Unneeded words (“A study of”) Sensationalism, journalistic style Complex word order Abbreviations, jargon “New” or “novel”
Attract your readers Title and abstract
Interrogative Want to scale in centralized systems? Think peer-to-peer
Indicative/ Descriptive
Network performance of multiple virtual machine live migration in cloud federations
… + Approach (subtitle)
Teaching cloud computing: A software engineering perspective
Assertive/ Declarative
Health literacy does not narrow the education-based e-health gap / Education-based e-health gap not narrowed by health literacy
Title
Modified from: J Internet Serv Appl; J Med Internet Res; J Syst Software
Attract your readers Structured abstracts
Aim Objective, hypothesis
Results Most important findings
Conclusion Relevance, implications
Methods Techniques, measurements
No references, jargon, unusual abbreviations, figures/tables (Health studies: Include funding source and clinical trial registration number)
Background Context, problem
Attract your readers Unstructured abstract
In the Tahe oilfield in China, heavy oil is commonly lifted using the light oil blending technology. However, due to the lack of light oil, the production of heavy oil has been seriously limited. Thus, a new compound technology of light oil blending and electric heating is discussed in this paper, which aims to reduce the usage of light oil and maintain heavy oil production. Based on the mass, momentum and energy conservation, a pressure and temperature coupling model is developed. The heat-transfer parameters are calculated by using Hasan–Kabir method and the pressure drop is calculated by using Hagedorn–Brown method. The model also considers the blend effect of light oil and heavy oil, and the heating effect of electric rod. Example calculation shows that only electric heating or light oil blending technology cannot meet the requirement. The amount of light oil used can be reduced by combining the electric heating technology.
Zhu et al. J Petrol Explor Prod Technol. 2014; DOI: 10.1007/s13202-014-0126-x.
Attract your readers Unstructured abstract
Conclusion The amount of light oil used can be reduced by combining the electric heating technology.
Methods/ results
Based on the mass, momentum and energy conservation, a pressure and temperature coupling model is developed. The heat-transfer parameters are calculated by using Hasan–Kabir method and the pressure drop is calculated by using Hagedorn–Brown method. The model also considers the blend effect of light oil and heavy oil, and the heating effect of electric rod. Example calculation shows that only electric heating or light oil blending technology cannot meet the requirement.
Aims Thus, a new compound technology of light oil blending and electric heating is discussed in this paper, which aims to reduce the usage of light oil and maintain heavy oil production.
Background In the Tahe oilfield in China, heavy oil is commonly lifted using the light oil blending technology. However, owing to the lack of light oil, the production of heavy oil has been seriously limited.
Modified from: Zhu et al. J Petrol Explor Prod Technol. 2014; DOI: 10.1007/s13202-014-0126-x.
Attract your readers
Physical science abstracts (short)
Aims
Background
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Why the study was done
Your objective/hypothesis
Techniques, models
Most important findings
Conclusion/implications
Attract your readers
A model has been developed to predict growth kinetics of the intermetallic phases (IMCs) formed in a reactive diffusion couple between two metals for the case where multiple IMC phases are observed. The model explicitly accounts for the effect of grain boundary diffusion through the IMC layer, and can thus be used to explore the effect of IMC grain size on the thickening of the reaction layer. The model has been applied to the industrially important case of aluminum to magnesium alloy diffusion couples in which several different IMC phases are possible. It is demonstrated that there is a transition from grain boundary-dominated diffusion to lattice-dominated diffusion at a critical grain size, which is different for each IMC phase.
Modified from: Wang et al. Metall Mater Trans A. 2015; 46: 4106–4114.
Physical science abstracts (short)
What you did
What you found
Attract your readers
Check author guidelines
Check recently published articles
Consider your audience
For interdisciplinary audiences, include background and conclusion
Identify journal editor preference
What the journal requires
Physical science abstracts
When should you include background and conclusions?
Attract your readers Graphical abstracts
Visually demonstrate key features of the study Help readers quickly identify suitable articles
Carbon-layer protected cuprous oxide nanowire arrays for efficient water reduction
Zhang et al. ACS Nano. 2013;7:1709–1717.
Attract your readers Graphical abstracts
Visually demonstrate key features of the study Help readers quickly identify suitable articles
Targeting the lymphatics using dendritic polymers
Kaminskas and Porter. Adv Drug Delivery Rev. 2011; 63: 890–900.
Attract your readers Highlight statements
Clear summaries for quick overview 4–5 key sentences or 3–5 bullet points
(maximum 85–100 characters per bullet, including spaces; no abbreviations)
British Medical Journal: (1) “What is already known on this topic” &
(2) “What this study adds” (included as a Box in online and print article)
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Bioenergetics:
3–5 bullets of core results (only in online version of table of contents and article)
Attract your readers
Search Engine Optimization
Identify 7–8 keywords (try to use standard terms*)
Use 2 in your title; 5–6 in the keyword list
Use 3 keywords 3–4 times in your abstract
Use keywords in headings when appropriate
Be consistent throughout your paper, but include some synonyms
Cite your previous publications when relevant
*Standard terms from PsycINFO, BIOSIS, ChemWeb, ERIC Thesaurus, GeoRef, MeSH, etc
Please see Activity 3 in your Workbook
Activity 3: Titles and abstracts
Write effectively 2
Section 5
Customer Service Effective writing
Write logical sentences!
A is 4 times larger than B A is 4-fold larger than B A is 4 times as large as B
B is 4 times smaller than A
B is 75% smaller than A; B is 25% the size of A
A B
Avoid ambiguity
Customer Service Effective writing
Write logical sentences!
A is 4 times larger than B A is 4-fold larger than B A is 4 times as large as B
B is 4 times smaller than A
B is 75% smaller than A; B is 25% the size of A
A B
Comparing data, Method–Purpose, Condition–Effect, Reason–Result, Cause–Effect, Contrast, Similarity, Sequence, Addition, Concession, Exemplification
Avoid ambiguity
Customer Service Effective writing
The reliability was generally not affected by data filtering.
The reliability increased by only 2.5% after data filtering.
?
After considering all of the forum responses from all the forum respondents, around less than 20% of forum members submits 80% of the forum replies.
Be accurate and concise!
After considering all of the forum responses, we estimated that only 18% of members submitted 80% of the replies.
Avoid ambiguity
Customer Service Effective writing
A(n): refers to a non-specific noun (indefinite reference)
The: refers to a specific noun (definite reference)
“A theory that describes economic development…” Suggests there is more than one theory
“The Big Bang theory…” Suggests there is only one theory and everyone knows
“A participant was chosen based on education level.
The participant was then given a questionnaire to determine…”
Clarify reference
Customer Service Effective writing
Readers expect…
verbs to closely follow their subjects heavy ends (not starts) of clauses
Subject
The viral infection that the patient caught on a trip to an outbreak-prone area in Africa spread among the hospital staff quickly.
The patient caught a viral infection on a trip to an outbreak-prone area in Africa. This infection spread quickly among the hospital staff.
Verb
Write clear sentences
Customer Service Effective writing
Readers expect…
old/given/familiar information to appear first new information to appear last
An increasing number of people are relying on medical information sources that they find on the Internet. Hence, governments could conduct public campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles via online media.
The Internet is being used as a source of medical information by an increasing number of people. Hence, online media campaigns could be used by governments to promote healthy lifestyles among the public. (or… Hence, the public could benefit greatly if governments used online campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles.)
Write clear sentences
Customer Service Effective writing
Readers focus at the end of the sentence to determine what is important.
1. You deserve the funding, but the study design is not perfect.
Which sentence suggests that you
will get funding?
2. The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the funding.
Sentence and paragraph structure
Stress position
Customer Service Effective writing
The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the
funding. The grant will be awarded in two stages.
Stress position
Topic position
The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence
The stress position also introduces the topic of the next sentence (useful for explanations and processes)
Sentence and paragraph structure
Customer Service Effective writing
The government of Tanzania has been striving to introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. In teacher education, technology was introduced through the ICT-Connect-TED project. The program aimed at improving the quality of teachers through the use of ICT. ICT-Connect-TED provided computers and a networking infrastructure to all 34 teacher training colleges in Tanzania.
idea idea idea idea
Topic link
sentence
Source: Kafyulilo et al. Educ Inf Technol. 5 May 2015; DOI 10.1007/s10639-015-9398-0
Sentence and paragraph structure
Customer Service Effective writing
One method of producing carbon fibre precursors, with the potential of commercial applicability, is electrospinning. It has previously been demonstrated that electrospinning can successfully produce precursor fibres that can be converted into high quality carbon fibres with controlled fibre diameters and morphologies. The majority of electrospun carbon fibre precursors reported in the literature are PAN-based. The high cost of PAN, depleting petroleum resources and the toxicity of its solvent, dimethylformamide, has motivated research to look into alternative electrospinnable materials to produce cheaper and more environmentally friendly carbon fibres. Because petroleum-based carbon resources exhibit negative environmental impacts and are of limited availability further motivates research towards green carbon fibres.
Recently, a wide range of renewable resource-based materials have been investigated for the fabrication of carbon materials. Among them, lignin has been looked at as a very promising candidate…
Schreiber et al. J Mater Sci. 2014; 49: 7949–7958.
Topic sentence
Stress sentence Topic sentence
Supporting sentences
Sentence and paragraph structure
Please see Activity 4 in your Workbook
Activity 4: Effective writing 2
Structure your manuscript 1
Section 6
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Introduction
Current state of the field
Background information
Specific aim/approach/contents Aim
Problem in the field
Previous studies
Current study
General
Specific Importance/hypothesis
Worldwide relevance? Broad/specialized?
Recent, International Not too many self-cites
Why is your study needed?
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Writing the Introduction
The objective of this study was to employ information theory to quantify the amount of information contained in common laboratory tests, the extent of redundancy between consecutive days of sampling, and the redundancy associated with pre-specified pairs of ICU lab tests.
In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), likely the most data-rich environment in the hospital, enhanced monitoring and frequent testing are common. Repeated bloodwork can lead to patient harm in a number of ways…
Problem in the field
Lee and Maslove. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2015; 15: 59.
Study aims
Your aims should directly address the problem
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Common mistakes in the Introduction
Ideas are not logically organized
Important topics in the Introduction are not mentioned again in the Results/Discussion
Important topics in the Results/Discussion are not mentioned in the Introduction
Cited studies are not up-to-date
Cited studies are geographically biased
Why study needs to be done?
Keep focused
Write last
<5 years
International
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Methods/Experimental
How it was done
• General methods • Specific techniques – Discuss controls
• Quantification methods • Models/equations • Statistical tests
What/who was studied
• Samples or participants • Materials/databases
– Where purchased
How it was analyzed
Consult a statistician!
What did you do?
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Established techniques
• Cite previously published studies • Briefly state modifications • Use flow chart/table if needed
• Explain purposes; justify choices • Give enough detail for reproducibility • Use Supplementary Information
Organization • Arrange in (titled) subsections • Keep parallel to the display items • Use topic sentences
New techniques
Methods/Experimental
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Results
1. Synthesis 2. Characterization 3. Application
Logical presentation
What did you find?
Example:
1. Fabricate new membrane for water treatment
2. Evaluate physical and chemical properties (e.g., under different temperatures/pressures)
3. Efficacy in removing particulate contamination
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
1. Initial observation/synthesis 2. Characterization/development 3. Application
Each subsection corresponds to one figure/method
What you found, not what it means
Data accessibility
Logical presentation
Subsections
Factual description
What did you find?
Results
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Combined Results–Discussion
Results Interpretation
Figure 1
Results Interpretation
Figure 2
Results Interpretation
Figure 3
Results Interpretation
Figure 4
Initial observation
Logical presentation
Characterization
Application
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Table 2 presents an analysis of vulnerabilities in Cloud Computing. This analysis offers a brief description of the vulnerabilities, and indicates what cloud service models (SPI) can be affected by them. Some of these vulnerabilities are the following:… … Cloud Computing leverages many existing technologies such as web services, web browsers, and virtualization, which contributes to the evolution of cloud environments. Therefore, any vulnerability associated with these technologies also affects the cloud, and it can even have a significant impact. We can conclude that data storage and virtualization are the most critical features, and an attack to them would do the most harm. Attacks to lower layers would have more impact to the other layers.
Introduce display item
Interpretation
Conclusion/ implications
Modified from: Hashizume et al. J Internet Serv Appl. 2013;4:5.
Factual description
Factually describe and interpret your findings 1
Combined Results–Discussion
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
The three classification models show the same level of
performance based on their F1-scores, where the scores all take a
value of 0.85. With the help of the receiver operating characteristic
curves (Figure 5), it is clear to see that all three models performed
quite well for testing data that have high posterior probability. A
posterior probability of a testing data point, A, is estimated by the
classification model as the probability that A will be classified as
positive, denoted as P(+|A). As the probability gets lower, the Naïve
Bayesian classifier model outperforms the Support Vector Machine
classifier model , with a larger area under curve. Hence, in general,
the Random Forest model performs the best.
Describe finding
Interpretation
Conclusion/ implications
Modified from: Hashizume et al. J Internet Serv Appl. 2013;4:5.
Mention display item
Factually describe and interpret your findings 2
Combined Results–Discussion
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Present large amount of data quickly and efficiently
Keep it simple: use separate panels if necessary
Must be able to stand alone: clear labels and
figure legends
Usually the first thing readers will look at
Figures, graphs & tables
Display items
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
SEM images of Bentheimer sample 1 before and after damage (10 g/L barite). (a) and (b) show the undamaged plug, only quartz crystals can be seen, (c) and (d) show the sample after damage, adhesion between quartz (gray) and barite (white) can be seen, (e) and (f) show the adhesion between barite particles in the damaged plug. The black arrows point towards barite-quartz and barite-barite interfaces.
Figures
Clear figure legend
Al-Yaseri et al. J Petrol Sci Eng. 2015; DOI 10.1016/j.petrol.2015.01.018.
Title of the experiment
Key findings
Clear indicators
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Tables vs. graphs
Type A Type B Type C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Aluminum
Gold
Figure 1. Efficiency of various solar cell types using aluminum and gold electrodes
Effi
cien
cy (
%)
Which electrode gives a more efficient solar cell?
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Tables vs. graphs
Figure 1. Efficiency of various solar cell types using aluminum and gold electrodes
Type A Type B Type C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Aluminum
Gold
What is the highest efficiency achieved?
?
Effi
cien
cy (
%)
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Tables vs. graphs
What is the highest efficiency achieved?
Table 1. Efficiency of solar cells using aluminum and gold electrodes
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Independent variable
Table formatting
Muñoz et al. New Engl J Med. 2003; 348: 518−527.
Clear and concise table caption
Abbreviations defined
Dependent variable
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
What’s wrong with this line graph?
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Line graphs
Zhu et al. Sci Rep. 2013; 3: 3163.
Quantized water transport: Ideal desalination through graphyne-4 membrane
The uniaxial stress-strain curves of graphene sheet (GR), as well as graphyne-1 to graphyne-6, along (a) the reclined chair direction, and (b) zigzag direction.
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Use colors and shapes to differentiate lines
Define abbreviations
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Bar graphs
Slight et al. J Clin Invest. 2013; doi: 10.1172/JCI65728.
CXCR5+ T helper cells mediate protective immunity against tuberculosis
Figure 7 Adoptive transfer of B6 but not Cxcr5-/- CD4+ T cells rescues T cell localization and protection in Cxcr5-/-Mtb-infected mice... (B) The average size of B cell lymphoid follicles in FFPE lung sections on day 50 using the morphometric tool of the Zeiss Axioplan microscope… *** P = 0.0005.
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Statistical significance
Activity 5: Manuscript structure 1
Please see Activity 5 in your Workbook
Structure your manuscript 2
Section 7
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Discussion
Summary of findings
Relevance
Conclusion
Similarities/differences Unexpected/negative results Limitations (validity, reliability)
Implications
Previous studies
Current study
Future studies
Specific
General
How do you advance your field?
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Writing the beginning of your Discussion
State the major conclusion of the study
Nitrogen pollution in household wastewater tends to lead to eutrophication in natural waters, which can diminish water quality and ecosystem services. However, the comparative cost and effectiveness of conventional and alternative wastewater treatment strategies to reduce nitrogen have not been clearly evaluated. In this study, we found that the most cost-effective alternatives for mitigating nitrogen are decentralized systems, paired with conventional septic systems as necessary. Sensitivity analysis shows that...
Re-introduction
Conclusion
Modified from: Wood et al. J Environ Manage. 2015; 150: 344–354.
Problem
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Modified from: Ketola & Hiltunen. Ecol Evol. 2014; 4: 3901–3908.
Compare your findings with those published by others
Writing the middle of your Discussion
Comparison with previous studies
Current finding
Potential reasons
Our observations suggest that fluctuating growth conditions did not select for generalism at the tested salinity levels. This finding is in contrast to several studies where evidence for an evolved generalism was found to be the consequence of fluctuating environments (Buckling et al. 2006, Ketola et al. 2013, 2014; Condon et al. 2014). One explanation for the lack of expected adaptation in fluctuating environments in the current study could be that our salinity fluctuations were too coarse-grained…
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Describe limitations and negative results
Why?
Reporting transparency
• Allows complete evaluation of your study • Prevents others from repeating those experiments • Allows others to modify those experiments • Prevents funding agencies from wasting money
Data repositories
Writing the middle of your Discussion
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Readers use sentence structure to determine emphasis
• Stress position • Main clause vs. subordinate clause • Clause length
Useful in the Discussion Vary emphasis of your interpretations
Contrasting ideas
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Contrasting ideas
Main vs. subordinate clause
Although the study design is not perfect, you deserve funding.
Subordinate Main
Linking word
• Although • Even though • While • Whereas
Subordinate clauses say 2 things:
• Idea may not be important • There is a contrasting idea coming
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Discussing limitations
Although this study was limited by its small sample size, our results demonstrate that people using customizable news aggregation pages give high user experience scores.
Although our results demonstrate that page customization is useful, the study was limited by its small sample size.
Bad news = Subordinate clause at the start
Bad news = Main clause in stress position
Bad news = Subordinate clause at start Good news = LONG main clause in stress position
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
What do you want people to remember?
Writing the end of your Discussion
May be a separate section
May be a “Future work” section
In conclusion, polymeric nanoparticles could be used as a generic carrier of hydrophobic drugs for efficient delivery. Compared with drug administration alone, these nanoparticles mediated a higher and more rapid uptake of the encapsulated drug by nanoparticle-cell contact-mediated transfer. A contact-mediated mechanism of delivery into the cytosol could enable effective delivery of anticancer drugs directly to the intracellular molecular targets. Further understanding of this contact-based transfer mechanism will be important to exploit this novel delivery system for the administration of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs to improve cancer therapy.
Conclusion
Key finding
Implications
Future directions
Modified from: Snipstad et al. Cancer Nanotech. 2014; 5: 8.
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Common mistakes in the Discussion
Do not restate your results or introduce new data
We showed that tumor volumes in Groups A, B, and C were 34.6, 74.2, and 53.9 mm3, respectively, after a 4-month drug treatment, reflecting only a 8.6% decrease. However, after a 12-month drug treatment, the tumor volumes in Groups A, B, and C were 16.3, 18.7, and 16.9 mm3, respectively, which reflects a 45.2% decrease (p<0.05). The results demonstrate that 12 months of treatment is necessary for Drug X to effectively reduce tumor size among the three groups.
The results presented in this study demonstrate that Drug X more effectively reduces tumor size after 12 months of treatment (45.2% reduction) than it does after 4 months (8.6% reduction).
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure
Common mistakes in the Discussion
Do not overgeneralize your findings
In this study, we demonstrated that Drug A effectively reduced tumor growth. Therefore, this drug should have therapeutic applications in breast cancer treatment.
In this study, we demonstrated that Drug A effectively reduced the growth of various breast cancer cell lines. Our findings suggest that this drug may have therapeutic applications in breast cancer treatment.
Result: Drug A reduced breast cancer cell growth in vitro
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Link your ideas
General background
Aims
Methodology
Results and figures
Summary of findings
Implications for the field
Relevance of findings
Problem in the field
Current state of the field Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Solution
Situation/Problem
Evaluation/Comment
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure Link your ideas
Contamination of the soil by heavy metals is a serious environmental problem...
However, little is known how heavy metals affect membrane lipid metabolism…
Here, we showed that Cd stress altered membrane structure and function by changing the profiles of individual polar lipids and unsaturation levels.
Background
Problem
Conclusion
Discussion
Modified from: Elloumi et al. Botanical Studies. 2014; 55: 61.
Our aim was to assess how Cd stress affects the composition and biosynthesis of lipids and fatty acids……
Objective
Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript
structure After the first draft….
Format manuscript
• Use journal template/style • Re-check word limits • Format references
Revise manuscript
• Get input from colleagues • Check Figures/Tables • Check consistency/logical
flow between sections • Edit for clarity, conciseness,
and accuracy • Have a rest! Then proofread
Activity 6: Manuscript structure 2
Please see Activity 6 in your Workbook
S
Be an effective communicator
Your goal is not only to publish, but also to be widely read and cited
Prepare well for academic publishing
Write your ideas clearly for your audience
Logically present your research
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