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School of Life Sciences, J N U 21 Sept. 2012 Winning the game of publishing research papers yateendra.joshi@gmail.com

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Overview Research Writing Words Numbers Putting finishing touches Citations and references Formatting

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Before writing and after writing Read relevant journals; scan abstract journals. Choose a target journal; note policy and scope. Study instructions to authors. Study a recent issue of the target journal. Highlight main findings in the covering letter. Specify category (letters, opinion, etc.). Address the editor by name.

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Tackle writing tasks systematically 1. Write the core message in 25 words. 2. Expand the core message to a 250-word abstract. 3. Prepare and revise an outline (the skeleton). 4. Flesh out the skeleton: for writing text, target at least 400 words per session. Write fast; forget about errors. 5. Revise only after writing at least 2000 words.

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Writing the title and the abstract Realize that title and abstract work together. Exclude references, tables, figures, etc. Be sparing in use of abbreviations. Do not repeat information already in the title. For keywords, use terms other than those already used in the title. Skip background information.

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Writing the introduction Answer the question W H Y. State the problem. Explain why the problem is important. Review what has been done so far to solve it. Introduce the study by pointing out what is different about it compared to past research.

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Writing materials and methods Answer the question H O W. Include enough detail for others to repeat the experiment. Give sources of material, make and model of equipment, quantities, duration, season, etc.

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Writing the results Answer the question W H A T. State only the results; leave comments and explanations for the Discussion section. Use tables and charts as appropriate but do not duplicate information. If results are not significant, do not discuss them.

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Writing the discussion Answer the question S O W H A T. Explain what the results mean and how they are important. Compare the results with earlier findings; explain contradictory results, if any. Suggest future line of work. Sum up with a conclusion.

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Tips on scheduling writing Write and revise the outline whenever convenient. Keep large chunks of uninterrupted time for writing text. Set the target in terms of number of words. End a session at a point from which it is easy to resume.

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Becoming a better writer Prefer books or longish feature articles in magazines to newspapers. Read popular fiction to absorb correct grammar. Read writers known for the quality of their prose. Spend about ten hours on reading for every hour you spend on learning to write.

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Recommended reading: 1 Silvia P J. 2007. How to Write a Lot: a practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 149 pp. Groopman J (ed.). 2010. The Best of the Best American Science Writing [20002009]. New York: HarperCollins. 346 pp.

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Recommended reading: 2 Dawkins R (ed.). 2008. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing. Oxford University Press. 419 pp. Bryson B (ed.). 2010. Seeing Further: the story of science and the Royal Society. London: HarperPress. 504 pp.

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All good writing is rewriting What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. Samuel Johnson

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Express numbers accurately Always include units of measurement. Eliminate non-significant digits. Limit numbers to 3 digits as far as possible. Use appropriate and familiar units.

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Expression should match precision The sheet was 16.12 mm thick. Sand content was 20.05%. Wathar railway station: height above msl 799.99 m The sheet was 16 mm thick. Sand content was 20%. Wathar railway station: height above msl 800 m

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SI style for expressing quantities: 1 Number (value) + space + unit. Unit = affix + symbol Affix may divide or multiply. Multipliers: kilo, mega, giga, etc. Dividers: deci, centi, milli, micro, pico, etc. All dividers and multipliers up to kilo take lowercase: mm, km, but MW

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SI style for expressing quantities: 2 Units are symbols, not abbreviations. No plural form: 1 kg, 2 kg (not 2 kgs) Not followed by a full stop ( 1 km, not 1 km.) Symbols named after people take uppercase: 2 kPa, 230 V Use the symbols only with numbers; if not, use unit names (the weight was measured in kilograms; the concentration was expressed in grams per litre.)

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About versus Approximately Use about with multiples of 5 or 10 to indicate that values have been rounded off. Use approximately to indicate more precise measurements. About (UK), Around (USA) You will require about 160 kg of sand. You will need approximately 157 kg of sand.

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Make 3-digit groups separated with space 123 1234 (but 1 234 if in a column with more digits) 12 345 123 456 not 1,23,456 1 234 567not 12,34,567. Non-breaking space: alt + 0160

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Recommended reading Miller J E. 2004. The Chicago Guide to Writing About Numbers. Chicago University Press. 304 pp. Koomey J G. 2008. Turning Numbers into Knowledge. Oakland, California: Analytics Press. 248 pp.

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Making tables reader-friendly Refer to and summarize in text. Order rows and columns logically. Eliminate repetitive matter; avoid numbering rows/columns Use appropriate column alignment. Avoid empty cells. Mark off reference column or row: (average, standard, etc.). Ensure that correct units are mentioned where necessary.

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Align columns logically Whole numbers only; all the rows share a common unit: right alignment Decimal numbers; all the rows share a common unit: decimal alignment Whole numbers or decimals; rows do not share a common unit: left alignment Individual cells without data: centre only those cells.

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Column with no common units left-aligned Table 1 Fuel consumption in rural households: 2001/02 l Quantity FuelQuantity Coal or soft coke (thousand tonnes)400 Kerosene (million litres)1863 Biogas (million cubic metres)1360 Dung-cake (million tonnes)95

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Do not overdesign tables Keep columns close together. A table need not fill all the available space. Avoid vertical lines or rules; avoid shaded background. Use minimum horizontal lines or rules. Avoid shading alternate rows; use extra space after every five or ten rows if necessary. Do not use the space bar to align numbers.

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Construct a test sentence Make a sentence out of the data given in a row and see if it makes complete sense. This test also alerts you to missing information, especially about units of measurement.

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Always supply sources of data Authors data if no source given Citation (authoryear) or full reference Source or sources as appropriate Adapted from or Modified from as appropriate

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Molecular and Cellular Biology: instructions Manuscripts may be editorially rejected, without review, on the basis of poor English or lack of conformity to the standards set forth in these Instructions. Manuscript pages should have continuous line numbers; manuscripts without line numbers may be rejected.

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Molecular and Cellular Biology: announcement Beginning with the first January 2013 issue, ASM will change the way in which references are numbered. Citations will be numbered in the order in which they appear in the article; ASM will no longer use the citation-name system with an alphabetized reference list. Also, entries in References will include all authors names; et al. will not be used in author lines.

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Writing the references Answer the question W H O S A Y S SO. Citations are embedded within text. References are placed at the end of a paper. Citations are brief pointers; references supply full details. Citations are used for supporting claims and giving credit where it is due.

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Why citations Academic citations show that you know work already done on your research question major contributors to the topic how to acknowledge their work how to properly organize references.

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Citations, references, and bibliography Citations in text; references at the end Citations: numbers or author/syear References: details of sources cited in the text Bibliography: sources used but not specifically cited

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Differences in forms of citations Numbered citations Superscript numbers or in line numbers, square brackets? Placement of numbers in relation to punctuation Author/syear citations Punctuation within and between citations Order of names within a citation How many names before et al.

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Differences in reference formats Elements or parts of a reference Sequence and details of elements Punctuation between elements Typography

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Elements or parts of a reference Author/s and year of publication Title of the paper, book, presentation, etc. Source details: title of the journal, book, conference, etc. | volume-, issue-, and page numbers | publisher and place of publication | dates and place of the conference | Conference organizer | URL | DOI... Full stop or no full stop at the end

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Sequence and details of elements: 1 Place: publisher or Publisher, place London: Academic Press or Academic Press, London Inverted names: all or only the first Patil A B, Gupta C D, and Roy E F or Patil A B, C D Gupta, and E F Roy

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Sequence and details of elements: 2 Journal names: full or abbreviated Plant Molecular Biology or Plant Mol. Biol. Capitalization in journal names Cellular and Molecular Biology or Cellular and molecular biology Page numbers: full or elided vol. 25: 121128 or vol. 25: 1218

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Punctuation between elements Comma between surname and initials Patil, A B or Patil A B Dots after initials; space or no space Patil A.B. or Patil A B or Patil AB Comma or colon after volume number Building and Environment 56, 123128 or Building and Environment 56: 123128

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Typography and layout Names: normal or capitals or capitals and small capitals Patil or PATIL or P ATIL Journal names: normal or italics Nucleic Acids Research or Nucleic Acids Research Volume number in normal or bold Left-aligned or with a hanging indent

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http://citationmachine.net/

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Examples of formats

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PLOS ONE: citations

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PLOS ONE: references

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Journal of Biological Chemistry: citations

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Nucleic Acids Research: citations

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Nucleic Acids Research: references

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Nucleic Acid Research: references References cited in the text by sequential number in order of appearance and listed numerically under References. Journal names should be abbreviated in the style of Chemical Abstracts. Where the list of authors is extensive it is acceptable to list the first 10 authors followed by et al. Full titles of journal articles must be provided.

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Journal of Biological Chemistry: references

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Plant Molecular Biology: citations

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Plant Molecular Biology: references

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Neuroscience: citations

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Neuroscience: references

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http://library.caltech.edu/reference/abbreviations/

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Recommended reading Lipson C. 2006. Cite Right. University of Chicago Press. 197 pp.

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Trivial formatting details, 1

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Trivial formatting details, 2

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Trivial formatting details, 3

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P LOS O NE recommends a one-page cover letter that concisely summarizes why your paper is a valuable addition to the scientific literature briefly relates your study to previously published work specifies the type of article you are submitting suggests appropriate PLOS ONE Academic Editors to handle your manuscript lists any recommended or opposed reviewers.

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School of Life Sciences, J N U 21 Sept. 2012 Heres wishing you every success! yateendra.joshi@gmail.com