Bimtek-Kopertis Wil 3
Febr 2017
A little about me
Media Anugerah Ayu
A happy mum of two lovely boys and currently working as an academician at Sampoerna University-Jakarta.
Prior to that I was an Associate Professor in Faculty of Information and Communication Technology-International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
Education:
PhD from The Australian National University, Canberra-Australia MSc from The Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok-Thailand Ir from Institut Pertanian Bogor, Bogor-Indonesia
•
Writing
•
Academic writing
•
Academic writing for publication
Writing habits
Writing habits
•
The secret of good
writing is rewriting
•
The secret of rewriting
What is the point of academic writing?
•
The substance of academic writing must be based on
solid
evidence and logical analysis
, and presented as a concise,
accurate argument.
•
Academic writing can allow you to present your argument
How is it done?
•
Aim for precision. Don’t use unnecessary words or
waffle. Get straight to the point. Make every word
count.
•
If there is any uncertainty about a particular point, use
cautious language (such as ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘could’,
‘potentially’).
•
Unless you are a confident writer, it is best to avoid
over-long sentences and to aim for a mixture of long
and short sentences for variation and rhythm.
Avoid overly elaborate language
•
When using words that are not technical or subject
related, use simple words in place of obscure words
that have the same meaning.
•
Using overly elaborate language can make your writing
Technical and specific language
•
Use technical language and words specific to your
discipline where appropriate.
•
However, it is wise to avoid convoluted phrases and
Is the following text a good example of
academic style?
•
Today being fat is totally bad for your health.
About 30,000 fat people die every year in the UK
and loads more fat people die in the USA. By
2005 more people will die of being fat than
smoking and it doesn’t have to be this way, this
Read this
•
The number of deaths per year attributable to
obesity is roughly 30,000 in the UK and ten times
that in the USA, where obesity is set to overtake
Avoid abbreviations and contractions
•
Abbreviations and contractions are informal, and
are best avoided in academic writing. For example:
•
‘Department’ should be used instead of the
abbreviation ‘
dept
’.
Avoid slang words and phrases
Compare the following:
•
‘The individual was sentenced for
nicking
a bike.’
•
‘The doctor looked
kind of
worried when he reviewed
the case notes.’
•
‘The individual was sentenced for
stealing
a bike’
•
‘The doctor looked
slightly
worried when he reviewed
Avoid conversational terms
• This totally changed people’s lives’
• Why is ‘totally’ there?
• If it’s a ‘filler’ it can be omitted.
• If it’s used for emphasis, a more appropriate word could be
Avoid vague terms
Consider the following:
• ‘The right thing’ would be better expressed as ‘the right action’
or ‘the right procedure’
• ‘A nice addition to the collection’ would be better expressed as
Be Impersonal
•
In many academic disciplines, writing in the first
person is
not
acceptable as it is believed to be too
Writing in the first person
•
First person sentences use the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’.
For example:
•
We have considered...
•
I suggest that...
•
I have observed...
into-Impersonal sentences
•
Consideration has been given to...
•
The suggestion is made that...
What does referencing mean?
•
When writing an academic piece of work we
Why should we include references in
our work?
•
We should include references in order to:
– acknowledge the work of others
– provide evidence of your own research
– illustrate a particular point
– support an argument or theory
– allow others to locate the resources you have used
•
And most importantly:
Referencing while writing
•
References will be cited in our work in two places:
-– 1) Where a source is referred to in the text (Citation) – 2) In a list (the Bibliography/List of references) at the
Purpose of a Literature Review
The literature review is a critical look at the existing research
that is significant to the work that you are carrying out.
•
To provide background information
•
To establish importance
•
To demonstrate familiarity
Characteristics of
Effective Literature Reviews
•
Outlining important research trends
•
Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing
research
•
Identifying potential gaps in knowledge
•
Establishing a need for current and/or future research
Analyzing Sources
•
A literature review is never just a list of studies
—
it always offers an argument about a body of
research
•
Analysis occurs on two levels:
–
Individual sources
Four Analysis Tasks of the Literature
Review
TASKS OF LITERATURE
REVIEW
Summary and Synthesis
In your own words, summarize and/or synthesize the key
findings relevant to your study.
•
What do we know about the immediate area?
•
What are the key arguments, key characteristics, key
concepts or key figures?
•
What are the existing debates/theories?
Sample Language for
Summary and Synthesis
•
Normadin has demonstrated
…
•
Early work by Hausman, Schwarz, and Graves was
concerned
with…
•
Elsayed and Stern compared algorithms for
handling…
Example: Summary and Synthesis
Piaget’s theory of stages of cognitive development and
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development are
commonly used for educational psychology courses
(Borich & Tombari, 1997; LeFrancois, 1997; Slavin,
1997). Piaget described characteristic behaviors, including
artistic ones such as drawing, as evidence of how children
think and what children do as they progress beyond
Comparison and Critique
Evaluates the strength and weaknesses of the
work:
•
How do the different studies relate? What is new, different,
or controversial?
•
What views need further testing?
•
What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradicting, or
too limited?
Sample Language for
Comparison and Critique
•
In this ambitious but flawed study
, Jones and Wang…
•
These general results, reflecting the stochastic nature of
the flow of goods, are similar to those reported by
Example: Comparison and Critique
•
The critical response to the poetry of Phillis Wheatley often
registers disappointment or surprise. Some critics have
complained that the verse of this African American slave is
insecure (Collins 1975, 78), imitative (Richmond 1974,
54-66), and incapacitated (Burke 1991, 33, 38)
—
at worst, the
product of a “White mind” (Jameson 1974, 414
-15). Others,
in contrast, have applauded
Wheatley’s critique of Anglo
-American discourse(Kendrick 1993,222-23), her revision of
Common Errors Made in Lit Reviews
• Review isn’t logically organized
• Review isn’t focused on most important facets of the study
• Review doesn’t relate literature to the study
• Too few references or outdated references cited
• Review isn’t written in author’s own words
• Review reads like a series of disjointed summaries
• Review doesn’t argue a point
Writing a Literature Review:
In Summary
•
As you read, try to see the “big picture”—
your literature review
should provide an overview of the state of research.
•
Include only those source materials that help you shape your
argument. Resist the temptation to include everything you’ve
read!
•
Balance summary and analysis as you write.
•
Keep in mind your purpose for writing:
–
How will this review benefit readers?
Supporting tools
Tools to support in writing related to referencing
and literature review:
Determine if you are ready to publish
This could be in the form of:
• Presenting new, original results or methods
• Rationalizing, refining, or reinterpreting published results
• Reviewing or summarizing a particular subject or field
If you are ready to publish, a strong manuscript is what is needed next
What is a strong manuscript?
• Has a novel, clear, useful, and exciting message
• Presented and constructed in a logical manner
• Reviewers and editors can grasp the scientific significance easily
Editors and reviewers but also authors are all busy scientists –
• A scientific paper is not a research report, but a contribution to the scientific discussions
• A review is not an overview of the literature (as often in the
introduction of a thesis) but a discussion of the literature bringing a new message
Before writing:
Define what it is you want to make clear
Identify the right audience for your paper
• Identify the sector of readership/community for which a paper is meant
• Identify the interest of your audience
Choose the right journal
Do not just “descend the stairs”
Top journals
Nature, Science, Lancet, NEJM, ...
Field-specific top journals
Other field-specific journals
Choose the right journal
• Ask help from your supervisor or colleagues
– The supervisor (who is sometimes the corresponding author) has at least co-responsibility for your work. You are encouraged to chase your supervisor if necessary.
• Articles in your references will likely lead you to the right journal.
• DO NOT gamble by submitting your manuscript to more than one journal at a time.
Multiple submissions save you time but waste editor’s and
reviewer’s time.
The editorial process of your manuscripts will be completely stopped if the duplicated submissions are discovered.
“It is considered to be unethical…We have thrown out a paper
when an author was caught doing this. I believe that the other
Read the ‘Guide for Authors’! Again and again!
• Stick to the Guide for Authors in your
manuscript, even in the first draft (text layout, nomenclature, figures & tables, references etc.).
In the end it will save you time, and also the
editor’s.
• Editors (and reviewers) do not like wasting time on poorly prepared manuscripts. It is a sign of disrespect.
Scientific Language
–
Overview
• Key to successful scientific writing is to be alert for common errors:
– Sentence construction
– Incorrect tenses
– Inaccurate grammar
– Not using English
Check the Guide for Authors of the target journal for language specifications
Scientific Language
–
Sentences
• Write direct and short sentences
• One idea or piece of information per sentence is sufficient
• Avoid multiple statements in one sentence
An example of what NOT to do:
“If it is the case, intravenous administration should result in that emulsion has
higher intravenous administration retention concentration, but which is not in accordance with the result, and therefore the more rational interpretation
should be that SLN with mean diameter of 46nm is greatly different from emulsion with mean diameter of 65 nm in entering tumor, namely, it is
probably difficult for emulsion to enter and exit from tumor blood vessel as freely as SLN, which may be caused by the fact that the tumor blood vessel
General Structure of a Research Article
• Title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Main text (IMRAD)
– Introduction
• Supplementary Data
Journal space is not unlimited. Make your article as concise as possible.
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Figures/tables (your data)
Introduction
Title & Abstract
The process of writing
–
building the article
(a recommended approach)
Conclusion
Title
Results/Discussions/Findings Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Methodology
References Conclusion
Title
• A good title should contain the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of a paper.
• Effective titles
– Identify the main issue of the paper
– Begin with the subject of the paper
– Are accurate, unambiguous, specific, and complete
– Are as short as possible
– Articles with short, catchy titles are often better cited
– Do not contain rarely-used abbreviations
– Attract readers
Good
An effective title should…
•Answer the reader’s question:
“Is this article relevant to me?”
•Grab the reader’s attention
•Describe the content of a paper using the fewest possible words
• Is crisp, concise
• Uses keywords
A Human Expert-based Approach to Electrical
Peak Demand Management
VS
A better approach of managing environmental and
energy sustainability via a study of different methods of electric load forecasting
Good Title
Bad Title
“English needs help. The title is nonsense.
All materials have properties of all varieties. You could examine my hair for its electrical and optical properties! You MUST be
specific. I haven’t read the paper but I
suspect there is something special about these properties, otherwise why would you
be reporting them?” – the Editor-in-Chief
Electrospinning of carbon/CdS coaxial nanofibers with optical and electrical properties
Fabrication of
carbon/CdS coaxial nanofibers
displaying optical and electrical properties via electrospinning carbon
Titles should be specific.
Think to yourself: “How would I search for this piece of information?” when you
design the title.
Inhibition of growth of mycobacterium tuberculosis by streptomycin
Action of antibiotics on bacteria
Long title distracts readers.
Remove all redundancies such as
“observations on”, “the nature of”, etc.
Effect of Zn on anticorrosion of zinc plating layer
Preliminary
observations on the effect of Zn element on anticorrosion of zinc plating layer
Keywords
• In an “electronic world”, keywords determine whether your
article is found or not!
• Avoid to make them
– too general (“drug delivery”, “mouse”, “disease”, etc.)
– too narrow (so that nobody will ever search for it)
• Effective approach:
– Look at the keywords of articles relevant to your manuscript
– Play with these keywords, and see whether they return relevant papers, neither too many nor too few
2/27/2017
Use in the Title and Abstract for enhanced
Search Engine Optimization
Keywords
Appropriate
Applicable
Specific
Abstract
Tell readers what you did and the important findings
• One paragraph (between 50-300 words)
• Advertisement for your article
• A clear abstract will strongly influence if your work is considered further
Graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) of composition
CxN(SO2CF3)2 · δF are prepared under ambient conditions in 48% hydrofluoric acid, using K2MnF6 as an oxidizing reagent. The stage 2 GIC product structures are determined using powder XRD and modeled by fitting one dimensional electron density profiles.
A new digestion method followed by selective fluoride electrode elemental analyses allows the determination of free fluoride within
products, and the compositional x and δ parameters are determined for
reaction times from 0.25 to 500 h. What are the
What you did
Why you did it
How the results were useful, important & move
the field forward
Why they’re useful & important
& move the field forward
Abstract
A “stand alone”
condensed version of the article
•No more than 250
words; written in the past tense
•Uses keywords
Abstract
Purpose- Design/Methodology/Approach-
Findings-Research limitations/implications (if applicable) -Practical implications (if applicable)
-
Introduction
The place to convince readers that you know why your work is relevant, also for them
Answer a series of questions:
– What is the problem?
– Are there any existing solutions?
– Which one is the best?
– What is its main limitation?
– What do you hope to achieve?
72
General
Specific
• The introduction should be:
• Specific, not too broad or vague
• About 2 pages
• Written in the present tense
Introduction
• A description of the problem you researched
Methods / Experimental
• Include all important details so that the reader can repeat the work.
• Details that were previously published can be omitted but a general summary of those experiments should be included
• Give vendor names (and addresses) of equipment etc. used • All chemicals must be identified
• Do not use proprietary, unidentifiable compounds without description
• Present proper control experiments
• Avoid adding comments and discussion. • Write in the past tense
• Most journals prefer the passive voice
• Consider use of Supplementary Materials
• Documents, spreadsheets, audio, video, ...
75
• Problem formulation and the processes used to solve the problem, prove or disprove the hypothesis
• Use illustrations to clarify ideas and support conclusions:
Tables
Present representative data or when exact values are
important to show
Graphs
Show relationships between data points
or trends in data
Figures
Quickly show ideas/conclusions that would require detailed
explanations
Methodology
Results
–
what have you found?
•
The following should be included
– the main findings
– Thus not all findings
– Findings from experiments described in the Methods section
– Highlight findings that differ from findings in previous publications, and unexpected findings
– Results of the statistical analysis
"One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"
Sue Hanauer (1968)
Results
–
Figures and tables
• Illustrations are critical, because
– Figures and tables are the most efficient way to present results
– Results are the driving force of the publication
Results
–
Appearance counts!
Un-crowded plots
3 or 4 data sets per figure; well-selected scales; appropriate
axis label size; symbols clear to read; data sets easily distinguishable.
Each photograph must have a scale marker of professional quality in a corner.
Text in photos / figures in English
Not in French, German, Chinese, ...
Use colour ONLY when necessary.
If different line styles can clarify the meaning, then never use colours or other thrilling effects.
Colour must be visible and distinguishable when printed in black & white.
Discussion
–
what do the results mean?
• Check for the following:
– How do your results relate to the original question or objectives outlined in the Introduction section?
– Do you provide interpretation for each of your results presented?
– Are your results consistent with what other investigators have reported? Or are there any differences? Why?
– Are there any limitations?
– Does the discussion logically lead to your conclusion?
• Do not
– Make statements that go beyond what the results can support
– Suddenly introduce new terms or ideas
Discussion
Results
Results/discussion
Demonstrate that you solved the problem or
made significant advances
Results: Summarizes the Data
• Should be clear and concise
• Use figures or tables with narrative
to illustrate findings
Discussion: Interprets the Results
• Why your research offers
a new solution
• How can it benefit other researchers
• Explain what the research has achieved
• As it relates to the problem stated in the Introduction
• Revisit the key points in each section
• Include a summary of the main findings and implications for the field
• Provide benefits and shortcomings of: • The solution presented
• Your research and methodology
• Suggest future areas for research
Conclusions
• The conclusion is not a summary of the paper and is no outlook to future work
• Present global and specific conclusions as a clear take home message
• Avoid judgments about impact
Abbreviations
• Abbreviations must be defined on the first use in both abstract and main text.
• Some journals even forbid the use of abbreviations in the abstract.
• Abbreviations that are firmly established in the field do not need to be defined, e.g. DNA.
• Never define an abbreviation of a term that is only used once.
• Avoid acronyms, if possible
– Abbreviations that consist of the initial letters of a series of words
– Can be typical “lab jargon”, incomprehensible to outsiders
Another important element that needs
to be considered in academic
Publish
AND
Perish!
–
if you break ethical rules
• International scientific ethics have evolved over centuries and are commonly held throughout the world.
• Scientific ethics are not considered to have national variants or characteristics – there is a single ethical standard for science.
• Ethics problems with scientific articles are on the rise globally.
86
M. Errami & H. Garner A tale of two citations
87
Ethics Issues in Publishing
Scientific misconduct
– Falsification of results
Publication misconduct
– Plagiarism
– Different forms / severities
– The paper must be original to the authors
– Duplicate publication
– Duplicate submission
– Appropriate acknowledgement of prior research and researchers
– Appropriate identification of all co-authors
Plagiarism includes
(Galvan, pg. 89):1. Using another writer’s words without proper citation
2. Using another writer’s ideas without proper citation
3. Citing a source but reproducing the exact word without quotation marks
4. Borrowing the structure of another author’s phrases/sentences
without giving the source
5. Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper
A short‐cut to long‐term consequences!
Plagiarism is considered a serious offense by your institute, by journal editors, and by the scientific community.
Plagiarism may result in academic charges, but will certainly cause rejection of your paper.
Plagiarism will hurt your reputation in the scientific community.
Plagiarism Detection Tools
• Plagiarism detection schemes:
– Turnitin (aimed at universities)
– Ithenticate (aimed at publishers and corporations)
Manuscripts are checked against a database of 20 million peer reviewed articles which have been donated by 50+ publishers.
• Editors and reviewers
• Your colleagues
• "Other“ whistleblowers
Data Fabrication and Falsification
- often go hand in hand92
A Massive Case Of Fraud Chemical & Engineering News February 18, 2008
Journal editors are left reeling as publishers move to rid their archives of scientist's falsified research
William G. Schulz
A CHEMIST IN INDIA has been found guilty of plagiarizing and/or falsifying more than 70 research papers published in a wide variety of Western scientific journals between 2004 and 2007, according to documents from his university, copies of which were obtained by C&EN. Some journal editors left reeling by the incident say it is one of the most spectacular and outrageous cases of scientific
Data fabrication and falsification
Fabrication: Making up data or results, and recording or reporting them
“… the fabrication of research data … hits at the heart of our responsibility to society, the reputation of our institution, the trust between the public and the biomedical research community, and our
personal credibility and that of our mentors, colleagues…”
“It can waste the time of others, trying to replicate false data or designing experiments based on false premises, and can lead to therapeutic errors.
It can never be tolerated.”
Professor Richard Hawkes Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy University of Calgary
“The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth.”
94
Publication ethics
–
Self-plagiarism
95
Publication ethics
–
How it can end ...
“Ideeply regret the inconvenience and agony caused to you by my mistake and request and beg for your pardon for the same. As such I am facing lot many difficulties in my personal life and request you not to initiate any further action against me.
I would like to request you that all the correspondence regarding my publications may please be sent to me directly so that I can reply them immediately. To avoid any further controversies, I have decided not to
publish any of my work in future.”
96
The article of which the authors committed plagiarism: it won’t be
removed from ScienceDirect. Everybody who downloads it will see
2/27/2017
Conflict of Interest
• A financial or other relationship with the publication at odds with the unbiased presentation of data or analysis
Plagiarism
• Copying another person’s work
word for word or paraphrasing without proper citation
Author Attribution
Author involvement/ contributions
• Must be given if you use another
author’s ideas in your article, even
if you do not directly quote a source
• Include any and all who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work
• Do not include minor contributors
2/27/2017
Plagiarism
• Avoid plagiarism
• Cite and separate any verbatim copied
material – but how much?
• Paraphrase other’s text properly, and
include citation
• Credit any ideas from other sources
• Familiarize yourself with IEEE Policies
2/27/2017
Duplication, Redundancies &
Multiple Submissions
• Author must submit original work that:
• Has not appeared elsewhere for publication
• Is not under review for another refereed publication
• Cites previous work
• Indicates how it differs from the previously published work
• Authors MUST also inform the editor
when submitting any previously published work
101
Your personal reason
for publishing
• However, editors, reviewers, and the research community
don’t consider these reasons when assessing your work.
The Peer Review Process - Overview
Submit a paper
Basic requirements met?
REJECT
Assign reviewers
Collect reviewers’ recommendations
Make a decision Revise the
paper
Review and give recommendation START
ACCEPT
Author Editor Reviewer
Michael Derntl
First Decision: “Accepted” or “Rejected”
Accepted
• Very rare, but it happens
• Congratulations!
– Cake for the department
– Now wait for page proofs and then for your article online and in print
Rejected
• Probability 40-90% ...
• Do not despair
– It happens to everybody
• Try to understand WHY
– Consider reviewers’ advice
– Be self-critical
• If you submit to another journal, begin as if it were a new
manuscript
– Take advantage of the reviewers’
comments
– The same reviewer may again review your manuscript!
First Decision: “Major” or “Minor” Revision
• Minor revision
– Basically, the manuscript is worth being published
– Some elements in the manuscript must be clarified, restructured, shortened (often) or expanded (rarely)
– Textual adaptations
– “Minor revision” does NOT guarantee acceptance after revision!
• Major revision
– The manuscript may be worth being published
– Significant deficiencies must be corrected before acceptance
Why editors and reviewers reject
papers
• The content is not a good fit for the publication
• There are serious scientific flaws:
• Inconclusive results or incorrect interpretation
• Fraudulent research
• It is poorly written
• It does not address a big enough problem
or advance the scientific field
• The work was previously published
• The quality is not good enough for the journal
