Effective Writing of journal research articles

How to write journal articles

1. Effective article writing, Plagiarism, publication ethics, Plagiarism software Prof. G.L.Samuel, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering IIT Madras

2. Part1: Effective Writing: Developing Outline as a tool for writing Paper

3. What is a Scientific paper? Is it an archival device for storing a completed research program? Is the objective to “collect data”? Should a research generate Scientific-paper?

4. What is a Scientific paper? A paper is an organized description of hypotheses, data and conclusions , intended to instruct the reader. If your research does not generate papers , it might just as well not have been done Interesting and unpublished = non-existent A paper is not just an archival device for storing a completed research program

5. Before attempting to start a paper , write outline to organize your paper

6. How to organize the Writing of the paper? A good outline for the paper is also a good plan for the research program You should write and rewrite these plans/outlines throughout the course of the research. At the beginning, you will have mostly plan ; at the end, mostly outline Make continuous effort to understand , analyze, summarize, and reformulate hypotheses on paper.

7. The Reason for Outlines An outline is a written plan of the organization of a paper, including the data on which it rests. An outline itself contains little text . If you and I can agree on the details of the outline the supporting text can be assembled fairly easily. If we do not agree on the outline, any text is useless.

8. How Should You Construct an Outline? Start with a blank piece of paper and answer the following questions? Why did I do this work? What does it mean ? What hypotheses did I mean to test ? What ones did I actually test ? What were the results ? Did the work yield a new method ? How were they characterized ?

9. Sort all of your ideas into three major heaps: Start with another piece of paper and try to organize into Introduction: Why did I do the work? What were the central motivations and hypotheses? 2. Results and Discussions: What were the results ? How were results made and characterized ? What was measured? 3. Conclusions: What does it all mean? What hypotheses were proved or disproved ? What did I learn? Why does it make a difference?

10. Iterate the above until it is most clear. Do not, under any circumstances , wait until the collection of data is “complete” before starting to write an outline. Start writing new outline again…..

11. What an second outline should contain? 1. Title 2 . Authors 3 . Abstract Do not write an abstract. That can be done when the paper is complete. 4. Introduction The first paragraph or two should be written out completely. In general, the Introduction should have these elements : The objectives of the work. The justification for these objectives : Why is the work important? Background : Who else has done what? How? What have we done previously? Guidance to the reader : What should the reader watch for in the paper? Summary/conclusion : What should the reader expect as conclusion?

12. 5. Results and Discussion The results and discussion are usually combined. Try to make these section headings as specific and information rich as possible In general, try to cover the major common points : Synthesis or Experimental Characterization Methods of characterization Methods of measurement Results What an second outline should contain?

13. What an second outline should contain? 6. Conclusions H igher level of analysis, and should indicate explicitly the significance of the work “Conclusions is not Summary” In the outline, summarize the conclusions of the paper as a list of short phrases or sentences. Do not repeat what is in the Results section , unless special emphasis is needed.

14. Things to Remember Think of a paper as a collection of experimental results, summarized as clearly and economically as possible The text in the paper serves just to explain the data, and is secondary Then what is Primary? Section Headings Figures (with captions) Schemes (with captions and footnotes ) Equations Tables (correctly formatted ) “the shorter and more readable the paper will be….”

15. Points of Style: The word “ this ” must always be followed by a noun , so that its reference is explicit. Don’t use: This is a fast reaction; This leads us to conclude Instead Use: This reaction is fast; This observation leads us to conclude Describe experimental results uniformly in the past tense . Don’t use: Addition of water gives product Instead Use: Addition of water gave product .

16. Points of Style: Use the active voice whenever possible. Don’t use: It was observed that the solution turned red. Instead Use: The solution turned red. Complete all comparisons. Don’t use: The yield was higher using bromine. Instead Use: The yield was higher using bromine than chlorine.

17. C hronology Start with the most important results and put the secondary results later, if at all. Do not organize a paper in terms of chronology (failure to successful experiments): S tarting with their cherished initial failures and leading up to a climactic successful finale. “Failure to S uccessful exp. This Chronology is completely wrong” The reader usually does not care how you arrived at your big results, only what they are.

18. Writing full paper: General guidelines: Title: Short and informative Abstract: 1 paragraph (<250 words) Introduction: 1.5-2 pages Methods: 2-3 pages Results: 6-8 pages Discussion: 4-6 pages Conclusion: 1 paragraph Figures: 6-8 (one per page) Tables: 1-3 (one per page) References: 20-50 papers (2-4 pages) Your paper is indexed in a certain manner, which search engine algorithms will track To rise to the top of the search index, keywords should be emphasized

19. Abstracts Purpose: To inform readers in a succinct way about what your research entailed and the key findings. P romotes and amplify the reach of your article, to engage a relevant audience Consider the reader : Always think from a reader’s perspective Be clear : It should distil the key messages and purpose of your paper, without the need to read the whole article Be precise : Choose your words carefully, so that they communicate the exact meaning of your research

20. Introductions Purpose: Give context to your research work and explain why it is valuable. "Try to keep things factual and steer away from words like -groundbreaking- and -pioneering-...describing your own research in this way, may serve to annoy readers." In terms of length, a good rule of thumb is a maximum of four paragraphs

21. Statistical rules Indicate the statistical tests used with all relevant parameters : e.g., mean and standard deviation (SD): 44% (±3); median and inter percentile range: 7 years ( 4.5to 9.5 years). Use Error bars. For numbers, use two significant digits unless more precision is necessary ( 2.08, not 2.07856444). Never use percentages for very small samples e.g., "one out of two" should not be replaced by 50%.

22. Write the Discussion Avoid statements that go beyond what the results can support Avoid unspecific expressions such as "higher temperature", "at a lower rate", " highly significant ". Quantitative descriptions are always preferred (35ºC, 0.5%, p<0.001, respectively). 1.No Cluttered Charts 2.Large enough to read

23. Citations Lengthy citations, including many references irrelevant to your work, are a common bugbear for editors , so should be avoided. Unrelated self-citations, also tend to irritate editors. C itation formats can vary between journals. Use citation Managers

24. Conclusion Discuss your research’s significance : You should discuss the key significance of your results. Don’t be tempted to just restate them, that’s what your results section is for. Tackle conflicting research : You should address any work that disagrees with your findings directly in this section. Rather than lambasting it, convince the reader why your work is an improvement, in a constructive way. Remember to reiterate your objectives : You should always relate back to the objectives that you laid out in your introduction at this stage, to make the paper congruent for the reader.

25. The best way to write an effective paper can be achieved by “ properly reading the paper ” Always keep the reader in mind Focus on clarity rather than using jargon Make sure your claims are not exaggerated

26. Part:2 Publication Ethics and Plagiarism

27. Publication Ethics Publication ethics issues often give rise to or involve legal issues. Journals Publishers will request investigations What is Research misconduct? fabrication, falsification, plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research result

28. Publication Ethics: Ethics’, derived from the Greek word ‘ ethikos ’ are a set of principles for right conduct in a particular field.

29. Same Abstract : Different Journals Duplicate Submission:

30. Falsification/fabrication of research data Falsification : Manipulation of the methods used in research or its key findings to produce a desired outcome. Fabrication: False recording or recording of a fictitious data when none exists. Includes: image manipulation, redundant , and undeclared data

31. Data Loss while Manipulation https://www.enago.com/academy/scientific-fraud-journals-detect-image-manipulation-part-1/ L oss of Data

32. Authorship Conflict Not including the name of the person who contributes to the research in any manner. Failure to obtain consent from a person whose name is cited in the manuscript. Adding an extra author or removing the name of an existing author before or after publication. Citing a person as an author just on the basis of seniority, family or professional relationship when none of them contributed to the research or its writing.

33. Authors’ Ethics: Each author is expected to have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work; or have drafted the work or substantively revised it

34. What is the role of Corresponding author Contributors, guests and ghosts

35. Conflicts of Interest: S ituation in which the author of the research study may be influenced by personal and/or financial considerations to affect the quality or the end result of the research. Report to the Publisher…

36. Plagiarism Plagiarism to include both the theft or misappropriation of intellectual property. Substantial unattributed textual copying of another’s work . It does not include authorship or credit disputes

37. Tips to avoid Plagiarism 1. Paraphrase: Never use someone else's words , do not even substitute synonyms. The best way to do this is to go through the reading material , and then put it down when you start writing . Refer to it only after you are done to check if you have got all the facts right.

38. Tips to avoid Plagiarism 2. Quotation Marks: If you need to use what someone else has written or said in your writing, write their exact words and put them in quotation marks If you are omitting certain sections, use '......' in between words to indicate the same. If you are incorporating words so that the sentence makes sense

39. Tips to avoid Plagiarism 3. Cite Sources: However, you can avoid it by providing references of all the sources you have used for writing your scientific content. Always cite the author appropriately whose work you use in your research paper, even if they are from your past publications.

40. Tips to avoid Plagiarism 4. Manage Your Time: Sometimes plagiarism is not intentional, but happens accidentally. Lack of time is one reason many people plagiarize.

41. Tips to avoid Plagiarism 5. Check for Plagiarism Use Online tools to check for plagiarism

42. Tools for checking Plagiarism

43. Self-plagiarism: U sing your own text from other publications in the current writing without due reference is considered plagiarism

44. THANK-YOU