How to publish a scientific paper
by Sharon Downes, CSIRO
When to publish:
- Now!!!!! Now!!!!! Now!!!!!
- If you've just started a PhD, write a review on your research topic.
- If you've started collecting data, publish your results along the way.
- If you're writing your thesis, publish chapters as papers.
What to publish:
- Full-length contributed articles are around 5000 words. They usually are made of a series of experiments that form a coherent story.
- Short notes are around 2000 words. They usually are made of one or two experiments that are stand alone pieces of work.
- General rule: its better to publish one solid contributed paper than it is to split the same work into two or three short notes!
- Articles in edited books are usually less prestigious than journal articles. First publish your data in a journal then consider publishing in a book. But do publish a review article of a research topic in an edited book.
Where to publish:
- Spend time to select the right journal!
- Seek advice from an experienced publisher in your field.
- Scan current contents for journals matching the paper topic.
- Read articles from recent issues of potential journals.
- Examine the "References" section of your paper for common journals.
- Final decision will depend on:
- (i) prestige (always go for the best topic based journals).
- (ii) time to publish (as indicated on first page of every paper).
- (iii) past performance (avoid journals that consistently reject papers).
- (iv) animal care and ethics (avoid British journals on animal behaviour).
Submitting the paper:
- Follow instructions to authors (usually given on last page of journal).
- Format paper accordingly.
- Provide correct number of copies of paper.
- Include all required information in a cover letter with the paper
- The players:
- Managing Editor (deals with administration)
- Editor (selects reviewers; makes final decision on acceptance)
- Reviewers (experts in the paper topic; editors choose reviewers whose work is cited in paper and who are not mentioned in the acknowledgments).
Review of paper:
- Example check list:
- Is the paper too long?
- Is the paper well organised?
- Are the design and analysis sound?
- Do the conclusions follow from the results?
- Has the author cited all relevant references?
- Are all the tables and figures necessary?
- Are the title and abstract fully descriptive of the text?
- Any ethical concerns with the paper?
- Are the statistics satisfactory?
- Possible recommendations:
- Acceptance with little or no revisions
- Acceptance provided that revisions are carried out according to the reviews specific comments
- Rejection but allow re-submission after major revision
- Rejection
Revising the paper:
- Check the time limit given for re-submission.
- Wait at least a few days before revising the paper.
- Write a cover letter to the editor addressing ALL reviewers' comments.
- Don't attack the reviewer.
- Don't be intimidated by the reviewer.
- Address criticisms and refute them if you think you are right.
- Be polite and indicate that you are doing everything possible and more.
Re-submitting the paper:
- Follow instructions from Editor.
- Proof-read carefully.
- Include good laser copies of figures and tables.
- Indicate current date on cover page.
Proofs:
- Galley proofs will arrive shortly before publishing paper.
- Cross-check with original version carefully.
- Respond within 24 hours of receiving proofs.
- Indicate precise changes in a cover letter.
Dealing with rejection:
- A typical paper of average quality submitted to a ranking journal has less than 33% chance of getting a good report from a reviewer.
- Everyone must deal with having a paper rejected.
- Wait before revising paper in line with reviewers comments.
- Sometimes it may be appropriate to challenge the reviewer's decision.
- Don't be discouraged!
- Re-submit to another journal within a month of rejection.
General advice:
- Keep a log book of all paper and the various stages they are at.
- Ask your supervisor to review papers on your research topic or write to journal editors asking to review papers.
- Do a book review!
- Don't give up!
- Start publishing now!