POSTECH News
How to Write a Great Research Paper and Get it Published
Elsevier math publisher, Valerie Teng-Broug, visited POSTECH on August 12 to give tips on academic writing and publishing. Her presentation, “How to Write a Great Research Paper and Get it Accepted by a Good Journal”, sponsored in collaboration with Elsevier Korea, gave students useful advice on how to get their next paper published in a top journal. Teng-Broug shares some of her tips to help you get your next article published.
1) Choose the Right Journal – Teng-Broug recommends keeping things simple, avoiding complication, and choosing the right journal to increase your chances of getting accepted. Elsevier’s Journal Finder (http://journalfinder.elsevier.com) helps you find a journal that is the best fit for your article.
2) Identify the Right Audience – Write with your audience in mind and identify the interest of your audience.
3) Give Your Article a Strong Presence – Use strong key words in the title, heading/sub-headings, description tags, description of authors, main body text, abstract, and graphics (tables & figures).
4) Share Your Knowledge – Don’t be shy. Make people aware of you and have your paper stand out from the crowd with the help of social media. You can use a variety of media including blogs and online forums. Teng-Broug recommends ORCID (http://orcid.org) to connect with other researchers.
5) Have a Strong Manuscript – A clear manuscript has a novel, clear, useful, and exciting message. It is presented and constructed in a logical manner. Reviewers and editors should be able to grasp the scientific significance of your article easily.
6) Use Proper English – If your editor and reviewers cannot understand what you wrote, it can delay or block the publication of your article. The manuscript should be accurate, concise, and clear. Write direct and short sentences. Avoid multiple statements in one sentence.
7) Don’t Break Ethical Rules – Breaking ethical rules is the fastest way to end your academic career. Authors should consult their peers, advisors, and journal editors to learn about the specific ethical rules and responsibilities in their discipline. The most common ethical issues are fabrication (making up research data), falsification (manipulation of existing research data), and plagiarism (taking previous work and passing it off as one’s own). Always cite and quote the work of others as well as your own previous publications.
8) What Leads to Acceptance – Lastly, Teng-Broug shares the 10 rules to ACCEPTANCE from Nigel John Cook, the Editor-in-Chief of Ore Geology Reviews:
Attention to details
Check and double check your work
Consider the reviewers’ comments
Consider the reviewers’ comments
English must be as good as possible
Presentation is important
Take your time with revision
Acknowledge those who have helped you
Acknowledge those who have helped you
New, original and previously unpublished
Critically evaluate your own manuscript
Ethical rules must be obeyed
Critically evaluate your own manuscript
Ethical rules must be obeyed
Follow these rules and you will be on the path to successfully publishing your research in a top scientific journal.
