The Book of Writing a Scientific Paper_clone

HOW to WRITE & PUBLISH a S PCIENTIFIC APER From Clutter to Clarity 1th EDITION Dr. Mahassin Osman Gibreel King Khalid University Press 1

Publication Published, by the Press Organization of the University of King Khalid- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abha First edition first published 2019 by King Khalid University Press Printed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2019, 2020 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder and the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available in King Khalid University Library also at Library of University of Bakht Alruda. Scientific Journal Cataloging-in-Publication Data How to write and publish a scientific paper. 2

Dedicate my book: How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper from Clutter to Clarity To those who have crossed my life and those who have left pain in my heart, made me a stronger and better person or made me look at life in a special way let me say thank you, because of the effect I had on my heart, you have put me in constant competition with myself for the best. Thank you for having taught me that some suffering with perseverance turns into action and success. Thank you to King Khalid University for giving me the opportunity through distinguished attendance and continuous support in light of the university affiliation. I got up and I am still learning a lot. Thanks to my family and my dear husband, Dr. Omar Othman, for their full support and effort for pushing me to do my best. Thank you so much to my best friends, Dr. Sangita Babu and Ms. Zahia Baha'a El Deen Thanks to everyone who left their mark in the first edition of this book. All who review and with patient and persevere with me. 3

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface To ………. Chapter1 1.0. Elements of Style for Writing Scientific Journal Articles 1.1.What Is Scientific Writing? 1.1.1. About this document 1.1.2. The most important rule 1.1.3. Why you cannot ignore manuscript language? 1.2. Always use proper English. 1.2.1. Do publishers correct language? 1.2.2. Basic rules of manuscript language SECTION I 1.3. Manuscript language: 1.3.1. Tenses 1.3.1.1. Present tense: 1.3.1.2.Past tense 1.4. Manuscript language: grammar 1.5. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms 1.6. Eliminate redundant words or phrases. 1.7. Manuscript language: 1.7.1. sentences 1.7.1.1. Avoid making multiple statements in one sentence. 1.7.1.2. Pay attention to the order in which you write a sentence. 1.7.1.3. Put statements in a positive form. 1.8. Manuscript language: 1.8.1. Paragraphs SECTION II 1.9. Classic errors to avoid 1.9.1. Avoid using \"this\" unqualified. 1.9.2. Avoid too many successive prepositional phrases. 1.9.3. Avoid subjective or redundant words or phrases that will date the paper. 1.9.4. Avoid subjective or redundant words or phrases that will date the paper. 1.9.5. Avoid expressions of belief. 1.9.6. Avoid loose statements and back to back adverbs. SECTION III 1.10. Abstract: 1.10.1. The key points 1.11. What am I about to read? 1.11.1. The discussion and conclusion SECTION IV 1.12. Cross-references and figure captions 1.12.1.Figures and captions 1.12.2. Edit ➞Read ➞Edit ➞Read ➞Edit ➞etc. 4

1.12.3. Honestly deal with mistakes 1.12.4. Finally: Do not give up if you believe in your work. Chapter2 PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT 2.0. Writing a Scientific Paper: From Clutter to Clarity 2.1. Grammar 2.2. Verbs 2.2.1. Verb Weak Phrase 2.3. Expressions to Avoid 2.4. Quantitative vs. Qualitative 2.5. Wordy 3 REPORTING DATA 3.1 Reporting data 4. Graphs 4.1. Axes 4.2. Data 4.3. Text 4.4. Format 5. Tables 6. Preparing the Manuscript 6.1. Organize the data 6.2. Title 6.3. Abstract 6.4. Introduction 6.5. Experimental Methods 6.5.1. Literature Review 6.5.2. Experimental Methods 7. Results and Discussion 8. Conclusions Chapter3 3.0. The main differences between a thesis and an article: 3.1. Data Management Plans 3.1.1. What is a data management plan? 3.1.2. When do you need a data management plan? 3.1.3. Why is research data management important? 3.1.4. What are the FAIR principles? 3.1.5. Research Data Management according to the FAIR principles 3.1.6. Critical stages of grant applications... 3.1.7. Time and effort for a typical grant 3.1.8. Time and effort for a typical grant 3.1.9. Research Grant Proposal Review Criteria 3.1.10. Top tips and tricks: Chapter4 4.0. Preparing to write for an interdisciplinary journal 4.1 About this guide 4.2 Writing for interdisciplinary journals 4.3. The research contribution 4.4. Writing your introduction 5

4.5. Writing about writing 4.6. Explaining concepts 4.7. Vocabulary 4.8. Writing about yourself and others 4.9. Conclusions 4.10. Checklist: Chapter5 5.0. How to write a good Data in Brief article 5.1. Data Articles 5.2. Some useful tips, when writing a data article in Brief. 5.3. Many roads to publishing data articles Chapter6 6.0. How to Turn Your Thesis into an Article 6.1. The main differences between a thesis and an article: 6.2. Seven Tips for Converting Your Terminal Degree for Journal Publication Chapter7 Stating your case: A seven point checklist for writing your case report 7.0. Case Report 7.1. Some guidelines for creation and publishing case reports. 7.1.1. If you have an interesting case, write it up and publish 7.1.2. The patient is your partner – consent is required 7.1.3. Select a journal specializing in case reports 7.1.4. Use a timeline to guide the reader 7.1.5. A picture is worth a thousand words 7.1.6. Include a rationale for your decisions 7.1.7. Discuss your case – know the literature 7.2. A brief guide for writing case reports 7.3. What makes a case-report interesting for publication? 7.4. How to prepare a case report 7.5. What about figures? 7.6. Attract attention 7.7. Attractive titles 7.8. Do I need informed consent of the patient? 7.9. In which case can I publish without informed consent? 7.10. Which journal should I select? Chapter8 Research and publishing ethics 8.0. Authorship, plagiarism and responsibilities 8.1. What does it mean to be an author? 8.2. Types of authorship 8.3. Key author responsibilities 8.4. What is plagiarism and how is it detected 8.5 .Declare conflicts of interest 8.6. The consequences 8.7. A good manuscript 8.8. Article Structure 8.9. Illustrations 6

8.10. Use proper manuscript language Chapter9 9.0. Reviewing manuscripts 9.1. What is peer review? 9.2. Background 9.3. The peer review process 9.4. Types of peer review 9.5. Single blind review 9.6. Double-blind review 9.7. Triple-blind review 9.8. Open review 9.9. More transparent peer review 9.10. Article transfer service: peer review cascade Chapter10 10.0. How reviewers look at your paper – your top 9 questions answered 10.1. How do editors choose the reviewers for my paper? 10.2. What is a reviewer looking for? 10.3. Why does it occasionally take so long to get my paper reviewed? 10.4. English is not my first language. Will that affect my chances of publishing success? 10.5. My paper shouldn't have been rejected. What can I do? 10.6. Can I resubmit my paper to a journal that has already rejected it? 10.7. Well, can I submit that rejected paper to another journal in the field? 10.8. Will the editor tell me the names of the researchers who reviewed my paper? 10.9. Why are the reviewer's comments to the editor not shared with the author? 10.10. How to review manuscripts 10.11. Why should you review? 10.12. Editors’ view: what makes a good reviewer? Chapter 11 11.0. Peer Review 11.1. Is suitable for publication 11.2. Check list for authors and reviewers 11.3. The SAGER guidelines 11.4. Typical Peer review Process 11.5. Great Review 11.5.1. Part 1 11.5.2. Part 2 11.5.3. Part 3 11.6. Recommendation 11.7. Diversity in peer review 11.8. SAGER guidelines 11.9. All Stages of Research Chapter12 12.0. How to publish in scholarly journals 12.1. Introduction 12.2. There are several types of research articles: 12.2.1. Letters and rapid or short communications 12.2.2. Review papers 12.2.3. Full articles 7

12.3. Research elements 12.3.1. Find the right journal 12.3.2. Journal Finder 12.3.3. Journal Metrics 12.3.3.1. Different types of journal metrics 12.3.3.2. Citation-based impact metrics 12.4. Open Access Options 12.4.1. Differences between gold and green 12.5. Prepare your paper 12.5.1. Title 12.5.2. Essentially, effective titles: 12.5.3. Authors 12.5.4. Keyword list 12.5.5. Abstract 12.5.6. The body of the text 12.5.7. Method 12.5.8. Results 12.5.9. Discussion & Conclusions 12.5.10. Acknowledgments 12.5.11. References 12.6. Language Quality 12.7. Illustrations 12.8. Adding Research Data 12.8.1. Data Visualizations 12.8.2. Data Statement 12.9. Enrich your article 12.9.1. Audio slides 12.9.2. Graphical Abstracts 12.10. Ethics 12.10.1. Authorship disputes 12.10.2. Competing interests 12.10.3. Plagiarism 12.10.4. Simultaneous submission 12.10.6. Salami slicing 12.11. SEO your article 12.11.1. Tips for SEO include: 12.12. Submit and revise your paper 12.12.1. How to Submit a Paper? 12.12.2. What does the peer reviewer do? 12.12.3. What does the peer reviewer do? 12.12.4. Different types of peer review 12.12.5. Article Transfer Service 12.12.6. Check the Status of your Paper 12.13. After acceptance: 12.13.1. Articles in Press 12.13.2. Proofing 12.13.3. Share Link and Offprints 12.14. Copyright 8

12.14.1. Protecting author rights 12.14.2. Publishing agreement 12.14.3. End user license 12.15. Promote your work 12.15.1. Share Your Paper 12.15.2. Be Discovered Online 12.15.3. Conferences 12.15.4. Social Media 12.15.4.1. FACEBOOK 12.15.4.2. WECHAT 12.15.4.3. WEIBO 12.15.4.4. TWITTER 12.15.4.5.WIKIPEDIA 12.15.5. Sharing on a Scholarly Collaboration Network (SCN) 12.15.6. Media Relations 12.16. Monitor your impact 12.16.1. Collaboration 12.16.2. Scholarly output 12.16.4. Usage 12.16.5. Article metrics 12.16.6. Journal 12.16.7. Citation count 12.16.8. Outstanding articles 12.17. h-index 12.17.1. MENDELEY stats 12.17.2. Article metrics 12.18. Why publish with Elsevier? 12.18.1. Introduction 12.18.2.Innovation 12.18.3.Science direct 12.18.4.Scopus 12.18.5. MENDELEY 12.18.6.LINKEDIN 12.18.7.PERSONAL WEBSITE 12.18.8. BLOG 12.19. Researcher Academy 12.19.1.Authors’ Update Chapter13 Answering your questions on open access publishing 13.0. Open Access Publishing 13.1. Questions on publishing open access 13.1.1. How green open access works? 13.1.2. Differentiate between predatory and no predatory journals 13.1.3. Relation between open access and the Impact Factor of a journal 13.1.4. Sustain of journal 13.1.5. Why do we need open access publishing other than to comply with some funding agencies? 9

13.1.6. For ERC-funded works, do I need to make sure we have an addendum signed to decrease the embargo period to 6 months, or will this be taken care of without signing any additional documents? 13.1.7. When using data, images, etc, from a gold open-access article and providing a citation, is there a need or protocol for indicating that the publication is OA? 13.1.8. What is the difference between open access and gold open access journals? 13.1.9. How much are the charges in general for open access publishing? 13.1.10. How long does the general peer review process take on average? 13.1.12. How do open access journals get measured against the Impact Factor? 13.1.13. What does The Lancet do in the case of independent authors who do research by themselves without being funded by anyone? 13.2. Accessing Research 13.2.1. How do journals work? 13.2.2. Who needs to access your research? 13.2.3. How do they access research? 13.3. The 5 most common mistakes you’re making when attempting to publish a systematic review 13.3.1. Your objectives lack research purpose 13.3.2. Your search strategies have been poorly defined 13.3.3. You failed to consider the importance of having an adequate risk of bias assessment model 13.3.4. Your interpretation of the strength of the evidence is unstructured or unsystematic 13.3.5. You didn’t plan enough in advance Chapter 14 14.0. Collections Final 14.1. Ten tips for writing your research proposal 14.1.1. Follow the instructions! 14.1.2. Break down your proposal into point form before writing your first draft. 14.1.3. Know your audience. 14.1.4. Make an impact in the first few sentences. 14.1.5. Have a clear title. 14.1.6. Emphasize multidisciplinary aspects of the proposal, if applicable. 14.1.7. Show that your research is feasible. 14.1.8. Clearly 14.1.9. Get the proposal reviewed and commented on by others. 14.1.10. Remember that nothing is set in stone. 14.2. PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT 14.2.1. Title 14.2.2. Abstract 14.2.2. Abstract 14.2.3. Introduction 14.2.4. Literature Review 14.2.5. Experimental Methods 14.2.6. Results and Discussion 14.2.7. Conclusions 10

Chapter 15 Writing an Effective Academic CV 15.0. Effective Academic CV 15.1. Length 15.2. Structure 15.3. Formatting 15.5. Career Summary Personal Details 15.6. Education 15.7. Publications 15.8. Research 15.9. Honors and Recognitions 15.10. Funding, 15.11. Teaching 15.12. Administrative Experience 15.13. Professional Experience 15.14. Other Skills and Qualifications 15.15. Professional Affiliations and Memberships 16.16. Attendance at Conferences and Seminars 15.17. References 15.18. Appendices 15.19. CVs are Not Only for Job-Searching 15.20. Outline Examples of Academic CVs Chapter 16 16.0. Creating a simple and effective academic Personal website 16.1. Introduction 16.2. Getting Started - The Technicalities 16.2.1. Registering the Domain Name 16.2.2. Getting Hosting for the Website 16.2.3. Creating the Website 16.2.4. Look and Feel of your Website 16.2.5. What Information to Include on your Website 16.2.6. Broadcasting your Website 16.2.7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your Academic Website 16.2.8. Tracking the Outreach and Effectiveness of your Website Chapter 17 17.0. Conference Skills for Researcher Tips for Early Career Researchers 17.1. Tips for Early Career Researchers 17.1.1. Outline 17.1.2. Why go to a conference? 17.1.3. Which conference to attend? 17.2. Core elements for a successful abstract 17.2.1. The goal of the abstract is two-fold 17.2.2. Communicating your scientific results 17.2.3. A general formula to follow 17.3. Preparing for a conference 17.3.1. Read, read, read – 17.3.2. Prepare/practice 17.4. Preparing your presentation - Content 11

17.4.1. Follow the same logical progression as the abstract 17.4.2. Consider conference format 17.4.3. Consider being as open as possible in sharing your work 17.4.4. Preparing your presentation - Format 17.5. How to maximize your time at a conference 17.6. Tips for interacting with other conference attendees 17.4.8.1. Be friendly/make eye contact 17.4.8.2. Don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues 17.4.8.3. If you are totally new to a field 17.5. Key Takeaways Chapter 18 18.0. 10 Reasons to Get – and Use – an ORCID (ID) 18.1. What is ORCID? 18.2. Who uses ORCID? 18.2.1. Reliable connections with your works, awards, affiliations 18.2.2. Alleviate mistaken identity 18.2.3. You own and control your ORCID record 18.2.4. The systems you use – use ORCID! 18.2.5. Enter once, reuse often 18.2.6. Increase discoverability of your research 18.2.7. It’s free for researchers! 18.2.8. Registering is as easy as 1, 2, 3 18.2.9. Your ORCID ID is your lifelong digital name Chapter 19 19.0. Ethics in Research & Publication 19.1. Welcome to your Ethics Toolkit from Elsevier 19.2. FACTSHEET 19.2.1. Authorship 19.2.2. Four criteria must all be met to be credited as an author: 19.2.3. General guidelines, which may vary from field to field: 19.2.4. Three types of authorship are considered unacceptable: 19.2.5. Other potential issues could include: 19.2.6. Guide to Authorship Disputes and How to Prevent Them* 19.3. ACTSHEET Competing Interests 19.3.1. The most obvious competing interests are financial relationships such as: 19.3.2. An example might be a researcher who has: 19.4. Guide to Declaration of Competing Interests* Chapter 20 20.0. Plagiarism 20.1. Plagiarism has varying different levels of severity, such as: 20.2. Guide to Plagiarism and How to Prevent It* 20.3. Simultaneous submission 20.3.1. The main rule of thumb 20.4. Guide to Duplicate Submission/Publication and How to Prevent It 20.5. Salami Slicing 20.5.1. Guide to Salami Slicing and How to Prevent It* Chapter 21 21.0. Research fraud 12

21.1. Some general guidelines 21.1.1. Data access & retention 21.1.2. Guide to Fraud Allegations and How to Prevent Them 21.2. Funding Hacks for Researchers 21.3. How We Work – Grant Making 21.4. Concept Development 21.4.1. Pre-Proposal. 21.4.2. Investment Development. 21.4.3. Management and Close 21.3. How We Work – Global Access 21.3.1. Primary Goal is 21.3.2. Global Access Requires that 21.3.3. The Gates Foundation Open Access Policy 21.4. Rationale for Open Access Policy 21.5. Timing & choosing the right mechanism 21.5.1. Start Early 21.6. Key tips and considerations 21.7. Research Plan - Specific Aims 21.8. Research plan - Collaborations 21.9. Career Development 21.9. 1. Personal Statements: Career Development Awards 21.9. 2. Mentoring team – Career Development Awards 21.10. What makes a strong mentoring team 21.11. Summary Statement 21.12. Funding 21.12. 1. How to increase your institution's grant success rates 21.12. 2. Key challenges in funding 21.12.3. How Funding Institutional can help you secure funding 21.12.3.1. Insights 21.12.3.2. Discovery 21.12.3.3. Decisions 21.13. Gaining insights 21.14. Discovery 21.15. Decisions 21.16. How to increase funding success References 13

Acknowledgments In this book, I have done a reasonable job, I think, in citing the sources of material borrowed from the published literature. But how about the many ideas and procedures that one has picked up from discussions with colleagues? After the passage of time, one can no longer remember who originated what idea. After the passage of even more time, it seems to me that all of the really good ideas originated with me, a proposition that I know is indefensible. First and foremost I would like to thank God. In the process of putting this book together I realized how true this gift of writing is for me. You give me the power to believe in my passion and pursue my dreams. I could never have done this without the faith I have in you, the Almighty. To my husband, Dr. Omer Osman: What can I say? You are the one of the main reasons that it was GREAT at Central State! I am so thankful that I have you in my corner pushing me when I am ready to give up. All the good that comes from this book I look forward to sharing with you! You are my best friend and my hero! Thanks for not just believing, but knowing that I could do this! I respect you always & forever! I am grateful to number of colleagues who have read the manuscript for this First Edition and offered valuable comments. 14

Preface \"Criticism and testing are of the essence of our work. This means that science is a fundamentally social activity, which indicates that it depends on good communication. In the practice of science we are aware of this, and that is why it is right for all journals to insist on clarity and intelligibility\". . . .—Hermann Bondi Good scientific writing is not a matter of life and death; it is much more serious than that. The goal of scientific research is publication. Scientists, starting as graduate students, are measured primarily not by their skill in laboratory manipulations, not by their innate knowledge of either broad or narrow scientific subjects, and certainly not by their wit or charm; they are measured, and become known (or remain unknown) by their publications. A scientific experiment, no matter how spectacular the results, is not completed until the results are published. In fact, the keystone of the philosophy of science is based on the fundamental assumption that original research must be published; only thus can new scientific knowledge be authenticated and then added to the existing database that we call scientific knowledge. It is not necessary for the Blacksmith who makes and repairs things to write about servicing, nor is it necessary for the lawyer to write about cases (except brief writing), but the research scientist, perhaps uniquely among the trades and professions, must provide a written document showing what he or she did, why it was done, how it was done, and what was learned from it. The key word is reproducibility. That is what makes science and scientific writing unique. Thus the scientist must not only \"do\" science but must \"write\" science. Most of today's scientists did not have the chance to undertake a formal course in scientific writing. As graduate students, they learned to imitate the style and approach of their professors and previous authors. Some scientists became good writers anyway. Many, however, learned only to imitate the prose and style of the authors before them—with all their attendant defects— thus establishing a system of error in perpetuity. The purpose of this book is to help scientists and students of the sciences in all disciplines to prepare manuscripts that will have a high probability of being accepted for publication and of being completely understood when they are published. Because the requirements of journals vary widely from discipline to discipline, and even within the same discipline, it is not possible to offer 15

recommendations that are universally acceptable. In this book, I present certain basic principles that are accepted in most disciplines. For those of you who share my wonderful admiration for How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, let me say that, fortunately, the principles of scientific communication have not significantly changed in spite of the technological changes that keep coming with dizzying speed. The accent in this book will continue to be the principles of scientific writing, but along the way appropriate mention of changed procedures will be noted. Without inclining to knock the competition, I should observe that my book is clearly a \"how to\" book, whereas most other books on the subject of scientific writing are written in more general terms, with emphasis on the language of science. This book was written from the perspective of my many years of experience as a managing writing research papers, editor, as a publisher, and as a teacher also as a member of scientific research unit in KKU. Thus, the contents are intended to be specific and practical. In writing this book, I had four goals in mind. First, I delayed writing and publishing it until I was reasonably sure that I would not start vast projects with half-vast ideas. Second, I wanted to present certain information about the scientific paper itself and how to be written. Third, although this book is in no sense a substitute for a course in English grammar, I do comment repeatedly on the use and misuse of English, with such comments interspersed throughout a number of the chapters and with many details of the subject in a later chapter. (Readers wanting a whole book on this subject, rather than a summary, should read my Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals, Oryx Press, 1992.). Fourth, because books such as this are usually as dull as dust, dull to read and dull to write, and through the years I have amassed quite a collection of these scientific and grammatical monstrosities, which I am now pleased to share. I have tried to enjoy writing this book, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it. Note that I say \"reading it, actually, I have tried to organize this material so that it reads logically from start to finish, while at the same time it provides the guidelines needed to write the scientific paper. I hope that users of this book might at least consider a straightforward reading of it. In this way, the reader, particularly the graduate student and unexperienced writer, may get something of the flavor of just what a scientific paper is. Then, the book can be used as a reference whenever questions arise. The book has a detailed subject index for this latter purpose. In the first two chapters, I try to define how scientific writing differs from other forms of writing, mention some elements of style for Writing and basic rules of manuscript language. To write a scientific paper, the writer must know exactly what to do and why. Not only does this make the job 16

manageable, but this is precisely the knowledge that the practicing scientist must have, and always keep in mind, to avoid the pitfalls that have ruined the reputations of many scientist authors. In the third chapter, I attempt to write the main differences between a thesis and an article and what is a Data Management Plans why and when you need a data management plan.I attempt to define a scientific paper. In the next nine chapters, each individual element of the scientific paper is analyzed, element by element. A scientific paper is the sum of its component parts. Fortunately, for student and practicing scientist alike, there are certain commonly accepted rules regarding the construction of the title, the Abstract, the Introduction, and the other main parts of the paper. These rules, once mastered, should thus serve the scientist throughout his or her research career. In later chapters, associated information is given. Some of this information is technical (how to prepare illustrative material, for example), and some of it is related to the post writing stages (the submission, review, and publishing processes). Then, briefly, the rules relating to primary scientific papers arc adjusted to fit different circumstances, such as the writing of review papers, conference reports, book reviews, and theses. Chapters 16, 17 and 18 present information about Creating a simple and effective academic Personal website, Conference Skills for Researcher Tips for Early Career Researchers and finally, the reasons to Get – and Use – an ORCID (ID) Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) for people, places, and things. In 19, 20 and 21 chapters the Ethics in Research & Publication Program and one of the most common types of publication misconduct is plagiarism and research fraud which is publishing data or conclusions that were not generated by experiments or observations, but by invention or data manipulation.. At the back of the book are three appendixes, the Glossary of Technical Terms, the References, and the Index. As to the references, note that I have used two forms of citation in this book. When I cite something of only passing interest—e.g., a defective title of a published article—the citation is given briefly, italics and parenthetically in the text. Articles and books containing substantial information on the subject under discussion are cited by name and year in the text, and the full citations are given in the References at the back of the book. Serious students may wish to consult some of these references for additional or related information. In this First Edition, I would \"view the book and its success and provides you all with the information needed to write effective scientific papers and if it makes me very proud of my work.\" I would hope that this book is \"a proud and success\" for you, as readers. Finally, I hope that I will be able to translate this book into Arabic for those of you who have to use in our native language. 17

Chapter 1 Elements of Style for Writing Scientific Journal Articles 1.0. Elements of Style for Writing Scientific Journal Articles 1.1.What Is Scientific Writing? State your facts as simply as possible, even boldly. No one wants flowers of eloquence or literary ornaments in a research article. —R. B. McKerrow 1.1.1. About this document Some rules for writing scientific journal articles. Focus less on the structure of an article, and more on styles and practices helping transfer scientific information, ideas, and understanding from the author to reader. Some material is borrowed from the classic Elements of Style by Strunk and White (1918, available at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style) supplemented by experience from Editors of the journal Ocean Modelling. Further material is borrowed from the essay: The Science of Scientific Writing by Gopen and Swan, published in American Scientist in 1990. It is freely available at http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/ the-science- of-scientific-writing. 1.1.2. The most important rule Write for the busy reader who is easily distracted. Most readers have little time to penetrate the full contents of an article. Readers will use almost any excuse to put down the paper, particularly when encountering poor writing that leads to reader fatigue and frustration. Make each sentence, paragraph, subsection, section, figure, derivation, etc. coherent and easily digestible nuggets of information. Your job as a writer is to communicate information and knowledge in a compelling and well written manner. 1.1.3. Why you cannot ignore manuscript language? Poor language quality can delay or block publication. It is important to take seriously the presentation of your manuscript, especially the language you use to communicate results. Clarity in writing reflects on clarity in thought. Science is far more than mere fact recording. Written communication is key to transmitting knowledge and rendering an impact on the field. Without clear and proper language, readers will not grasp the full message or impact of your work. Even though the findings you report might be cutting edge, poor language quality, including errors in grammar, spelling or language usage, could delay publication or lead to outright rejection of the paper. 1.2.Always use proper English. Use proper English throughout the entire manuscript, and do not forget the captions and headings in figures, charts, graphs, and photos. 1.2.1. Do publishers correct language? No; it is the author's responsibility… but resources are available. Often authors assume that the publisher will correct the language of their manuscript after it has been accepted, but this assumption is not correct. It is actually the author's responsibility to make sure a paper is in the best form possible. Doing so means correcting the rudimentary issues related to grammar and spelling, as well as providing a clear, logical, and connected story-line. 18

Though publishers do not correct language, they do often provide resources for authors who are less familiar with the conventions of international journals. Please check your publisher's Guide for Authors website for more information. Some publishers may also perform technical screening prior to peer review. If the quality of the language of your paper does not meet a journal's minimum standards, it can be returned to you for improvement. 1.2.2. Basic rules of manuscript language Manuscript language should be: ➞Accurate ➞Concise ➞Clear ➞Objective Prevent spelling errors by using a spellchecker in English. Additionally, other common language errors involve: SECTION I ■ Tenses ■ Grammar ■ Sentences ■ Paragraphs You should always read the journal's Guide for Authors to check for any additional language specifications. 1.3. Manuscript language: 1.3.1. Tenses Take care to use the proper tenses when describing your work and findings. Being consistent and correct in your use of tenses makes your paper easier to understand. 1.3.1.1.Present tense: Use the present tense for known facts and hypotheses, for example, \"the average life of a honey bee IS 6 weeks...\" 1.3.1.2.Past tense: Use the past tense for describing experiments that have been conducted and the results of these experiments, for example \"The average life span of bees in our contained environment WAS 8 weeks…\" Remember: Avoid shifting tenses within a unit of text: paragraph, sub-section or section. 1.4. Manuscript language: grammar Use the active voice to shorten sentences. The passive voice can be used in the Methods section of a paper but otherwise, the active voice will usually shorten sentences and make them more dynamic and interesting for the reader. Use the active phrase \"we found that…\" freely, which is a quick signal to the reader that you are describing one of your results. This expression is also much more concise and to the point than writing in the passive voice, as in, for example, \"it has been found that there had been…\" 1.5. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms. Avoid contractions such as \"it's\", \"isn't\", or \"weren't\" which are not often used in professional writing. ■ Avoid abbreviations /acronyms except for very well-known ones. ■ Avoid acronyms as replacement for citations. ■ Avoid acronyms in the abstract and conclusion. 1.6. Eliminate redundant words or phrases. ■ Due to the fact that ➞because or since ■ Immediately apparent ➞apparent 19

■ In the case that ➞in case ■ and also ➞and ■ In order to determine ➞to determine ■ to try and determine ➞to determine ■ Double-check unfamiliar words or phrases. 1.7. Manuscript language: 1.7.1 sentences To write a successful manuscript, first be aware of the sentence structure you use. Write direct and short sentences. The average length of sentences in scientific writing is only about 12-17 words. Include only one piece of information per sentence. Sentences should be constructed in short, factual bursts. Long and complicated sentences tend to confuse readers. 1.7.2. Avoid making multiple statements in one sentence. Convey only a single idea per sentence. Link sentences together within a paragraph to provide a clear story-line. Keep related words together. Closely place the subject and verb to allow the reader to understand what the subject is doing. 1.7.3. Pay attention to the order in which you write a sentence. The \"stress position\" within a sentence contains new information to be emphasized. The \"topical position\" contains \"old\" information leading up to the point of emphasis. The topical position comes before the stress position. Avoid: \"This ocean basin was warmer during 2012 than any period found in the observational database, based on our analysis of recent ship-based measurements.\" Write: \"Based on our analysis of recent ship-based measurements, this ocean basin was warmer during 2012 than any period found in the observational database.\" 1.7.4. Put statements in a positive form. ■ Positive: \"He usually came late.\" ■ Negative: \"He is not very often on time.\" 1.8. Manuscript language: 1.8.1. Paragraphs ■ Have one paragraph for each distinct topic. ■ Begin a paragraph with a topic sentence, and end in conformity with the beginning. ■ Avoid a succession of loose sentences. ■ Parallel structures are simpler to parse as a reader. Retain consistent tenses within each paragraph. ■ Provide a logical transition from one paragraph to another to render a clear flow, thus guiding the reader from one topic to another. ■ Paragraphs are similarly constructed to sentences, bringing the reader from the \"familiar\" at the start to new ideas towards the end. ■ Fill logical holes empathizing with a smart reader who genuinely wants to understand the flow of ideas. SECTION II 1.9. Classic errors to avoid 1.9.1. Avoid using \"this\" unqualified. Avoid: \"We found this to be the most important facet of the ocean's dynamical response.\" 20

Write: \"We found this feature of the thermocline to be the most important facet of the ocean's dynamical response.\" ■ What does \"this\" refer to? If the reader must guess, then the guess could be wrong. ■ Even when it is \"obvious\" what \"this\", \"that\", \"these\", or \"those\" refer to, the author serves the reader well by clearly qualifying. 1.9.2. Avoid too many successive prepositional phrases. Avoid: \"We ran a model simulation of the ocean for research into the evolution of the thermocline.\" Write: \"We ran an ocean model simulation to conduct research into thermocline evolution.\" ■ Run-on prepositional phrases are awkward to read. ■ They can rapidly lead to reader fatigue. 1.9.3. Avoid subjective or redundant words or phrases that will date the paper. ■ \"high resolution\" ■ \"new result\" ■ \"latest finding\" 1.9.4. Avoid subjective or redundant words or phrases that will date the paper. Avoid: \"We use a simple model of the ocean's thermocline to describe the dynamical response.\" Write: \"We use an idealized model of the ocean's thermocline based on approximating the continuous stratification with two immiscible fluid layers to describe the dynamical response.\" ■ \"Simple\" has meaning to the reader only when the authors explain the opposite \"complex\" or \"realistic\" or \"complete\". ■ Readers should not be asked to read the mind of the authors, nor to share the authors' opinion 1.9.5. Avoid expressions of belief. Avoid: \"We believe this model result to be true.\" Write: \"We show through our analysis that this model result is consistent with the empirical evidence.\" ■ Communication of science is not about conveying belief. ■ Rather, it is about logically developing lines of evidence that lead one to a hypothesis, theory, or conclusion based on the evidence. 1.9.6. Avoid loose statements and back to back adverbs. Avoid: \"The ocean model simulation ran quickly and cheaply.\" Write: \"The ocean model simulation required 1200 hours using 100 computer processors.\" ■ What is \"quickly\" and \"cheaply\"? SECTION III Always remember your reader 1.10. Abstract: 1.10.1. the key points ■ the abstract provides a concise summary of the key aims and results. ■ if it is not clear and interesting, readers often will read no further. 1.11. What am I about to read? The introduction ■ the introduction should lay the ground-work for why the paper is worth reading, and describe where the work fits within the existing literature. ■ Introduce the novel elements of the paper in the introduction, thus providing motivation for the reader to penetrate the main text. ■ Do not over-burden the reader by making the introduction too long. Get to the key parts of the paper sooner rather than later. 1.11.1. What did I just read? 21

1.11.2. The discussion and conclusion ■ Readers need to know what they have read and why it was significant. ■ Remind the reader why this paper was worth reading and publishing. ■ Concluding sections also provide a venue to set the stage for future research directions. SECTION IV 1.12. Cross-references and figure captions ■ Cross-reference equations, figures, and sections both by their number and by their name. ■ Asking the reader to page back in the text intensifies reader fatigue. ■ Put your head in the reader's head to determine when it is useful to provide \"handholding\" in a discussion or a derivation, whereby you identify useful cross-referencing. 1.12.1. Figures and captions Figures can be the most important part of a paper. Produce clear and high quality figures along with thorough captions. ■ Avoid excessive numbers of figures: judiciously select those figures that clearly support the presentation. ■ Allow the reader to digest a figure's main points without reading the text. ■ Produce high quality figures, even on the first submission! When available, embed figures within main text of the submitted manuscript to avoid reviewers needing to page back/forth, which in turn breaks the reading. SECTION V 1.13. Writing & rewriting - playing the peer-review \"game\" 1.13.1. Extensive fine-tuning Write science as E. Hemingway wrote his literature. Scientists are storytellers too! \"The aim is to put down on paper what you see and what you feel in the best and simplest way.\" E. Hemingway ■ Can you identify the beginning, middle, and end? ■ what is the \"take home message\" or \"iconic figure\" of your paper? ■ be aware of each word forming a sentence; each sentence forming a paragraph, each paragraph forming a section… 1.13.2. Edit ➞Read ➞Edit ➞Read ➞Edit ➞etc. 22

■ Consider the manuscript from a different perspective between each Edit ➞Read cycle: e.g., read in a different location; read it as an interested and smart non-expert. Patience will reduce time with reviewers/editors, and will enhance the paper's readability and impact. ■ Solicit \"friendly\" reviewer comments from colleagues, and be sure co-authors have read the manuscript. Ask readers to comment on the \"style\" of the manuscript as well as the substance. ■ Writing rules can be selectively broken without sacrificing clarity. But it is important to know and to respect the rules so to understand when they are usefully broken. 1.13.3. Honestly deal with mistakes. There are times when the reviewer (or the author!) identifies a significant problem/mistake during the review process. ■ Mistakes are embarrassing. But they are far more embarrassing if published! so be thankful the mistake was found during review. ■ if the basis for the paper is undermined by a mistake, then do not try to justify publishing. There may be another path towards a publishable story. ■ Avoid publishing an incomplete or half-baked story. Readers will be reticent to read your next paper. ■ Quality over quantity is the ideal. 1.13.4. Finally: Do not give up if you believe in your work. Reviewers are generally not as knowledgeable on the subject of the manuscript as the author. ■ Some influential papers that break new scientific ground may be rejected merely because reviewers do not appreciate the results. Be patient and persistent. ■ Nonetheless, reviewer comments are almost always useful, even if they are wrong! ■ Some critical or wrong reviewer comments result from poor writing that leads to reviewer misunderstanding and reviewer frustration. Rethink your writing. ■ Let comments sit, especially negative or harsh comments. A poorly written rebuttal can lead to needless (and sometimes emotional) correspondence with the editor and reviewer. 23

Chapter 2 PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT Writing a Scientific Paper: From Clutter to Clarity 2.0. Writing a Scientific Paper: From Clutter to Clarity Abstract Preparing a manuscript is a time-intensive activity: organizing the technical content, preparing graphs and tables, writing, proofreading, and correcting syntax. Wordiness is a major impediment to communication: this document advocates writing concisely. We identify best practices for preparing graphs and tables. Together with conventions for significant figures, tabulate typical grammatical errors and extraneous expressions. Write the paper well so that reviewers concentrate on the content. Introduction A poorly written paper frustrates reviewers and risks rejection. The abstract is the first indicator that the manuscript will be hard-to-read. Symptoms include incorrect grammar, a lack of substantive results, erroneous units, grocery lists of equipment and modeling techniques, and jargon. A good abstract is short, grammatically correct and highlights the important results. Go beyond describing the sections of a scientific paper and list extraneous parenthetical expressions and verbs and illustrate, with examples, how to correctly express significant figures give precise dimensions for graphs that can be reproduced directly in a journal paper. Finally, for each section of the manuscript, discuss the necessary content and advocate letting the experimental data tell the story. 2.1. Grammar A well-written document gets to the point (quickly, efficiently, and free of supereons words). Avoid meaningless parenthetical phrases, adverbs and adjectives. Keep the language simple. Verb mutilation is one of the major causes of wordiness. 2.2. Verbs The verb to do and particularly the participle done are prime examples of verbiage. For example, phrases like experiments were done, or the measurement was done shift the focus away from the data. At 50 _C the solvent evaporated is preferable to the measurement was made at 50 _C... The following sentence: When using the infrared camera, the calibration was done between 20 _C to 120 _C is better expressed by removing the participle done: The infrared camera was calibrated between 20 _C to 120 _C. 24

Try, use, perform and make are other verbs that often hide the active verb. For example, rather than stating a needle valve was used to regulate pressure, write a needle valve regulated pressure. The action worth mentioning is regulating pressure, not using a needle valve. Table 1: Problematic Verbs 2.2.1. Verb Weak Phrase - Do (done) the experiment was done at atmospheric pressure. - Try (tried) we tried an experiment at atmospheric pressure. - Use (used) A transducer was used to measure pressure. - Perform (performed) they performed experiments at high pressure. - Make (made) they made the experiments at high pressure. Sentences in Table 1 are improved by eliminating the participle (on the left) and the irrelevant words such as experiment and measure. Experiment shifts the focus from the phenomenon in question to what was done or how it was done. When the sentence is properly constructed, the message becomes explicit: The thermodynamic equilibrium favors the products at atmospheric pressure compared to high pressure. 2.3. Expressions to Avoid If you can delete a parenthetical expression at the beginning of a sentence without changing the meaning, it is extraneous. Avoid expressions such as c G.S. Patience, D.C. Bo_to, P.A. Patience. Quantitative vs. Qualitative GRAMMAR as can be seen from the figure even though many top journals accept this construction. The journal Nature describes the information in the figure and cites the figure number in parentheses following the sentence e.g. (Fig. 1). Other expressions to avoid are: _ It is shown that _ It can be noticed that _ It has to be mentioned that _ It should however be noted that _ It is clear that _ Regarding this fact that _ Is given by the fact _ Based on our experiments, understanding _ As can be seen from the _ gue (table) _ It takes into account the fact that _ It is identified that Sentences including words such as however, moreover, nevertheless, etc., are acceptable when used sparingly. 2.4. Quantitative vs. Qualitative In many recent articles sent for review, the author wrote huge five times in the first page of the printed manuscript. How much is huge? Is the author's huge the same as everyone else's? Under certain circumstances, huge may be as little as 1 %. Quantitative values are preferable. Rephrase sentences containing the adverbs. Be specific _ instead of stating that samples were withdrawn often, cite the frequency. Be quantitative: rates double is better than rates increase a lot, or significantly. Adjectives are appropriate when they have been defined. A parenthetical expression may follow a quantitative statement to emphasize the authors' perception of the phenomenon: the rate doubles for every increase in 10 _C, which is significant. Adverbs like approximately, about, and around express uncertainty but should be dropped if the uncertainty is already expressed or if the numerical value is stated with two or more significant figures. Change The pump costs around 103 k$ to either the pump costs 103 k$ or the pump costs 25

around 100 k$ In some patents, the words about, approximately and around are explicitly defined to represent an uncertainty of _5% to _10%. c Table 2: Problematic Adverbs Adverb Imprecise Clear extremely the rate is extremely dependent on operating temperature the rate depends on temperature significantly the rate increases significantly with temperature the rate doubles for every increase in 10 _C very, a lot samples were withdrawn from the tube very often samples were withdrawn at a frequency of 2 h1 approximately the test lasted approximately between 5 s to 30 s the test lasted between 5 s to 30 s. Be careful to correctly assign the adjective with the physical quantity, height, value, time, etc. Table 3: Adjectives and their Properties Adjective Property bigger, larger physical size higher height, position greater quantity, value longer time, length. Avoid the word works except for the third-person singular. When refer- ring to previous studies, articles, or work, works is unacceptable. Use the word not sparingly. Texts are easier to read and assimilate when they are structured in the positive tense. Use prefixes when possible (Table 4): insensitive is better than not sensitive. Adjectives are often included for emphasis, which is unwarranted. Thus, not sensitive enough should just read insensitive. Also, be careful with expressions like show high similarity. Write instead are similar. Table 4: Negative Prefixes Not accurate Inaccurate Not correct Incorrect Not complete Incomplete Not favorable Unfavorable Not sensitive Insensitive Not sufficient Insufficient Not necessary Unnecessary 2.5. Wordy Reducing the number of words in a document, results in a text that is direct and readable. In the phrase show high similarity the verb to be is substituted by the verb to show. As a consequence, the adjective similar is replaced by the noun similarity. Wordy texts transform adjectives to nouns and hide the active verbs. Below, we list poorly constructed sentences and their improved counterparts. _ It has been found that CO2 and H2O formation has been reduced at high temperatures. This sentence's first deficiency is the parenthetical expression It has been found that. It can be removed without changing the sentence. Secondly, has been reduced can be replaced and the sentence becomes:  CO2 and H2O formation is lower at higher temperatures.  The sentence may be further improved by recognizing that the verb to form is hidden in the noun formation.  Less CO2 and H2O was formed at higher temperature. _ Briefly, it is reported here that the preparation method has involved a solid liquid reaction between an n-hexane solution of small Rh clusters and the powdered oxides (Al2O3, MgO and CeO2). As with the previous example, this sentence contains the unnecessary phrase Briefly, it is reported here. Also the verb to prepare has been converted to the noun preparation. Small _ an unspecified quantity is replaced with a specific quantity: 100 nm. Thirteen words are removed from the sentence. The powder was prepared by reacting 100nm Rh clusters and Al2O3, MgO and CeO2 powder in n- hexane. _ Conversion over 90% was achieved with a residence time of 20 minutes. 26

The number of words (and characters) is reduced by a factor of 2 by using the active voice: substituting was achieved with exceeded. Conversion exceeded 90 % in 20 min. _ Coal pyrolysis to acetylene is carried out under ultra-high temperature and milliseconds residence time. What is the demarcation between high temperature and ultra-high temperature? How much time do milliseconds represent? Why let the reader guess? Be specific. Be brief. Use verbs. Coal pyrolyses to acetylene in 10 ms above 1500 _C. _ Figure 1 shows the relationship between butane conversion and yield as a function of butane and oxygen concentrations. Referencing tables and figures in the body of the manuscript is a matter of taste. The journal Science allows the above construction but Nature rejects it. Rather than wasting space stating the obvious, describe the relationship between yield and conversion as a function of composition. Describing the figure could take several sentences but the first sentence can be more specific. MA yield increases linearly with conversion regardless of butane or oxy-gen mole fraction (Fig. 1). _ The catalyst is characterized using BET, mercury intrusion porosimetry, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and density measurements, before and after 500 h of on stream operation. Avoid a grocery list of techniques like the sentence above. In the abstract, cite the results: After 500 h on stream, the surface area dropped from 71m2 g1 to 5m2 g1 and the porosity declined 15%,. _ as already extensively documented [ref1, ref2]. .[ref1, ref2]. _ ... was demonstrated to be excellent was excellent _ ... must be kept to a minimum must be minimized The passive voice here can often be converted to the active voice using the imperative: minimize 3.0. REPORTING DATA _ found to be able to account for accounted for _ at three levels of temperature at three temperatures or, better yet at 360 _C, 380 _C and 400 _C Other expressions to avoid: _ Best results were obtained... _ The use of the model and experimental results lead to four main con- collusions. _ In this study, a set of experiments in an original set-up and with a new data treatment procedure is presented _ additional experimentation was completed. _ Considerable effort has been applied in order to gain an understanding _ The comparison of simulation and experimental results validates the model. 3.1. Reporting data Eighteen out of twenty articles published in a journal with an impact factor (IF) greater than 2.2 reported data poorly. Errors included carrying too many significant figures and poor choice of units. Experimental data is imprecise. Temporal and spatial variations in reactors are greater than 10 _C (and as much as 100 _C). Reporting temperature to five significant figures is unwarranted. Cost data is often unrealistically reported to within 1 $. Fitted parameters to calculate thermodynamic properties (Cp, for example) are reported with seven significant figures or more. Atmospheric pressure is stated as 101 325Pa but barometric pressure varies by as much as 5000Pa in a single week. Derived variables such as conversion and selectivity depend on ow rates, species concentration, pressure and temperature, each of which has a certain level of uncertainty. 27

Around a reactor is 5 %: reporting conversion with three significant figures overstates the certainty. If the standard deviation of a measurement is _2 %, how many measurements are required to justify carrying three significant figures? Standard deviation, error and uncertainty are often confused. Error is the difference between the measured (reported) value and the true value as established by a recognized standard. There are random errors, systematic errors and blunders [6]. Random errors are characterized with statistical methods. Systematic errors are corrected through calibration, modifying procedures, etc. Standard deviation is the square root of the variance and characterizes the random error around the mean of a population of data. The uncertainty (also known as the margin of error), _, refers to a range of values in which the true value is likely to be found. It is expressed as the product of the standard deviation, _, and a confidence interval, k (_), where the level of confidence, is often assumed to be 95 %. _ = k (_) _ _ (1) The confidence interval equals 1:96 (_ 2) for a 95 % level of confidence for a normally distributed population of data. Therefore, any single measured value has a 95 % likelihood of lying within _2_. The uncertainty is lower when multiple experiments are made and the results are averaged. It equals the product of the t-value of the Student's t-statistic and the sample standard deviation, s, divided by the square root of the number of repeats, n (degrees of freedom): 4. Graphs Graphs are an effective means to communicate data. Make graphs instead of tables. However, when the trends are simple (straight lines, three data points or less), cite the data within the text of the document: Increasing the temperature from 120 _C to 140 _C doubled the reaction rate. When discussing graphs, highlight trends and discuss their significance with respect to expectations. Avoid sentences that give no information other than directing the reader to the figure or table, for example: Figure 1 shows the summary results of the TGA analysis. The principal elements of a graph are axes, number of ticks, tick labels, axes' titles, symbols for experimental data, lines (for trends or models), grid lines, legends, symbol size, line thickness and colors. 4.1. Axes Choose the axes so that the experimental data extends to its limits. Often, the axes begin at (0,0). However, if the data ranges are distant from (0,0), then the minimum and maximum values of the axes should correspond to those of the data. For data that varies logarithmically, begin the origin at the lowest exponential value near the minimum. Place the origin at 10 for values ranging from 10 to 100; place it at 1000 when the minimum value lies between 1000 to 10 000, etc. Exclude grid lines except for log-log plots (perhaps). Graphs help the reader understand significant trends. Extraneous lines add clutter. Readers can extract precise values from PDF graphs with computer discretization technology. The maximum number of major ticks on a graph should be about 5 (excluding the origin). The maximum number of minor ticks should not exceed 10. Often, minor ticks are unnecessary. 4.2. Data Reserve symbols for experimental data and lines for models and correlations. Many authors include lines to help the reader follow the trends in the data. This practice is discouraged. Symbols should include error bars. However, the size of the symbol may also be chosen to represent the error. When the graph contains several sets of data, each set should have its own color and symbol type (circle, square, diamond, etc.). Colors are useful even when the article is printed in black and white because it results in different shades of gray. Moreover, articles are increasingly available on the internet in color. 28

4.3. Text Minimize the text in graphs. Instead of writing Temperature (_C) as an axis title, write T, _C. This recommendation applies to legends as well as tick labels. Report the tick label as 2 µm instead of 2 _ 10������6 m. A recent article wrote the following for the text in the legend: Temperature profile from simulation with cooling temperature 690 _C. This is an extreme example. Obviously Temperature profile is extraneous since the plot was temperature versus time. The word simulation is unnecessary when following the norm that data are expressed as symbols and models are expressed as lines. Temperature should be abbreviated and cooling could be subscripted: 4.4. Format Figure 1 illustrates a graph that minimizes text while maximizing information. It respects the guidelines discussed above and is also easily embedded in the body of the text. Respect the following geometrical and configurational criteria in order to facilitate preparing graphs that are ready for publication. Some of the recommendations are cosmetic while others are critical to making a scalable graph. Figure 1 was prepared in Sigma plot R. The frame is 85mm wide by 55mm high. The text is 12 pt Arial for legends, tick labels and axes' titles. The legend is reported within the graph and is organized in columns to eliminate the necessity of repeating %C4H10 and %O2. The symbol type and color are unique for each data set. Deferent shades of gray result when the graph is printed in black and white. The symbol size is 2.6 mm with a 0.1 mm thick black contour line. The line thickness of the axes is 0.4 mm. Major ticks point inward with a line thickness of 0.3 mm and a line length of 1.6 mm. Minor ticks are absent. When minor ticks are necessary, make them shorter (0:8mm) and narrower (0:1mm) than the major tick. When a graph contains multiple lines, distinguishing one line from another is difficult. In this case, place the text in the vicinity of the line instead of writing a legend. 5. Tables As mentioned above, graphs are preferred to tables when presenting experimental data. Tables are appropriate for lists. Write explicit and informative titles. Avoid sentences. Column titles should contain the symbol name (abbreviate the titles _ T instead of Temp. or Temperature). Include the units in the title instead of reporting the symbol unit after each value in the table. For large or small numbers, adopt the appropriate SI prefix. Most data warrant no more than three significant figures, or even two. Carrying more significant figures is only justified for a large number of experiments. 6. Preparing the Manuscript When writing your manuscript for the _rst time, ignore the grammatical rules cited in this document! Write quickly and come back later to correct. When you start to write, do not stop to edit. Concentrate solely on writing; try a pen instead of a text editor/word processor. Typing can be slower because of the tendency to correct spelling mistakes and grammar while composing text. Collect your thoughts and structure your paper with mind maps You can even write paragraphs with this technique. _ Write _ Correct _ Type _ Correct 6.1. Organize the data Data is everything. Data talks, bullshit walks. Organize it to be clear and concise. Before organizing the data, list the tests that were made, decide what is important, and arrange the ideas in a logical order. During this step, check for consistency. Is it complete and coherent? Calculate the 29

uncertainties. If the standard deviation is too large, repeat experiments. When the data set is complete (to your satisfaction), you must be critical and decide what is appropriate to report and what is unnecessary. Characterize the trends with physical phenomena. If the trends run counter to the phenomena, repeat tests to confirm the trends (and look for a alternative hypotheses). 6.2. Title Try to catch the reader's attention with the title. It represents the subject, the objective and even the results. Limit it to 12 words or less than 100 characters; shorter is better. Avoid abbreviations (except for chemical symbols) as well as long strings of nouns and adjectives. Consider the following title: Kinetics of mixed copper-iron based oxygen carriers for hydrogen production by chemical looping water splitting [8]. It is long. It mentions the technology and the focus on kinetics with mixed metal oxide. The following title is much more powerful: Cu-Fe mixed oxides split water. It is intriguing and focuses on the result: splitting water. 6.3. Abstract The abstract is arguably the most important part of a manuscript. Like the title, a short abstract is better. Summarize the major contributions such that the reader appreciates the significance of the work without reading the entire document. Focus on the results, not the means. We recommend writing the abstract several times: at the beginning (even before all the data is collected!), when the paper is nearly complete, and at the end to reject the finished manuscript. Organizing and writing the abstract brings clarity. As with all writing, do it rapidly. The following sentence is an example of what not to do: The effects of various design and operating parameters on the performance of the proposed reactor were investigated using a detailed model-based analysis. This sentence is uninformative and conveys valueless information. What design and operating parameters were changed? What was the model? What was the effect? Two or three sentences are required to convey pertinent information. Selectivity decreased by 20% while increasing temperature from 700 _C to 1000 _C at constant pressure. Selectivity increased by 10% with increasing pressure from 1 bar to 5 bar. A redox kinetic model accounted for 87% of the variance in the data. 6.4. Introduction The introduction delimits the scope of the work. General introductions allow readers to appreciate the importance of the subject. The first couple of paragraphs may include a historical context, or mention the economic incentive or the scientific interest. The problem can be described with possible solutions proposed by others. A critical review of the literature follows. 6.5 Experimental Methods Novelty of the work comes next and includes the main objectives. Bear in mind what Joseph Pulitzer had to say about writing: _Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light._ 6.5.1. Literature Review Reviewing literature is a continuous activity. Mention the major contributions, any controversy and what is left to be done in this section. A critical review requires a couple of sentences for each reference to describe the salient features of the previous work and its limitations. When several articles touch on the same subject in a similar manner, they can be referenced simultaneously [refx+refx+y]. As many as 20 pertinent references are sufficient. Most scientific 30

articles ignore patents and vice versa. In fact, patent literature can be an enormous source of inspiration. 6.5.2. Experimental Methods Considering what Pulitzer said, the Experimental Methods and materials section must be stated concisely, clearly and accurately so that others may replicate the results. Include only professional images that demonstrate the experimental apparatus. Include schematic diagrams and describe major pieces of equipment individually as well as the experimental sequence chronologically. Describe the sampling procedure, if any. Use tables to summarize the experimental conditions. State the invariant factors in the body or in the captions to keep tables manageable. List all materials and reagents as well as their purity. Indicate if the reagents were further purified or were synthesized as part of the study. Reference the synthesis steps where appropriate rather than repeating them. Provide the brand and the model of the analytical instruments as well as the conditions. Highlight data that helped design the experiments described in the results section. 7. Results and Discussion This section constitutes the bulk of your paper. It substantiates what you say in the abstract and conclusions. Summarize the data in graphs and tables and discuss the obvious trends in the body of the text. Interpret the data. Include literature references to corroborate your results. If the results are inconsistent with literature, highlight the differences. Explain all your results and be critical. 8. Conclusions People often read the conclusions directly after the abstract. Do not repeat the abstract. In fact, some journals skip the conclusions section. Avoid restating the problem and the context of the work but highlight the most significant findings. Consider mentioning the limitations of the work or issues that remain. Address the implications of the work in a context relevant to other systems, scale-up, and applications. 31

Chapter 3 The main differences between a thesis and an article: Data Management Plans 3.0. The main differences between a thesis and an article: 3.1. Data Management Plans 3.1.1. What is a data management plan? A data management plan is a document that describes how data will be acquired and used within a research project. This includes how data will be collected, managed, stored and made available during the study, and how it will be shared after the project is completed. Several templates are available that can be used as the basis for a data management plan. 3.1.2. When do researchers need a data management plan? Increasingly, funders will require researchers to submit a data management plan when they apply for a grant. This means researchers will have to describe the plans for research data management during the research project. This will be reviewed together with the rest of the application. However, even if the researchers are not required to submit a data management plan, it is a good idea to think about research data and research data management before starting an experiment so that the researchers can better organize their research and save time and extra effort later on. 3.1.3. Why is research data management important? Research data is an important outcome of scientific research. Good data management will allow all researchers to get the most out of research data. If the data is well-structured and all the relevant information about the data is present, it is easy to go back to the data at a later point in time for additional analyses. This way, more research can be done with each dataset. 3.1.4. What are the FAIR principles? The FAIR principles describe four key concepts in research data management. Data should be: • Findable – Easy to find by both humans and computer systems and based on mandatory description of the metadata that allows the discovery of interesting datasets; • Accessible – Long term storage so data can be easily accessed and/or downloaded with well- defined license and access conditions, whether at the level of metadata, or at the level of the actual data content; • Interoperable – Ready to be combined with other datasets by humans, as well as computer systems; • Reusable – Ready to be used for future research and to be processed further using computational methods. 32

3.1.5. Research Data Management according to the FAIR principles 33

3.1.6. Critical stages of grant applications... Getting it right…and what to consider along the way to generate an idea  Why is this interesting and who cares?  Who will benefit if the work successful?  How novel is this idea?  Why am I the person Can I realistically achieve claim? Find a matching funding opportunity  Look at who funds similar research.  Be aware: different Scan for available calls.  Be willing to cast wider net.  Think outside of box. Keep open.  Looking for a funding call Background research  Understand the different agencies and their styles.  Talk to the program and do the literature search, Assume the members but everything about the competitors.  But don't expect the panel members put the idea into context. Write technical portion  What problem are researchers addressing?  Why hasn't it been solved yet?  Why do researchers think they will succeed? What is the work plan and milestones?  How will researchers measure success? Check administrative parts  Read the call – again and again and again…  Calls are usually specific about the formats they require.  Terms like “required” and “must include” should be adhered to.  Work on the budgets and other documents in advance – be prepared.  If researchers need external letters, give people enough time to get them. Submit and forget  Allow enough time to upload the files and check pdfs for readability and errors.  Many agencies systems get very busy during submission times – accept and prepare for this.  Once submitted, forget about the proposal until you hear from the review panel.  Make sure that the agency communications don’t get filtered into the spam folder.  Many agencies will return detailed reviews. Use the review to revise and resubmit the grant to do this? 34

3.1.7. Time and effort for a typical grant Time keeping: Be realistic about the time it takes to write the grant-grants are like an ideal gas, they fill all the space available to them. Check your style: Do not use tiny fonts- point is probably as low as you can go. Leave ample margins (3/4 in is pushing it.)Avoid passive voice and tell a story. Know your audience: Find out more about your funding agency and use it to your advantage e.g. emphasize basic science for NSF, healthcare for NIH or technology for DARPA etc. Connect and network: Grant calls include the contact information for a reason. Call the Program Manager as they can seldom answer all their emails. Prepare all your questions in advance. Recycle but be warned: If you reuse parts of older grants (everybody does it) watch for the items specific to older grants in those texts- nothing reveals a quick hack job better. Size matters: When it comes to budget be frugal but realistic. The average size of the award specified in the call is a good indication of the scope of work the Program Manager has in mind. Be original! Try to be original and propose ideas that make sense, not just the “boilerplate.” Reviewers have read the “boilerplate” many times before. But don’t forget to explain things that look unusual. 3.1.8. Time and effort for a typical grant 35

Always assume any problems were the author's fault, not the reviewer’s.If the reviewer has misunderstood something, then researchers did not explain it clearly enough. Make sure they invest considerable work and effort in any revision - Reviewers will likely do the same. 3.1.9. Research Grant Proposal Review Criteria …understanding the rules of the grants man ship game Eight key questions that funders ask reviewers to consider when they evaluate the research grant proposals, and the associated review criteria terms used across various funding agencies: Why does the research matter?  Significance  Importance How effectively will the financial resources be managed?  Budget How is the research new?  Innovation  Novelty  Creativity In what context will the research be done?  Environment  Resources  Populations  Facilities What is the return on investment?  Impact  Value  Relevance  Return on investment (ROI) How will the research be conducted?  Approach  Plan  Methodology  Objectives  Aims Who’s involved in the research and what’s special about those people?  Investigators  Organization  People  Researchers  Personnel  Partners  Collaborators  Staff How will success be determined?  Evaluation  Assessment Why does the research matter?  Significance  Importance 36

How effectively will the financial resources be managed?  Budget 3.1.10. Top tips and tricks: Understand the funder: It’s important that the research aligns with the funder’s goals. Read the funder’s mission statement to consider synergies between its goals and the research program. Recognize that funders share the same goal when evaluating research proposals: Funders that offer research grants want to support research that fits within their mission (relevant) and will bring a strong return on their financial investment (impactful). Know that it’s really all the same review: Despite the use of funder-specific jargon to describe review criteria, reviewers are asked to evaluate proposals based on a common set of fundamental review questions—the eight key questions listed to the left. Use the review criteria as the roadmap: The funder’s review criteria directly inform how the proposal content should be presented and how much space should be afforded for each section of the proposal. Use the key questions as a guide: If a funder does not provide transparent information about its review criteria in its proposal guidance, reach out to the program officer to ask about the eight key questions and which might best apply to the particular opportunity to which researchers’re applying. Use Review Criteria to Guide Proposal Development A funder’s goals are to identify research that is: 1) Relevant – fits the funder’s mission 2) Impactful – high return on investment Proposal Review Criteria Based on 8 Key Questions Use as a Guide to Develop your Research Grant Proposal Remember…  To succeed in the highly competitive landscape of research grant funding, the researchers should consider diversifying the funding portfolio.  Understanding that different agencies use a similar set of review criteria will help the researchers develop proposals for a wide range of funders. 37

Chapter 4 Preparing to write for an interdisciplinary journal 4.0. Preparing to write for an interdisciplinary journal 4.1 About this guide As a researcher, may have a story to tell that contributes not just to members of the specific field of study, but that is of interest to a wider international multidisciplinary audience. This guide will help anyone to prepare the research articles with the aim of having published in interdisciplinary journals. It contains advice and tasks that will help the researchers to understand the needs of a multi-disciplinary audience and the best ways in which to present writing. The tasks invite the researchers to study examples and they cover matters both of organization and of language use. Although the focus of this booklet is on interdisciplinary journals, it covers fundamental principles about writing for academic journals and will therefore also be useful to those researchers who are aiming to publish within their own field. This guide is based on findings from the ESRC-funded research project, ‘Investigating Interdisciplinary Research Discourse’, carried out at the University of Birmingham in cooperation with Elsevier. Interspersed throughout the text that will find paraphrases (in blue) of comments made by researchers and by editors during interviews carried out as part of this project. The journal article excerpts are taken from the following interdisciplinary journals: Global Environmental Change, Journal of Rural Studies and Strategic Information Systems. “One of the interesting challenges is to work out how you can get into a particular journal and what you need to be doing to make it appealing to that journal.” This guide will help the authers to prepare the research articles with the aim of having them published in interdisciplinary journals. It contains advice and tasks that will help the auther understand the needs of amulti-disciplinary audience and the best ways in which to present the writing. The tasks invite the authers to study examples and they cover matters both of organisation and of language use. Although the focus of this booklet is on interdisciplinary journals, it covers fundamental principles about writing for academic journals and will therefore also be useful to those researchers who are aiming to publish within their own field. This guide is based on findings from the ESRC-funded research project, ‘Investigating Interdisciplinary Research Discourse’, carried out at the University of Birmingham in cooperation with Elsevier. Interspersed throughout the text the auther will find paraphrases (in blue) of comments made by researchers and by editors during interviews carried out as part of this project. The journal article excerpts are taken from the following interdisciplinary journals: Global Environmental Change, Journal of Rural Studies and Strategic Information Systems. 4.2. Writing for interdisciplinary journals Submitting an article to a discipline-specific journal can be a good way to build a reputation for research in the field. However, writing for an interdisciplinary journal has many benefits too. For example, by publishing in interdisciplinary journals, can bring the research to the attention of a wider range of people. 38

To define an interdisciplinary journal by its intended readership: it is a journal that publishes papers that originate in a range of disciplines and which have been written for an audience from a broad range of disciplines. These papers often address a set of real world problems around a central topic and offer a fresh perspective, e.g. on conceptual, theoretical or methodological issues. Interdisciplinary journals tend to accept papers which fit their general theme. If a paper originates in a discipline that has not been represented in the journal before, the article is still likely to be accepted if it offers something novel to the theme and is of a high standard. “I try to avoid disciplinary journals because they serve the needs of a particular discipline and a lot of my research is of broader interest.” “When I read an interdisciplinary journal article, I can tell which field the authors are from, because they write from the perspective of their field.” The best way to prepare the paper for submission to a journal is to do the research into what the journal wants: visit the journal website and carefully read the journal guidelines for authors; look at a sample of papers from that journal to see how the writers organise their papers, which sources they cite, what language they use, and so on. 3. Preparing to write for the multi-disciplinary audience All researchers, including those that work in an environment with colleagues from the same disciplinary culture, have educational and academic backgrounds that are specific to them. When working in cooperation with others, researchers will be looking at matters from their particular perspective, which reflects the topics and theories they have been influenced by and are familiar with. “When I read an interdisciplinary journal article, I can tell which field the authors are from, because they write from the perspective of their field.” When writing for an audience from many different cultural and academic backgrounds, the challenge is to be aware that the readers may look at the world in very different ways. While it is not possible to know what all the other perspectives may be, authors can compensate for this by being explicit about their own world view throughout their article. “If we’re publishing a detailed, quite technical article, we tend to assume that our audience is not particularly knowledgeable about our topic and we would tend to repeat a lot of basic information about what has gone on in this area.” In this section, five areas that the authors need to consider when they are preparing the paper for submission to an interdisciplinary journal: • The research contribution • Writing the introduction • Writing about writing • Vocabulary • Writing about the author themselves and others 4.3. The research contribution One of the key elements in any type of research paper is a statement regarding the contribution that the research makes. “When I want to publish in an interdisciplinary journal, my goal is to educate about the novelty of my research and about the value that is added when we are looking at a topic they are interested in but from a different perspective.” In the field of the research contribution, the author will need to demonstrate a methodological, theoretical or empirical contribution to the field or discipline. Authors are likely to emphasize the innovation in the theory or method and will aim to demonstrate the expertise. When presenting interdisciplinary research this will still be true but the focus is likely to be on the relevance of the proposed study to ‘real-world’ concerns, and on its applicability. Task 1: Read the two abstracts below. Identify phrases in the text that refer to (1) the real- world concerns that the research addresses and (2) the applications. 39

1. Concerns about water scarcity and management have focused attention on the relationship between agriculture and other competing water uses. This research aims to evaluate the perceptions of and preferences for irrigation use and management in a rural area and it does so through an analysis of stakeholder attitudes in a large irrigation system in Southern France: the Neste System. The stakeholder analysis approach and the governance model approach are applied in combination with a new form of graphical representation to evaluate the conflicting points of view between stakeholder’s profiles, which are called TIMA. Results revealed that there are heterogeneities between the preferences of stakeholder groups regarding water resources management, agricultural practices, and irrigation challenges. Qualitative and graphical results highlight the competing topics, the stakeholder relationships and the ability to secure permanent agreements by promoting participatory development and good governance. These results can be used by the relevant authorities to customize their interventions, knowing beforehand and in a well-structured form which are the different stakeholders’ priorities. In this way, more effective avenues of communication can be established in the decision-making processes regarding irrigation challenges. 2. Climate change raises many questions with strong moral and ethical dimensions that are important to address in climate-policy formation and international negotiations. Particularly in the United States, the public discussion of these dimensions is strongly influenced by religious groups and leaders. Over the past few years, many religious groups have taken positions on climate change, highlighting its ethical dimensions. This paper aims to explore these ethical dimensions in the US public debate in relation to public support for climate policies. It analyzes in particular the Christian voices in the US public debate on climate change by typifying the various discourses. Three narratives emerge from this analysis: ‘conservational stewardship’ (conserving the ‘garden of God’ as it was created), ‘developmental stewardship’ (turning the wilderness into a garden as it should become) and ‘developmental preservation’ (God’s creation is good and changing; progress and preservation should be combined). The different narratives address fundamental ethical questions, dealing with stewardship and social justice, and they provide proxies for public perception of climate change in the US. Policy strategies that pay careful attention to the effects of climate change and climate policy on the poor – in developing nations and the US itself – may find support among the US population. Religious framings of climate change resonate with the electorates of both progressive and conservative politicians and could serve as bridging devices for bipartisan climate-policy initiatives. Notice how the authors of these abstracts emphasize the relevance of the work to issues in the ‘real’ world and its application at the beginning and end of the abstract. These results can be used by the relevant authorities to customize their interventions, knowing beforehand and in a well-structured form which are the different stakeholders’ priorities. In this way, more effective avenues of communication can be established in the decision-making processes regarding irrigation challenges. Policy strategies that pay careful attention to the effects of climate change and climate policy on the poor – in developing nations and the US itself – may find support among the US population. Religious framings of climate change resonate with the electorates of both progressive and conservative politicians and could serve as bridging devices for bipartisan climate- policy initiatives. In interdisciplinary journals, the writers will often emphasize that they are trying to solve a similar problem to others, i.e. to show that there is a common ground between them and other researchers. At the same time, they have to specify what makes them different, which is likely to be their approach. 40

4.4. Writing the introduction An introduction in a paper destined for an interdisciplinary journal is likely to be longer than the average introduction in a disciplinary journal because more background needs to be given to an audience that may be new to the specific topic or approach. “Our interdisciplinary journal is open to publishing different types of analyses but a paper that includes quantitative analyses has to be written in such a way that it would be accessible to non- specialists, which is what our readers are. Sometimes these papers use a different language, a different set of concepts and terminology and these will need explaining.” In the introduction it is important to situate the research, i.e. show how it relates to other research in the field. In a disciplinary journal it can be a good strategy to cite the same literature as the papers already published by the journal. This is also true for an interdisciplinary journal but it is important to draw on a broader range of literature. Task 2: Read the two excerpts below. Identify the sections that situate the research. 1. The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms respond to challenges from rare transformational technology that threatens a traditional, successful business model. We propose an extension of Christensen’s theory of disruptive technologies and illustrate the extensions with a longitudinal case study of Kodak. … The two main contributions of the paper are the extension to Christensen’s theory and the lessons from Kodak’s unsuccessful response to a major technological discontinuity. 2. Even while much research and practitioner discourse have focused on the process of strategic IS planning (Premkumar and King, 1994 and Ward and Peppard, 2002) and strategic IS alignment (Chan et al., 1997, Chan and Reich, 2007 and Henderson and Venkatraman, 1999), less research has delved into the actual content of IS strategy per se. The foundational work on IS strategy, led most notably by Earl (1989) and Galliers (1991), defined IS strategy as comprised of an information strategy, an information technology strategy, an information management strategy, and a change management strategy? Collectively, these components represent the fundamental decision areas entailed in managing IS. … Recognizing that IS strategy remains a term that is widely utilized but still not fully understood nor readily measured, Chen et al. (2010) develop and operationalize a typology of three IS strategies. Our study contributes to the literature on IS strategy by identifying an extension to the existing typology, that is, by finding a fourth possible IS strategy,… Notice how the writers mention what researcher has been done and what has not: - What has been done: Christensen’s theory of disruptive technologies? - What the researchers propose: an extension of that theory, identification of lessons based on a case study of Kodak - What has been done: a focus on the process of strategic IS planning and alignment/ a typology of three strategies - What has been done less: an exploration of the actual IS content - What the researchers propose: an extension to the typology of strategies by adding a fourth In an interdisciplinary journal there will be a need to show that there is a common problem that is being addressed, and that there is a need for cooperation. At the same time the article writers need to move away from the common ground and show what is different in their approach. Introductions tend to start with more general information and then narrow down the topic, ending with the unique approach that the research offers. In the following example, the first sentence of each paragraph of the introduction has been given. Notice how the information moves from general to specific: - The emergence of new retail channels such as the Internet and mobile commerce create 41

requirements for new payment instruments to enable feasible and convenient transactions in these channels (Ondrus and Pigneur, 2006). Mobile payments have been suggested as a solution to facilitate micropayments in electronic and mobile commerce, and to provide an alternative for the diminishing use of cash at point of sale (POS) (Menke and de Lussanet, 2006 and Ondrus and Pigneur, 2006). At present, there are many examples of successful mobile payment applications such as the mobile content market which has developed into a billion dollar business, (Menke and de Lussanet, 2006), PayPal Mobile (Wolfe, 2007) or use of mobile payments in public transportation (Mallat et al., 2004). The success or failure of mobile payments has strategic implications for many companies… A recent survey suggests that companies in the mobile payment business perceive consumer acceptance as the greatest barrier to mobile payment adoption (Edgar Dunn and Company, 2007). The objective of this study is to explore consumer adoption of mobile payments by empirically detecting the adoption determinants that are relevant for the new mobile payment context. Task 3 Recreate the order of the following sentences, all taken from the start of paragraphs in an article introduction: a) The contributions of this study are twofold. b) The rest of the paper is organized as follows: c) The last fifteen years have witnessed significant growth in the outsourcing industry (Oshri et al., 2015). d) Indeed, several recent studies have examined the practices through which innovation can be achieved in outsourcing settings. 4.5. Writing about writing In this section, we will look at two areas: a- Explaining how the text is organized b- Explaining concepts c- Explaining how the text is organized Above the author will have read the following text: “In this section, we will look at two areas”. This text refers to the organization of the text (‘this section’) and functions as a signpost for the readers: it tells them what they can expect (‘two areas’). When they are writing for an audience that may not be familiar with the types of articles that are written in the specific discipline, it becomes very important to help these readers by signposting clearly for them. “When we receive submissions from people for whom English is a foreign language, we don’t expect or require perfect writing skills, but we focus more on the organization and presentation of the paper.” Task 4 Read the two excerpts below. Highlight the language that is used to refer to the organization of the text itself and/or that tells the reader what to expect. This paper is concerned with the effects of rent restructuring on the rents of social housing in rural areas in England. As we discuss below, one of the primary aims of rent restructuring policy is to reduce unjustifiable differences between the rents of similar dwellings in the local authority and housing association (‘Registered Social Landlord’—RSL) sectors locally. … The paper attempts to explore these and related issues by examining the effects that restructuring has on rural rents and by considering, in the light of these effects, some of the likely impacts of restructuring on affordability and investment. 42

The paper proceeds as follows: we first briefly survey some of the recent work on social housing provision in rural areas that is pertinent to the concerns of this paper, before, in Section 3, giving an overview of rent setting in the social rented sector and the issues and debate to which this has given rise… In some disciplinary journals certain patterns of organizing the paper may be typical (such as ‘Introduction – Methods – Results – Discussion’), but in an interdisciplinary journal there is likely to be more diversity. Signposting is therefore of vital importance in interdisciplinary journals, so that the reader can see how the paper is organized and what the status of a piece of information is – is it an example, is it a reason, is it a factor, etc? Another reason why good signposting is needed is that interdisciplinary journals, especially in the Social Sciences, may have longer articles that therefore need to be clearly organized. The editors of some interdisciplinary journals are aware that writers may need to explain certain concepts to their multi-disciplinary audience and therefore offer more space. “Sometimes in interdisciplinary papers it has been a case of going back a step and explaining a certain idea a little more than we would if we were writing for a journal in our own discipline.” 4.6. Explaining concepts Although writers always need to explain what they mean, this is even more important when writing for a multi-disciplinary audience. “When I write for a more general audience, I try to use English, not jargon.” Articles in interdisciplinary journals contain more ‘code glosses’ (Vande Kopple, 1985) e.g. words or phrases that point the reader to the meaning of elements in text. It is a good idea to ask how the author can guide the reader in writing e.g. where the author needs to explain, rephrase, elaborate or exemplify, as in the following example. By ‘adaptation’ economists mean actions undertaken once environmental change has occurred to minimize the negative effects, or take advantage of the beneficial effects. For example, in response to a warmer climate, farmers might switch the crops they grow and the timing of crop planting and harvest. Some of the phrases that would be useful when the authors explain something to the reader are: which means, that is to say, such as, for instance. “My audience often consists of people whose first language is not English so it is important to use clear language.” Task 5 Read the excerpts from the same article below. Identify the language that is used to introduce an example or an elaboration of an idea. 1. Other disciplines outside economics often assign a broader definition to the term that may include elements of what we have termed ‘adaptation’ above. For example, one legal definition includes the following additional meanings: … 2. Public sector involvement is economically justified when the benefits of adaptive activities have public goods characteristics. For example, research has public goods characteristics because it provides a common benefit to many individuals. 3. The undertaking of large-scale public works projects, such as the construction of sea-walls and dikes also may provide collective benefits. 4. Consequently, those who do nothing can get a ‘free-ride’ on the costly actions others might take to mitigate the problem. As with other actual or potential environmental problems involving the use of shared resources, this means that public policies may be justified to correct the problem. 5. By this criterion, any course of action is judged acceptable if it confers a net advantage: that is, if benefits outweigh costs. 4.7. Vocabulary 43

“Part of the job of crafting the research paper for publication is honing the language and defining the terms well so that everyone knows what the authors are talking about.” The examples from the last article included some examples of definitions. Explaining terminology is crucial when writing for a multi-disciplinary audience. It is natural to assume that concepts the authors are familiar with will be interpreted in the ‘normal’ way, but the same words can have a different meaning in another context. When the authors know about the existence of different interpretations of concepts in other fields, the authors can refer to these in writing, as in the following example (from the same article as the examples above): By ‘adaptation’ economists mean actions undertaken once environmental change has occurred to minimize the negative effects, or take advantage of the beneficial effects. …’Mitigation’ in the economic literature refers to actions that reduce or prevent undesirable environmental effects of production and consumption. Other disciplines outside economics often assign a broader definition to the term that may include elements of what we have termed ‘adaptation’ above. For example, one legal definition includes the following [three] additional meanings: …. “Some concepts have a different meaning in another language, so I avoid those terms in international journals.” As the authors will not always know which concepts need to be explained, it is best to err on the side of caution and explain the key terms. “The word ‘cohort’ means a specific study group when researchers talk to environmental epidemiologists, but it means something different to ecologists. When we worked together, it took some time to realize we were talking about different things. Researchers have to clarify the terms.” Task 6 Identify (1) the concepts that are being defined in these excerpts and (2) their definitions. 1. Discussion on social aspects of ongoing relationships is captured within the framework of social capital proposed in the network literature. In this line of literature, social capital is conceptualized as a set of relational resources embedded in relationships that positively influence firm conduct and performance (Gulati et al., 2000 and Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). 2. Given the coarse scale of current global integrated scenarios (and probably of those in the future), downscaling provides one possible tool for generating information at finer resolutions. The term ‘‘downscaling’’ is used here for any process in which coarse-scale data is disaggregated to a finer scale while ensuring consistency with the original data set. It is a good idea to be clear about the extent to which the concepts are applicable. Notice how in both examples the definitions are given a specific context: - ‘in this line of literature, social capital is …’, -‘The term … is used here for …’ “I worked in a team with people from Geography, Criminal Justice and Psychology to submit a proposal and we had to meet four times before we used the same terms to refer to concepts and had an understanding of what the issues were.” 4.8. Writing about yourself and others This section is about the use of pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘we’. In general, the convention of journals is for authors to write in an impersonal way, rather than referring to people. Some editors will make changes to the language if this is the case. The reason for preferring an impersonal style is because it is seen to focus attention on the phenomena under investigation rather than on the researchers. The style in Physical Science journals tends to be more impersonal than in Social Science journals. “In the interdisciplinary journal I edit we have no objections to papers using personal pronouns, but the writing can’t be too colloquial.” 44

The use of passive forms is related to the use of pronouns, as the passive allows the writer to leave out pronouns. For example: ‘a survey of town center visitors was undertaken on two occasions’ [passive] is more impersonal than ‘we surveyed town center visitors on two occasions’ [active]. Some editors like the passive; others prefer the active because it is more explicit: it states clearly who did what. Some journals prefer a more personal style and do not discourage the use of ‘I’ or ‘we’. The reason for this is that it can make the article more interesting or easier to read. The use of pronouns such as ‘we’ also appears to have become more acceptable over time. “Our journal does not set stylistic guidelines and we welcome transdisciplinary work. We have a global trans-cultural perspective although our language is English.” Unfortunately, journals are unlikely to state explicitly what their point of view about pronouns is. It is therefore best to study the journal you are interested in publishing in to see what authors do in the majority of articles. You should also consider whether or not the use of a personal style is important for the messages that you want to convey. Task 7 Who does ‘I’, ‘we’ or ‘our’ mainly refer to in the following excerpts from interdisciplinary journals? Match the excerpts 1-4 with the options A-D. Note that some of these functions overlap. A. writers who have personally carried out the research B. writers who are perhaps being critical of others (who have different methods) C. writers who are being explicit to help the reader understand the meaning of the research D. writers who are discussing the organization of their text 1. After balancing limited research resources with the perceived need to collect information from a variety of groups, we decided to conduct a total of 10 interviews. 2. Overall, our findings challenge the common belief that OUICs are valuable by enabling firms to collect large amount of user-generated ideas. We found that simply collecting ideas from OUICs is not valuable whereas another often overlooked aspect related to how firms deal with the ideas from OUICs matters for value creation. 3. In sum, I have used this section to canvass a range of wider themes that have emerged in recent social thought. 4. This is presented in a diagram form as I argue the need to consider the political and discursive contexts in which a ‘community’ occurs and then focus on a number of constituent elements. People (through their multiple identities and groupings) are seen as ‘central’ to the constructions of a ‘community’. Task 8 In the following excerpts, what pronouns and/or phrases do the researchers use to refer to themselves? 1. In order to explore the extent of mutual dependence between market town services and hinterland residents, a questionnaire survey of town centre visitors was undertaken in February and June 2001 and 2002, with 432 usable questionnaires being completed. Respondents were interviewed face-to- face within the town center, with selection based on the ‘next-to-pass’. The interviewers visited the towns on a normal weekday, a market day during the week and on Saturday. 2. The timing of the data collection was suitable for the adoption study because mobile payments were available in the market but were still a relatively new innovation. We were therefore able to study mobile payments at a time when their adoption decision was still recent for the interviewees and to avoid the recall problem of adoption studies (Rogers, 1995). Four researchers conducted the interviews in pairs where one moderated the discussion and the other managed a recorder and the facilities. 45

4.9. Conclusions In disciplinary journals, writers tend to follow a conventionalized structure. They may adhere to a discipline-specific style and cite the same literature as the papers already published by the journal. A paper in such a journal needs to demonstrate that it makes a methodological, theoretical or empirical contribution to the field or discipline, and authors are likely to emphasize the innovation in the theory or the method, and demonstrate expertise. “As an editor of an interdisciplinary journal, I do not like papers that present the methods in a dry way, without motivating me in terms of its usefulness and broad audience, so I ask the authors to add to it, e.g. the usefulness to society or to other researchers, i.e. for a broader readership. “They may need to add explanations and also to market or sell their ideas, i.e. make them more appealing.” Papers in interdisciplinary journals tend to be longer and their length and style can be more flexible. In interdisciplinary journals there is less of a need to conform and authors have more freedom of expression. It is important for the authors to draw on a broad range of literature and to demonstrate the applicability of the research beyond their own discipline. When writing for a broader audience, the authors are likely to need to include substantially more explanatory material and the focus will be on emphasizing the relevance of the proposed method and on demonstrating applicability rather than expertise. In the paper the authors are likely to demonstrate how the authors address questions that are similar to those of other researchers but also how the authors adopt a different stance toward these questions. It is important to clarify the terms and make sure that the terminology the authors use can be understood by a non-specialist audience. The language should be accessible to a broad audience and technical terms and key concepts need to be explained. The tasks in this guide have provided the authors with excerpts from articles in interdisciplinary journals and have asked the authors to study and notice how the writers have achieved their aims. When the authors prepare to write for one of these types of journals, visit the journal website, read the ‘guidelines for authors’ document carefully, and find some recent articles in the particular journal that are of interest to the authors , in order to learn what is required in areas such as the use of pronouns, the structure and purpose of introductions and so on (see the Checklist overleaf). “What I do, if it’s a journal I haven’t published in before, I look back to the journal to see what they have published that might be related to what I’m thinking of writing, to check what I’m writing is something that is not repeating what they have done but connects to it in some way.” Use the information that the authors deduce about the journal requirements and style to prepare authors' own article. Finally, once authors have a draft ready, it is important to identify a reader outside usual discipline. Someone who is from a different disciplinary background will be able to let the authors know if they have given sufficient explanations, have been explicit enough and have defined the relevant concepts. 4.10. Checklist: Before writing the draft: Research the journal that plan to submit the author's paper to and notice how the following are handled in the majority of the papers: • The length of the articles • How the introduction is organized and what areas it addresses • The way the writers situate the research: what they say is similar to the work of other writers and how they set themselves apart e.g. in terms of methodology 46

• The way the authors ‘write about writing’ in order to signpost and provide explanations to the readers • The way in which terminology is explained • The ways that authors organize their papers, particularly authors who are doing similar research to others'. • The use or avoidance of I/we After writing the draft: • Ask a colleague who does not work in the discipline to read the article and to let you know if it can be understood clearly or if you need to add more explanatory information. 47

Chapter 5 How to write a good Data in Brief article 5.0. How to write a good Data in Brief article 5.1. Data Articles Scientists across all disciplines create a wealth of data in many formats, of which only a small percentage is disseminated via the publication of peer-reviewed research articles. Many disciplines and funding bodies are beginning to mandate data sharing as a standard component of scientific dissemination. Launched in 2014, the multidisciplinary journal Data in Brief addresses this need by providing a venue to describe any data from any field that may be useful to another researcher. Its data articles are different from research articles or even short communications. The data is not judged on its significance but on its utility and potential reuse. Null/ negative and intermediate results (or in this case the data underlying those) are acceptable Data in Brief material as long as they are truthful. Data articles are reviewed for clarity and completeness. If the data is solid and useful, some minor revisions may be needed, but authors are not requested to re-run their experiments or generate a new dataset and then resubmit. The peer-review process is transparent, and generally much faster than for a research paper. The articles ensure the data, which may otherwise remain unpublished or be buried in supplementary material, is citable, actively reviewed, curated, formatted, indexed, and publicly available to all upon publication. 5.2. Some useful tips, when writing a data article in Brief. In general Do: Don’t: _ The journal Data in Brief publishes a _ Data articles published by Data in very specific article type that allows writers Brief are not mini-research papers or to describe and share data. short communications. _ Follow the Data in Brief template to _ Don’t include a Conclusion, prepare the article. Discussion or Summary section. _ Remove all submission instructions. _ Don’t use words such as 'study, _ Use the word ‘data’ throughout the data 'results', 'conclusions', etc. article wherever possible. _ Don’t provide excessive _ Spell out acronyms and abbreviations. background information but refer to _ Include enough information so that the published articles whenever possible. data article can be read on its own. _ Data in Brief is primarily a venue to describe original data rather than new methods. 48

Title _ The title should be unique and focus on _ Don’t use the same title as an Abstract the data that writers are sharing. existing research paper. _ If possible use the words ‘data’, ‘dataset’, _ Don’t use words such as ‘effects’, Specifications etc. in the title. ‘evidence’, ‘response’, ‘implications’, table ‘influence’ etc. in the title. _ The abstract should be purely descriptive _ Don’t copy the abstract from a Value of the and describe the contents of the data article. research paper. Data _ If the data article is related to a research _ Don’t describe any related research article, include the abbreviated reference in article, results, or provide too much Data the abstract. background. Fill in the fields in the Specifications table. _ Don’t leave the examples provided Experimental _ Remove all instructions from the table. If in the table or they may end up in the Design, a field is not applicable, leave it blank (e.g. final article. Materials and data source location). _ Don’t include too much information Methods _ Keep the fields in the table brief. in for example the “Experimental _ If the dataset is deposited in a public Factors” and “Experimental Features” repository, include the link in ‘Data fields. accessibility’. It is not necessary to Instead move the details to the reproduce the data in the Data in Brief Materials and Methods in the text. article. _ Don’t include links to data in repositories that are behind a firewall. _ Value of the Data should include 3-5 _ Don’t offer interpretative statements broad, general, short bullet points. or conclusions about the data nor state _ Put into perspective the utility of the data the value of this data relative to any beyond what you used it for in your own related research study. research. _ Don’t make conclusions about any _ Explain how/why the data you are sharing data not presented in the data article. in this Data in Brief article could be generically valuable to the scientific _ The data should not be published community, with an eye towards possibly previously in a research paper or in its opening up doors for supplementary material. _ Provide a brief description of the data and _ Don’t copy and paste figures, data its context. or tables from a research paper. _ If possible, include the raw data beside Instead add a reference to published statistical analysis. data in other articles. _ For data to be more effective, we _ Datasets reported in the Data in encourage better presentation, Brief article should result from visualization as well as quantification of the experiment or observation rather than data, images etc. e.g. computer simulations. _ Add captions to figures and tables. _ Don’t copy and paste the entire _ The data can be either included with the Materials & Methods section from a article, or deposited in a repository. research paper. These may not all be _ Give the essential information to relevant to the data article. understand the data/how the data was created. _ Include only information directly relevant to the data being shared. Add additional 49

References detail as necessary. _ Don’t cite articles that aren’t _ Add equations or enough information to directly relevant to the Data in Brief explain how derived data or statistics were article. generated. _ Cite related work in the literature where appropriate. _ If the article was transferred to Data in Brief via another journal, ensure that authors have cited your main research article. Data in Brief datasets can vary from very small to very large; for example, a data article can deal with one single dataset, image or table or it may simply describe a very large dataset deposited in a public repository. All data described in an article submitted to Data in Brief must be made publicly available. This can be via: 1. The article. Publishers can upload datasets as individual zip files during the submission process in the electronic submission system, but the system may not be able to process very large datasets. 2. Public repositories. There are many public repositories to which publishers can upload their datasets, some of which are field specific. 3. Mendeley Data. If publishers aren’t sure where exactly they should put their data, or they have data that falls outside of the data accepted by the established repository in their field, they can upload files to Mendeley Data which has a limit of 10GB per dataset (uploading and labelling each individual .zip file would be best here). Mendeley Data, with which Data in Brief is collaborating, is free for the journal’s authors. If publishers choose this route, they upload all their data files into Mendeley Data without hitting ‘publish’. This means the editor and reviewers can look at their data during the review process (and can still make changes to the data and metadata), but the data is not yet publicly available. Then, when publishers submit their final, revised version, they can formally publish their dataset on Mendeley Data, which makes it fully open access to everyone, and provides the final dataset DOI in Data in Brief article. The two will be both linked and archived after that. 5.3. Many roads to publishing data articles A growing number of participating any journals give authors the option to convert supplementary data into a data article that they co-submit to the journal Data in Brief alongside their research article. If the research article is accepted for publication, it is sent directly to Data in Brief for a final editorial review. The research article and the data article are then linked on the Science Direct platform and of course, a data article can be always submitted directly to Data in Brief: 1. Fill in this template 2. Submit the document to the journal’s online submission system 3. See also Data in Brief FAQ. Finally, there are a number of other many journals that publish data articles. While the general tips for writing Data in Brief articles in this guide usually apply to these publications, please note they may have their own templates and specific instructions. It's recommend that always to check the journal’s homepage for further details. 50