Section 4
Publication Ethics
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Good publication ethics
No fabrication
or falsification
No plagiarism
or redundancy
Clear author
contributions
State conflicts
of interest
Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE
Always follow ethics guidelines
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Four criteria
for authorship
1. Significantly involved in study design, data
collection/analysis
2. Writing and revising the manuscript
3. Approval of final version
4. Responsible for the content (accuracy and
integrity)
http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-andresponsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Gift
authorship
Gift/ghost authorship
Making someone an author when they do
not deserve it (friends, colleagues, etc.)
• Try to make paper more prestigious by adding a “big name”
• Adding the department head to every paper from their department
• Thanking someone for a contributed material
Ghost
authorship
Not making someone an author
when they do deserve it
• Hide conflict of interest by excluding an author (e.g., company
employee); hide contribution by junior members (e.g., students)
[People who helped write the paper should be included in the
Acknowledgements or else they are “ghost writers”]
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Acknowledgements
Thank those who have
made positive contributions
Funding agencies
(some journals have a
separate Funding section)
Nugraha et al. Biomaterials. 2011; 32: 6982–6994.
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Conflicts of interest (COIs)
What are they?
Financial or personal relationships
that may bias your research
Being objective is essential in scientific research
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Personal COIs
Biased for personal reasons
You are researching a new drug, and your
spouse works for the drug company
You are writing a review on animal research,
and you are an active member of PETA*
*People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Financial COIs
Biased for financial reasons
You are researching a new material, and…
• an author works for the company
making the material
• the company funded your study
• an author owns stock in the company
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Avoiding conflicts
of interest
A company is funding your research
What should you do?
•
•
•
•
State the company’s role in the study design
State the company’s role in data analysis
State the company’s role in manuscript writing
Should be disclosed in the cover letter
Some journals will ask you to include a statement such as:
“I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility
for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis”*
*http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/
author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Avoiding conflicts
of interest
An author works at the company
What should you do?
•
•
•
•
•
Ensure study design not unfairly manipulated
Ensure author is blinded during data analysis
Restrict role of the author in manuscript writing
Should be addressed BEFORE study begins!
Should be disclosed in the cover letter
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Does disclosing COIs
lead to rejection?
No!
It makes the journal editor aware of the COIs and
confident that you were not biased in your study
Journal editors may or may not publish
these COIs along with your article
Not declaring a COI during submission may lead to
the rejection or retraction of your paper
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Author
Sequential submissions
2 wks
Editor
1 wk
4 wks
Reviewer
Total ~2 months
3 journals = over 6 months!
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Author
Multiple submissions
Editor1
Reviewer1
Editor2
Reviewer2
Editor3
Reviewer3
3 journals = ~2 months!
You can submit your manuscript to
only one journal at a time
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Why is it unethical?
Wastes editors’ time & resources
•
After first acceptance, have to withdraw submission
from the others
•
Damages your reputation with publishers
Duplicate publication
•
•
•
It will be noticed in the field; copyright problems
One or both articles may be retracted
Wastes time and damages your reputation with both
the publisher and your peers
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
When can you submit to
another journal?
You can submit to another journal only if:
 You have been rejected by the first journal
 You have formally withdrawn the submission
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Can you publish a paper
translated into English?
What do you need to do?
1. Obtain permission from the first publisher
2. Tell journal editor of English journal:
–
–
You already obtained permission to re-publish
Why necessary to publish in English
3. Cite the original publication
Note: many journal editors will not be interested in
publishing non-original articles
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Salami publishing
Don’t slice your research
to increase your
publication output!
One study
4 publications
Why unethical?
Readers will not have access to
all the relevant information to
critically evaluate the study
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Salami publishing
One study
4 publications
Same sample population
Same controls
Experiments concurrent
Dependent results




Distinct populations
Different controls
Experiments sequential
Independent results
One larger paper will have more impact
in the field and more citations!
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Plagiarism
Makes readers think others’ words or
ideas are your own
Copying published text
(even with a citation)
Stating ideas of someone else without
citing the source
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Self-plagiarism
Copying text that you have written and
published before into your manuscript
May violate copyright
Makes readers think you are
presenting something new
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Paraphrasing
Expressing published ideas
using different words
Tips on paraphrasing:
•
Write the text first into another language,
and then later translate back into English
• Verbally explain ideas to a colleague
• Name a published method and cite it
• Consider text location
– Introduction vs. Discussion
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Paraphrasing 1
Use synonyms
“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical,
chemical, or biological processes are altered temporally under different land
uses.”
24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Paraphrasing 2
Use synonyms
“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical,
chemical, or biological processes are altered temporally under different land
uses.”
The size of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical,
or biological processes are changed temporally under different land uses.24
24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Paraphrasing 2
Change word class
The size of the change in carbon storage is dependent on how physical, chemical,
or biological processes are changed temporally under different land uses.24
•
•
•
Nouns  verbs
Adjectives  nouns
Adverbs  prepositional phrases
The size of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or
biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24
24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.
Publication
Customer Service
ethics
Paraphrasing 3
Change vocabulary and word order
The size of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or
biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24
A depends on B
Changes in chemical, biological, or physical processes over time under different
land uses affect the size of the carbon storage change.24
B affects A
24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.
Activity 4: Paraphrasing
Please see Activity 4 in your Workbook
Section 5
Effective writing
Effective writing
Language requirements
Journals are clear regarding their English requirements
American Chemical Society: Manuscripts with grammar or language usage
deficiencies are handicapped during the scientific review process and may
be returned to the author for rewriting before peer review or before
acceptance.
Royal Society of Chemistry: A manuscript may be returned to the author(s)
without external review if…the quality of the English in the manuscript is so
poor as to render the science presented unclear.
Effective writing
High readability
Your reader should…
Only have to read once
Not have to read slowly
Understand your logic immediately
Effective writing
Write clear sentences
Readers expect…
 verbs to closely follow their subjects
 heavy ends (not starts) of clauses
Subject
Verb
The device leakage current on transistors fabricated on SiO2 with
different self-assembled monolayers decreased by two orders of
magnitude after annealing.
The transistors were fabricated on SiO2 with different self-assembled
monolayers. The device leakage current decreased by two orders of
magnitude after annealing.
Effective writing
Subject-verb placement
Readers become confused when the subject and verb
are separated by too much content
What is the subject of the sentence?
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode for molecular sensing applications,
having a high surface area and uniform porous
structure, was synthesized by using electrospray
deposition.
What is the verb of the sentence?
Effective writing
Subject-verb placement
Readers become confused when the subject and verb
are separated by too much content
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode for molecular sensing applications,
having a high surface area and uniform porous
structure, was synthesized by using electrospray
deposition.
Effective writing
Subject-verb placement
Readers become confused when the subject and verb
are separated by too much content
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
The electrode had a high surface area and
uniform porous structure.
Effective writing
Subject-verb placement
Readers become confused when the subject and verb
are separated by too much content
?
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
? electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
The electrode had a high surface area and
uniform porous structure.
Effective writing
Subject-verb placement
Readers become confused when the subject and verb
are separated by too much content
In this study, we used electrospray deposition to
synthesize a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode for molecular sensing applications. The
electrode had a high surface area and uniform
 Active > Passive
porous structure.
 Subject-verb closeness
 Heavy end > heavy start
 Method – Purpose logic
Effective writing
Active voice
Sentences written in the active voice are:
simple
direct
clear
easy to read
Passive
The mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity were investigated.
Active
We investigated the mechanisms regulating substrate rigidity.
Effective writing
Avoid reader confusion
Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Effective writing
Avoid reader confusion
Is this sentence in the active or passive voice?
Passive voice
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Effective writing
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
Tunn et al. developed electrospray methods to
enhance sensitivity.3
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Effective writing
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
Tunn et al. developed electrospray methods to
enhance sensitivity.3
In this study, a titanium dioxide nanoparticle
electrode was synthesized using electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Who did the work in this study?
Tunn et al. ?
The author ?
Effective writing
Avoid reader confusion
Part of the Introduction
Tunn et al. developed electrospray methods to
enhance sensitivity.3
In this study, we synthesized a titanium dioxide
nanoparticle
electrode using
electrospray
deposition for molecular sensing applications.
Effective writing
Journals prefer
the active voice
ACS Style Guide
“Use the active voice when it is less wordy and more
direct than the passive”. (3rd ed., pg. 42)
APA Style
“Use the active voice rather than the passive voice…”.
Chicago Style
Guide
“As a matter of style, passive voice is typically, but not
always, inferior to active voice”. (15th ed., pg. 177)
AMA Manual of
Style
“In general, authors should use the active voice…”.
Nature
“Nature journals prefer…the active voice…”
www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/effective-verb-use.aspx
(10th ed., pg. 320)
(http://www.nature.com/authors/author_resources/how_write.html)
Effective writing
Use strong verbs
We made a…
Subject
Verb
Still no idea what this
sentence is about!
…decision?
…confirmation?
…estimation?
…cake?
Effective writing
Use strong verbs
We made a…
Subject
Verb
Still no idea what this
sentence is about!
We decided…
We confirmed…
We estimated…
Clear and direct
Activity 5:
Effective writing
Please see Activity 5 in your Workbook
Effective writing
“I should use complex words to make my
writing more impressive.”
Nature’s guide to authors:
Nature is an international journal covering all the
sciences. Contributions should therefore be written
clearly and simply so that they are accessible to
readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom
English is not their first language.
www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/index.html#a4
Effective writing
Simple language
To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we
interrogated the participants upon completion.
Effective writing
Simple language
To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we
interrogated the participants upon completion.
To determine the success of the program, we
questioned the participants upon completion.
Effective writing
Complex words to avoid
Avoid
Prefer
Adequate
Apparent
Ascertain
Commence
Endeavor
Exceedingly
Magnitude*
Retain
Sufficient
Terminate*
Utilization
Enough
Clear
Determine
Begin
Try
Very
Size
Keep
Enough
End
Use
*OK in certain fields (magnitude of earthquakes, to terminate gene expression)
Effective writing
Unnecessary words
Avoid
Prefer
At a concentration of 2 g/L
At a temperature of 37C
At a wavelength of 340 nm
In order to
In the first place
Four in number
Green color
Subsequent to
Prior to
At 2 g/L
At 37C
At 340 nm
To
First
Four
Green
After
Before
Effective writing
Unnecessary words
28 words
In the first place, in order to determine the critical
point of the material, we incubated it at a
temperature of 95°C until it became black in color.
18 words
First, to determine the critical point of the material,
we incubated it at 95°C until it became black.
Effective writing
Unnecessary words
“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...”
“As a matter of fact, such a low-temperature
This low-temperature
reaction…”
reaction…”
“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”
“That is another reason why,
why Therefore,
we believe…”
we believe…”
“...as described in
previously
in our
previous study.”
our previous
study.”
“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”
Effective writing
Don’t forget:
“Data” is plural
Data is the plural form of datum
The data was analyzed...
The data were analyzed…
Effective writing
Avoid mistakes
 Compared with is for saying how things are different
The accuracy of the new program was reduced
compared to the previous program.
The accuracy of the new program was reduced
compared with that of the previous program.
The accuracy of the new program was
lower than that of the previous program.
Activity 6:
Effective writing
Please see Activity 6 in your Workbook
Effective writing
Stress position
Which sentence suggests that you
will get a raise?
1. You deserve a raise, but the budget is tight.
2. The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise.
Readers focus at the end of the sentence to
determine what is important.
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/
Effective writing
Stress position
The stress position also introduces
the topic of the next sentence
The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise. Your salary
Stress position
will increase at the beginning of next year.
Topic position
The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/
Effective writing
Academic English
writing style
sentence
idea
idea
idea
idea
Topic link
TiO2 surface modification of the scaffold considerably
improved its catalytic efficiency. The increased efficiency was
prominent early in the reaction but decreased over time. The
lack of long-term effects of TiO2 surface modification was likely
due to the reaction being conducted in an aqueous
environment. Evaluating additional solvents to improve the
catalytic efficiency over time is currently being investigated.
Effective writing
Sentence and
paragraph structure
Topic sentence
One method of producing carbon fibre precursors, with the potential of
commercial applicability, is electrospinning. It has previously been demonstrated
that electrospinning can successfully produce precursor fibres that can be
converted into high quality carbon fibres with controlled fibre diameters and
morphologies. The majority of electrospun carbon fibre precursors reported in
Supporting
sentences
the literature are PAN-based.
The high
cost of PAN, depleting petroleum
resources and the toxicity of its solvent, dimethylformamide, has motivated
research to look into alternative electrospinnable materials to produce cheaper
and more environmentally friendly carbon fibres. Because petroleum-based
carbon resources exhibit negative environmental impacts and are of limited
availability further motivates research towards green carbon fibres.
Stress sentence
Topic sentence
Recently, a wide range of renewable resource-based materials have been
investigated for the fabrication of carbon materials. Among them, lignin has
been looked at as a very promising candidate…
Schreiber et al. J Mater Sci. 2014; 49: 7949–7958.
Activity 7:
Effective writing
Please see Activity 7 in your Workbook
Section 6
Choosing the right journal
Journal selection
When should you choose a journal?
1. After you have written your manuscript?
2. Before you write your manuscript?
Journal selection
Choose your journal first!
Author guidelines
• Manuscript structure
• Word limits, referencing
• Procedures, copyright
Relevant references
Aims and scope
• Topics
• Readership
• Be sure to emphasize
Writing style
Journal selection
Novelty
Conceptual advance
Incremental advance
IF: 11.444
IF: 2.222
Blouin, N.; Michaud, A. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 732-742.
Umeda, T.; Hashimoto Y. et al. Synth. Met. 2005, 152, 1-3, 93-96
Journal selection
Aims & scope,
Readership
Factors to consider when
choosing a journal
Article type /
evidence level
Publication
speed/frequency
Fast track
Indexing, Rank,
Impact factor
Online/Print,
Open access
Acceptance
rate/criteria
Online first, Supplemental
materials, Cost
“Luxury” / Traditional /
Megajournal
Journal selection
Aims & Scope
Discusses the research topics that are
published by the journal
Aims & scope
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A publishes studies on
kinetics and dynamics; spectroscopy, photochemistry, and
excited states; environmental and atmospheric chemistry,
aerosol processes, geochemistry, and astrochemistry; and
molecular structure, quantum chemistry, and general theory.
Journal selection
Readership
Discusses the types of researchers that
read the journal regularly
Readership
Material scientists, chemists, physicists,
ceramicists, engineers, metallurgists
Journal selection
Publication models
Subscriptionbased
• Mostly free for the author
• Reader has to pay
Open access
• Free for the reader
• Author usually has to pay
Hybrid
• Subscription-based journal
• Has open access options
Journal selection
Open access myths
Open access (OA) is expensive and low quality
• Not all OA journals charge a fee
• Many research grants and universities pay for OA fees
• Journals may offer waiver for authors who cannot afford it
• OA journals are peer reviewed
• Impact factors may be lower partly because they are newer
Journal selection
Predatory journals
Some Open Access journals are not good
Easy way to get money from authors
•
•
•
•
•
Promise quick and easy publication
Often ask for a “submission/handling” fee
May copy name of real journal; false IF
May not exist, or may be of low quality
Beware of spam e-mails!
If you are ever unsure, please check
Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers
http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/01/02/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2015/
Journal selection
Trustworthy journals
Reputable publisher
Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, PLoS, etc.
Editorial board
International and familiar
Indexed
a
Indexed
by common databases
Authors
Do you recognize the authors?
Fees
Paid only after acceptance
Journal selection
Trustworthy journals
THINK
Trusted and appropriate?
CHECK
Do you know the journal?
SUBMIT
Only if OK
thinkchecksubmit.org
Journal selection
Journal Selector
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Insert your proposed abstract
or keywords
Journal selection
Journal Selector
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
Matching journals
Journal’s aims &
scope, IF,
and publication
frequency
•
•
•
•
Filter/Sort by:
Field of study
Impact factor, SCI
Open access
Publishing
frequency
Journal selection
Journal Selector
www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector
• Author guidelines
• Journal website
Similar published articles
 Are they currently publishing
similar articles?
 Have you cited any of these
articles?
Shows the editor that your
study builds on research
already
published in their journal
Your goal is not only to publish, but also
to be widely read and cited
Be an effective communicator
S
Prepare well for academic
publishing
Read effectively
Write your ideas clearly for your audience
Any questions?
Thank you!
Andrew Jackson: [email protected]
Trevor Lane: [email protected]
Kate Harris: [email protected]
edanzediting.co.jp/kyushu1601
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