How to get published in a Western Journal Prof. Dr. Malcolm W. Kennedy Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences University of Glasgow UK - Glasgow, Scottland, G12 8QQ United Kingdom Good luck!  * Immunisation against smallpox Moveable type printing Circumnavigating the world Science and discovery in China Chinese science in ‘Nature’Palaeontology 	Virus evolution 	Food plant genomics 	Anthropology –Han migrations Science in China “The annual National Geographic Survey discovered the sad fact that only 23 out of 56 young A*******s knew the whereabouts of the Pacific Ocean”What you are up against …Ignaz Semmelweis (1818 –1865) 1847 –discovered contagious nature of puerperal fever and use of antiseptic 1850 –lectures on the discovery 1861 –book & polemical response 1865 –nervous breakdown and death Choosing a journal Language –does it have to be in English? Appropriate to your field –does it matter? Impact factors –who cares? Who will find my article? Getting published Do something new and interesting Do something challenging –get noticed! If you think some (Western?!) ideas are wrong –don’t be afraid to do the experiments to show it! Design and analyse experiments rigorously Do the proper controls Remember, technology is a tool, not science itself First, do good science! Choosing a journal Who are your intended audience? Multidisciplinary journal? Specialist? Related field with more widely read journals? Be safe –but who will read it? Be brave –you might get lucky, you will learn something, and will make yourself write better. Balance time expended with the potential reward. Choosing a journal - Will it be found and read widely? What institutions will have it in their libraries? 	- Paper 	- Online Will electronic databases list it? 	- ISI - selective 	- Medline, etc.? 	- Google  The impact factor is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the two previous years by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. ISI Science Citation Index Only ~2000 journals selected per year for citation analysis. Choosing a journal –impact factors - multidisciplinary Choosing a journal –impact factors - specialist Writing the paper Make yourself familiar with the target journal Follow the submission guidelines precisely					- manuscript format						- good quality figures						- clear tables								- correct reference style and use					- electronic submission requirements Writing the paper –the usual structure Authorship list  The convention –who did the work, who has overall responsibility, who else was involved, who is answerable? Title  Brief and to the point Summary  Clear, concise, informative Introduction  Why is the work important? Background  focus  state importance  hypothesis under test  how tested  summarise achievement Material and Methods  Repeatable by reasonably informed researchers. Sections. Use of references carefully. Writing the paper –the usual structure Results  Break into sections. Logical flow –explain the reasons for doing the next experiment. Make clear what controls were done. Discussion  Brief statement of achievement  discussion of the implications of the result  speculation (but not too much) and hypothesis  final concluding short paragraph and killer sentence. Acknowledgements  Who else helped? Who provided special facilities? Who paid? References  Correct format. EndNote /Reference Manager Supporting material –Tables, figures and figure legends Covering letter Language problems. Not following submission guidelines. Confusing technology with science. Repeated or no real advance on previous published work. Titles, summaries, or abstracts that make no sense or fail to represent the subject matter adequately. Introductions that give inadequate background or do not say why the paper is worth reading. Repeating data in tables and figures/graphs. Reiterating results in Discussion. References wrongly formatted, incorrect or too old. Figures and tables without supporting legends or not cited in text. Seeing the same failings twice –referees mostly wish to help. Things that referees and editors love to hate Seeking help For now …Ask colleagues (first language or fluent) to pre-review. Ask someone younger! Create a writing and checking team. Ask your institute to employ a writer-helper. Make friends abroad who will help correct manuscripts. For the future –the next generation …Scientific writing in English courses in undergraduate degrees. Dissertations and (some?) examinations in English. Lectures (some?) and tutorials in English. English speaking guest lecturers and tutors *  Sheet3
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Abbreviated Journal Title
(linked to full journal information)
Impact
Factor
Immediacy
Index
Cited
Half-life
NATURE
 30.979
 6.679
 7.0
SCIENCE
 29.162
 5.589
 6.8
P NATL ACAD SCI USA
 10.272
 1.935
 6.6
IBM J RES DEV
 3.606
 0.556
 >10.0
SCI AM
 3.282
 0.355
ANN NY ACAD SCI
 1.892
 0.163
 6.7
NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN
 1.883
 0.143
P ROY SOC LOND A MAT
 1.210
 0.261
PHILOS T ROY SOC A
 1.115
 0.867
AM SCI
 1.097
 0.231
CR ACAD SCI III-VIE
 1.073
INT J BIFURCAT CHAOS
 1.014
 0.155
 5.5
J ROY SOC NEW ZEAL
 0.987
 0.425
 8.8
S AFR J SCI
 0.930
 0.124
 9.8