Excellence Everywhere - National University of Ireland, Galway

C r e a t i n g a n i n t e g r a t e dresearch and publication planThere is a balance to be struck between trying to produce a “dream paper” that may never get doneand sending out a set of fragmentary observations. One way to find this balance is to integrate yourplans for publication into your research plans. In her book At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator, KathyBarker suggests strategies for doing this. As you decide on the long-term goals of your research andon the series of experiments or calculations you want to undertake, Barker suggests that you envisionthese experiments or calculations as components of a published manuscript or series of manuscripts.Think graphically; imagine how each set of results will be displayed in a figure, graph, or table. Put yourideas in writing at the outset, sketching out the hypotheses you want to pursue, the methods you intendto use, and the results you hope to get. By integrating research planning, the development of graphicimages of your data, and the work of interpretive writing, you force yourself to focus your energy in away that will move your project forward. The questions you generate as you analyze and write up theresults of each experiment should suggest additional clarifying experiments, the results of which youshould also express graphically. As you write, you will uncover gaps in information and shaky conclusionsand will be able to do experiments that make the work stronger. Eventually, you should be able todecide that you have a set of results that warrants publication.n If my results are primarily of interest to myparticular scientific specialty, which journals reachthe members of that specialty? Within this group,which journal or journals have included articles onmy particular subject area in the past couple ofyears?n Would any journal be particularly interested in mysubject because it fits into a theme it has beenpursuing? Some journals, and some editors,pursue their own special interests over time.The top-tier journals receive far more submissionsthan they can publish. For example, Nature rejectsabout 95% of the biomedical papers it receives.Be realistic about your chances. You will loseprecious time submitting your paper to the wrongjournal.It helps to ask trusted colleagues where they thinkyour paper should appear. If they are frequentreviewers for several journals in your field, theywill have a good idea of what the standards are foreach journal.Making Your Pitch. To make sure you writeyour paper for the right journal, you may wantto submit an initial query to your target journalto gauge its interest in your work. Most journalshave guidelines for submitting so-called presubmissioninquiries. This information can oftenbe found on the journal’s Web site. If the journaldoes not provide guidelines, send an email to oneof the editors, who are usually listed near the frontof the journal and frequently can be found in theelectronic version of English language journals bysearching for the word “masthead” (the namefor the box that contains such information) at thejournal’s Web site. Try to find out the name of theeditor who handles papers in your area of interest.A pre-submission inquiry usually includes:n An abstract stating the purpose of the project,methods, and main findings and conclusions. Thisabstract can be slightly longer than the abstract ofa typical research paper and may include citationsof relevant journal literature. Make sure that theabstract is clear to non-specialists and that theywill be able to understand what the scientificadvance is.126 excellence everywhere