taiwan workshops - effectively communication your research 201403

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Author Workshop: Effec%vely Communica%ng Your Research

Taiwan 25–27 March 2014 Jeffrey Robens, PhD


Be an effective communicator

S

ü Write effec%vely

ü Logically present your research in your manuscript

ü Choose the best journal to reach your target audience ü Convey the significance of your work to journal editors ü Properly revise your manuscript aCer peer review

ü Promote your research aCer publica%on

Your goal is not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited


Effec=ve wri=ng

Section 1


Effec?ve wri?ng Short sentences

Reading once… 4% of readers can understand a 27-‐word sentence 75% of readers can understand a 17-‐word sentence

Pinner and Pinner (1998) Communica)on Skills

Goals to aim for: One idea per sentence

15–20 words


Effec?ve wri?ng Active voice

Sentences wriOen in the ac%ve voice are:

simple direct clear easy to read

The theories evalua%ng economic growth were inves%gated. Passive

We inves%gated the theories evalua%ng economic growth. Ac=ve


Effec?ve wri?ng Stress position

Readers focus at the end of the sentence to determine what is important.

1.   You deserve a raise, but the budget is %ght.

Which sentence suggests that you will get a raise?

2.   The budget is %ght, but you deserve a raise.

hGp://wri?ngcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/


Effec?ve wri?ng

The budget is %ght, but you deserve a raise. Your salary

will increase at the beginning of next year.

hGp://wri?ngcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/

Stress posi%on Topic posi%on

The topic posi=on introduces the idea of the current sentence

The stress posi%on also introduces the topic of the next sentence

Stress position


Effec?ve wri?ng Topic position

To increase the number of student applicants, the university recently implemented a new program. An important part of this program is to first give seminars at top-‐ranking high schools in the region. Increasing the number of local students is the ini%al step for the program’s success.

idea idea idea idea

Topic link

sentence


Effec?ve wri?ng

Despite steadily rising enrollment rates in U.S. postsecondary ins?tu?ons, weak academic performance and high dropout rates remain persistent problems among undergraduates. For academic ins?tu?ons, high aGri?on rates complicate enrollment planning and place added burdens on efforts to recruit new students. For students, dropping out before earning a terminal degree represents untapped human poten?al and a low return on their investment in college. Poor academic performance is oUen indica?ve of difficul?es in adjus?ng to college and makes dropping out more likely. This paper examines the joint effect of two related social cogni?ve factors—academic self-‐efficacy and stress—on academic performance and reten?on for college freshmen. Both of these factors have been…

Zajacova et al. Res Higher Ed. 2005; 46: 677–706.

Linking your ideas in your manuscript

Topic sentence

Stress sentence

Topic sentence


Manuscript structure

Section 2


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure

Use your figures to structure your manuscript

Where to start?

v Your findings are why you want to p u b l i s h y o u r work

v Form the basis of your manuscript

v First step, is to logically organize your findings

Figure 1

Figure 2

Table 1

Figure 3

Logical presenta%on

Is anything missing? ? Addi%onal analyses?



Where to start?

v Your findings are why you want to p u b l i s h y o u r work

v Form the basis of your manuscript

v First step, is to logically organize your findings

Figure 1

Figure 2

Table 1

Figure 3

Figure 4

Logical presenta%on

New data

Use your figures to structure your manuscript


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Prepare an outline

Now that you know what findings you are going to present, you know what you need to write about

Introduc%on

Methods

Results

Discussion

What background informa%on you will introduce

What analyses you will describe

What findings you will present

What interpreta%ons, limita%ons, and implica%ons you will discuss


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Introduction

General introduc%on

Specific aims Aims

Current state of the field

Problem in the field



Iden?fy an important problem State aims that directly address this problem

Writing the Introduction

Problem …liGle has been conducted to qualita?vely assess whether self-‐efficacy and peer influence affect the likelihood of students engaging in academic dishonesty.

Nora & Zhang Asia Pacific Educ Rev. 2010; 11: 573–584.

Aims The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to determine the effect of peer aitudes and behaviour on the likelihood of chea?ng; secondly, to establish the significance of self-‐efficacy in promo?ng academic integrity; lastly, to ascertain effec?ve ways of deterring academic dishonesty.


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Literature review

How did these lead to more recent studies? How is your manuscript different?

What is your hypothesis?

What did earlier studies show?

Literature reviews help: Formulate your research ques?on

Establish the relevance of your study by iden?fying knowledge gaps

Previous studies

Current study


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Methods

How it was done

Methodology/analyses Measures and outcomes

Quan%fica%on methods Sta%s%cal tests

Who/what was used

Par%cipants Instruments

Data collec%on

How it was analyzed

Study design

Consult a sta=s=cian


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Results

1.   Ini%al observa%on 2.   Characteriza%on 3.   Applica%on Logical presenta%on

Example:

1.   Observe a correla%on between depression and Internet use

2.   Characterize the severity of depression, %me spent online, websites visited

3.   Demonstrate decreased Internet use improves severity of depression


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Results

1.   Ini%al observa%on 2.   Characteriza%on 3.   Applica%on

Each subsec%on corresponds to

one figure

What you found, not what it means

Logical presenta%on

Subsec%ons

Factual descrip%on


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Discussion

Summary of findings

Relevance of findings

Implica%ons for the field

Similari%es/differences Unexpected results Counter-‐arguments Limita%ons


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Discussion – the end

The Spanish version of AIDA showed good psychometric proper?es in Mexico and can be used to assess the construct “pathology-‐related iden?ty integra?on vs. diffusion” with reliability, validity, and content equivalence in comparison with the original AIDA ques?onnaire. This finding supports the cross-‐cultural generalizability of the underlying concept and confirms the importance of culture-‐specific test adap?on in addi?on to literal transla?on of the ques?onnaire. Nevertheless, some items should be improved. Therefore, the test version of “AIDA Spanish – Mexico” should be further adapted and should be tested in a more heterogeneous popula?on.

Conclusion

Implica%ons

Future direc%ons

Why your work is important to your readers

Kassin et al. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2013; 7: 25.


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Linking your ideas

General background

Objec%ves

Methodology

Results and figures

Summary of findings

Implica%ons for the field

Relevance of findings

Problems in the field

Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript

Current state of the field Introduc%on

Methods

Results

Discussion


Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript structure Linking your ideas

…no research has examined how interac%ng with Facebook influences subjec%ve well-‐being over %me.

We addressed this issue by…measuring in-‐vivo behavior and psychological experience over %me.

These analyses indicated that Facebook use predicts declines in…subjec%ve well-‐being…

Problem

Objec%ves

Conclusion

Discussion

Introduc=on

Kross et al. PLoS ONE 2013; 8: e69841.


Titles and abstracts

Section 3


Customer Service Titles and abstracts

Important points

ü  Summarize key finding ü  Contains keywords ü  Less than 20 words

Avoid

Effective titles

Your =tle should be a concise summary of your most important finding

"   Ques%ons "   Abbrevia%ons "   “New” or “novel”


Customer Service Titles and abstracts Abstract

First impression of your paper

Importance of your results

Validity of your conclusions

Relevance of your aims

Judge your wri%ng style

Probably only part that will be read


Customer Service Titles and abstracts Sections of an abstract

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your hypothesis

Analyses

Most important findings

Conclusion/implica%ons

Concise summary of your research


Customer Service Titles and abstracts Unstructured abstract

Poli?cal thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to parliamentary and presiden?al elec?ons. However, liGle is known about how the individual's poli?cal aitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle na?onal cues that are so prevalent in our environment. We report a series of experiments that show that subliminal exposure to one's na?onal flag influences poli?cal aitudes, inten?ons, and decisions, both in laboratory seings and in “real-‐life” behavior. Furthermore, this manipula?on consistently narrowed the gap between those who score high vs. low on a scale of iden?fica?on with Israeli na?onalism. The first two experiments examined par?cipants' stance toward the Israeli–Pales?nian conflict and the Jewish seGlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3 examined vo?ng inten?ons and actual vo?ng in Israel's recently held general elec?ons. The results portray a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's na?onality significantly influence poli?cal thought and overt poli?cal behavior.

Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.


Customer Service Titles and abstracts Unstructured abstract

Conclusion The results portray a consistent picture: subtle reminders of one's na?onality significantly influence poli?cal thought and overt poli?cal behavior.

Results

Furthermore, this manipula?on consistently narrowed the gap between those who score high vs. low on a scale of iden?fica?on with Israeli na?onalism. The first two experiments examined par?cipants' stance toward the Israeli–Pales?nian conflict and the Jewish seGlers in the West Bank. Experiment 3 examined vo?ng inten?ons and actual vo?ng in Israel's recently held general elec?ons.

Methods We report a series of experiments that show that subliminal exposure to one's na?onal flag influences poli?cal aitudes, inten?ons, and decisions, both in laboratory seings and in “real-‐life” behavior.

Background

Poli?cal thought and behavior play an important role in our lives, from ethnic tensions in Europe, to the war in Iraq and the Middle Eastern conflict, to parliamentary and presiden?al elec?ons. However, liGle is known about how the individual's poli?cal aitudes and decisions are shaped by subtle na?onal cues that are so prevalent in our environment.

Hassin et al. PNAS. 2007; 104: 19757‒19761.


Thank you!

Any questions?

Follow us on TwiOer @JournalAdvisor

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/EdanzEdi%ng

Download and further reading edanzedi%ng.com/Taiwan_2014

Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]


Journal selec=on

Section 4


Journal selec?on Factors to consider when choosing a journal

Aims & scope Readership

Open access

Which factor is most important to you?

Indexing


Journal selec?on Evaluating significance

How new are your findings? Novelty

How broadly relevant are your findings? Relevance

What are the important real-‐world applica%ons? Appeal


Journal selec?on

Insert your proposed abstract

Journal Selector – www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector


Journal selec?on

Recommended journals

Filter by: Impact factor

Publishing frequency Open access



Journal selec?on

Seman%c matching terms

Journals IF, Aims & Scope, and Frequency

Similar published ar%cles

Have they published similar ar%cles recently? Have you cited some of these ar%cles?



Journal selec?on Tips to identify the most suitable journal

S

Iden%fy the interests of the journal editor

Iden%fy the interests of the

readers

•  Editorials •  Review ar%cles •  Special issues

•  Most viewed •  Most cited


Cover leSers

Section 5


Coverage and Staffing Plan Cover leGers

Abstract: First impression for readers

Cover leOers are the first impression for the journal editor

Significance Relevance

Level of English Interes%ng to their readers?

Is your work important?



Dear Dr Ellenbogen, Please find enclosed our manuscript en?tled “Presenteeism among Japanese employees: Personality and job stress”, which we would like to submit for publica?on as a Research Paper in Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna)onal Journal. This study examines presenteeism, the situa?on in which workers are present at work, but their ability to do their jobs is impaired by physical or mental symptoms. This topic is important to companies as studies have found that the costs of presenteeism can be higher than medical costs associated with trea?ng the underlying condi?ons. Currently, the rela?onships between common mental health symptoms and presenteeism, as well as the effects of job strain and workplace social support, are unclear. We aimed to evaluate these rela?onships and consider the effect of personality traits on both presenteeism and common mental health symptoms. We used an online ques?onnaire incorpora?ng several well-‐established and verified ques?onnaires to assess presenteeism, mental disturbance, job strain and workplace support, and temperament and character. We found that common mental health symptoms are a good predictor of presenteeism. Although workplace social support is generally agreed to reduce the severity of common mental health symptoms, we found no direct effect on presenteeism. Our results clearly link presenteeism to common mental health symptoms, and also show the nega?ve effects of strain and poor workplace support. This study is of interest to researchers, managers, mental health clinicians and occupa?onal health specialists interested in the issue of workplace stress and its management. This study is likely to lead to an improved approach to preven?ng and managing both presenteeism and common mental health symptoms, and is applicable worldwide. Therefore, we feel this manuscript is par?cularly suitable for Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna)onal Journal and of great interest to its readers.

Give the background to the research

What was done and what was found

Interest to journal’s readers

A good cover letter

We would also like to suggest the following reviewers for our manuscript…

Editor’s name Manuscript %tle

Publica%on type

Recommend reviewers

“Must-‐have” statements



“Must-‐have” statements

Not submiOed to other journals

Source of funding

Authors agree on paper/journal

Original and unpublished

No conflicts of interest

Authorship contribu%ons

Disclaimers about publication ethics


Coverage and Staffing Plan Cover leGers Recommending

reviewers

Where to find them?

From your reading/references, networking at conferences

How senior? Aim for mid-‐level researchers

Who to avoid? Collaborators (past 5 years), researchers from same ins%tu%on


Coverage and Staffing Plan Cover leGers Choose internationally

•  1 or 2 reviewers from Asia •  1 or 2 reviewers from Europe •  1 or 2 reviewers from North America

Journal Editors want to see an interna%onal list for 2 reasons:

1.   Shows that you are familiar with your field worldwide

2.   Shows that your research is relevant worldwide •  Increased readership → increased cita%ons → increased impact factor


Peer Review

Section 6


Peer review What reviewers are looking for

The science

The manuscript

ü  Relevant hypothesis ü  Good experimental design ü  Appropriate methodology ü  Good data analysis ü  Valid conclusions

ü  Logical flow of informa%on ü  Manuscript structure and formaqng ü  Appropriate references ü  High readability


Peer review

25 March 2014

Dear Dr. Robens,

Manuscript ID NRL-‐11-‐7839: “Presenteeism among Japanese employees: Personality and job stress”

Your manuscript has been reviewed, and we regret to inform you that based on our Expert reviewers’ comments, it is not possible to further consider your manuscript in its current form for publica%on in Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna=onal Journal.

Although the reviews are not en%rely nega%ve, it is evident from the extensive comments and concerns that the manuscript, in its current form, does not meet the criteria expected of papers in Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna=onal Journal. The results appear to be too preliminary and incomplete for publica%on at the present %me.

The reviewer comments are included at the boOom of this leOer. I hope the informa%on provided by the reviewers will be helpful in future. Thank you for your interest in the journal and I regret that the outcome has not been favorable at this %me.

Decision letter

Decision

Reason

Comments


Peer review Editor is interested in your work

ü  The Reviewer comments are not en%rely nega%ve.

ü  It is not possible to consider your manuscript in its current form.

ü  I hope the informa%on provided will be helpful when you revise your manuscript.

ü  I regret that the outcome has not been favorable at this %me.


Peer review Editor is not interested in your work

"  We cannot publish your manuscript "   Your study does not contain novel results that merit publica%on in our journal.

"  We appreciate your interest in our journal. However, we will not further consider your manuscript for publica%on.

"  We wish you luck in publishing your results elsewhere.


Peer review

Dr Mark Ellenbogen Editor-‐in-‐Chief Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna)onal Journal 3 September 2013 Dear Dr Ellenbogen, Re: Resubmission of manuscript reference No. WJS-‐07-‐5739 Please find aGached a revised version of our manuscript originally en?tled “Presenteeism among Japanese employees: Personality and job stress,” which we would like to resubmit for considera?on for publica?on in the Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna)onal Journal. The reviewer’s comments were highly insighuul and enabled us to greatly improve the quality of our manuscript. In the following pages are our point-‐by-‐point responses to each of the comments. Revisions in the manuscript are shown as underlined text. In accordance with the first comment, the ?tle has been revised and the en?re manuscript has undergone substan?al English edi?ng. We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publica?on in the Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An Interna)onal Journal.

Address editor personally

Manuscript ID number

Thank reviewers

Highlight major changes

Writing response letters


Peer review Agreeing with reviewers

Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fiEng func)on (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian func)on would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instruc)ve and easier to compare to previous results.

Response: We agree with the reviewer’s assessment of the analysis. Our tailored func?on, in its current form, makes it difficult to tell that this measurement cons?tutes a significant improvement over previously reported values. We describe our new analysis using a Gaussian fiing func?on in our revised Results sec?on (Page 6, Lines 12–18).

Agreement

Revisions Loca%on


Peer review Disagreeing with reviewers


Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored func?on allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model [Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this func?on and the Smith model in our revised Discussion sec?on (Page 12, Lines 2–6).


Peer review


Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored func?on allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model [Smith et al., 1998]. We have now explained the use of this func?on and the Smith model in our revised Discussion sec?on (Page 12, Lines 2–6).

Evidence

Revisions

Loca%on

Disagreeing with reviewers


Peer review

Reviewer comment: Currently, the authors’ conclusion that this ques)onnaire is appropriate for cross-‐cultural analyses is not completely valid because their par)cipants all resided in Taiwan. They should also show the ques)onnaire’s validity in par)cipants living in other countries.

“Unfair” reviewer comments

Reasons why reviewers might make these comments

v Current results are not appropriate for the impact factor of the journal

v Reviewer is being “unfair”


Peer review “Unfair” reviewer comments

What you should do

v Do the experiments, revise, and resubmit to the same journal

v Withdraw submission and resubmit current manuscript to a lower impact factor journal

v Contact the journal editor if you feel reviewer is being unfair


If rejected, what should you do?

Op%on 1: New submission to the same journal

v Fully revise manuscript v Prepare point-‐by-‐point responses v  Include the original manuscript ID number

Op%on 2: New submission to a different journal

v Revise manuscript v Reformat according to the author guidelines


If accepted, what’s next?

v  Promote your work on social networks •  TwiGer, LinkedIn

v  Respond to post-‐publica%on comments

v  Present your work at conferences •  Allows you to discuss your work personally with your peers •  Get feedback about your work and future direc?ons •  Networking and collabora?ons


Be an effective communicator

S

ü Write effec%vely

ü Logically present your research in your manuscript

ü Choose the best journal to reach your target audience ü Convey the significance of your work to journal editors ü Properly revise your manuscript aCer peer review

ü Promote your research aCer publica%on

Your goal is not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited


Thank you!

Any questions?

Follow us on TwiOer @JournalAdvisor

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/EdanzEdi%ng

Download and further reading edanzedi%ng.com

Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]

taiwan workshops - effectively communication your research 201403

Education