Guide to publishing a scientific paper

120 Pages·2008·0.246 MB·English

by  Ann M. Körner

Guide to Publishing
a Scientific Paper
Guide to Publishing a Scientific Paperprovides researchers in every field of the
biological, physical, and medical sciences with all the information necessary
to prepare, submit for publication, and revise a scientific paper.
The book includes details of every step in the process that is required
for the publication of a scientificpaper, for example,
• use of correct style and language
• choice of journal, use of the correct format, and adherence to journal
guidelines
• submission of the manuscript in the appropriate format and with the
appropriate cover letter and other materials
• the format for responses to reviewers’ comments and resubmission of
arevised manuscript.
The advice provided conforms to the most up-to-date specifications and
even the seasoned writer will learn how procedures have changed in recent
years, in particular with regard to the electronic submission of manuscripts.
Every scientist who is preparing to write a paper should read this book
before embarking on the preparation of a manuscript. This useful book also
includes samples of letters to the editor and responses to the editor’s
comments and referees’ criticism. In addition, as an Appendix, the book
includes succinct advice on how to prepare an application for funding.
The author has edited more than 7,500 manuscripts over the past 20
years and is, consequently, very familiar with all of the most common mis-
takes. Her book provides invaluable and straightforward advice on how to
avoid these mistakes.
Ann M. Körner is a professional editor and writer. She has an undergraduate
degree from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate in Molecular
Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

Guide to Publishing
a Scientific Paper
Ann M. Körner
First published 2004 by Bioscript Press
This edition published 2008
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
©2004, 2008 Ann M. Körner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Körner, Ann M., 1947–
Guide to Publishing a Scientific Paper/Ann M. Korner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978–0–415–45265–6 (hardback) — ISBN 978–0–415–45266–3 (pbk.)
—ISBN 978–0–203–93875–1 (e-book)1 .Technical writing.2 .Technical
publishing. 3.Communication in science. I.Title.
T11.K68 2008
808′.0665—dc22 2007026177
ISBN 0-203-93875-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 10: 0–415–45265–1 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0–415–45266–X (pbk)
ISBN 10: 0–203–93875–5 (ebk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–45265–6 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–45266–3 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–203–93875–1 (ebk)
This book is dedicated to Sasha and Anna Hazard,
the first of a new generation of writers.

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
The ten most common mistakes xiii
Introduction 1
1 The publication of scientific papers 5
1.1 Why publish? 5
1.2 What should be published? 6
1.3 Who should publish? 7
1.4 Where should you publish? 9
1.4.1 General considerations 9
1.4.2 Specific considerations 11
1.5 Manuscripts for biomedical journals 11
2 Before you start writing 13
2.1 Instructions to Authors 13
2.2 Common grammatical mistakes 14
2.2.1 Why does grammar matter? 14
2.2.2 Spelling and consistency 15
2.2.3 The active versus the passive voice 16
2.2.4 The incorrectly related participle 16
2.2.5 The use of “that” and “which” 17
2.2.6 Nouns as adjectives and the problems that
they cause 17
2.2.7 “This” is often incorrect 19
2.2.8 The incorrect use of “due to” 20
2.2.9 “Types,” “kinds,” and “classes” 20
2.2.10 “None” means “not one” and is singular 20
2.2.11 Some common problems with hyphenation 21
viii Contents
2.2.12 Hyphenation and abbreviations 21
2.2.13 Numbers and hyphens 22
2.2.14 Lists and semicolons 23
2.3 Reference books 24
3 The title page 27
3.1 The choice of title 27
3.2 The running title 29
3.3 The authors’ names and relevant footnotes 30
3.4 Author for correspondence 32
3.5 Key words 32
3.6 Abbreviations 33
3.7 Fonts 35
4 The Abstract or Summary 36
4.1 The function and length of the Abstract or Summary 36
4.2 Heading and numbering 37
4.3 Format: continuous text or specified sections? 37
4.4 Abbreviations 37
4.5 The single-sentence summary or précis 38
4.6 Inclusion of references in the Abstract 39
4.7 The content of the Abstract 40
5 The Introduction 41
5.1 Length 41
5.2 References in the Introduction 42
5.3 Historical background 43
5.4 The working hypothesis behind your research 44
5.5 Methodology, instrumentation, materials and
analytical tools 44
5.6 Relevance of your study and inferences from your
results 44
6 Materials and Methods 46
6.1 Format 46
6.2 Biological samples 47
6.3 Chemicals 48
6.4 Units of measurement 49
6.5 Registered trademarks 49
6.6 Organization of Materials and Methods 49
6.7 Details of theoretical premises and computations 51
Contents ix
7 Human subjects 52
7.1 Descriptions of human subjects and case histories 52
7.2 Informed consent 52
7.3 The format of a case history 53
8 Results 55
8.1 The quality of your data 55
8.2 What results should you include in your Results section? 55
8.3 The organization of your results 56
8.4 Presentation of your data 56
8.5 References to Figures and Tables in the Results section 57
8.6 The commonest mistakes in the Results section 58
8.7 Availability of your newly synthesized materials to others 59
8.8 Intellectual property and patents 59
9 Discussion 61
9.1 Length and purpose 61
9.2 Organization of the Discussion 62
10 Acknowledgments 64
10.1 The purpose (and spelling) of Acknowledgments 64
10.2 Who gets acknowledged? 64
10.3 Conflicts of interest 66
11 References and Notes 67
11.1 References to papers 67
11.2 References to books and to chapters in books 70
11.3 References to electronic sources 70
11.4 Words in foreign languages 71
11.5 References to papers “in press” and to unpublished data 72
11.6 Notes 72
11.7 A note about the number of references 73
12 Figures and Figure Legends 74
12.1 General advice 74
12.2 Graphs and histograms 74
12.3 Units and axes 75
12.4 Logarithmic and semilogarithmic scales 76
12.5 Photographs 76
12.6 Diagrams and schemes 77
12.7 Capitalization in figures and diagrams 78