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I am excited to announce today's guest, who has major credibility on this topic. Richard Reis, PhD, is the editor of the free Tomorrow’s Professor eNewsletter sent twice per week to over 50,000 subscribers at over 850 institutions in over 100 countries around the world! I'm excited for him to share with you his suggestions for the nuts and bolts of publishing while in graduate school. And now, Richard Reis:
As a graduate student you need to see publishing as a natural outcome of your dissertation scholarship - a way to take some of the credit for what you have done and to communicate the results of your hard work to your future colleagues. Treat publishing as a forethought, not an afterthought.
Most graduate students who publish do so as co-authors on articles with more senior researchers and faculty members. This is fine. Be open to sharing credit with others, even if you feel you have made a disproportionate contribution to the research. Contributions can be made in different ways and at different levels.
PhD advisers in most science and engineering fields recommend that a graduate student have at least one paper in which the student is named as the first author. Many professors also like to see their students as co-authors of one other paper.
Publishing results in a permanent, public record of your work, you can’t take it back once it is out there. Excellent papers will serve as an advertisement of your accomplishments, poor papers will damage your reputation. I'll touch on what makes for a poor paper below. Your goal must be to publish the highest quality research papers.
Types of Academic Publications
Most scientific publishing falls into one of three categories: peer-reviewed papers in journals, conference papers and research reports.
While there are exceptions, peer-reviewed papers are generally of a higher quality than are those that appear in other forums. These are the papers that count most when reviewing a publication record for hiring, promotion and tenure. Conference papers, which cover in more detail the topic you are going to present orally at a conference, may or may not be peer-reviewed. Research reports are those usually required by funding agencies or your employer. Such reports often are more detailed than the journal or conference papers, but generally have a more limited audience. Of course they are often the basis for the first two types of papers.
Overview of a Research Paper
So what is involved in actually writing publishable papers? I can only touch on a few of the key elements here. Fortunately, the graduate divisions of most research universities have pamphlets, guidebooks, and even workshops that can provide you with additional guidance.
Many experienced authors suggest that you organize a research paper somewhat as you would a newspaper article -- that is, tell the same story several times by going into increasing levels of depth and difficulty. You'll need a compelling title, a good abstract, and well written introduction, method, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Create a Compelling Title
Start by paying considerable attention to the title since it will determine if busy readers will go further. For example, "Sending Signals: How Bacteria and Plants Talk to Each Other," has a lot more punch than "The Mechanism of NodD1-Mediated Transcription at Nod Gene Promoters." The title needs to be concise, accurate, and compelling.
A Good Abstract
Next comes the abstract, which should be 50 to 300 words. It is often circulated much more widely than the article itself, so pay close attention to it. Cliff Davidson and Susan Ambrose, the authors of The New Professor's Handbook, refer to two types of abstracts: descriptive, which list the contents of the paper, and informative, which describe the most important research results and their significance. Most peer-reviewed papers should use the latter type.
Introduction Ideas
The abstract is followed by the introduction. According to The New Professor's Handbook, the introduction serves several purposes: It describes the general topic area of the paper, lists the specific problems of interest, and presents the motivation for the work. Unless the manuscript is very short, the introduction should also include statements about the organization of the paper: Listing the major sections helps the reader understand the flow of ideas that follow.
Next comes the literature review where citing the work of others is essential. Obviously you want to show the connection between their work and yours. Not only does your professional integrity demand this, to do otherwise would be a case of fraud. It also certainly doesn't hurt to give credit to future colleagues, some of whom will be reviewing your paper for publication.
Method & Results
Now you need to discuss your research objectives and your methods of achieving them. Describe the equipment and experimental procedures you used for laboratory or field work, and the mathematical relations and solution techniques for a theoretical study. Then in the results section, which usually follows, you should refrain in most cases from including raw data but rather present the results themselves with some explanation of how you reached them.
Discussion
Next comes the discussion section, where you explain the significance of your results. According to Davidson and Ambrose, a poor job here is the main reason for rejection of most journal papers. As they put it:
In some cases, there is a fatal flaw: the research results are simply not significant enough to warrant publication. In other cases, the findings are interesting and worth publishing, but the discussion is inappropriate. For example, the author may be afraid to make a bold statement even when it is supported by the data (perhaps the true significance of the work is not recognized), or conversely the author may make unsubstantiated, sweeping claims when in fact only modest claims are warranted.
Some papers follow the discussion section with a section on future work. If this is the case, such statements should be limited to broad overviews of the directions you see your research taking, and not the kind of detail that would fit into a forthcoming proposal.
Next to the title and abstract, the section most likely to be read by most readers is the one with the conclusion or summary statement. A conclusion states the outcome of your work whereas a summary is a brief statement covering the main points of the paper. Either, or both, may be found in a research paper.
While there are many references on writing research papers, don't forget what may be your most important resource, your research advisers. Asking advisers and other colleagues to give you critical feedback on your drafts before submission to a journal can save you tremendous time and will go a long way toward increasing your chances of eventually having your paper accepted for publication.
(Portions of this article first appeared in the November 24, 2000 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education).
If you found this content helpful, you will love my book Publish and Prosper! Also, to receive regular updates from this blog Facebook page. On Thursday I will post about the dangers of perfectionism. Until then, happy writing!
