The research publishing cycle: From idea to post-publication impact
We've put a series together that take researchers around the 'academic hamster wheel', providing tips, tricks and easy-to-follow templates at each stage!
Unlock the Secrets to Academic Publishing Success: Transform Your Research into Peer-Reviewed Publications
🔍 Ever wondered why we even bother publishing research?
Publishing isn't just about adding a line to your CV. It's about sharing knowledge, gaining recognition, and advancing science.
🚀 Solution: With over 360 articles under my belt, I've experienced the profound impact of publishing firsthand.
🎥 Lesson#1: Dive into the essence of publishing and discover its transformative power. Embark on a publishing journey! Click here for more
🔍 Embarking on a peer-reviewed publication? Know this - it's not just about the content.
🌪 Agitation: The world of peer-reviewed journals is intricate. Without understanding its nuances, even groundbreaking research can face hurdles.
🚀 Solution: Let's demystify the process together. With 25 years in the field, I've got insights to share.
🎥 Lesson#2: Things to know before writing a peer-reviewed publication. Navigate the publishing maze! Click here for more
🔍 Selecting the right journal can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.
🌪 Agitation: A wrong choice can lead to prolonged review times, or worse, rejections.
🚀 Solution: I've been there, done that, and learned the tricks. Let's find the perfect home for your research.
🎥 Lesson#3: Journal selection. Things to think about. Choose wisely, publish successfully! Click here for more
Writing an academic paper is a daunting task! Here are my “12 steps to success” which anyone can follow to make the process easier
All researchers struggle with the writing and publishing process. Colleagues get daunted when faced with a blank piece of paper and pressurized as they know they have a deadline to get all their results down, written up, and submitted. Universities and research institutes require academics to publish, and you’ll need to do this to advance your career. Get your MSc or PhD, get promoted, or get tenure at your University.
Don’t worry! I created this blog to help! Please signup, share this account with friends and relatives, and get in touch with me with any questions or issues. I’ll try to answer them here: You’ll probably see your Question turned into a blog article, or series of FAQs so we can all learn from each other and shared experiences in writing and publishing. There’s ‘nothing new under the sun’ after all: Your issue or question has almost certainly scuppered someone else in the past (perhaps many people) ……
Let’s get on with it then: To get us started, here are my “12-Steps to Success”. An “Escalator of Excellence” if you will. I guarantee that if you follow these steps in sequence when preparing to writing an academic paper, you’ll find the process to be much, much, much, much, much easier … (that’s right: Much easier!).
Step 1. Your analysis is complete: Make some figures and tables
A picture is worth a thousand words. And most people will do this first in any case. You’ve completed your analysis. Collected and analyzed all your data. Make some, or all, of your figures and tables as these will go onto the form the basis of your written content. Figure and table creation will also help you alot to figure out the main message of the paper you are going to go on and write.
You might not use all of the figures and tables you create in your article itself, but - for sure - they’ll be useful for posters and presentations about the research in the future. The important step here is to start with figures and tables in order to refine your message.
Before starting to actually write a paper you need to have three things figured out: (1) your message, (2) your audience (= your target journal), and (3) your article structure (= comes from your choice of target journal). Please don’t start writing until you have some good ideas about these three things. Please. Thank you.
Step 2. Make an outline for your Methods section as a timeline
Did you know that the most common reason for article rejection during peer review is an issue with the Methods section? Real or in the mind of an editor or peer reviewer. For this reason, your Methods section needs to be bullet-proof. Water-proof your Methods section for peer review by sharing it with other colleagues before submission. Ask them: Is there enough information here to allow someone else to repeat my work?
How to write your Methods? Structure it as a timeline, a sequence of events. What did you do first, second, third, and last as you carried out your research. Data collection before data analysis. There is a very good reason why Methods sections usually end with ‘Statistical Analysis’ or similar …
Write down a series of subheadings for this section that follow a timeline sequence. If you have a target journal in mind before starting to write (Top Tip: You should have!) then this will be easy peasy lemon squeezy: Just copy the headings from a paper recently published in your target journal that deals with a similar issue, or experimental type, to your study.
It’s also worth noting that in lots of papers the structure of the Methods section is very very close to the structure of the Results (often with the same subheading titles). We’ll come onto this in a moment.
Step 3. Results: Same sequence as the Methods
Oh, wait! We’ll come to this now. Your Results section should be structured in a very similar way to your Methods, with information appearing in the same sequence. Doing this keeps the structure simple and also helps your readers to follow your arguments. Base this section around the Figures and Tables you’ve already put together. Easy right?
Well, this is the “Write Order”. Writing your paper Methods and Results sections first. Using a very similar sequence of events. Your Figures and Tables help here as well because you can write a paragraph about each, and then order them in the same sequence as information appeared in the Methods.
Don’t throw anything away. Figure and Tables you end up not using, or writing about, can be saved for the Supplementary Information section or used later in presentations. You might even bump them to your next paper.
Step 4. Keep your Introduction simple: 3 paragraphs is best
Lots of people thing that’s important to put as much information as possible into the Introduction. No! This is also not the place for a Literature Review. No, no, no, no! No one wants to read 000s of citations and about all the things that have ever been written on a particular topic.
Here it’s important to be concise. Check your target journal. Structure your Introduction based on three paragraphs: (1) The question your article seeks to address, (2) The ‘state-of-the-art’ on this particular issue, and (3) What your paper is going to actually do (as this is the bridge into the Methods).
How much information to include? Well, 1,500 words is a good Introduction length (considerably shorter in some of the higher impact factor journals, like Nature and Science). Check other recent papers written on a similar topic: They set the scene by outlining the question that the work is going to address (1), review recent, important and interesting literature that is relevant to this question (2, in grant writing we call this the ‘state-of-the-art’), and then tell the reader what’s going to come next (3, “in this paper, we show ….”).
Check out the end of the Introduction in any Nature or Science paper. This section will always end with a short phrase: "In this paper, we demonstrate …..”, or “Here we show …”. First person, active voice. Set the scene for the rest of the article.
Step 5. Discussion: Ranking your outcomes
In your Discussion section you now have the chance to interpret your Results. Tell your readers what they mean. Discussion is a synonym for Interpretation in English after all. Start off this section though my telling your readers what the answer to the question you posed at the start of the Introduction is: “The results of this article demonstrate that ….”. Simple as that. Right at the start of the Discussion.
Next, you’ll interpret, explain the significance of your work, and build out from specific to general as the Discussion continues. Ending with your most important and significant outcomes. Just like running a race, it’s important to finish an academic paper as strongly as possible. Don’t be weak: Far too many papers end with a phrase like “More research will be required if we are to fully understand the importance of this outcome …”. That’s lame. Finish strong!
Rank your most important outcomes from least-to-most important and make sure that the last sentence of your paper is a statement of the most significant outcome of the work. Leave your readers wanting more! Quit while you are still ahead
…. remaining steps COMING SOON!
Summary
The aim of this blog article has been to provide an outline, a series of templates, to enable you to more effectively write a clinical research manuscript. The key to doing this successfully is to logically link your ideas together throughout your paper (Figure 6) and think about the answers to four key questions:
-Why does this study need to be done?
-What did you do?
-What did you find?
-How does your study advance the field? (What did you conclude?)
Seem familiar? Yes, these are the same four questions we discussed when we talked about writing an effective Abstract. It’s the same outcome. The Abstract is a distillation of the main paper and each has the same goal; to attract, hook, and retain readers so that they want to use your paper. Cite your paper. Research articles that are not cited and used might as well not have been written.
Start broad in the Introduction and work downwards, becoming more-and-more specific before broadening the scope of your article again in the Discussion (Figure 6).
Above all, remember that before starting to write your next academic article it’s important to think about three issues and have answers in mind: (1) What is your message? (the takeaway, the one key thing you want people to remember from reading your work); (2) How are your audience? (which journal will you target with the paper), and; (3) What will the structure of the article be?