Submitting Manuscripts Adam Leventhal For USC CTSI
Why do you publish? • The critical role of publication for your career – Metrics, such as impact factor and H-Index – Cohort comparisons of YOU to a group of your peers on publication numbers and citation count H-index – Importance of publishing in and… outside of your field Grants Papers • Remember- this is the whole point of science
Impact Factors & Journal Selection The Im Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations • in the year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. An Impact Factor of 1.0 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited one time. Consider the audience • Network journals • JAMA network – Lancet network – Nature publishing group – BMJ has a network – Society-related journals reach • Prevention Science – SPR – Nic Tob Res – SRNT – AJPH – APHA – 3
Remember • Almost any paper can be published somewhere • You can’t “take back” publications • Aim high (generally)—the better the journal, the quicker the rejection • Cynically, you need to consider the impact factor of the journals where you publish • Quality and quantity of papers both matter
Distinctions across Meta Fields • Medical, clinical, public health – JAMA network word limit 3000 (NEJM 2700) – Brief report (RL) <600 words • Basic science, biological / biomedical – Nature: 3000 words minus methods – RL: 1200 words • Social behavioral sciences / behavioral health – J Abn Psych: 9000 words, 5000 for brief report • Topic/Disease-specific journals that cut across disciplines
What Diff Types of Journals Want Va Value Int Intro Re Resu sults Di Discussion Basic Innovation! Short Brief Short-ish Sciences Theory ”Here we Figures are the Rigor show…” bomb! Medical/ Big Very short Tables and text are Don’t summarize clinical/ Samples (300 duplicative Bring in lit public health Definitive words) Tables/Figures review Results No lit special Hot/timely review Topics Social Methods! Long.. Tables/figures Can summarize Behavioral Theory 2-4 pages Don’t duplicate text results Sciences Connection Lit review Can be brief literature
What Diff Types of Journals Want Va Value Int Intro Re Resu sults Di Discussion Basic Innovation! Short Brief Short-ish Sciences Theory ”Here we Figures are the Rigor show…” bomb! Medical/ Big Very short Tables and text are Don’t summarize clinical/ Samples (300 duplicative Bring in lit public health Definitive words) Tables/Figures review Results No lit special Hot/timely review Topics Social Methods! Long.. Tables/figures Can summarize Behavioral Theory 2-4 pages Don’t duplicate text results Sciences Connection Lit review Can be brief literature
What Diff Types of Journals Want Value Va Int Intro Re Resu sults Di Discussion Basic Innovation! Short Brief Short-ish Sciences Theory ”Here we Figures are the Rigor show…” bomb! Medical/ Big Very short Tables and text are Don’t summarize clinical/ Samples No lit duplicative Bring in lit public health Definitive review Tables/Figures review Results special Hot/timely Topics Social Methods! Long.. Tables/figures Can summarize Behavioral Theory 2-4 pages Don’t duplicate text results Sciences Connection Lit review Can be brief literature
What Diff Types of Journals Want Va Value Int Intro Re Resu sults Di Discussion Basic Innovation! Short Brief Short-ish Sciences Theory ”Here we Figures are the Rigor show…” bomb! Medical/ Big Very short Tables and text are Don’t summarize clinical/ Samples (300 duplicative Bring in lit public health Definitive words) Tables/Figures review Results No lit special Hot/timely review Topics Social Methods! Long.. Tables/figures Can summarize Behavioral Theory 2-4 pages Don’t duplicate text results Sciences Connection Lit review Can be brief literature
What Diff Types of Journals Want Va Value Int Intro Re Resu sults Di Discussion Basic Innovation! Short Brief Short-ish Sciences Theory ”Here we Figures are the Rigor show…” bomb! Medical/ Big Very short Tables and text are Don’t summarize clinical/ Samples (300 duplicative Where lit review public health Definitive words) Tables/Figures happens Results No lit special Hot/timely review Topics Social Methods! Long.. Tables/figures Can summarize Behavioral Theory 2-4 pages Don’t duplicate text results Sciences Connection Lit review Can be brief literature
Considering the Audience • Reviewer • Editor • Who the editor wants to disseminate the article to (categorical/% or quant vars) • 3 groups can be same or different • Challenge if they are different
Big picture Selling your idea to the scientific community • Reviewers • Their aim: to ensure that only quality papers get – published Therefore, in your paper, you need to: – Make an argument why your paper is worthy • Expect the reviewers’ attacks and launch preemptive • counteroffensives Consider even issues you feel are not important •
What reviewers & readers want to know when their read a manuscript What is the overall idea? • Is this topic important? • Is the study innovative? • Will the results advance the literature? • What exactly did the researchers do? • Were the methods appropriate? •
Sections of a Manuscript (in order*) • Title Page (lists, title, authors, affiliation) • Abstract • Introduction • Method The meat • Results • Discussion • References • Appendix & Author Note • Footnote(s) (Optional) • Tables • Figure Captions • Figures *Methods can be at end for some basic science
The meat of a manuscript
A Title • It should be: – brief (<15 words) – Describe the major variables studied in the hypothesis • Can allude to the results of the study and/or the study’s design, except for certain journals • What are bad about these titles: – “An Investigation of Depression” – “The Relationship between Paranoia on the Paranoid ideation Questionnaires and Lexical Processing on a Timed Reading Task among Individuals with Disorganized Schizophrenia Recruited from the State Psychiatric Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma” Good titles: • – “Experimentally-Induced Negative Mood Reduces Interpersonal Self Efficacy” – “The Association between Aggression and Academic Performance in Sixth- Grade Students”
Introduction • In Introduce the general research area (1-2 2 sent ent.) – State the topic – Give reasons why studying this general topic is important • How can research on this topic solve a real-world problem or advance theory • So Social/be beh sc science: Review pa past studi dies on on that pa particular topi opic (1-3 3 paragraphs hs) – First: Review general findings in the area • Integrate findings and identify general trends across studies – Then: Hone in on studies that are directly relevant to your topic
Introduction • Id Identify the gap in the literature that the your study in intends to o address (a 2-4 4 sent ent paragraph) h) – Discuss what remains unclear – Note the importance of addressing that particular gap • In Introduce your study (a 2-5 5 sent ent paragraph) h) – Note that the current study was conducted to address this gap in the literature – Briefly review the methods in one to two sentences – Explain what the hypothesis is
Method • Tell the reader what you did • Will have specialized subsections – Participants/subjects – Measures (or materials) – Procedure – Design and Planned Analyses
Method • Parti rticipants ts (1 to to 2 Para ragra raphs) – Discuss recruitment strategy and population – Note the criteria for inclusion (if any) – Present descriptive statistics of the sample’s basic characteristics (SBS only; goes in results in Med) • Demographics (gender, race, age, marital status) • Other characteristics • This often goes in a Table if appropriate – Indicate that informed consent was obtained & study approved by IRB
Method • Me Measu sures, 1 s, 1-3 3 sent ent. for ea each h mea easur ure e des escribing ng – The format that is used to collect the data – The structure of the measure – The construct (if appropriate) – The reliability and validity from past studies (if available/appropriate) – The scoring algorithm (if appropriate) • Covariates (i.e., adjustment variables) get less space
Method • Pr Proced edur ure – State exactly what participants/subjects went through from beginning to end – Discuss specialized materials that were used (if any) • This section can include subsections – Apparatus (typically for animal studies) – Computerized Task – Stimuli – Drugs/Medications – Intervention • De Design and Planed Da Data Analys yses – Can provide information on variable operationalization or data reduction (SBS only) – Discuss the inferential statistical tests (and often descriptive stats) to be performed for each set of variables
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