Organised by: Young Engineers WA, Curtin University and The University of Western Australia

1. When to Publish
… and Where?
Mark Bush

2. When to Publish?
… As soon as possible
• Your thesis will benefit from peer review
• Examination often smoother
• Reviewers often stimulate new ideas
• Your research/academic career will be based upon
peer review. Best to develop the culture early.
but …

3. When to Publish?
Only when there is a
story,
conclusion or
take-home message
Avoid the tendency to try to publish a lab report
(i.e. I took these measurements and this is what I saw)…
… what does your data tell you, or what does your model
predict?

4. When to Publish?
Publishable work may be, for example:
•Development of a tool or technique, such as a theoretical model or
experimental method.
•Design and testing of a device
•Development of a new material, and associated tests/measurements
to assess its performance
Publication in science should add new knowledge that will be of value to
the community (new or refined tools, devices, materials or techniques).

5. Example – Modelling of Longitudinal Cracks in Teeth
Amir Barani (PhD student)
Task: Can we effectively model the evolution of cracks in enamel?

6. Requirements/Steps:
Finite Element Method with Crack Growth – XFEM
Materials Science – Properties of tooth components?
Simplified structure? How simple is good enough?
Mesh density?
Crack initiation and advance strategies?

7. Results:
Compares well with experimental results.
Predicts the sudden acceleration of crack at a
‘critical load’.
Demonstrates the effect of tooth radius (R) and
Enamel thickness (d).

8. A considerable amount of work and innovation to get to this point….
Could this be published now?
The work so far amounts to development of a technique (eg a model or an
experimental technique). It will be of value to the community.
Many journals and particularly conferences will welcome reports of these
developments – it is certainly publishable
However, the work will have more impact if you put it into context – provide the
big picture:
• How can the model be used? What does it tell us about the physics that we cannot
easily see experimentally? What does it predict?
Use the model to study the system of interest and learn something new.
or
• What do the experimental measurements tell you? A new phenomenon or
relationship? What are its implications? How might this phenomenon
be used/applied?

9. Back to the tooth fracture modelling example:
We can now calculate the load to produce a longitudinal crack in a tooth.
So what?
What anthropologists need is a means to predict the bite load an extinct
animal was capable of producing (implications for diet and lifestyle)
What we have is a technique that can calculate the load a tooth of given
size and enamel thickness has undergone if a longitudinal crack can be
seen in its fossilised remains. But it requires a full finite element
analysis, skill and considerable computing resources.
How do we bring the two together?

10. Back to the tooth fracture modelling example:
Fracture Mechanics:
1/2
Load = C.T.R.d
Constant Tooth radius
Enamel thickness
Material Property
If we know C we have a simple means of estimating the load that a cracked
tooth has experienced, which is a measure of the bite load capability of the
animal.
We cannot determine C from experiment – dealing with extinct species (no
teeth to test), but we can use our FEM model to determine the
relationship between Load, R and d, and calibrate the equation by
determining C,
giving a far more general result than would be possible
experimentally.

11. Comparison with predictions from jaw mechanics
A. Barani et al, Mechanics of Longitudinal Cracks in Tooth Enamel,
Acta Biomaterialia, 7(2011)2285–2292

12. Summary:
Your personal situation will vary – fundamental, applied, theoretical,
experimental, etc, but the same principles apply:
• Attempt to publish only when you have something new or innovative to
report – don’t publish to a schedule, let your publications be outcomes
driven.
• Find the key ‘take-home message’ resulting from your work. Make this your
conclusion.
• Try to put your work into a broader context and think about its applications
- the audience will be broader and the impact higher.
• Aim for high impact journals – reviewing will be more rigorous, your
citations over time generally higher.

13. Where to Publish?
Journal
• Generally most rigorous form of peer review
• Don’t be shy, aim for high impact factor – impact of your work will be a factor in
your later success (high IF implies high citation rate)
- job selection panels and promotion committees pay
attention to citations, reputation depends on impact and
citations – H (Hirsch) Index measures productivity and impact.
- you can always modify and submit to another journal if unsuccessful
- support new and emerging journals only when it makes sense, and when
your career can afford it.
- IFs vary according to field, because citation rates vary with field – check IF
lists for your field.
• Select a journal appropriate to your paper
-seek advice from supervisors, colleagues and journal websites.

14. Where to Publish?
Conference
• Conference experience important – verbal presentation of your work, direct peer
review, new ideas, chance to meet or hear the best in the field, networking. Try to get to
at least one conference (hopefully international) during your candidature.
• Quite variable in standard of review – can be almost none – you should check.
• But, lead time is usually much less than journal. Often useful for presenting incomplete
results and conclusions.
• The fact is, even if so called ‘full peer review’, the number of papers for review at one
time can lead to less stringent assessment and feedback. Conference papers are often
not regarded as highly as journal papers for this reason.
• Generally far more limited circulation than journals – tends to attract fewer citations.
• Conference participation may vary from abstract to full paper, poster to on-stage
presentation.