This ppt is given as part of the "Seminar" course for M. Tech Chemical Engineering students. The objective of the ppt is to brief the students on Journal Communications. The ppt focuses on essential parts of peer-reviewed journal manuscript and gives tips on reading a journal paper. This is part - I of the presentation.

1. Journal Communication
Part: I
P. R. Naren
School of Chemical & Biotechnology
SASTRA University
Thanjavur, Tamilnadu 613 401 INDIA
E-mail: prnaren@scbt.sastra.edu
Progress Through Quality Education

2. 2 22-Feb-15
Outline
• Communication
– Objectives
– Forms
• What you mean by journal?
• Elements of journal paper
• Best practices
– What to read in journal paper ?
– Which journal to select?

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Objective of Communication
• Purpose or message
• Clarity
• Sequential arrangement or information flow
• Reader should be able to decipher the information
Communicating Science, Engineering & Technology
• Translating principles, theories and mathematical
connotations into prose
• Documentation
– The story of

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Focus
Consistency is the key
One can offer to be wrong but not inconsistent
Standards and Conventions

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Manifestations
• Written
– Reports
– Thesis
– Dissertation
– Abstracts
– Journal paper
– Manuscripts
– Progress reports
– Proposals
– Posters
– Presentations
Anything we write and wish
someone to read
• Oral
– Lectures
– Talks
– Speech
– Oration
and so forth
Anything we write with an
objective and wish
someone to read and
understand
Comprehend
So do
Answer
Scripts

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Attributes of Written Communication
• Reader should be able to comprehend the purpose
• Reproducibility
– Give all necessary and sufficient details to the minute
detail to be able to reproduce results !
– All information required for reproduction of data should be
available with the author !

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Typical Format for Written Communication
• Title
• Table of contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Motivation !
• Objective !
• Methodology
• Literature survey / Previous
study
• Experimental setup
• Materials and Methods
• Mathematical Model
• Operating procedure
• Results and discussion
• Conclusion
• Nomenclature
• References
• Annexure / Supplementary
material
• Acknowledgements

8. Journal
• A journal refers to a serious, scholarly publication that is
peer-reviewed
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal (26-Dec-14)
• An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which
scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is
published. Academic journals serve as forums for the
introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research,
and the critique of existing research. Content typically takes
the form of articles presenting original research, review
articles, and book reviews.
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_journal (26-Dec-14)
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9. Journal …
• Scholarly communication
– New findings
– Critical analysis of existing information
– Improvisation of existing knowledge
• Discipline specific
• Modes
– Invited / Solicited
– Unsolicited
• Peer review
– Evaluation by competent members of same community
 Quality of content
 Appropriateness
 Credibility of presented information
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10. Journals of Chemical Engineering Domain
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Publishers
Elsevier American Chemical Society Springer

11. Journal Databases
Bibliographic databases - search engines – Publisher portals
• http://www.cas.org/
• http://doaj.org/
• http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/home.jsp
• http://journals.cambridge.org/action/login?
• http://journalseek.net/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
• http://pubs.acs.org/
• www.scopus.com
• www.sciencedirect.com
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12. Types of Journal Communications
• Full paper
– Full research paper
• Short communication
• Review paper
• Editorial
• Comments on published paper
• Response to comments on published paper
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13. Elements of Full Research Paper
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods / Models
• Results and Discussion
• Further work
• Conclusion / Summary
• Acknowledgement
• Nomenclature
• References
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14. Elements …
Abstract
• Brief outline of work/ idea of
the paper
• Techniques / models in
nutshell
• Salient outcome of the work
Introduction
• Background of the topic/
board area of problem
• Motivation for the work
– To validate / test model
hypothesis
– To generate data
• Outline of available
information
– What is lacunae?
– Why this work?
• Strategy / methodology
adopted
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15. Elements .. Main Body
Experimental Work
• Experimental setup
• Standard operating
procedures / experimental
protocol
• Measurement techniques
– Least count
– Sensitivity of technique
• Assay / Analysis protocol
• Data acquisition – analysis
• Reference standards
• Operating conditions
Theoretical Work
• Mathematical model
– Genesis / Fundamentals
• Equations
• Degree of Freedom
• Boundary conditions
• Solution methodology
• Input conditions / operating
conditions
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16. Elements …
Results
• Output
– Focus on what is available?
• Variables investigated
• Record of observations
• Processed data –
Information
– Table, Parity plots, Surface
plots
• Follow logical sequence in
presentation of data
• Raw data to be made
available, if requested
Discussion
• Focus on outcome of the work
– Why?
– Reasoning
• Inference made from
observations
– What is understood from what is
presented / recorded / obtained /
simulated / solved
• Explicitly emphasis on outcome
of present work
– Compare & contrast with available
data / information
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17. Elements …
Further Work
• Gist of what is not covered/
not under the purview of
present work
• What more needs to be
investigated
– Give supportive reasons why?
– Any ambiguity in present
work?
Conclusion / Summary
• Highlight the outcome of
present work
• List specific inferences of
work
• How present work
improvises/helps to expand
the existing know-how ?
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18. Elements …
Acknowledgements
• Sense of gratitude and
thanks specifically
– Financial grant
 Quote grant order no.
– Personal consultations
– Data obtained from peers
– Experimental facility
Nomenclature
• List all notations used in
manuscript
– Even if it is as simple as “g”
• Follow alphabetical order
• Latin lowercase, uppercase
• Greek symbols listed
separately
• Abbreviations listed
separately
• Superscripts and subscripts
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Writing Style
• Different sections are written in different styles
– Literature survey / Previous studies Past tense
– Global facts Present tense
– Experimental, materials, methods, Results and discussion
Past tense
Note we are writing after we have done the work !
– Proposals/ Further work Present / future tense
– Active voice and Passive voice conflicts
Past tense is easy to handle
If in doubt, maintain same tense in all sections (consistency !)

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Citations
• Cite whatever is not YOUR own !
– Practitioners of science invariably practice honesty !
– We are not honoring the author – It is our DUTY to cite the author !
• Standards
– Author-date format
 Author followed by year of publication
– Numbered format
 Serial number of the quoted publication in the reference list
• Author – Date format
– For single author publication
 Last name (family name) followed by year
– For two authors
 Last name (family name) of both the authors followed by year
– More than two authors
 Last name (family name) of the first author, followed by “et al.” and then year
– Never include initials, first name (given name)

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Examples for Citations
• Sharma (1978) investigated the effect of surfactants on gas holdup.
• The increase in interfacial area was found to be 10% (Carberry and
Varma, 1982).
• Kinetics of agglomeration in sugar solution was reported by Shah et al.
(1990).
• Effect of surfactant on viscosity is widely reported (Sharma, 1978;
Carberry and Varma, 1982; Shah et al. 1990)
• Effect of surfactant on viscosity is widely reported (Shah et al. 1990;
Carberry and Varma, 1982; Sharma, 1978)
– Follow the timeline while quoting multiple references !!

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References
• All works/publications cited in the text/report should be included in the
reference list
• The purpose of reference list is to make the reader LOCATE the cited
work
• All required and sufficient information to locate the cited work should be
provided
– Author name, title of work/paper, source of publication or journal, volume no,
issue no, page no
• Follow the standard
– Author – date, arranged in alphabetical order
– Serial no
• Journal abbreviations
– Use standard abbreviations for journals

23. Journal Title Abbreviations
• Abbreviations for Journal Titles
– Chem. Eng. Sci. Chemical Engineering Science
– AIChE J. AIChE Journal
– http://images.webofknowledge.com/WOK46/help/WOS/A_
abrvjt.html
– http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/contribinfo/prep/re
s/journal_abbrevs.xhtml#C
– http://www.cas.org/expertise/cascontent/caplus/corejourna
ls.html
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Examples for Reference List
• Chilton, T. H. and Colburn, A. P. (1931). Pressure drop in packed tubes.
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 23, 913 – 919.
• Treybal, R. E. (1957). Liquid extraction. Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry, 49, 514 – 526.
• Liu, Z., Shi,S. and Li, Y. (2010). Coal liquefaction technologies –
Development in China and challenges in chemical reaction engineering.
Chemical Engineering Science, 65, 12 – 17.
• Froment G. F. and Bischoff, K. B. (1979). Chemical reactor analysis and
design. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Something is wrong here !!!
Alphabetical arrangement
Indent from second line

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Revised Reference List
• Chilton, T. H. and Colburn, A. P. (1931). Pressure drop in packed tubes.
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 23, 913 – 919.
• Froment G. F. and Bischoff, K. B. (1979). Chemical reactor analysis and
design. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
• Liu, Z., Shi,S. and Li, Y. (2010). Coal liquefaction technologies –
Development in China and challenges in chemical reaction
engineering. Chemical Engineering Science, 65, 12 – 17.
• Treybal, R. E. (1957). Liquid extraction. Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry, 49, 514 – 526.
What the purpose ???

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For Web References
• Provide complete URL and specify the date
– Web content is dynamic !!!
• URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_flow_reactor_model, 26 August
2011
• Web references are not primary references
– They can supportive but cannot stand alone !!!!

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The Golden Principle
• Cite only those references which you can trace !
• You should have access to every cited text/work/journal
publication in at least one way
– Hard copy
 Library
 In your personal repository
– Soft copy
– Bare minimum, should know in which library it is available and you
should have at least “seen” it before you “cite it”
If NOT then please DON’T CITE

28. What to look first in Journal Paper
• Abstract
– Find out
 What is investigated / studied? Problem statement
 How it is investigated? Methodology
 What are outputs/ outcomes Information gained
• Scan through figures and tables
– Understand / Correlate with abstract
 How far presented results makes sense to problem statement
• Conclusion
– Is outcome justifiable / rational from presented results?
• If convinced,
– Read the paper thoroughly- It’s worth possibly !
– Else, Introspect before you invest your time !
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29. Difficult question: Which journal?
• Experience and Guidance of peers
• Search and sort the available information
– Learn from own experience and reverse engineer
 If identified, good paper
– Note the source
– Research group/ school/ research group URL
– Look out for journals specific to sub-area / sub-domain
– Look out for reviews in your topic of interest and identify
most cited
Papers
Research groups
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30. 30 22-Feb-15
Acknowledgements
• Dr. Vivek V. Ranade, NCL, Pune
• iFMg Members (My friends and colleagues)
• ICT (formerly UDCT) Mumbai, fraternity
• Colleagues and Faculty friends at SASTRA
THANKS and GRATITUDE
And many others who enriched my science communication skills

31. THANK YOU
A person who never made a mistake never tried
anything new.
- Albert Einstein
- 1879 -1955
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32. • Peer and non-peer reviewed journals
• Design project which papers
• Frequency of publication
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