Slides from a workshop on academic writing and publishing, including discussions of the peer review process and ethics

1. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Tips and Tricks for Effective
Writing
Get2Gether
29 January 2015

2. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
How to write papers more effectively
Structure
Polishing and revising
The review process
Choosing the right journal
Coping with reviewer comments
Pre- and Post-publication peer review
Figure preparation and data management
“Informal” writing
Writing for in-reach and out-reach

3. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Set aside time for writing
Don’t leave it until the last minute

4. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists

5. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Don’t let good data down through
bad writing
“For 90% of submissions, the
problem is not the novelty, but
the explanation of the novelty”
Lichtfouse, E. (2013). Scientific Writing for Impact Factor
Journals. Nova Scientific Publishers, Inc. (New York).
Is your explanation
clear enough for a
late-night reader?

6. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
A good structure is essential: The
two-funnel model of a paper
Start broadly: Why is
this topic important?
End broadly: Where
is this topic heading?
What can we expect
to come out of it?
Statement of what you did and why
Statement of what you did and why
Methods / Results
Introduction
Discussion

7. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
What is the general and specific
significance of your work?
www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.109.tt1009
Title
General Problem(s)
Specific Problem(s)
Unknown
Experiments
Results Description
Figure
Figure Legend
Interpretation
Specific Benefits
General Benefits
Novelty of the new
results
Lichtfouse, E. (2013). Scientific Writing for Impact Factor
Journals. Nova Scientific Publishers, Inc. (New York).
The
Micro-
article
Introduction
Discussion
Handout!

8. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Outlines and reverse outlines can be
extremely helpful
Don’t worry about
smoothing your writing
until you are reasonably
happy with the structure
Periodically rename your work-in-
progress so you have the option of
returning to an earlier version….

9. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Polishing: Use topic sentences-
People read in F or E patterns
http://www.jarimbi.com/writing-web-part-1/
Reverse outlining:
The first line of each paragraph should be sufficient to convey your meaning
Read just the headings and topic sentences of the handouts

10. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other
figure of speech which you are used to
seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short
one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always
cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can
use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific
word, or a jargon word if you can think of an
everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than
say anything outright barbarous.
-George Orwell, "Politics and the
English Language," 1946
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other
figure of speech which you are used to
seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short
one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always
cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can
use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific
word, or a jargon word if you can think of an
everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than
say anything outright barbarous.
-George Orwell, "Politics and the
English Language," 1946
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
Polishing:
Use “plain
language”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/Polit
ics_and_the_English_Language-1.pdf

11. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Write “simple, declarative
sentences”
I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to
say that the Milton who once seemed not
unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not
become, out of an experience ever more
bitter in each year, more alien to the founder
of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce
him to tolerate.
I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to
say that the Milton who once seemed not
unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not
become, out of an experience ever more
bitter in each year, more alien to the founder
of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce
him to tolerate.
Example of bad writing from Orwell’s essay
What does it mean?

12. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Write “simple, declarative
sentences”
I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to
say that the Milton who once seemed not
unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not
become, out of an experience ever more
bitter in each year, more alien to the founder
of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce
him to tolerate.
I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to
say that the Milton who once seemed not
unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not
become, out of an experience ever more
bitter in each year, more alien to the founder
of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce
him to tolerate.
Example of bad writing from Orwell’s essay
What does it mean?

13. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Polishing: Write “simple, declarative
sentences”
“Please write in a clear, direct, and active style. Write in the active voice
and use the first person where necessary. Try to avoid long sentences that
have several embedded clauses.”
British Medical Journal
The potentially superior antiplaque and better surface-active
properties of amine fluoride and stannous fluoride containing
mouth rinses were carefully investigated in a well-designed
double blind, crossover study in 10 healthy volunteers.‑
Rewrite. Avoid passive voice and unnecessary information
Rogers, Silvia M. (2014). Mastering Scientific and Medical Writing: A Self-Help Guide. Springer.

14. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Use “plain language”
“Please write in a clear, direct, and active style. Write in the active [voice]
and use the first person where necessary. Try to avoid long sentences that
have several embedded clauses.”
British Medical Journal
The potentially superior antiplaque and better surface-active
properties of amine fluoride and stannous fluoride containing
mouth rinses were carefully investigated in a well-designed
double blind, crossover study in 10 healthy volunteers.‑
We investigated the antiplaque and surface-active properties of
mouth rinses containing amine fluoride and stannous fluoride in
a double blind, crossover study in 10 healthy volunteers.‑
Rogers, Silvia M. (2014). Mastering Scientific and Medical Writing: A Self-Help Guide. Springer.
Worksheet!

15. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
“Does this say exactly what you
want it to say in best way possible?”
OMG we’re
going to be here
all day.....

16. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
http://read-able.com/

17. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
http://aeon.co/magazine/science/what-can-ants-teach-us-about-agriculture/

18. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Doumont, J., ed. (2010). English Communication for Scientists. Cambridge, MA: NPG Education. http://www.nature.com/wls/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-14053993/contents
From:
Nature Publishing
Group: English
Communication for
Scientists

19. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Just be glad you have don’t have to
rewrite by hand / on a typewriter
Roald Dahl
(Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
James and the Giant Peach)
Leonard Cohen
(Suzanne, So Long Marianne,
Chelsea Hotel, Hallelujah)

20. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists

21. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Which journal should you send your
paper to?
Talk to your coauthors

22. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Which journal should you send your
paper to?
Look at your
references

23. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Which journal should you send your
paper to?
Factors to consider:
Reputation, impact factor
Time to decision
Cost to publish
Open access options
Editor / editorial board
Pre / post / open peer review process
Visibility (altmetrics)
Homework for the next conference you attend:
•Visit each of the publishers in the exhibition area
•Find out which journals they publish
•Meet the staff (they are likely to be handling your
paper soon)
•(You might even get a pen!)

24. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Peer review (classic)
Authors
submit to
journal
Thanks, but
no thanks
Editor
evaluates.
Suitable?
Maybe
No
Reviewers
evaluate.
Suitable?
No Author
revises
manuscript
Maybe Editor
evaluates.
OK?
Yes
Thanks, but
no thanks
ACCEPT!
Reviewers
evaluate.
OK?
YesMaybe
Not
yet
No
What
the
world
sees

25. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Now / future: Pre-pub peer review,
open review, post-pub peer review
Authors
submit to
journal
Thanks, but
no thanks
Editor
evaluates.
Suitable?
Maybe
No
Reviewers
evaluate.
Suitable?
No Author
revises
manuscript
Maybe
Editor
evaluates.
OK?
Yes
Thanks, but
no thanks
ACCEPT!
Reviewers
evaluate.
OK?
YesMaybe
Not
yet
No
Authors
put
manuscript
on Biorxiv
Open peer
review feedback
Post-pub peer
review feedback
Pre-pub peer
review feedback
What
the
world
sees

26. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
What are the pros and cons of pre-,
post- and open peer review?
To the author?
To the reviewer?
To the public?

27. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
F1000Research, PeerJ, EMBO J.
Find a plant paper on F1000Research or PeerJ or EMBO J
Skim the reviewer comments and author responses
Do you think being “open” changes the nature of the reviews?
Find a plant paper on F1000Research or PeerJ or EMBO J
Skim the reviewer comments and author responses
Do you think being “open” changes the nature of the reviews?
Non-anonymous

28. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
has_user_comments[filter]
In search bar include
Non-anonymous

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Anonymous

30. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Watch out for images
Rossner, M., and Yamada, K.M. (2004). What’s in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation. J. Cell Biol 166: 11–15.

31. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
What can we learn from post-
publication peer review?
Maintain access to original research results; primary
data should remain in the laboratory and should be
preserved for a minimum of five years or for as long
as there may be reasonable need to refer to them.
(Plant Cell instructions for authors)

32. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
http://ori.hhs.gov/THELAB http://ori.hhs.gov/rcr-casebook-stories-about-researchers-worth-discussing

33. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
http://www.aspb.org/publications/ethics.cfm

34. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Types of rejections
Mole. (2007). Rebuffs and rebuttals I: how rejected is rejected? J Cell Sci. 120: 1143-1144.
The just go away rejection (they never, ever want to
see it again)
The we’re just not that into you rejection
The we like you, but we don’t love you rejection
The oh, there are so many things rejection.
The there’s someone else
rejection.
The it’s not a rejection rejection.

35. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Types of rejections
Mole. (2007). Rebuffs and rebuttals I: how rejected is rejected? J Cell Sci. 120: 1143-1144.
The just go away rejection (they never, ever want to
see it again)
The we’re just not that into you rejection
The we like you, but we don’t love you rejection
The oh, there are so many things rejection.
The there’s someone else
rejection.
The it’s not a rejection rejection.
“Whatever you do next, here is the most
important thing: Don’t write back today.
You are angry and hurt, and the things
you will say today (even if you think
you’re being extremely reasonable) you
will come to regret”

36. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Mole. (2007). Rebuffs and rebuttals I: how rejected is rejected? J Cell Sci. 120: 1143-1144.
Finally, as awful as it sounds, you have to thank the
reviewer again, because you have to beg them to change
their minds. `Again, we thank the reviewer for the effort
that has gone into evaluating our work, and hope that in
addressing each of these points, he/she now agrees with
us that the submission is substantially improved.'
Yes, you feel like the worst sort of kisser-upper. But again,
put yourself in the place of the reviewer. He or she is busy,
and because they took time out of their busy day, some
time ago, to read and comment on your paper or grant,
they are now being tapped to drop everything at their
earliest convenience and read your revision. It will not
have come at a welcome time, because it never does.

37. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists
Informal writing
In-reach and out-reach
@PlantTeaching
http://www.scoop.it/t/plant-biology-teaching-resouces-higher-education
Assignment:
Join twitter
Start a ScoopIt blog
Start a wordpress blog or
contribute to an ongoing blog