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Authorship
While there are clear guidelines for authorship, each situation is unique:
- Each author must have meaningfully contributed to the project—this might range from development of the methodology, carrying out the investigation, discussion and framing the paper or any number of other intellectual contributions
- Authorship order should reflect the leadership and contributions of the individuals (senior authors may be last)
- It is always wise to transparently discuss authorship up front—not the day of submission
- Read Full List of Authorship Guidelines
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I need help writing an abstract or paper
Abstract:
- The structure of an abstract typically will include title and authorship, introduction, methods, results and discussion or conclusion (what is called a structured abstract)
- Every journal and conference have slight variations on these sections and format
- Follow word count limitations and format
- Get help from your mentor or other experienced researcher
- Have your abstract reviewed and critiqued before submission
Paper:
There are full courses on scientific writing and multiple resources on campus
Some general guidelines:
- What is the “NY Times headline” that captures the significance of your work or invites your reader to peruse your research
- What is new or novel about your work?
- What format will you submit (e.g., brief report, abstract, scientific review article, etc.)
- What are your “target” journals in which you seek to publish
- What feedback have you received when presenting your research
- Acknowledge the limitations of your work
- As always—you guessed it—get advice and assistance from your mentor
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I need Help Creating or Changing a Poster, Figure or Diagram
Most mentors will have done these tasks and can assist you
- Helpful guidelines
- Production facilities on campus
- BioRender is available to create scientific figures and other detailed illustrations
- Instructional sessions for BioRender
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Where do I submit my paper?
- Should consider publication outlet before writing your paper
- Need to closely follow instructions for authors
- Think carefully about the focus of your paper, your findings and who your audience is
- Talk to an editor prior to submission—yes, editors want to communicate with potential authors
- Review past issues—does the journal publish work like yours
- Discuss with your mentor and other advisors
- Consider cost of submission
- Shoot for the stars first, but don’t be surprised if it is rejected
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Predatory Practices, Submission Fees, and other Hints
There are a host of legitimate journals but unfortunately there are a plethora of predatory publications:
- Ask colleagues
- Look at impact factor, indexing, peer review
- See what is cited in your area
- Who is the journal sponsor?
- There are many open access and low-cost publications for submission
- Know the guidelines, don’t fall prey to predatory practices
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Oh No, my Paper Was Rejected!
It is normal to have papers rejected! (Even Harry Potter was rejected 12 times)
Not every rejection is the same:
- Revise and resubmit—in the view of the editor, there are fixable issues—follow the reviewers feedback carefully
- Soft rejections—sometimes editors will softly reject a paper: “Additional statistical analyses investigating these confounders could yield a publishable paper”
- Take advantage of the reviewers’ critiques when submitting elsewhere
- Persevere!
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Woohoo, My Paper is Finally Published
- You have done it—another line on the CV and you are well on the way to the Nobel, Lasker or MacArthur
- Celebrate and thank your coauthors, mentors
- What is the next line of research? What are the unanswered questions or interesting or unexpected findings? What are additional topics in your stream of research?
- Did you enjoy the experience? Was your mentor helpful? Did you find a broken link or know of additional resources? Let us know your feedback!