Writing Publishable Papers

based on Scopus and

Thomson Reuters
Standards

Rex P. Bringula, Ph.D.

August 18-19, 2018

rex_bringula@yahoo.com
rexbringula@gmail.com
 Hi, Im Rex! My research interests
are in...
• computer science/IT education,
• cyber-behavior
• e-commerce
• educational technology
• game design
• human-computer interaction
• Internet studies
• school choice
• software engineering
• web usability
• environmental issues
 OUTLINE
1. Paper Worth Publishable

2. Publication Tips

3. The CCSS Experience

4. Writeshop
Source: Nathaniel Oco, 2018. Retrieved from
https://web.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155421057986242&set=a.10150096920041242.276445.729681241&type=3&theater
 What is WORTH Publishable?

1. Originality

2. Significance

3. Relevance

4. Clarity

5. Adequate Literature Review

6. Theoretical Basis
 Originality
• Originality
– A “unique” paper, not an “incremental” study; a
pioneering work
– “Advances, not repeats, knowledge and
understanding” (Lee, 2008)
– “Is it worth knowing?” (Lee, 2008)

Lee, J. H. (2008). How to write a good paper for a top international journal. Retrieved from
https://www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/international%20publishing%20china.pdf
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
 Example 4
• A researcher is “interested” to know if a
mobile-assisted mathematics learning can
influence the mathematics performance of
the students. He/she conducted a one-shot
case study research design to gather data.
 Significance
• “Will it have impact on the field?” (Lee,
2008)
• “Novelty aspect” of the paper
• Reflected in the statement of the
problem / objectives of the study
 Relevance
• Influences practice
• Influences theory
• Address the issues of the society
• Interesting to the international audience
Example 5
Example 6
Example 7
 Example 4
• A researcher is “interested” to know if a
mobile-assisted mathematics learning can
influence the mathematics performance of
the students. He/she conducted a one-shot
case study research design to gather data.
 Clarity
• Grammar, structure
• Logical coherence
• Method, Data
• Format
Reviewers will criticize your grammar

 SERIOUS grammatical errors can be

grounds for rejection

 Ideas rather than focusing on grammar

 Invest in language editing

 Example 4
• A researcher is “interested” to know if a
mobile-assisted mathematics learning can
influence the mathematics performance of
the students. He/she conducted a one-shot
case study research design to gather data.
Adequate Literature Review and
Theoretical Basis
Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=meme+about+literature+review&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQmYvC-
ubcAhXBdn0KHeo9CncQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1242&bih=602#imgrc=VrIhwMJgEwqnGM:
Adequate Literature Review

Do not ignore
“important”
works.
Find the research
gap.
Check your sources
• Journals
• Peer-reviewed conference Proceedings
• Edited books
• Edited encyclopaedias
 Adequate Literature Review
Not Scholarly Sources
• Blogs
• Personal websites
• Magazines
• Tabloids
• Wikipedia
• TV Shows
• Anything that is NOT peer-reviewed
 Example 4
• A researcher is “interested” to know if a
mobile-assisted mathematics learning can
influence the mathematics performance of
the students. He/she conducted a one-shot
case study research design to gather data.
 What is Worth Publishable? -
Sample
• Theory-building
PREVIOUS STUDIES
• Pedagogical agents (PA) are helpful
companions
• Textual feedback assist students
• Repeated mistakes considered as “gaming”
the system
• PA shows anger
 What is Worth Publishable? -
Sample
• Theory-building
IN THIS STUDY
• Repeated mistakes as form of perseverance
• Synthetic facial expressions + feedback =
learning
• Anger is inappropriate for novice learners
 What is Worth Publishable? -
Sample
• Output-oriented

PREVIOUS STUDIES
• Use social media to post left-over foods (Young
et al., 2016)
• Social Recipes (Lim et al., 2017)
• EatChaFood (Farr-Wharton et al., 2013)
• Fridge Pal (Farr-Wharton et al., 2014)
 What is Worth Publishable? -
Sample
• Output-oriented
IN THIS STUDY
• What happened to left-over ingredients?
• The recommender system will suggest
possible recipe based on these left-over
ingredients
 What is NOT Publishable?

Not within the aims

and scope of the
journal
Peter Thrower (2012)
https://www.elsevier.com/connect/8-reasons-i-rejected-your-article
 What is NOT Publishable?
1. Fails technical screening

2. Ignoring important works

3. Procedures and/or analysis are defective

4. Conclusions are flawed

5. Incremental study / did not advance the field

6. Language is poor

7. BORING!!!
 Think About This!!!

1. Originality

2. Significance

3. Relevance

4. Clarity

5. Adequate Literature Review

6. Theoretical Basis
 Think About This
• Jose developed an intelligent tutoring system
(ITS) and test the “effectiveness” of the LMS.
Thirty experts evaluated the ITS using ISO
9126 software quality metric. The ITS had a
mean rating of 4.81 (highly effective) in terms
of its functionality. He intends to submit the
paper for international journal publication.
“Where does IT research
belong?”
 Schools of Thought
• “Novel” publications
• “Methodologically” sound
publications
www.stepacademic.net
Publication Tips
 1. Know Your Strengths and
Weaknesses
• I am good at ...
• My research interests are ...
• I know I can do research in ...

• I need help at ...

• I am not sure about ...
• I think someone can help me with ...
 2. Collaborate
• Faculty and faculty
• Faculty and staff
• Faculty and students
• Institutional collaborations
 Collaborate

The word is collaborate,

not exploit.
 Scenario 1
• Faculty A is a program coordinator and sits
during thesis defense. Student A submits the
paper for publication. Faculty A is included as
an author.
 Scenario 2
• Faculty B is a research adviser of Student A.
Faculty B is involved in all of the process of the
study (i.e., data collection, interpretation, and
writing). Faculty B is paid for these services.
Faculty B is included as an author.
 3. Set Realistic Goals
a. Prestige / *Strictness*
• ISI-listed
(http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&Alpha=A)
Educational Technology and Society
New Media and Society
Computer & Education
American Journal of Science and Technology
ACM Journals
IEEE Journals

•Non ISI-listed
 Journal of IT Education (www.jite.org)
 3. Set Realistic Goals

b. Indexing capabilities
• Scopus
• IEEE Digital Library
• ACM Digital Library
• EBSCoHost
• ISI Web of Science / Emerging
Sources Citation Index
• DBLP
• ERIC
• Google Scholar
• etc
c. Publication venue
• No “publication fee”
 Springer Journals (www.springer.com)
 Elsevier Journals (www.elsevier.com)
 Emerald Journals (www.emeraldinsight.com)
 Sage Journals (www.sagepub.com)
 Taylor & Francis (www.taylorandfrancis.com/journals/)
 IGI Global
• Open-access
 Springer Open
 Cogent OA (by Taylor & Francis)
 SAGE Open
 International Journal of Computing Sciences
Research (www.stepacademic.net)
d. Speed of Review Results

• Rapid
 1 day to 3 months

• Lengthy
 more 3 months to years!!!
e. Society Journals / Conferences

• ACM
• IEEE
• PSITE
• Philippine Computing Society
• Association of Information Systems
• Acceptance Rate
• Publication Fee
 4. Read and Doodle
• Read
• Take notes – even the crude ideas
 5. Take One Step at a Time
• Stick to one research area
• Multidisciplinary research
• One, two, three papers – finish one paper first
6. Find the Right Journal
 7. Do not be sensitive / Expect
Criticism
Non-acceptance/rejection
Non-acceptance/rejection
Non-acceptance/rejection
“Harsh” words
 8. Be Patient

Either fast or slow release of review results

 Normally, 3 months
 Some journals release a-less-than-a-
month review result
 ISI-listed and reputable journals take
months and even years!!!
 Multiple revisions
 9. Follow Ethical Standards
• Plagiarism
• Authorship
• Data collection
• Data Integrity
• Statistical treatment of data
10. Find time to relax
 Publication Tips
1. Know your capabilities/strengths and weaknesses

2. Collaborate

3. Set realistic goals

4. Read and Doodle

5. Take one step at a time

6. Find the “right” journal and/or conference

7. Do not be sensitive / Expect criticisms

8. Be patient

9. Follow ethical standards

10. Relax
 The UE-CCSS Experience
• In-house Presentations and/or Publications
• Local / Regional / National Conferences or
Publications
• International Presentations and/or
Publications
• Collaboration
 In summary…
• Check the standards of the journal

• Set realistic goals

• Visit the library

• Build the motivation and confidence of the

faculty
 Workshop
Journal article submission style

• 3,000 – 10,000 words

• Referencing style (APA, MLA, Harvard, IEEE, ACM,
etc.)
• One- or two-column
 Workshop
• Title
• Author/s and affiliation
• Abstract (300 words)
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions, Recommendations, Implications
• References