Nuances of Scientific Publishing

Aninda Bose, Senior Editor

29 May 2020
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Dedic
ation
Sir Edmund Hillary
and
Tenzing Norgay

Triumph of
human
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A little about me

 Part of the Global Acquisition Team at Springer

 With a focus on Content Acquisition
 Get quality content by supporting authors

... and Springer

1842 – 2020 . . .
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Nuances of scientific publishing

① Why publish?

② Ethical issues

③ Structuring your manuscript

④ Author services and publishing tools

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Why Publish?
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Why write and publish research papers? P

Ideall
UL B
y• to share research findings and discoveries I
• with the hope of improving human civilization
Practically
S H
• to get funding
• to get promoted
• to get a job
• to keep your
job!

However, editors, reviewers, and the research

community DO NOT care about these reasons.
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Submission process
Peer review

Results novel?
Topic relevant?

Manuscript +
Editor Reject
cover letter

New experiments
Improve readability Accepted—
Add information
Revision publication!
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Publishing timeline

Submission to publication, 3–12 months

Depends on WHEN?
• Manuscript type
• Availability of peer reviewers
• Number of revisions
• How well you address reviewer comments
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Be aware
• Very few manuscripts are accepted without any form of revision
• Second (even third) reviews are common
• Rejection and revision are integral to the peer review process
• Peer review is a positive process

Rejection Acceptance

Minor revision

Major revision
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Reading helps your writing

Both sides of the brain are essential and work in harmony

Logic Creativity

Reading Writing

Similarly, reading and writing are connected

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Make time to read ...

Read often

At least …
• 60 min, once a week
• 20–30 min each day
Discuss with colleagues
• colleagues
Journal club
• Journal club
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Ethical Issues
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How many papers are published worldwide in a year in

English language journals?
1.80 million papers published worldwide each year

How many books are published worldwide?

2.2 million books published worldwide each year

How many researchers (in percentage) have committed research fraud at

least once in their career?
1.98%
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What is the most occurring reason for retraction?

• Honest error: 40% (errors in methodology, conclusions or approach)

• Fabrication/falsification: 28%

• Redundant publication: 17% (plagiarism and “self-plagiarism”)

• Other reasons: 15%

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What is Copyright?
Copyright (noun)

Exclusive right to reproduce, publish, or sell an original work of

authorship. It protects from unauthorized copying any published or
unpublished work that is fixed in a tangible medium (including a book or
manuscript, musical score or recording, script or dramatic production,
painting or sculpture, or blueprint or building).

It does not protect matters such as an idea, process, or system.

[Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com]
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Simultaneous submissions
Submitting the same manuscript to multiple publishers at the same time.

Waste of …

• Time
Submit
• Effort
• Resource
Online

Multiple submissions
Multiple submissions means sending several different manuscripts to the same publisher.
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Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when someone presents the work of others
(data, text, or theories) as if it were his/her own without proper
acknowledgement.

What is fair use?

“Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under
some circumstances.”
(Association of Research Libraries 2012)
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How are we alerted to plagiarism?

• Often it is the original author who finds out about it and contacts the publisher or
Journal Editor.
• Sometimes a reviewer finds out about it when he receives the article or book proposal
for review.
• Or, researchers who come across the article or book(chapter) while doing research.

But we also have the availability of a tool …

It cannot identify plagiarism!

It takes a human eye to decide if content has been plagiarized or not.
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Plagiarism checking tools

Many free and paid tools are available to check plagiarism.
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View of the results using the software

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View of the results using the software

Example of text
similarity
(multiple sources)

One should look at the individual sources to find out where the problematic match is
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Some tips
• The tool cannot detect all problems
• A low similarity score does not mean there is no plagiarism
• It is important to look at the individual scores of the sources, not the overall similarity index
• Setting a standard above or below a certain similarity index is misusing the tool
• Only publications by participating publishers, societies, etc., are in the CrossCheck database
• Common phrases are not excluded
• Text for which permission has been received will be highlighted
• Do a check on reviews as they are considered secondary research
• Patchwork plagiarism is more difficult to evaluate.
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Self plagiarism
It is a type of plagiarism in which the writer republishes a work in its entirety or reuses
portions of a previously written text while authoring a new work.

Self-plagiarism may be one of the most dangerous forms of misconduct due to the lack of
understanding of the ethics involved.
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Data fabrication
Data fabrication is the intentional misrepresentation of research results by making up
data.

Data falsification
Data Falsification is the practice of omitting or altering research materials, equipment,
data, or processes in such a way that the results of the research are no longer accurately
reflected in the research record.
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General advice

• Verbatim copying should be put in quotation marks and should not be too lengthy (unless
permission has been given)
• Give credit to the original author
• If an author is not sure about the length, he should always contact the publisher to
request permission
• Always request permission for re-use of figures and tables
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Structuring Your Manuscript

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Structuring your manuscript

Once
IMRaD model upon
Expanded IMRaD model a
Title time!
Abstract
Key words
Introducti
on
Methods
You are telling a story
Results
BEGINNING  MIDDLE 
Discussion END

Reference
s
Acknowled
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The ‘write’ order

For maximum clarity and consistency, write your manuscript in this order:

Methods Write during the research

Results

Introduction Write after selecting your

Discussion target journal

Title Write last

Abstrac
t
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The importance of your title

World Class Physics

Manuscript

Introduces
Grabs the reader’s your manuscript A label
attention to an for indexing
editor

• Convey the main topics of manuscript

• Be specific and concise
• Avoid jargon, abbreviations and acronyms
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First impressions count

Relevance of Importance of Validity of

your aims your results conclusions

Your abstract

Judge your Likely the only part

writing style that will be read
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Introduction
Why?
What question (problem) was studied?
The answer to this question is contained within your Introduction.
BEGINNING  MIDDLE  END

Introduction Beginning

DO NOT write a comprehensive literature review of the field

DO cite reviews that readers can refer to if they want more information
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Introduction
Middle
• What is the rationale/reason for your study?
• Explain how you addressed the problem (1–2 sentences)
• DO NOT state results from your study

Introduction End

• Clearly state the specific aims of your study

• State the methods you will use to carry out your aims
• Are the citations balanced, current and relevant?
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Materials and methods

•How?
Clear subheadings
• Describe methods in the past tense
• New methods must be described in sufficient detail for
another researcher to reproduce the experiment
• Established methods can be referenced
• Describe statistical tests used
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Results
What?
Assemble your findings in a logical order to make a ‘story’
BEGINNING  MIDDLE  END

• Use subheadings
• Use past tense to describe results
• BUT refer to figures and tables in the present tense
• Present the facts, DO NOT discuss your results X
• DO NOT duplicate data among figures, tables and text X
• Include results of statistical analyses in the text
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Display items Tables and figures

• Figures and tables are VERY EFFECTIVE

• Keep it simple — use separate panels if necessary

• AVOID duplication with the text X

• Label all parts of your figures

• Include trendlines, scale bars and statistical significance

• Legends must be able to ‘stand alone’

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Discussion So What?
What do these findings mean?

The answer to this question is in the Discussion

BEGINNING  MIDDLE  END

• The most difficult section for most authors to write

• Be humble

• Do not overstate the importance of your results

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Discussion Beginning
• Answer the research question
• ALWAYS provide the major/main result first
• Give your conclusions, based on the results

Discussion Middle
• Interpret the results
• Are there results from any previous studies relevant to your work?
• Compare your results with others’
Same or different? Possible
reasons why?
• Briefly describe limitations - If you
don’t, the reviewers will!
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Discussion End
• Reiterate your conclusions

• Begin with a signal/signpost

In summary …

In conclusion …

• Mention possible
applications,
implications and
speculation, if
appropriate

• Suggest future
work, if necessary
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Reference
s
• ALWAYS format your references: check the Guide for Authors for the
appropriate format

• Formatting is required in text for citations and for your references

section

• Use reference management software

(RefWorks, Mendeley, EndNote, Zotero, Papers)
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Author Services and Publishing

Tools
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Guide to Author Services

Pre-Publication Intra-Publication Post-Publication

Author & Reviewer Tutorials My Springer/My Palgrave SN SharedIt

e.Proofing
SN Transfer Desk/Service SN
Open Choice
SN Journal Suggester Video Abstracts $

Open Access Books

SN OA Funding Support
English Language Editing $
Book Manuscript Submission Portal FigShare
Scientific Editing $
Author Mapper Author Badges
Academic Translation $

SN Recommended SN Springer Nature Storytellers

Manuscript Editing / Figure Services

Overleaf $ Peer Reviewer/EIC/Board Initiatives

SN The Source
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Pre-Publication
Author & reviewer tutorials
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Pre-Publication
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Pre-Publication
OA funding support
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Author mapper
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Pre-Publication

Allows you to:

• Explore patterns in scientific research
• Identify new and historic literature trends
• Discover wider relationships
• Locate other experts in your field

Searches all 3600+ Springer journals and 300,000+ eBooks online

Over 13.30 million scientific documents at your fingertips at SpringerLink

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What would I be recommended? Pre-Publication

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Pre-Publication
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Post-Publication
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Post-Publication
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Post-Publication

The Source is managed by Springer’s Author & Partner Marketing and Services team,
comprised of teammates from around the world.
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Books for reference

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Thank you!
aninda.bose@springernature.com