Preparing Manuscript for Publication

Dr. Nida Zafar

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Lahore Garrison University
Email. nida.zafar@lgu.edu.pk
 Why it is important to Publish

• Academic & Professional Growth

• For enhancing your research skills

• Ethical responsibility to share your findings

• To get connected with a wider community of

professionals in your area of expertise
 Parts of a Manuscript

• Title page
• Abstract
• Main Body (introduction, method, results,
discussion, conclusion)
• References
• Tables and Figures
• appendix
 APA Rules for Writing Manuscript

• APA style ----the Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association describes rules for the preparation
of manuscripts for writers and for students. These rules cover
areas
• The content
• Organization of a manuscript
• Writing style
• References
• How to prepare a manuscript for publication.
 Title Page
1. The title should concisely state the topic of the paper and
the variables that are being explored in relation to that
topic.

2. Title should be fully explanatory but Do not use the

words like “A study of ” or “An Experimental
Investigation of “

3. Do not use abbreviations in a title

4. The title should be about 10-12 words long and should be

centered in the middle of the page
Author’s name and institutional affiliation

• Name of author and the institution where the investigation was conducted.
• The preferred form of author’s name is
First name, middle initial(s) and the last name.
• Do not use the words by or from the
• Use the same form of name for publication through out your career
• The institutional affiliation is the name of the place (usually a college or
university) where the research was conducted.
• The author's name and institutional affiliation should be centered and placed
directly below the title.
Example
Nida A Zafar
Department of Psychology, Lahore Garrison University
 Abstract
• The abstract should contain a complete but concise
summary of the paper.
• The main things that should be included in abstract
are:
the problem under investigation (the objective of the
paper),
hypotheses
the Method: participants / sample (number, type, age,
sex), measurements used,
Analysis, the main findings,
Implications of the findings
 Introduction & Literature Review
• Provides background information on the topic
• Explains why the topic is important
• Give the reader an idea of what aspects of the topic
you will be focusing on
• Introduce the problem and the variables
• Give overview of theoretical framework
• How does the study relate with previous work in the
area?
• Then review the relevant literature organizing it in a
clear and easy to follow manner.
 Introduction & Literature Review
• Also review indigenous literature
• Introduction is not labeled in the paper
• Not to start a new page for each section
• Indent the first line of each paragraph
 State rationale and purpose
• After introducing the problem and developing the
background material, explain your own approach to
solve the problem
• Write statistics of the problem under study
• Explain what is your contribution
• Make this statement in the closing paragraphs of the
introduction
 Objective and Hypotheses

State your research objectives

State hypotheses according to the previous

literature.
Try to make directional hypothesis.

Draw Hypothesized Model of your research

 Method
• The method section is where we describe what we did and how we
conducted the research.

• This enables the reader to evaluate the appropriateness of your method

and the reliability and validity of research results.

• It also permits other researchers to use this information to try to replicate

the research and see if they come up with the same results.
• If description of methodology is incomplete or poorly written then others
will not be able to accurately replicate the study.

• The description of methodology also allows others to critique how well

designed the study is.
 Sections of the Method chapter

1.Sample (Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria)

2.Assessment Measures

3.Procedure

4.Ethical Considerations
 Sample

•Description of the sample (Also mention

subgroups)
•Sample Size
•From where sample was taken
•How the sample size was determined
•Age range of the sample
•Sample Flow Chart (if required)
 Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria of the Sample
Establishing inclusion and exclusion criteria for study participants is
a standard, required practice when designing high-quality research
protocols.

Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion criteria are characteristics that Exclusion criteria are those

the prospective subjects must have if
they are to be included in the study.
characteristics that disqualify
prospective subjects from inclusion in
the study. Features of the potential
study participants who meet the
inclusion criteria but present with
additional characteristics that could
interfere with the success of the study
or increase their risk for an unfavorable
outcome
 Things to remember while writing
Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

• Exclusion Criteria is not the opposite of Inclusion criteria

• Do not select variables as inclusion criteria that are not related to

answering the research question
 Example : Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria

• University students within age range of 18-25 • University students having any medical condition

years were included. such as diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure etc

• Regular university students who were enrolled in were excluded.

• University students having any physical disability
undergraduate or post graduate programs were
such as loss of limb amputation, muscular dystrophy,
included.
deafness, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury etc. were
• Only those students who did not contract COVID-
excluded.
19 were included.
• University students who have had psychological
• Those students who attended online classes during
treatment in last 3 months were excluded.
the pandemic were included.
• University students who were also doing a job along
• Students who owned at least one personal mobile
with their studies were excluded
phone with active internet connection were
included.
 Assessment

1. Demographic Information Questionnaire

a) Personal Characteristics and General

Information
b) Specific Research Related information
Questionnaire
i.e. Demographic and Social Media Related
Information Questionnaire

2. Assessment Measures
 Assessment Measures

Write description of each scale which must include

•Developer of scale
•Year of scale development
•What scale measures
•Items of the scale
•Rating scale
•Subscales (if any)
•Scoring method
•Reverse scoring (if applicable)
•Sample items
•Scale language (In case of translation, write translation procedure.
If you have taken translated measure from some other author, give
reference of the translator).
•Reliability of the scale reported by author
•Reliability of the scale in your research
 Example: Assessment Measure

Perceived Stress Scale

Perceived stress scale was developed by Cohen, Kamarck, and
Mermelstein (1983). It measures the perceived level of stress in a
given time period. It comprises of 10 items and has a 5-point likert
scale where 0= never and 4= very often. Sample items are “In the
last month, how often have you been upset because of something
that happened unexpectedly” , “In the last month, how often have
you been able to control irritations in your life?”. Items (4,5,7,8) are
reverse scored. The score ranges from 0-40. Higher score indicates
higher levels of perceived stress. The Urdu version of the scale
translated by Zafar and Kausar, 2018 was used. The Cronbach alpha
of scale reported by authors is .85.
 Ethical Considerations

• Approval from Institutional Review Board

• Informed consent form

• Anonymity and confidentiality

• Permissions from authors prior to collecting data

• Accurate reporting of data

 Procedure

• Approval from Institutional Review Board

• Permissions from authors to use and translate
assessment measures
• Permission from institutions for data collection
• Procedure of data collection (screening, distribution
of questionnaire, settings in which data was
collected).
• Monitory reward
• Average time to complete questionnaire
Statistical Analyses (Inline with Hypotheses)

• Descriptive statistics

• Psychometric Properties

• Correlation Analysis

• Regression/Mediation/Moderation

• Mean differences
 Results

• We summarize the data collected and present the

main findings.
• Report the data in sufficient detail to justify the
conclusion
• A common way to report results is to
1. Restate your hypothesis for the reader.
2. Summarize the results for each of the statistical tests
conducted for that hypothesis.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each subsequent hypothesis
 Tables and figures
• Choose the medium that presents the data most clearly and
economically.

• Tables provides exact values and can present complex data

analysis that is familiar to the reader.

• Tables enable to show data in an easy to read format

• Tables should appear at the end of paper, after the reference list
and after any appendixes.

• Every table needs a unique title after its label. The title should
be brief but clearly explain what is in the table.
 Tables and figures

• Each table should be identified by a number, in the order that

they appear in the text (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
•
• Do not discuss every piece of data that is in the table or else
there is no point in having the table. Only mention the most
important pieces of information from the table

• Tables are complicated to set in type and are more expensive to

publish than text, therefore, reserve tables for crucial data that
are directly related to the content of your article.
 Tables and figures
• A figure is any type of illustration that is included in
paper such as charts, graphs, pictures, diagrams, and
drawings

• Many authors choose to use figures when they want to

convey a pattern of results that would be difficult to
see in a table.

• Figures are also used to supplement text or the results.

 Discussion

• Here we interpret and evaluate the findings.

• Organize the discussion section into three parts:
1. Reviewing hypotheses and results
2. Discussing the findings in the context of the
existing literature, cultural context and addressing
the limitations of the study.
3. Summarizing the study’s contribution to the
literature and providing suggestions for future
research.
 References

Follow APA manual 7th Edition for

designing reference list
 Ethics to Follow

• DO not send article in more than one journal at one time

• Give credit to all authors
• Do not plagiarize work
 Where to Send Article for Publication

• HEC Recognized Journals in HJRS

• https://hjrs.hec.gov.pk/
HJRS (HEC Journal Recognition System) categorizes a research
journal into three categories – W, X and Y-- where W is the
highest recognized category followed by X and Y within each
subject area and its associated sub-categories.
• Impact factor Journal indexed in Quartile 1 or Quartile 2
https://www.scimagojr.com/
a.Q1 top 25 percent journals
b.Q2 top 50 percent journals
c.Q3 top 75 percent journals
d.Q4 top 100 percent journals
Thankyou