Basics of Research Paper Writing and Publishing

Publishing󰀁

MichaelDerntl

FacultyofComputerScience

UniversityofVienna

michael.derntl@univie.ac.at

Abstract.Publishingresearchresultsisanintegralpartofaresearcher’sprofessionallife.However,writingisnoteveryresearcher’sfavoriteactiv-ity,andtheobstaclesofgettingapaperpublishedcanbenerve-wracking.Thispapergivesanintroductoryreportonbasicissuesofwritingandorganizingscientificpapers,andgettingthempublished.Thepaperalsooutlinestheprocessofpublishingresearchpapersinjournalsandcon-ferenceproceedings,aimingtoprovideinterestednoviceswithahandyintroductoryguide.

1Introduction

Thedisseminationofresearchresultsandfindingsisanintegralpartofthere-searchprocess.Researcherswritetokeeprecordsoftheirworkforthemselves,butmoreimportantlyalsoforthereadersandpeerresearcherswhoareexpect-ingastandardform,language,andstylewhenreadingresearchpapers.Writinginascientificstylemaybehardinthebeginningfornovices,butclearcom-municationandconcisewritinghavenomagicinvolved[1].In[2,p.1],RobertDaydefinesascientificpaperas“awrittenandpublishedreportdescribingorig-inalresearchresults,”whileacknowledgingthatscientificpapersalsohavetomeetrequirementsregardinghowthepaperiswrittenandthewayitispub-lished.Theprocessleadingtopublicationisequallyimportantasthecontent,style,andorganizationofthepublishedpaper.Ascientificpapermustbeavalidpublication,i.e.itmustbepublishedintherightplace,forinstanceinapeer-reviewedjournalintherespectivefield.Whenpublishedinthewrongplace(e.g.,inanewspaper),evenanexcellentresearchreportisnotvalidlypublished.TheCouncilofBiologyEditors(CBE),aprofessionalorganizationfrequentlycitedonthistopic,hascometothedefinitionthatan

“acceptableprimaryscientificpublicationmustbethefirstdisclosurecontainingsufficientinformationtoenablepeers1.toassessobservations,

2.torepeatexperiments,and

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3.toevaluateintellectualprocesses;

moreover,itmustbesusceptibletosensoryperception,essentiallyper-manent,availabletothescientificcommunitywithoutrestriction,andavailableforrecognizedsecondaryservices...”([3,p.1-2],ascitedin[2,p.2])

Theserequirementsimplythatnewsletters,conferencereports,internalre-ports,newspapers,andmostothertextsourcesdonotqualifyasscientificpapers.Toshowtheprocessofcomposingscientificpapers,onemajorpartofthispaperfocusesonissuesoforganizingandwritingthem.

Onceapaperisdrafted,written,rewritten,andfinisheditdeservestobepublishedvalidly.However,dealingwithpublishers,theireditors,peerreviewer’scomments,deadlines,submissionguidelines,andotherobstaclesonthewaytothepaperappearinginaprintedvolumecanbeoneofthemosttime-consumingandexhaustivetasksinaresearcher’slife.Therefore,thesecondmajorpartofthispaperoutlinesmotivationsandwaystopublishresearchpapers,primarilytoservenoviceswithahandyintroductiontothisprocess.

2ResearchPaperWriting

Thissectiondealswithissuesofwritingscientificresearchpapers,fromtheintenttowriteapapertoplanningthewritingforprofessionalpublication.Themajorpartofthissectionoutlinesprinciplesofpaperorganization.2.1

IntentionsforWriting

Onemayaskwhyresearchershavetowritedownwhattheyhavebeendoing,orwhattheyarecurrentlyworkingon.Boothetal.[4,p.8-9]deliverthreeobviousreasons:

–toremember,becauseoncesomethingisforgotten,itcannotbereproducedcorrectlywithouthavingwrittennotice;

–tounderstand,aswritingaboutasubjectcanonlybeaccomplishedbyap-proachingthesubjectinastructuredway,whichitselfleadstobetterun-derstandingthereof;

–togainperspective,aswritingincludeslookingatsomethingfromdifferentpointsofview.Still,itmaybeaskedwhyresearchershavetoturntheirwritingintoformalpapers.Writingforothersismoredemandingthanwritingforoneselfbutitcanhelptogetabetterunderstandingoftheownideas[4].Aspublicationshavesystem-maintainingrolesintheirrespectivesciences,additionalmotivationsforresearcherstowriteandpublishtheirresearchworkare[5,p.243-6]:

–Scientificcommunication.O’Connor[6,p.1]pointsoutthatthisisessentialifscienceistoprogress.

BasicsofResearchPaperWritingandPublishing3

––––

Idealprotectionofintellectualproperty.Legalprotectionofintellectualproperty.Gainofreputationiscertainlydesirable.

Thinkingineconomicmeasures,“saletoachievehighprices”maybetrans-formedto“publishtoachievemanycitations”(economictheoryofscience).

Peatetal.[7,p.2]providealistofratherpragmaticreasonsforwritingdownandpublishingresearchresults.Amongthemare:–––––2.2

YouYouYouYouItis

havesomeresultsthatareworthreporting.wanttoprogressscientificthought.

wantyourworktoreachabroadaudience.willimproveyourchanceofpromotion.

unethicaltoconductastudyandnotreportthefindings.

PaperOrganization

Thegeneralstructureofapapercomprisesthreemajorsections:introduction,body,anddiscussion.Theprogressionofthethematicscopeofapaperwithinthesesectionstypicallyfollowsageneralpattern,namelythe“hourglassmodel”(Figure1,left-handside;cf.[8]):Theintroductionleadsthereaderfromgeneralmotivationsandabroadsubjecttoaparticularresearchquestiontobedealtwithinthepaper.Thebodyofthepaperstayswithinatightthematicscope,describestheresearchmethodsandresultsindetail.Finally,thediscussionsectionaimstodrawgeneralconclusionsfromtheparticularresults.ThisisinlinewithBerry’sclaim[9,p.99]thataresearchpapershouldbecircularinargument,i.e.,theconclusionshouldreturntotheopening,andexaminetheoriginalpurposeinthelightoftheresearchpresented.

However,thereareadditionalpartsofapaperwithequalimportance:title,abstract,andthereferences.Theextendedhourglassmodel,whichIchosetocallthe“Kingmodel”foritsvisualresemblanceofthechesspiece,isshownintheright-handsideof1.Thefollowingsubsectionsdescribeallpartsofapublishedpaper.

Title.Thetitleiswithoutdoubtthepartofapaperthatisreadmost,andusuallyitisreadfirst.Additionally,electronicindexingservicesrelyheavilyontheaccuracyofthetitletoallowuserstofindpapersrelevanttotheirqueries.Daydefinesagoodtitle,“asthefewestpossiblewordsthatadequatelydescribethecontentsofthepaper”[2,p.9].Ifthetitleistoolongitusuallycontainstomanywastewords,e.g.,“Investigationson...”atthebeginningofthetitle.Ontheotherhand,titleswhicharetooshortoftenusewordswhicharetoogeneral,e.g.,thetitle“WritingReports”doesnotprovideanyinformationonwhichkindofreportsthepaperfocuseson.Thus,accordingto[7,p.94],effectivetitles–identifythemainissueofthepaper,

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Fig.1.Thehourglassmodel[8](left)andtheKingmodel(right)ofpaperstruc-ture.

–beginwiththesubjectofthepaper,

–areaccurate,unambiguous,specific,andcomplete,

–donotcontainabbreviations(unlesstheyarewellknownbythetargetau-dience,suchasWWWorCPU),and–attractreaders.

Abstract.Basically,anabstractcomprisesaone-paragraphsummaryofthewholepaper.Abstractshavebecomeincreasinglyimportant,aselectronicpub-licationdatabasesaretheprimarymeansoffindingresearchreportsinacertainsubjectareatoday[10].Soeverythingrelevanttopotentialreadersshouldbeintheabstract,everythingelsenot.

Accordingto[2,p.23],therearetwobasictypesofabstract:–Aninformativeabstractextractseverythingrelevantfromthepaper,suchasprimaryresearchobjectivesaddressed,methodsemployedinsolvingtheproblems,resultsobtained,andconclusionsdrawn.Suchabstractsmayserveasahighlyaggregatedsubstituteforthefullpaper.–Ontheotherhand,anindicativeordescriptiveabstractratherdescribesthecontentofthepaperandmaythusserveasanoutlineofwhatispresentedinthepaper.Thiskindofabstractcannotserveasasubstituteforthefulltext.Achecklistdefiningrelevantpartsofanabstractisproposedin[10],whereastheauthorsuggestseachparttobepackedintoonesentence:

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1.Motivation:Whydowecareabouttheproblemandtheresults?

2.Problemstatement:Whatproblemisthepapertryingtosolveandwhatisthescopeofthework?

3.Approach:Whatwasdonetosolvetheproblem?4.Results:Whatistheanswertotheproblem?

5.Conclusions:Whatimplicationsdoestheanswerimply?

Also,therearesomethingsthatshouldnotbeincludedinanabstract,i.e.informationandconclusionsnotstatedinthepaper,referencestootherlitera-ture,theexacttitlephrase,andillustrativeelementssuchastablesandfigures[2].Usefulhintsandcommentsonpreparingandwritingabstractsaregivenonvariouseducationalandprofessionalwebsites,suchasin[10,11,12,13,14],tomentionafew.

Introduction.Theintroductionservesthepurposeofleadingthereaderfromageneralsubjectareatoaparticularfieldofresearch.Threephasesofanintro-ductioncanbeidentified[8,p.141]:

1.Establishaterritory:

a)bringouttheimportanceofthesubjectand/orb)makegeneralstatementsaboutthesubjectand/or

c)presentanoverviewoncurrentresearchonthesubject.2.Establishaniche:

a)opposeanexistingassumptionorb)revealaresearchgapor

c)formulatearesearchquestionorproblemord)continueatradition.3.Occupytheniche:

a)sketchtheintentoftheownworkand/or

b)outlineimportantcharacteristicsoftheownwork;c)outlineimportantresults;

d)giveabriefoutlookonthestructureofthepaper.

Inbrief,theintroductionshouldguidethereadertocurrentstate-of-the-artinthefieldandshouldallowthereadertounderstandtherestofthepaperwithoutreferringtopreviouspublicationsonthetopic[2].Eventhoughtheintroductionisthefirstmainsectioninapaper,manyresearcherswrite–oratleastfinish–itverylateinthepaperwritingprocess,asatthispointthepaperstructureiscomplete,thereportinghasbeendoneandconclusionshavebeendrawn.

Body.Thebodyofapaperreportsontheactualresearchdonetoanswertheresearchquestionorproblemidentifiedintheintroduction.Itshouldbewrittenasifitwereanunfoldingdiscussion,eachideaatatime[15,p.187].Normally,thebodycomprisesseveralsubsections,whereasactualstructure,organization,andcontentdependsheavilyonthetypeofpaper,forexample(adaptedfrom[16]):

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–Inempiricalpapers,thepaperbodydescribesthematerialanddatausedforthestudy,themethodologiesappliedtoanswertheresearchquestions,andtheresultsobtained.Itisveryimportantthatthestudyisdescribedinawaythatmakesitpossibleforpeerstorepeatortoreproduceit[2,p.29].–Casestudypapersdescribetheapplicationofexistingmethods,theoryortools.Crucialisthevalueofthereflectionsabstractedfromtheexperienceandtheirrelevancetootherdesignersortoresearchersworkingonrelatedmethods,theoriesortools.–Methodologypapersdescribeanovelmethodwhichmaybeintendedforuseinresearchorpracticalsettings(orboth),butthepapershouldbeclearabouttheintendedaudience.–Theorypapersdescribeprinciples,conceptsormodelsonwhichworkinthefield(empirical,experience,methodology)isbased;authorsoftheoreticalpapersareexpectedtopositiontheirideaswithinabroadcontextofrelatedframeworksandtheories.Importantcriteriaaretheoriginalityorsoundnessoftheanalysisprovidedaswellastherelevanceofthetheoreticalcontenttopracticeand/orresearchinthefield.Generally,thebodyofapaperanswerstwoquestions,namelyhowwastheresearchquestionaddressed(materials,methods)andwhatwasfound(results)[1,2,7].

Discussion.Thinkingintermsofthehourglassmodel(cf.Figure1)thedis-cussionandconclusionsectionissomehowthecounterparttotheintroductionsincethissectionshouldleadthereaderfromnarrowand/orveryspecificresultstomoregeneralconclusions.Generally,thissectionincludes(cf.[2,8]):–Presentationofbackgroundinformationaswellasrecapitulationofthere-searchaimsofthepresentstudy.

–Briefsummaryoftheresults,whereasthefocusliesondiscussingandnotrecapitulatingtheresults.

–Comparisonofresultswithpreviouslypublishedstudies.

–Conclusionsorhypothesesdrawnfromtheresults,withsummaryofevidenceforeachconclusion.

–Proposedfollow-upresearchquestions.

Accordingto[2,p.38-9],somethingthatisoftennotadequatelydealtwithisadiscussionaboutthesignificanceoftheresults;agoodplacefordoingsoistheendofthediscussionsection.

References.Embeddingtheownworkinrelatedliteratureisoneoftheessentialpartsofresearchwriting.Therearecitationsofreferencesinthetext,aswellasalistofcitedreferencesattheendofthepaper.Differentpublishersrequire

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differentformatsorstylesof(a)citinginthepapertextand(b)forlistingreferences.Themostcommonlyusedreferencingsystemsare(cf.[2]):

–NameandYearSystem.Referencesarecitedbytheirrespectiveauthorsandtheyearofpublication,e.g.,“ChuckandNorris(2003)define.....”Thissystemisveryconvenientforauthors,asthecitationdoesnothavetobechangedwhenaddingorremovingreferencesfromthelist.Thefactthatsentencesbecomehardtoreadwhensubsequentlycitingmanyreferencesinonesingleparenthesisthiswayisonenegativeaspectforreaders.–Alphabet-NumberSystem.Thissystemliststhereferencesinalphabeticalor-derandcitesthembytheirrespectivenumberinparenthesesor(square)brackets,e.g.,“Asreportedin[4],....”Thissystemisrelativelycon-venientforreaders,asitdoesnotbreaktheflowofwordswhilereadingasentencewithmanycitations.Ontheotherhand,theauthorhastokeepaneyeonthereferencescitedinthetextastheirnumbersmaychangewhenthereferencelistisupdated.–CitationOrderSystem.Thissystemissimilartothealphabet-numbersystemwithonemajordifference:thereferencelistisnotsortedalphabetically,butintheorderofappearance(citationbynumber)inthetext.Variationsofthereferencingsystemsmentionedaboveareusedinmostofthecommonstyleguides.Theoverallmostwidelyusedstylesinclude:Ameri-canPsychologicalAssociation(APA)Style[17],ChicagoStyle[18],CouncilofBiologyEditors(CBE)Style[19],ModernLanguageAssociation(MLA)Style[20,21],andothers.

InComputerScience,themostwidelyusedstylesarevariationsofthenumbersystem,e.g.thestyleusedbySpringerVerlagintheirLectureNotesinCom-puterScience(LNCS)seriesincludingitssubseriesLectureNotesinArtificialIntelligence(LNAI)andLectureNotesinBioinformatics(LNBI);thestyleusedbytheAssociationforComputingMachinery(ACM)Press;andthestyleguidesissuedbytheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE).Springer,ACMandIEEEareamongthemostprestigiouspublishersinComputerScience,sincetheytendtohavethehighestqualityrequirementsforpublishedpapers.Ingeneral,thecitationsystemuseddependsonthescientificdiscipline(e.g.,psychologistsmainlyuseAPAstyle)aswellasonthepublisher(differentpub-lishersmayrequiretousedifferentreferencingstyleseveninthesamefield).Authorshavenootherchoicethanadheringtothestylerequiredbypublishers.2.3

WritingforPublication

Papersmustbewrittenforaspecificaudience.Thisisparticularlyimportantfordoctoralstudentstryingtopublishpartsoftheirdissertations.Thedoctoralthesishasbeenwrittento“please”thesupervisor;ascientificpapershouldbewrittenfortheeditorandaudienceoftheintendedjournal(cf.Section3.2).

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Thustheplaceofpublicationhastobeselectedpriortowritingthepaper[1,p.74],andchaptersextractedfromtheseshavetobereconsideredaccordingly.Berry[9,p.105-8]notesthat,

–“thesesarewrittenforsupervisorswhohavetobeconvincedthatonehasreallydonework.Nocornersarecut.Spaceisnoobject[...]Nothingofthisappliestolearnedjournals.”

–Theprofessionalpublicdoesnotneedtohaveeverythingspelledout,in-steadit“wouldliketolearnsomethingitdidnotalreadyknow,expressedinsuccinctprose,thepointsmadeinanagileandalertmanner.”

–Twoofthemostimportantrulesare:“targetthejournal”(i.e.,itseditorandaudience)and“researchthemarket”togettoknowavailableandap-propriatejournalsinthefield.

–Afterhavingchosenthepreferredjournalforpublication,alleffortsshouldbedirectedtoplacethepaperinthatspecificjournal.Itishelpfultostudypaperspreviouslypublishedinthatjournalwithrespecttopaperorganiza-tion,presentation,andwritingstyle.Accordingto[6],severalstepshavetobetakentopreparearesearchpa-perforprofessionalpublication:First,theresearchershavetoaskthemselvessomepreliminaryquestionstomakesurethatthestudiesaredesignedtoanswerpreciselytheresearchquestionunderexamination,thattheexperimentsmeetacceptedstandards,andthattheprocessofkeepingrecordsoftheresearchworkisagreed-uponinthetargetcommunity.Subsequently,theresearchworkhastobeassessedconstantlyinordertobeabletodecidewhethertheworkissuitableforsubmission(speakingtocolleaguesandwritingwhileworkisinprogressmayturnouttobeveryhelpfulinthisrespect).Apaperthat“recordssignificantexperimental,theoreticalorobservationalextensionsofknowledge,oradvancesinthepracticalapplicationofknownprinciples”isworthpublishing[6,p.3].Ifitseemsfeasibletowritesuchapaperitistimetoselectaplaceofpublication.Eveniftheworkreportedonisconsideredworthpublishing,amajorprereq-uisiteforapapertopassarigorouspeerreviewprocess(cf.Section3.1)priortopublicationisaclean,concise,andcoherentwritingstyle(cf.Section2.4),aswellasthoroughorganizationandelaborationofthestatementunfoldinginthepaper.Toachievethis,manyrevisionsmaybenecessary,asDavis’[1]proposedplanforpaperwritingshows(Figure2).2.4

WritingTips

Therearemanysetsofwritingtipsavailablefromdifferentauthors.Twosetsoffrequentlystatedtipsorrulesmaybepresentedhere.Davis[1,p.20]givesthefollowingsetofrulesfortechnicalandscientificwriting:––––

Ifitcanbeinterpretedinmorethanoneway,it’swrong.Knowyouraudience,knowyoursubject,knowyourpurpose.Ifyoucan’tfindareasontoputacommain,leaveitout.Keepyourwritingclear,concise,andcorrect.

BasicsofResearchPaperWritingandPublishing9

Fig.2.Planforpreparingandwritingapaperforpublication.–Ifitworks,doit.

O’Connor[6,p.97]statesthefollowingprinciplesforsolvingproblemsofwritingstyle:––––

Besimpleandconcise.

Makesurethemeaningofeveryword.Useverbsinsteadofabstractnouns.

Breakupnounclustersand’stackedmodifiers’(thatis,stringsofadjectivesandnouns,withnoclueaboutwhichmodifieswhich).

Additionally,itshouldbementionedthatplagiarism(i.e.,usingtheideasofsomeoneelsewithoutacknowledgingthesourceofinformation[22])isconsideredaseriousoffenceinthescientificcommunityandmustthereforebeavoided.Creditmustbegivenwhenusingoneofthefollowingintheownwork[22]:–anotherperson’sidea,opinion,ortheory;

–anyfacts,statistics,graphs,drawings-anypiecesofinformation-thatarenotcommonknowledge;

–quotationsofanotherperson’sactualspokenorwrittenwords;or–paraphraseofanotherperson’sspokenorwrittenwords.

3PublishingScientificPapers

Whenthepaperiswrittenandtheauthorandco-authorsconsiderthepapertobeworthpublishing,thenextstepistosubmititforpublication(e.g.toaconference,ajournal,orabookeditor).Particularlywhenthepaperissubmittedtoamajorjournalitcanbeaveryexhaustingandsometimesdead-endwayto

10MichaelDerntl

thepaperfinallyappearinginaprintedoronlineissueofthejournal.Essentiallytherearetwoobstacles:theeditorsandthereviewers.Thefollowingsectionscoverthescientificcommunity’swayofassuringscientificqualityofpublishedpapersandthecentralstagesoftheediting,reviewingandpublishingprocess.3.1

ScientificQualityManagement

Beforegoingintodetailwiththeprocessofpublishingresearchpapers,wewillfirstintroducethecentralmechanismofscientificqualitymanagement,namelythepeerreviewprocess.Sincesubmittedpapersarereviewedbypeersoftheauthorsintherespectivefield’sscientificcommunitypriortopublication,thisprocessisreferredtoaspeerreview.

Peerreviewensurespublishablequalityofresearchpapers[2];somearguethatitshouldcontinuetodosointhefuture[23],whileothersaremoreskep-tical.Formostpublicationmediathereviewprocessisquitesimilar,withsomedistinguishingdifferences.Theseconcernmainlytherolesofpeopleinvolvedandtheoutcomeoftheprocess.Inthispaperwefocusonthereviewandpublishingprocessinjournalsandconferenceproceedings.Commontoseriouspeerreview-ingpracticesisthefactthatauthorsdonotknowtheidentityoftheirreviewers(blindreview);dependingontheeditorialpolicyitisalsocommonpracticethatreviewersshouldnotknowthename(s)oftheauthor(s)ofthepaper(double-blindreview).3.2

JournalPublications

Ajournalpaperreportsonafinishedpieceofresearchorsomesignificantachieve-mentordiscoveryinacertainscientificfield.Unlikeatconferencesitisuncom-monthatinternationaljournalsacceptreportsonresearchinprogressatanearlystage.

RolesInvolved.Themainroles(exceptauthors)involvedinthejournaleditingandpublishingprocessandtheirresponsibilities(cf.[1,2,7,24,25])are:

Referee.Eachjournalhasaneditorialboardthatincludesanumberofreferees

(alsoknownasreviewers)whoareresponsibleforreviewingandevaluatingsubmittedpapers.Havingreviewedapaper,eachrefereeindependentlyad-visestheeditorwhethertoacceptortorejectthepaper.Thisisusuallydoneusingapeerreviewformprovidedbytheeditor.However,finaldecisionsaremadebytheeditor.Itiscommonpracticethateditorsassignexternalref-ereestoreviewsubmissions,forexamplewhentherefereesoftheeditorialboarddonothaveappropriateexpertisetomakeconstructivecommentsonaparticularpaper.Editor.AlsocalledAssociateEditor.Themostimportantfunctionofaneditor

(canalsobeagroupofpersons)istomakethefinaldecisionwhetherto

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acceptortorejectasubmittedpaper.Indeed,thecommentsoftherefereesjustserveassuggestions.Nevertheless,astheeditoralonewouldnotbeabletoreviewandcommentonallsubmissionsindetail,heusuallyreliesontheadviceofhiseditorialboard,wherehecanchoosefromapoolofexpertsindiversefieldsofthejournal’smaintopics.Ifthereisconsensusonaccep-tanceorrejection,theeditor’slifeisfairlyeasy.Itbecomesdifficultonlywhenthereissignificantdisagreementinthereviewer’ssuggestions.Insuchacasetheeditormaymakeafinaldecisionbasedontheownopinionorafterconsultingadditionalreferees.

ManagingEditor.AlsocalledEditor-in-Chief.Manyimportantjournalswith

alargenumberofsubmissionsandpublishedpapershavemanagingeditorswhoarefull-timeemployed.Theirjobistorelievetheeditorfromadminis-trativeandotherday-to-daytasksinproducingajournal[25],e.g.,copingwithpublishers.Generally,thedifferencebetweeneditorsandmanaginged-itorsisthatthereviewprocess(dealingwiththeauthorandreferees)ismostlywithintherealmoftheeditor,whereaspost-acceptanceissuesaretakencareofbymanagingeditors[2].Publisher.Publishersprintacceptedpapersin(periodical)journalissues.Most

journalsappearquarterly,buttherearealsojournalswhichappearmonthlyorbi-monthly.Afterthepublisherreceivesthefinalversionofanacceptedpaper,itispreparedforprinting.Apreviewofthetypesetpapertobepub-lishedisthensenttoauthors,whochecktheso-called“pageproofs”foranyerrorsthatsurvivedtheeditingandtypesettingstages.Thisprocessiscalledproofreading;aftertheauthorisfinishedwithproofreadingthepaperisfinallyreadytogotoprint.Notethatmostjournalsofferthescientificcommunitythepossibilityofpub-lishingspecialissues.Aspecialissueistypicallyproposedbyseniorexpertswhohaveextensiveknowledgeinthefieldandaccesstoabroadnetworkofexpertpeersinaspecializedfieldofrelevancetothejournal’stheme.Insuchacase,thepersonwhoproposesthespecialissuetakesovertheroleoftheeditorandmayprovidehis/herownspecialissueeditorialboard.Often,specialissuesareeditedbyconferenceprogramchairs,whoinviteauthorsofconferencepaperswiththehighestpeerreviewscorestosubmitextendedversionstoaspecialissueofajournalrelatedtotheconferencetheme.

TheProcess.ImportantactivitiesinthepublishingprocessofjournalpapersaredepictedintheUMLactivitydiagraminFigure3.Theverticalswimlanesseparatetheareasofresponsibilityofthemainactorsintheprocess.

Thefirststepistobetakenbytheauthor.Afterchoosinganappropriatejournalforsubmission,theauthorhastosubmitthepaperaccordingtotheinstructionsissuedbythejournaleditor.Mostjournalstodayoffertheopportu-nitytosubmitthepaperviathejournal’swebsite(incomputerscience,most

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Fig.3.Theprocessofpublishingapaperinajournal.

journalsrelyonelectronicsubmissionandreviewingsystems).Atthisstage,itisveryimportantthattheauthorfollowstheinstructionsattheutmostaccuracy,becausepaperssubmittednotcompliantwith(partsof)theinstructionswillmostlikelyberejectedwithouttakingintoaccountthepaper’sactualcontent.Somecommonauthors’mistakesatthisstageinclude:

–Notadheringtothejournal’spaperformattingandlayoutguidelines(e.g.,usingthewrongfontsize,linespacing,pagenumbering,referencingstyle,figureandtableplacementandvisualguidelines,etc.).

–Exceedingmaximumpaperlength(wordcount,pagecount).

–Thepaper’sthematicfocusisnotwithinthescopeofthejournal’ssubjectareas.Ifanyoftheaboveisevidentwhentheeditordoesthepreliminaryreview,thepaperwillbedirectlyrejectedregardlessofitsscientificcontributionandquality.Ontheotherhand,iftheseconditionsaremet(“properpaperonapropersubject”[2,p.83])thepaperwillbeconsideredforpublication.Thesubmittingauthorisnotifiedofeitheroneofthesedecisions.

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Thenextsteptheeditortakesistoselectrefereesforpeerreviewingthepaper.Thenumberofrefereesinvolvedinthereviewprocessmayvaryfromjournaltojournal,butusuallytheeditorforwardsthepapertoatleastthreerefereeswhoareexpertsinthetopicthatiscoveredbythepaper.Besidesmakingcommentsandsuggestionsforimprovementstotheauthors,refereesgenerallysupporttheeditorinmakingadecisionbyprovidinginformationonthefollow-inggeneralissues,whichmayvaryinimportanceamongdifferentjournals(thefollowingitemshavebeencompiledfrom[1,2,7,15,24,26,27]):

–Thematicrelevancetothejournal’sscopeofsubjects.

–Significanceofcontribution(doesthepapercontributenewfindingstothebodyofknowledgeinthefield?)

–Originalityofthework(issimilarresearchalreadypublishedelsewhere?)–Coverageofrelevantliterature(didtheauthorsreportrelatedwork?)Morefocusingonthewritingstyleofthepaper,thefollowingaspectsarerelevanttoreviewersandinfluencetheirrecommendeddecision:

–Clarityofwriting:readability,organization,conciseness,andtechnicalqual-ityofthepaper.

–Appropriatetitleandabstract.

–Appropriateuseofwell-designed(cf.[2,p.48-67])figuresandtables.–Soundconclusionanddiscussion.

–Lengthofthepaperrelativetoitsusefulness.

Alsoincreasingthelikelihoodofacceptancearethefollowingcharacteristicsofsubmittedpapers[24]:

–Strongreputationoftheauthor.

–Successfultestoftheproposedtheory.

–Differentcontentthanusuallypublishedinthejournal.

Whentheassignedrefereeshavefinishedreviewingandcommentingthepa-per,theeditorcollectstheirrecommendationsandmakesadecisionwhichissenttothecorrespondingauthorofthepaper(usuallythefirstauthor).Generally,thenotificationbytheeditorwillcarryoneofthefollowingmessages[6,2,7]:“Acceptasis”Theeditoracceptsthepaperwithoutmodifications.Thepaper

willbepublishedinoneofthejournal’sforthcomingissues(fordetailsontheprintingprocessandonhowthodealwithprintersreferto[6,2,7]).Thisoutcomeisveryunlikelyuponinitialsubmission.Onlyinveryrarecasesthepaperwillbeacceptedrightaway.Itismorelikelythatthepaperhastoberevised.“Acceptconditionally”Theeditorrequestsrevisionofcertainpartsofthe

paper.Theauthorhastomodifythepaperaccordingtothesuggestionsandcommentsofthereviewersandtheeditor(i.e.,conditionsforacceptance)inordertobefurtherconsideredforpublication.Afterrevisingthepaperac-cordingly,theauthormayresubmitthepapertothejournal.Resubmission

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typicallyrequiresauthorstoenclosealettertotheeditorwheretheymustpresentanddiscussindetailhowtheyaddressedthereviewerandeditorialcommentsintheirrevisedversion.Afterreceivingtherevisedversiontheeditortypicallyforwardsthepapertothesamerefereeswhoconditionallyacceptedtheinitialsubmission.

“Reject”Theeditordoesnotseeanychanceforthepapertobepublishedin

thejournal.Unfortunately,thisisbyfarthemostfrequentoutcomeofthethereviewprocessofajournal.Theeditorusuallyenclosesdetailedreasonsforrejectionprovidedbythereferees,whichshouldbereadcarefullybytheauthor.Mostlikely,oneormorereferees

–hadseriousobjectionstooneofthepreconditionsrelevanttoreviewersmentionedabove;

–foundthepaperoutofthejournal’sscope;

–foundfundamentalflawsinthepaper’sargument,data,etc.;

–didnotseeanyimprovementwithregardtoprevioussubmissionsofthesamepaper.Ifmodificationisrequiredandtheauthorfeelsunabletocomplywiththeeditorsrecommendations,theauthormayeither(politely)telltheeditoraboutthedisagreement,oralternativelythepapermaybesenttoanotherappropriatejournalinthefield.Thesameappliestorejectedpapers.3.3

ConferencePublications

Thereviewsystematconferencesisquitesimilartothejournalpaperreviewsystem.Nevertheless,therearesomedifferencesinthepublishingprocess,whichwillbeexplainedinthissection.Generally,paperspublishedinconferencepro-ceedingsdonothaveareputationashighasjournalpapers.Thisisparticularlytrueforthenaturalandsocialsciences.However,incomputersciencetherearenumerousconferenceswithatleastjournal-equivalentstatus[28].

Whilethevastmajorityofconferencesarepartofaseriestakingplacean-nually,someareheldbi-annualy.Severalmonthsbeforetheconferencedate,theconferencechair(whocanbeconsideredthecounterparttotheeditorofajour-nal)issuesaCallforPapers(simplyreferredtoas“CFP”inbothwrittenandoralcommunications)toinviteauthorstosubmitpaperstobepublishedintheconferenceproceedingsandtobepresentedattheconferencevenue.TheCFP,whichcannormallybedownloadedfromtheconferencewebsite,comprisesthefollowinginformation:

TitleandVenue:Forexample:33rdInternationalConferenceonVeryLarge

DataBases(VLDB2007).Vienna,Austria.Generalinformation:ThissectioncanbefoundonmostCFPsdescribingthe

scopeoftheconference,i.e.,puttingthemaintopicoftheconferenceinthelightofcurrentdevelopments.

BasicsofResearchPaperWritingandPublishing15

Topicsofinterest:Enclosesalistoftopicsofparticularinterestforthere-spectiveconference’ssubjectarea.Submissionguidelines:MostCFPscompriseasectionwheregeneralguide-linesforsubmissionsarecommunicatedtotheauthors.Additionally,iftheconferenceproceedingsarepublishedbyawell-establishedpublisher,thepublisherisalsomentionedontheCFP.Deadlines:Thissectionisveryimportant,asthereareanumberofdeadlines

tobenecessarilymetbyauthors:

–Submissiondeadline:Thisisthedeadlineforsubmittingthepaperpro-posal,whichmighteitherrequiresubmissionofafullpaperoran(ex-tended)abstractthereof.Therearealsosomeconferencesthatinitiallyrequireanextendedabstractforpreselectionandthenafullpapersub-mission.Mostsubmissiondeadlinesarefirm,whereasfailuretomeetthedeadlineresultsirreversiblyinnotbeingconsideredforpresenta-tionand/orpublication.Forconferencestakingplaceoverseasthetimechangehastobetakenintoaccountwhensubmittingpapersclosetothesubmissiondeadline.

–Notificationdate:Thisspecifiesthedatewhentheauthorisnotifiedofacceptanceorrejection.Thenotificationdategivenisoftennotveryaccurate,astheprogramcommitteecannotanticipatethenumberofsubmissions,tomentiononereason;alsothepeerreviewersoftenfailtosubmittheirreviewsontime.Thusthereviewprocessmaytakelongerthanexpected.Conferencesthatusepeerreviewtodecidewhetherasubmissionshouldbeacceptedornot,emitoneoftwopossiblemessagestoeachsubmittingauthoratthenotificationdate:

•Accept:Thepaperhasbeenacceptedandwillbepublishedintheconferenceproceedings.However,reviewersmayhavesuggestedmi-normodificationstobeincorporatedinthepublishedpaper.Usually,acceptanceletters(ormails)sentbyorganizersincludetheinvitation(typicallytheobligation)toorallypresentthepaperattheconfer-ence.Thisisaverygoodopportunitytoreceiveimmediatefeedbackindiscussionswithpeersafterthepresentation.

•Reject:Thepaperwasrejectedandwillnotbepublishedintheconferenceproceedings.Mostreviewerssupplyvaluablecommentstoauthorsonhowtoimprovetherejectedpaper.Unlikejournals,mostconferencesdonotconsidertheoptionofaskingauthorsforrevision.Papersarenormallyeitheracceptedorrejectedrightaway.Dependingontheimportanceoftheconferenceandtheresponsetothecallforpapers,theacceptanceratevariessignificantlyamongdifferentconferences.ThetopconferencesinComputerSciencehaveatypicalacceptancerateoflessthan20%.Mostotherconferenceswithagood,selectivereputationacceptroughlyonequartertoonethirdofthesub-missions(cf.also[29,30]).

16MichaelDerntl

–Camera-readypaperdeadline:Incaseofacceptance,thisisthesubmis-siondeadlinefor“camera-ready”papers,i.e.,finalversionstobeincludedintheconferenceproceedings.Atsomeconferences,failuretomeetthisdeadlinemayresultinnotbeingincludedintheconferenceproceed-ings.Anyway,programcommitteesannouncetheirpolicyofdealingwithdeadlineexceeding.

Aswithjournals,itisvitaltomeetalldeadlinesandtocomplywithallguidelines(suchaspaperformattinginstructions).SeeFigure4foranex-ampleofthe“importantdates”sectioninthewebsiteoftheInternationalConferenceonVeryLargeDataBases2007.

Fig.4.DeadlinesofVLDB2007conference.http://vldb2007.org

Otherinformation:Otherinformationofinterest,e.g.,callforworkshops

tobeco-locatedwiththeconference,tutorials,paneldiscussionproposals,demonstrations,andinformationonsponsors,publisher,invitedspeakers,etc.

4ConcludingRemarks

Theobjectiveofthispaperwastogiveanintroductoryreportonbasicissuesofwritingandorganizingscientificpapersaswellasontheprocessofgettinga

BasicsofResearchPaperWritingandPublishing17

researchpaperpublishedinajournalorinconferenceproceedings.Itshouldbeusefulforbeginners(e.g.,PhDstudents)seekingtojointhepublishingscientificcommunity.Asthewholeofthissubjectareaistoocomplexandextensivetobediscussedindetailwithinthescopeofthisbriefpaper,notallaspectsofwritingandpublishingscientificpapershavebeenconsideredwithappropriateattention.However,thispaperincludesalistofusefulreferencestoprintedandonlinesourcesforreadersinterestedindetails,whereasIhighlyrecommendtwoworksofremarkablequality:RobertDay’s“HowtoWriteandPublishaScientificPaper”[2],andMeaveO’Connor’s“WritingSuccessfullyinScience”[6]shouldanswermostofthequestionsarisingonthetopic.

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