Writing for Publication: Part 6

Office of Graduate Studies Author

12/22/2016 Added

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Part 6 of an 8-part Writing for Publication workshop presented by Dr. Brian Waters

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[00:00:00.000]This is your second handout.
[00:00:03.331]So what I'd like you to do is fill in these words.
[00:00:08.214]In the middle, we have the topic
[00:00:12.184]slash issue.
[00:00:14.479]Okay, so that's what the paper is about.
[00:00:19.795]At the top we have why is it important?
[00:00:24.625]On the right side, it says the problem.
[00:00:29.497]At the bottom, it says the solution.
[00:00:34.301]And on the left side it says the benefits.
[00:00:39.302]So what this is is a tool to help you organize your thoughts
[00:00:44.174]on what is my paper really about?
[00:00:47.127]What are the key messages in my paper?
[00:00:49.814]So this is gonna help you put that
[00:00:51.356]in very short sentences so that you could explain that
[00:00:57.046]in the cover letter,
[00:00:58.487]so that you can hit those points in the abstract,
[00:01:01.259]in the discussion, in the introduction.
[00:01:04.410]So let me give you an example of how to use this.
[00:01:09.749]This is some of the research that I conduct.
[00:01:14.575]So the topic in my research is iron deficiency chlorosis,
[00:01:19.621]or IDC, so very short topic.
[00:01:24.308]You don't need long sentences here.
[00:01:26.534]You want kind of very short ideas.
[00:01:29.472]So iron deficiency chlorosis, what is the problem?
[00:01:33.375]Well, we don't know which genes confer IDC resistance.
[00:01:38.473]So very succinct, right?
[00:01:41.092]What is the solution?
[00:01:44.114]Measure gene expression in both IDC resistant
[00:01:47.021]and susceptible varieties,
[00:01:49.421]then determine genes that are highly expressed
[00:01:51.826]in the resistant variety.
[00:01:54.119]Okay, so that will answer the problem.
[00:01:56.776]Why is it important?
[00:01:58.125]IDC causes 260 million dollars in losses each year,
[00:02:03.529]and new resistant varieties would reduce this loss.
[00:02:07.634]And what're the benefits of the solution?
[00:02:11.839]These highly expressed genes could be new targets
[00:02:14.276]for developing IDC resistant crops.
[00:02:17.824]Okay, so that's just an example of how to use this form.
[00:02:20.981]Think about your current project that you're working on,
[00:02:25.581]and use this form to organize your thoughts.
[00:02:31.105]What is your topic?
[00:02:32.361]What is your problem?
[00:02:33.446]Why is it important?
[00:02:34.625]What is the solution?
[00:02:35.741]What are the benefits?
[00:02:38.052]And then with your discussion partner, explain your project.
[00:02:42.302](energetic music)
[00:02:52.153]Were you able to explain your diagram
[00:02:55.883]to your discussion partners?
[00:03:00.287]Did they help you clarify your thoughts a little bit?
[00:03:03.002]If you use this early in the project,
[00:03:06.487]it will be different than if you use it
[00:03:08.555]as you're writing the manuscript.
[00:03:11.010]So if you're using it early in the project,
[00:03:13.234]this could really help keep you on track,
[00:03:15.094]think about what are the important questions
[00:03:17.794]I need to solve and what methods do I need to use,
[00:03:22.200]those kinds of questions.
[00:03:23.857]And then when you're writing the manuscript,
[00:03:26.235]it's more thinking about
[00:03:27.372]how do I present this to the readers?
[00:03:31.398]So back to the cover letter.
[00:03:33.033]Once you've organized your thoughts
[00:03:34.775]to write the abstract and cover letter,
[00:03:38.567]these are instructions from the New Phytologist journal
[00:03:42.126]on exactly how they want the cover letter.
[00:03:44.830]So they even give you instructions
[00:03:46.230]for the cover letter at this journal.
[00:03:49.201]And these are their instructions.
[00:03:51.169]Authors should include answers to the following questions,
[00:03:54.636]maximum 50 words per question, so very short answers,
[00:03:58.981]in a covering letter to help the Editors decide
[00:04:01.633]whether to send the manuscript for peer review.
[00:04:04.616]But I think even if the journal that you're submitting to
[00:04:07.218]doesn't ask these specific questions,
[00:04:10.208]if you can answer those in your cover letter
[00:04:13.038]then your chances of being published should go way up,
[00:04:16.175]because you're making it clear why the work is important.
[00:04:25.428]Okay, so, we won't break out this time,
[00:04:28.213]but just think about for your next project,
[00:04:32.124]how are you going to write the cover letter
[00:04:33.994]to address these three questions.

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Writing for Publication: Part 6

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