How to write a good paper and get published in a great journal. Presenter: Deirdre Dunne, Elsevier.

1. Presented by
Date 15 July 2019
Deirdre Dunne
How to write a good paper & get Published in a great journal

2. The Publisher’s Role
Registration Certification Dissemination Preservation Use
How do Publishers add value to the scientific & health community?

3. Identifying the right journal

4. Our Journals 4 4

5. Environmental Science Flagships
5
Published article past 3
yrs
Chemosphere: +50%
Env Pollution: +82%
Env Research: +25%
Env International: +60%
STOTEN: +70%
Published article past 3
yrs
Chemosphere: +50%
Env Pollution: +82%
Env Research: +25%
Env International: +60%
STOTEN: +70%
Citation growth past 3
yrs
Chemosphere: +30%
Env Pollution: +37%
Env Research: +24%
Env International: +15%
STOTEN: +27%
Citation growth past 3
yrs
Chemosphere: +30%
Env Pollution: +37%
Env Research: +24%
Env International: +15%
STOTEN: +27%
 2016: 19,656
 2017: 25,439
 2018: 34,000
 2019: 16,778
 60% Asia
 20% Europe
 15% Americas
 3% Oceania
 3% Africa
 24%
 48%
 43% Geographic Acceptance
 53% (overall 30%)
 11%
Current 2018 CiteScore
Chemosphere: 5.31 (4.65)
Env Pollution: 5.95 (5.00)
Env Research: 5.16 (4.59)
Env International: 8.52
(7.32)
STOTEN: 5.89 (4.98)
Current 2018 CiteScore
Chemosphere: 5.31 (4.65)
Env Pollution: 5.95 (5.00)
Env Research: 5.16 (4.59)
Env International: 8.52
(7.32)
STOTEN: 5.89 (4.98)
2018 Impact Factor
Chemosphere: 5.108 (+15%)
Env Pollution: 5.714 (+31%)
Env Research: 5.026 (+7%)
Env Int: 7.943 (+9%)
STOTEN: 5.589 (+21%)
2018 Impact Factor
Chemosphere: 5.108 (+15%)
Env Pollution: 5.714 (+31%)
Env Research: 5.026 (+7%)
Env Int: 7.943 (+9%)
STOTEN: 5.589 (+21%)
Submissions
(+30% each year) 5 weeks to 1st
decision & 14 to acceptance5 weeks to 1st
decision & 14 to acceptanceSource

6. Chemical & Environmental Engineering Flagships
6
 74% Asia
 10% Europe
 8% Americas
 2% Oceania
 4% Africa
 19%
 33%
 29% Geographic Acceptance
 40% (overall 20%)
 12%
Current 2018 CiteScore
Chemical Engineering Jnl: 8.47 (+21%)
Desalination: 7.01 (+9%)
Hazardous Materials: 7.91 (+17%)
Jnl of Env Chem Eng: 4.09 (+2%)
Jnl of Membrane Science: 7.24 (+4%)
Jnl of Water Process Eng: 3.69 (-8%)
Separation & Purification Tech: 5.05 (+19%)
Current 2018 CiteScore
Chemical Engineering Jnl: 8.47 (+21%)
Desalination: 7.01 (+9%)
Hazardous Materials: 7.91 (+17%)
Jnl of Env Chem Eng: 4.09 (+2%)
Jnl of Membrane Science: 7.24 (+4%)
Jnl of Water Process Eng: 3.69 (-8%)
Separation & Purification Tech: 5.05 (+19%)
Estimated 2018 Impact Factor
Chemical Engineering Jnl: 8.410 (6.735)
Desalination: 5.916 (6,603)
Hazardous Materials: 7,661 (6,434)
Jnl of Env Chem Eng: TBC
Jnl of Membrane Science: 7,015 (6,578)
Jnl of Water Process Eng: 2,611 (1st
IF)
Separation & Purification Tech: 5,125 (3,927)
Estimated 2018 Impact Factor
Chemical Engineering Jnl: 8.410 (6.735)
Desalination: 5.916 (6,603)
Hazardous Materials: 7,661 (6,434)
Jnl of Env Chem Eng: TBC
Jnl of Membrane Science: 7,015 (6,578)
Jnl of Water Process Eng: 2,611 (1st
IF)
Separation & Purification Tech: 5,125 (3,927)
8 weeks to 1st
decision & 16 to acceptance8 weeks to 1st
decision & 16 to acceptance
Source
 2016: 29,420
 2017: 33,358
 2018: 36,930
 2019: 17,000
Submissions
(+10-15% each year)

7. Flagship journal success
7
• All journals have same structure and expectations of handling times
• Goal: 5 weeks to first decision, 14 weeks to acceptance
• Each journal has a SI Editor for quality control & timely handling
• Scope is broad, papers are evaluated on merit alone
• Authors select an Editor based on expertise (listed on EES/EVISE & homepage)
Journal Scopes:
Environment International is a multi-disciplinary journal publishing high quality information in a wide range of
environmental disciplines.
Environmental Pollution welcomes high quality submissions on all aspects of environmental pollution and the
mitigation measures related to ecosystem & human health
Science of the Total Environment is an international multi-disciplinary journal for publication of original
research on the total environment, which includes the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere,
and anthroposphere.

8. How to find the right journal to publish in
• Look at your references and make a short list of titles
• Speak to your colleagues and supervisor to seek their opinion on quality
journals
• Select a journal with a timely review process
• Ensure one of the handling Editors falls within your area of expertise
• Examine the aims and scope on journal homepage
• Read the recently published articles and examine which articles are
being cited most
• Look for other relevant reading and ensure your literature review is
complete
• Check to see the journal is indexed
• Compare quality metrics like CiteScore and ImpactFactor
• Check the Guide for Authors to ensure your article meets the guidelines

9. Journal Finder
https://journalfinder.elsevier.comhttps://journalfinder.elsevier.com

10. Impact FactorImpact Factor
[the average annual number of citations per article published[the average annual number of citations per article published
calculated over a 2 year period]calculated over a 2 year period]
- e.g.e.g. 600 citations600 citations = 2= 2
150 + 150 articles150 + 150 articles
What is the Impact Factor (IF)?

11. 11
Citation growth:
37% ENPO
27% STOTEN
30% CHEM
24% YENRS
15% EI
Citation growth:
37% ENPO
27% STOTEN
30% CHEM
24% YENRS
15% EI

13. 13
CiteScore

14. 14
CiteScore
2018 IF:
8,292
2018 IF:
8,292
2016 IF: 58,9882016 IF: 58,988
2018 IF: 14.3592018 IF: 14.359

18. Journal Hompages

19. • Describe your data, facilitating
reproducibility
• Make your data easier to find
• Increase traffic towards
associated research articles and
data, leading to more citations
• Open up doors for new
collaborations
Sharing your data

21. How To Structure Your Article

22. Methods Results Discussion
Conclusion
Figures/tables (your data)
Introduction
Title & Abstract
The process of writing – building the article

23. Scientific Language – Overview
• Key to successful scientific writing is to be alert for
common errors:
 Sentence construction
 Incorrect tenses
 Inaccurate grammar
 Not using English
Check the Guide for Authors of the target journal for language
specifications
Write with clarity, objectivity, accuracy, and brevity.

24. Authorship
• Policies regarding authorship can vary
• One example: the International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (“Vancouver Group”) declared that an
author must:
1. substantially contribute to conception and design, or
acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. draft the article or revise it critically for important
intellectual content; and
3. give their approval of the final full version to be published.
4. ALL three conditions must be fulfilled to be an author!
All others would qualify as “Acknowledged Individuals”

25. Authorship - Order & Abuses
• General principles for who is listed first
 First Author
- Conducts and/or supervises the data generation and analysis
and the proper presentation and interpretation of the results
- Puts paper together and submits the paper to journal
 Corresponding author
- The first author or a senior author from the institution
- Particularly when the first author is a PhD student or postdoc, and may
move to another institution soon.
• Abuses to be avoided
 Ghost Authors: leaving out authors who should be included
 Gift Authors: including authors who did not contribute significantly

26. Title
• A good title should contain the fewest possible words that
adequately describe the contents of a paper.
26
Tell readers what you did and the important findings
• One paragraph (between 50-300 words) often plus Highlight bullet points
• Advertisement for your article
• A clear abstract will strongly influence if your work is considered further
Abstract

27. Keywords
In an “electronic world, keywords determine
whether your article is found or not!
Avoid making them
 too general (“drug delivery”, “mouse”, “disease”, etc.)
 too narrow (so that nobody will ever search for it)
Effective approach:
Look at the keywords of articles relevant to your
manuscript
Play with these keywords, and see whether they return
relevant papers, neither too many nor too few

28. Introduction
The place to convince readers that you know why your work is relevant,
also for them
Answer a series of questions:
 What is the problem?
 Are there any existing solutions?
 Which one is the best?
 What is its main limitation?
 What do you hope to achieve?
28
General
Specific

29. Results – what have you found?
• The following should be included
 the main findings
- Thus not all findings
- Findings from experiments described in the
Methods section
 Highlight findings that differ from findings in previous
publications, and unexpected findings
 Results of the statistical analysis
29

30. Discussion – what do the results mean?
• It is the most important section of your article. Here you get the
chance to SELL your data!
 Many manuscripts are rejected because the Discussion is weak
• Check for the following:
 How do your results relate to the original question or objectives
outlined in the Introduction section?
 Do you provide interpretation for each of your results presented?
 Are your results consistent with what other investigators have
reported? Or are there any differences? Why?
 Are there any limitations?
 Does the discussion logically lead to your conclusion?
• Do not
 Make statements that go beyond what the results can support
 Suddenly introduce new terms or ideas
30

31. Conclusions
• Present global and specific conclusions
• Indicate uses and extensions if appropriate
• Suggest future experiments and indicate whether they are underway
• Do not summarize the paper
 The abstract is for that purpose
• Avoid judgments about impact
31

32. Supplementary Material
• Data of secondary importance for the main scientific thrust of
the article
 e.g. individual curves, when a representative curve or a
mean curve is given in the article itself
• Or data that do not fit into the main body of the article
 e.g. audio, video, ....
• Not part of the printed article
 Will be available online with the published paper
• Must relate to, and support the article
32

33. Suggested length of a full article
• Not the same for all journals, even in the same field
• “…25- 30 pages is the ideal length for a submitted manuscript, including
ESSENTIAL data only.”
 Title page
 Abstract 1 paragraph
 Introduction 1.5-2 manuscript pages (double-spaced, 12pt)
 Methods 2-4 manuscript pages
 Results and Discussion 10-12 manuscript pages
 Conclusions 1-2 manuscript pages
 Figures 6-8
 Tables1-3
 References 20-50
 Letters or short communications usually have a stricter size limitation, e.g.
3,000 words and no more than 5 figures/tables.

34. Cover Letter
Your chance to speak to the editor directly
• Submitted along with your manuscript
• Mention what would make your manuscript special to the
journal
• Note special requirements (suggest reviewers, conflicts of
interest)

35. Example
Final approval from
authors
Explanation of
importance of resea
Suggested reviewers

36. References: get them right!
• Please adhere to the Guide for Authors of the journal
• It is your responsibility, not of the Editor’s, to format references
correctly!
• Check
 Referencing style of the journal
 The spelling of author names, the year of publication
 Punctuation use
 Use of “et al.”: “et al.” translates to “and others”,
• Avoid citing the following if possible:
 Personal communications, unpublished observations,
manuscripts not yet accepted for publication
- Editors may ask for such documents for evaluation of the
manuscripts
 Articles published only in the local language, which are
difficult for international readers to find
36

37. Suggest potential reviewers
• Your suggestions will help the Editor to move your
manuscript to the review stage more efficiently.
• You can easily find potential reviewers and their
contact details from articles in your specific subject
area (e.g., your references).
• The reviewers should represent at least two
regions of the world. And they should not be
your supervisor or close friends.
• Be prepared to suggest 3-6 potential reviewers,
based on the Guide to Authors.

38. First Decision: “Accepted” or “Rejected”
Accepted
• Very rare, but it happens
• Congratulations!
 Cake for the department
 Now wait for page proofs and
then for your article to be online
and in print
Rejected
• Probability 40-90% ...
• Do not despair
 It happens to everybody
• Try to understand WHY
 Consider reviewers’ advice
 Be self-critical
• If you submit to another
journal, begin as if it were a
new manuscript
 Take advantage of the reviewers’
comments
 They may review your manuscript
for the other journal too!
 Read the Guide for Authors of the
new journal, again and again.

39. Creating Impact for your Research

41. Sharing your Research

42. Social Impact of Research - PlumX Metrics

43. Promoting your research

44. Monitoring & measuring Research Impact

45. Monitoring Impact of your Research

47. Questions? D.dunne@Elsevier.com
Thanks!!