How to write a scientific paper

My research
• Behavioural Ecology
– ranging， foraging，mating system， social system， vocal communicatio。
• Behavioural responses of wild animals to human disturbances
Writing for journal publications
Weihong Ji
Human-wildlife interactions research group Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences Massey University Albany
• • • • Tightly discuss around your results Summarise each result relate to your hypothesis, do not just repeat your results. Do not give statistical test results. Implications Findings of other studies that relate to your results
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
– Concise – Clarity – Repeatability
The process of publishing a paper
• Identify a knowledge gap • Formulate research questions • Design research methods that can answer your questions – Observational – Experimental • Carry out data collection • Data analysis • Draft a manuscript • Submit to a journal – Screening for suitability by Editors – Reviewed by 2-3 referees • Outcome – Accepted – Accepted with revision – Resubmit – Rejected
– Summaries your main questions and findings – Make your new findings/novel aspects stand out – Important contribution to the research field and management if there is any.
– Confirmation – contradiction
• Interesting!-- further discussion
• • •
Limitations of your study
– Better state it yourself than been used as reasons for rejecting your MS
Example of a title
• The responses of vegetation to below-ground grazing by plateau zokors (Myospalax fontanierii) in an alpine meadow
• Grazing and excavating of fossorial mammals promote plant diversity and landscape heterogeneity on alpine grassland.
• Importance of the title
– It is the first thing your reader will read
• How can you get their interest?
– – – – Convey the main focus of you research The novelty of your study General interest Make it interesting
– Summaries your data – Table or figures: do not use both for the same data.
• Do not include inferred information, leave it to the discussion
Discussion
A example of a title
Reproductive skew and selection on female ornamentation in social species
DR Rubenstein, IJ Lovette
Nature, 2009
Abstract
• Write it last
• Logic flow • not too much common knowledge
Method section
• locations • information about the sites that are relevant to the study • sampling methods/experimental methods in a way that it is repeatable. • Analysis methods • Software used
• Distribution • How do you test for distribution • Independence
– The statistical analysis – Software used for data analysis
Results
• Results tightly follow your aims or hypothesis • Descriptive first and test results • Data presentation
Give further directions from what you found if possible Important:
– Draw conclusions within the scope of your data – use the results of other studies to tell your story, not other way around! – Do not give information your peers should know (it will annoy your referees and readers). – Use information from reference instead of repeating it.
– General interest – Novel aspects – Experimental design – Good Logic flow /Clarity in writing – Adequate and appropriate data analysis
Targeting top journals
• Through transects/grids
– Length of transects/grids – Number of transects /grids
• Sampling interval • Sampling unit
Methods
• Data analysis
– The nature of your data
Choose a Journal for your paper vs write to target certain journals
• General (high impact factor) vs specialised (low IF but doesn’t mean low quality)
Methods
• Sampling /observation methods
– How did you collect data?
• Through experimental plot?
– – – – Size of the plot Number of plots Repeats Controls
– The effect of pest to controls
• Behavioural adaptation to urbanisation
The differences between scientific writing and creative writing
• Convey your research findings in a very limited space/length
How to write an Introduction
• Set the scene
• Lead your reader into the main topic of your research and why this topic is important. • What has been done along this research direction – Literature review: make it as tightly relevant to your study. • Identify the knowledge gap – What has (have) not been done and why it （ they）is（are） important? • Present your research questions – Hypotheses /predictions – Study system and its suitbility for answering your questions