23 Things for Research
This is a list of 23 things that you scientists should be doing to help promote your research. It provides a good list of things to be thinking about as you aim to develop your career.
To collaborate or not to collaborate?
October 29, 2013 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing
You hear about these stories about how ideas from young scientists are stolen by more senior scientists. (The case of Rosalind Franklin’s discovery of the X-ray crystallographic photographs of DNA being a prime one.) Yet, it is always disconcerting to read more and more stories about how people with good scientific ideas are taken advantage […]
10 grammar rules you can forget: how to stop worrying and write proper
Jim Steenburgh sent me this article from The Guardian about “what pop music can teach you about building sentences.”
Fictitious paper published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
September 26, 2013 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing
Jon Zeitler forwarded me this story about a published article that was withdrawn from publication in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications when it was discovered that the authors were fictitious. The work was apparently submitted to discredit another scientist’s work.
Can (and should) scientists become great presenters?
September 11, 2013 Filed under Blog, Featured, Presentations
“When people like you [scientists & PhD students] talk about their research, half of the time even your peers don’t understand what the hell you are talking about, and when they do understand they find it boring. That’s the sad truth.” – Dr. Jean-luc Doumont From Presentation Zen blog by Garr Reynolds, forwarded to me […]
How to read and understand a scientific paper
Brian Curran sends along this great blog post about how to read and understand a scientific paper. The subtitle is a guide for nonscientists, but Brian points out that even scientists could benefit from this information. In fact, I would say that many of the questions asked by the author are valuable in constructing a […]
Help readers find your article online: Search engine optimization
August 10, 2013 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing, Writing
The point of writing a scientific article is to get it read. How do you ensure that your article will reach the largest possible audience? Search engine optimization. I found this web page from Wiley about how to optimize your article for search engines. Optimizing your article for search engines will greatly increase its chance […]
Speaking and writing so your audience understands you
Brian Curran forwarded me this article about how to communicate with the public in active voice using straightforward, easy-to-understand language. Reading this article took me back to my time in Finland a few years ago. I loved to use colorful language and turns of phrases when I lived in the U.S. Then, in Finland, I […]
Every sentence in your scientific paper should meet these criteria.
Each sentence should be clear Each sentence should make sense. Each sentence should be supported by evidence. If you can’t defend it, remove it.
Should peer reviewers be suggested by authors?
July 10, 2013 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing, Reviewing
A recent editorial by Mounir Fawzi in Middle East Current Psychiatry asks the above question. The paper concludes: Traditionally, peer reviewers are designated by the editor. However, a recent trend, which is followed by the MECPsych, is to give authors an opportunity to suggest reviewers for their manuscripts. A few studies have compared author-suggested reviewers […]
