Getting Published: Materials of Creativity and Skeptism Workshop at UMS 1 June 2009 Lecture 1: Why we must write? Ismail Said (PhD) Head of Landscape Architectural Department Faculty of Built Environment Universiti Teknologi Malaysia b-ismail@utm.my Ismail Said (PhD) Head of Landscape Architectural Department Faculty of Built Environment

Crab Nebula

Where we are? Stephen Hawking says, "Galileo (circa 1600), perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science.“ al-Khwarizimi in 830 In 850, al-Farghani wrote Kitab fi Jawani ("A compendium of the science of stars") 11th century, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī introduced the experimental method into astronomy

Fundamental Premises Technological obsolesce can occur in as little as 5-10 years! Excellence in research is one of the ultimate roots of all academic excellence, in both undergraduate and postgraduate educations In science, no matter how spectacular the results are, the work is not completed until the results are published.

What Makes a Good Scientist? Scientists often compared to detectives, and both share a number of characteristics: creative logical intuitive imaginative observant persistent able to learn from their mistakes

Things to Talk About Today What is a journal paper? Impact of writing articles Types of articles Types of Journals Impact Factors Targeting Journals What publishers want? Criteria Used by Editors Key Features of Well Written Articles

What is a journal paper? Journal paper is a scholarly document; a sound judgment of a scholar on a particular subject matter. Scientific publishing is a rigorous effort of writing facts derived from a valid methodology. Journal paper is a concise, clear and accurate report; discussing a problem and its solution achieved through rigorous, valid methodology. It is not an aggregate of anecdotal evidences gathered by a researcher. It does not grapple with genes, fractals, synapses, and quarks. Journal writing tackles specific, detailed findings of a research. The information is current: relevant to the discipline of knowledge. Inasmuch, publishing is an act of disseminating of the knowledge to peers.

Why are journals so important? Communicate findings to peers and public Act as an evaluation process for researchers Peer-review process is deemed a quality-control mechanism

Impacts of Writing Article Dissemination of empirical findings Source of citations A mode to get research collaborators and graduate students Credential for researcher to apply for research grants and job promotion Credential for university as research and learning center In 2008, Yonsei University published 2547 papers in SCI journals; ranked 96th in the World in SCI Article Publication in 2007 Researcher as a hub of a special study area and university as an academic hub Citation is an important criteria use for benchmarking or rating universities

Being published means… Your paper is permanent – published material enters a permanent and accessible knowledge archive – the ‘body of knowledge’ Your paper is improved – through the interventions of editors, reviewers, sub-editors and proof-readers Your paper is exposed – it becomes available to a far greater audience Your writing is trustworthy – material which has been published carries a QA stamp. Someone apart from the author thinks it’s good Note: QA: Quality Assurance This note was taken from Dr Foo Check Teck, NTU

Types of articles Journals Refereed conference proceedings High impact: Scopus, Web of Science Low impact: Non-scopus Empirical findings versus theoretical review Refereed conference proceedings Chapters in book Articles in encyclopedia

Types of Journals Generalist Examples: Nature, Science, Indonesian and the Malay Worlds, Children’s Geographies, Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering As such, from the 11,000 submissions reviewed by Science, only 1 in 14 is accepted. It is a serious scientific manuscript; more than 80% of the Science’s readers have doctorate level degrees. Specialist Examples: Journal of Architecture, Buildings and Energy, Children, Youth and Environment, Landscape and Urban Planning, Energy and Buildings, Building and Environment

Impact Factors From the ISI Journal Citation Reports web page: The journal impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year. Impact Factor= no. of citations/total no. articles calculated over the last 2 years For example, IF of Energy and Buildings is 0.834

Targeting Journals Factors you might consider when selecting a journal to submit to: Does your paper contain new knowledge or a new interpretation? If your answer to this question is NO, then go back and start again. Is your paper of general significance? Or is it of more interest to a specialist group? If the former, your work might be appropriate for a high-impact generalist journal; if the latter, it may be appropriate to target a good quality specialist journal.

Targeting Journals 3. Does your paper describe a big advance? Or an incremental one? Big advance—target a high impact journal Incremental advance—aim more modestly

What publishers want? They want well-written submissions that: Fall clearly within the field(s) prescribed by the journal’s submission guidelines. For example, topics in Energy and Buildings include energy demands and consumption in existing and future buildings. And, Transportation seeks for manuscript on transportation needs for people and good. One of its article is Children’s mode choice for the school trip: the role of distance and school location in walking to school.

What publishers want?

What Publishers Want? Quality—like beauty—is often in the eyes of the beholder (Garfield, 2002) 2. Provide an advance in knowledge. In Landscape as Playscape: The Effects of Natural Environments on Children’s Play and Motor Development, Ingunn Fjørtoft (2004) found that during play in a natural landscape, a forest, children showed a statistically significant increase in motor fitness. 3. Conform to all the journals format requirements. For example, Health & Place required that articles should normally be 4000-6000 words long, although articles longer than 6000 words will be accepted on an occasional basis, if the topic demands this length of treatment. View Guide for Authors or Submission Guidelines.

Criteria Used by Editors This where it can be very frustrating… Most good journal receive many more submissions that they can publish. Thus, the editors can usually afford to be very choosy. All quality journals use a form of the “peer review process”

Editing process Editor log a manuscript and send an acknowledgement that the paper has been received Editor sends the manuscript to reviewers On the basis of the reviews and the editor’s opinion, your paper will be accepted, conditional accepted or rejected.

When will I hear? Review can take 2-12 months – usually 2-4 peer reviews sought If you hear in a month – it usually means it wasn’t reviewed Publication is usually 12-24 months after acceptance Usually minimum time to publication is a year.

What will I hear? Editor will summarize with response Peer reviewers comments are usually included Usually 4 possible outcomes Accepted without revisions Accepted contingent on minor revisions Revise and resubmit (R & R): most often Go away (usually at least 50%)

What if my paper is rejected? Get used to it Read the reviews very carefully – is there good insight or ideas you can use to improve the paper? Mostly rejection is because of the relative quality of the paper, not because of editorial bias or idiocy (although it does exist) The better the journal, the higher the rejection rate: 95% in some cases

What if it is accepted with revisions? Do it promptly It may or may not go through another review Reviewers can give conflicting advice You don’t have to make all the revisions. Argue for what you believe But you need to address all the points. Make responses easy for the editor. She’ll like you for it. Never get mad or petty in response. Address only scientific/intellectual issues.

An Example of Rejected Paper Report on HABITATINT-09-00036, The Effect of Green Infrastructure as a Network of Social Spaces on Residents' Well-Being in a Small Town' This is quite a competent piece of research.  It has a simple hypothesis and follows a traditional methodology.  It is well written and reaches some specific conclusions.  Having said this, it really contributes very little to our knowledge of social integration and as a result, cannot be published in an international journal.  After following through the entire argument, I was left wondering 'so what?'  How do the results of this paper actually help us to improve the planning of human settlements?  We already have extensive evidence concerning the importance of open space and social interaction.  This paper adds nothing to this knowledge. I would advise the author to consider working toward more objective definitions of the variables included in the study.  Don't just rely on interviewee interpretations concerning what a word or descriptor might mean  There is an extensive literature on this field, and it is just possible that a new idea could be triggered off.  Get away from descriptive analysis and away from the Likert classifications that are used so often to little effect.  Move into inductive statistics as a means of analysing human behaviour and see what comes out of the analysis.  If successful, perhaps policy initiatives and suggestions would follow.

Dealing with Rejection Everyone gets their journal articles rejected periodically. View it as an opportunity to make the paper better for next time. Two antidotes: Teh Tarik Commiserating with colleagues

What to do next? Options 1. Move on to next journal (incorporate chnages to counter any criticisms encountered) If you have a case, write to the editor with a calm, clear and fact-centered rebuttal of the criticisms.

Key Features of Well Written Articles This is to some extent subjective, but probably include: A clear, concise and meaningful title which creates interest. Fun, Fast and Fit: Influences and Motivators for Teenagers Who Cycle to School Predictive control techniques for energy and indoor environmental quality management in buildings

Key Features of Well Written Articles 2. An introduction that briefly provides a context for the work presented and explicitly identifies the gap in knowledge addressed. The domain of children’s motor development has been addressed through numerous research projects (e.g., Thelen and Smith 1994; Ulrich 1997; Sigmundsson and Rostoft 2003), but just a few (Fjørtoft 2000, Grahn et al. 1997) have related motor fitness development to play activities in the natural environment (Fjortoft, 2004).

Key Features of Well Written Articles Influential Factors on Children's Spatial Knowledge and Mobility in Home School Travel: A Case Study in the City of Tehran By Ehsan Ahmadi and Gen Taniguchi Children who are driven to school are less likely to develop essential road sense, which can only be learnt by walking and cycling (Tranter, 1995). Opposing these arguments, other research shows that spatial skills are not influenced by the mode of school travel and children accompanied or driven by their parents have almost the same environmental knowledge as those who have more autonomy in their school journey (Joshi, 1999).

Key Features of Well Written Articles Detailed descriptions of materials and used (sufficient for other researchers to reproduce your work) Methods http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/18_2/18_2_07_NeighborhoodDesign.pdf This study uses both cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal designs to test the association between the built and social environments of neighborhoods and children’s outdoor play within the neighborhood, while controlling for preferences and attitudes. The quasi-longitudinal design uses a sample of recent movers and parental-report measures of changes in neighborhood-based outdoor play from before to after the move; a sample of residents not recently moving serve as a control group by reporting change in outdoor play from one year ago. (Neighborhood Design and Children’s Outdoor Play: Evidence from Northern California)

Key Features of Well Written Articles Results presented in a logical and clear way View http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/14_2/article2.pdf

Key Features of Well Written Articles A critical and scholarly discussion of the state of the field and the contribution of this piece of work to the advancement of knowledge. Answer research questions and objectives Affirm theory or concept Modify or add new insight to theory or concept Add implications of results 5. Further research

Is journal is a source of knowledge? End of Lecture 1 Is journal is a source of knowledge?