Great Research, Great Publications – What’s the secret? Graham H. Pyke School of the Environment University of Technology Sydney

Initial Questions Why be a researcher? Great research? Great publications?

Initial Questions Why be a researcher? Great research? Great publications? Fun Curiosity Inform

Being a Researcher is about … … discovering/ learning cool stuff and telling the world about it & having fun in the process

Research has stages Preparation incl planning Implementation Informing the world

Demonstration Presentation  Oral e.g., lecture, talk at conf  Written (i.e., publication) e.g., journal article, book chapter, book, report

Publication process Prepare ms Submit ms Review Acceptance & publication End of story?

Post-publication Readers = Audience Applications = Consequences Citations = Influence

Publication goals Article (or other kind of presentation) that presents your research results in such a way that the audience, consequences and influence are all reasonably large How do you do it? Answer =>SIP

Approach/ Mindset: “SIP” SIGNIFICANCE INFLUENCE PRESENTATION

SIGNIFICANCE re issue or question Choose an issue or question (planning) or set your work within a context (informing) of high significance (i.e., importance, relevance, usefulness) … the higher the better … but need to credible

Significance - Example Question: Why do animals (& other organisms) forage (or feed) the way they do?

Significance - Example Significant because …  All organisms ‘forage’;  Foraging is important to individual organisms;  Foraging often a major activity re time & energy;  Including foraging is necessary for understanding other phenomena & patterns (e.g., other aspects of behaviour, population dynamics, inter-species interactions, structure of communities, patterns of co-evolution).

INFLUENCE of publication or presentation Seek to have as much influence as possible, through changing how people think, what they say, and what they do. (Planning or Informing)

Influence - Example Question: Why do animals (& other organisms) forage the way they do? Approach advocated: Optimal Foraging Theory Influence sought: Adopt the approach

PRESENTATIONS (Informing stage) Publications (& other presentations) that are captivating, compelling & memorable.

Presentation - Example This lecture?

Implementing the principles SIP …  Significance max  Influence max  Presentation is captivating, compelling & memorable Really … Approach or Mindset What else …. Tools Feedback

Tools: Significance Identify questions &/or issues Hierarchy Evaluate  Fundamental significance  Relevance

Hierarchy of questions - Example Why do animals forage the way they do? Do animals forage in ways that are consistent with Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT)? Do bumblebees forage in ways that maximise Net Rate of Energy Intake? Is the foraging behaviour of bumblebee species X, while taking nectar from flowers of plant sp Y, in location Z, consistent with this hypothesis?

Tools: Influence Audience size Influence level Context

Tools: Presentation Standard approach …  KISS  Concise  Logical  Clear Plus extras …  Captivating  Compelling  Memorable

Writing: My Approach Logical order of simple points These are lead sentences of separate paragraphs One point per paragraph  Applies to articles, reviews, grant proposals, reports etc  Test & Consequences

Writing: Test  Combine lead sentences of each paragraph into single body of text.  Convey ‘story’ simply & completely  Understandable to almost anyone =>Feedback

Writing: Consequences  Basis for abstract or summary (Emphasise introduction, discussion & conclusion)  Basis for being captivating, compelling & memorable

Writing: Captivating Focus on reader (or other audience)  Attention  Read on Progression  Title  Abstract/ Summary  Introduction

Writing: Compelling & Memorable Feedback

Great Research? Great publications? Research of (relatively) high significance & influence Publication (or other presentation) that is captivating, compelling and memorable, while being simple, concise, logical and clear.