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Advice for early career researchers on publishing their results
At our UK CF Conference, one of the workshops guided early career researchers through the process of publishing their work, with some practical tips and suggestions from senior colleagues. Here you can read more about some of the discussions.
Step 1: Writing up the results
“A lot of us have doubts whether there’s enough data or if it’s good enough for publication. Chat to your supervisor about writing it up,” were Dr Becky Dobra’s opening remarks. “Getting a few notes down on a page in a spare hour can really help with your motivation to continue developing the paper,” she said.
“In terms of some of the details of the paper, add in previously written text – such as dissertation notes, study protocols, notes from presentations. The content of the paper can build up quickly.”
Other panelists had different approaches. “I start with making some really good figures, then I write the story around the figures,” commented Dr Guy Moss.
Throughout the process keep talking to your supervisor, the ECRs were advised – find out how they’d like to review the draft article and do ask for help!
Some FAQs on writing covered on the day:
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On writing a lay abstract
- involve a lay person at an early stage. Could be a friend, patient, family member
- imagine explaining to someone who doesn’t know the topic
- keep it interesting/exciting.
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Tips on using AI
- always declare it and make sure you check policy with publications
- if you use AI, be aware of where the data you’ve added goes and how it’s used afterwards. It’s important to be careful.
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Publishing clinical practice research
If its’ service evaluation, consider if you’re addressing a problem that every CF centre is encountering and think about how transferable your findings are.
Remember that if your service evaluation is presented as research, then journals will ask you about the ethical approvals in place.
Step 2: Submitting your paper to a journal
Which journal?: “A key step is deciding which journal you want to submit your paper to,” commented Dr Dom Hughes. There are some online tools that can help you with this, for example, Elsevier’s ‘journal finder’ or Taylor and Francis Journal suggester. Look at what the journal publishes, or even contact the journal editor for advice.
Navigating journal submission: Read the instructions to authors carefully. In particular, look at the structure their papers should be in and the formatting of the references. Ask colleagues to proof-read the paper, before you submit it.
“It can take time to submit a paper into the submission system, so factor this in too,” commented Dr Dom Hughes.
The art of the cover letter: Like a cover letter for a job application, a paper cover letter should highlight why your paper is important. Make sure that you keep the letter to no longer than one side of A4. See the British Medical Journal’s advice on cover letters.
Becoming a reviewer yourself: “There’s nothing better to find out how to write a paper than finding out how other people do it - by acting as a reviewer,” said Dr Dom Hughes.
Let your supervisor or other senior researchers in your lab know that you’d be interested in doing this – maybe you can do the review together. Alternatively, you can often register your interest in reviewing for a journal directly.
Step 3: Managing reviewers' comments
Chatting to your supervisor can help you decide how to respond to each of the reviewers’ points – don’t assume that you have to address them all.
“Learn how to read a rejection letter, for example, a phrase like 'no further consideration' is the end, but a comment such as ‘your paper is not suitable’ might still leave room for manoeuvre. In this case the journal might be willing to consider a paper with substantial revisions” commented Dr Guy Moss.
"Talk to experienced people who have published previously in that journal before deciding how to proceed. Remember that peer review is a flawed and subjective process, so if your paper is rejected, try not to take it personally.”
Our thanks to Becky, Dom and Guy for taking the time to share their advice on publishing research.
You can hear more from Dr Guy Moss in the next of our Coffee and Careers webinars on Wednesday 28 January. In this webinar he’ll be chatting about his career to date with an early career researcher.