How to Write and Publish in Food

How to Write and Publish in Food
Chemistry & J. Functional Foods
Fereidoon Shahidi, PhD, FACS, FAOCS, FCIC,
FCIFST, FIAFoST, FIFT, FRSC
Department of Biochemistry
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, NL, Canada A1B 3X9
[email protected]
Elsevier publishes more than 20 journals
in the food science area
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Why is it important to write a good paper?
Before submitting an article make sure it is
as good as you can make it.
Not only because it makes YOUR life easier
- your chances of acceptance will be increased …but also the lives of the Editors and Reviewers
Editors and Reviewers are already overloaded.
Incomplete or poorly written manuscripts create great
frustration.
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Your article should be of value…
To the research community
A research study is meaningful only if it is
clear/understood/reproducible….. and USED

To yourself
Your article is your passport to your scientific
community
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…My publishing advice is:
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Submit to the right journal
Submit to one journal only
Pay attention to journal requirements and structure
Check the English
Pay attention to ethical standards
Ask your colleagues to proof read the article
Be self-critical
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Why do we publish?
What is your personal reason for publishing?
PhD
degree?
Get
funding?
However, editors, reviewers and the research community
do not care about these reasons!
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Are you ready to publish?
You should consider publishing if you have
information that advances understanding in a
certain scientific field
This could be in the form of:
Presenting new, original results or methods
Rationalizing, refining, or reinterpreting published
results
Reviewing or summarizing a particular subject or
field
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Can I publish this?
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Have you done something new and interesting?
Have you checked the latest results in the field?
Have the findings been verified?
Have the appropriate controls been performed?
Do your findings tell a nice story or is the story
incomplete?
Is the work directly related to a current hot topic?
Have you provided solutions to any difficult problems?
If all answers are “yes”, a good, strong manuscript
is what is needed next
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How to write a good manuscript:
Preparations before starting
Decide which type of paper is most appropriate
Full articles/original articles/research articles
Review papers/perspectives
Letters/rapid communications/short communications
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What about the Impact Factor?
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the IF can give guidance but should NOT be the
sole reason to submit to a journal.
The IF indicates the cites to recent items /
number of recent items (published in a 2 year
period) in a journal
Journal Impact Factor
Cites in 2010 to items published in: 2009 = 3553 Number of items published in: 2009 = 1127
2008 = 3760
2008 = 988
Sum: 7313
Sum: 2115
Calculation:Cites to recent items
7313 = 3.458
Number of recent items
2115
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New Impact Factor for Journal of Functional
Foods
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New journals may be given a partial impact
factor (covering one year only) if they are
considered highly topical and relevant
Journal Impact Factor
Cites in 2010 to items published in: 2009 = 68 Number of items published in: 2009 = 52
2008 = 0
2008 = 0
Sum: 68
Sum: 52
Calculation:Cites to recent items
68 = 1.308
Number of recent items
52
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Relevence of the work to the Journal:
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In Food Chemistry, there should be
chemistry of food commodities. Bioactive
components MUST be identified clearly.
In Journal of Functional Foods, the
submissions must be related to functional
foods and nutraceuticals; both fundamental
and applied research areas are of interest.
Issues and Concerns
•
Language barrier and lack of
experience is often a problem
•
Appropriate mentorship is missing and
often senior authors have had little input
•
Integrity in research
•
Referencing is often incomplete and
out-dated
•
Style of the journal is not always
followed
•
Revisions are often done partially
Integrity in Research
• Authorship
• Use of prohibited solvents and practices,
including welfare of experimental animals
• Lifting of material from sources that are not
referenced’ including those of your own
• Simultaneous submission to more than one
journal
• Some authors have NO obvious contribution
(Often an English speaking author there, but
MS is with unacceptable English!!!)
WARNING!
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DO NOT gamble or take risks by submitting
your manuscript to several journals. Only
submit once!
International ethical standards prohibit
multiple/simultaneous submissions, and
editors DO find out – and your paper will be
rejected.
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Preparations before starting:
Read the Guide for Authors
CRITICAL ADVICE
Apply the Guide for Authors to your manuscript,
even to the first draft (text layout, paper citation,
nomenclature, figures and tables, etc.). It will save
your time, and the editor’s.
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Building your article
Each section of a paper has a definite purpose
 Title
Make them easy for indexing and
 Abstract
searching (informative, attractive,
effective)
 Keywords
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Main text (IMRAD)
 Introduction
 Methods
 Results
 And
 Discussions
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Conclusion
Acknowledgement
References
Supporting Materials
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Journal space is precious. Make
your article as brief as possible.
If clarity can be achieved in n
words, never use n+ 1
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The Title
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Tell readers what your paper is all about
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Attract the reader’s attention
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Be specific
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Keep it informative and concise
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Avoid jargons and abbreviations
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The Abstract
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This is the advertisement of your article. Make it
interesting, and easy to be understood without
reading the whole article.
You must be accurate and specific!
A clear abstract will strongly influence whether or
not your work is further considered.
Keep it as brief as possible!!!
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Keywords – for indexing and searching
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Don’t be too narrow, or too broad
Avoid abbreviations
Check the Guide for Authors!
TIP: Search for your keywords online.
Would readers find YOUR article using these
keywords?
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Introduction – convince readers you know why
your work is useful
Give
overall
picture,
keep it
brief
Current
state of
knowledge
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Introduction – convince readers you know why
your work is useful
What is the
problem? Are
there any
existing
solutions?
What are the
main
limitations?
What do you
hope to
achieve?
Do NOT mix introduction with results, discussion and conclusion
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Methods – how was the problem studied?
Include detailed information
so that a knowledgeable reader can
reproduce the experiment
However, use references and
supplementary materials to indicate
the previously published
procedures
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Results – what have you found?
.
Tell
a clear and easy to understand story
Only representative results
Be structured
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Discussion – what the results mean
Describe
•How the results relate to the study’s aims and hypotheses
•How the findings relate to those of other studies
•All possible interpretations of your findings
•Limitations of the study
Avoid
•Making “grand statements” that are not supported by the data
•Introducing new results or terms
Don’t ignore work in disagreement with yours –
confront it and convince the reader you are correct
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Conclusions – how the work advances the field –
don’t repeat the abstract!
What
have you
shown?
What
does it
mean
for the
field?
Indicate
possible
applications
and
extensions
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Acknowledgements

Acknowledge anyone who has helped you with the study,
including:
•
•
•
Researchers who supplied materials or reagents, e.g. vectors or
antibodies
Anyone who helped with the writing or English, or offered critical
comments about the content
Anyone who provided technical help

State why people have been acknowledged and ask their
permission
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Acknowledge sources of funding, including any grant or
reference numbers
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References
Typically, there are more mistakes in the references than any other
part of the manuscript.
It is one of the most annoying problems, and causes great
headaches among editors…
Cite the main scientific publications on which your work is based
Do not inflate the manuscript with too many references
Avoid excessive self-citations
Avoid excessive citations of publications from the same region
25-30 references are appropriate for a full text article
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Cover letter
This is your chance to speak to the editor
directly
Submitted
along with your manuscript
Mention what would make your manuscript special to the
journal
Note special requirements (reviewers, conflicts of interest)
Indicate approval of all authors for submission
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Some technical details
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Pay attention to length of manuscript
Consider supplying data as supplementary material
Text layout
Always number the pages, and number lines if required
Abbreviations
Names of potential reviewers – authors in your subject
area, not collaborators or friends, international
Check the Guide for Authors of the selected journal for
specific instructions – not all guides are the same!
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Characteristics of good writing
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Good writing possesses:
Clarity
Conciseness
Correctness (accuracy)
Good writing avoids:
Repetition
Redundancy
Ambiguity
Exaggeration
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Revision and response to reviewers
Many journals adopt a system of initial review by the
editor. Editors may reject a manuscript without
sending it for review.
Why?
The peer review system is overloaded
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Example from one journal’s Guide for Authors
“…..The Editor-in-Chief and Editors have the right to decline
formal review of the manuscript when it is deemed that the
manuscript is 1) on a topic outside the scope of the Journal,
2) lacking technical merit, 3) focused on foods or processes
that are of narrow regional scope and significance, 4)
fragmentary and provides marginally incremental results, or 5)
is poorly written.”
Make sure your manuscript does not fall in any of these
categories or it will fall at the first hurdle!
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How to respond to a request to revise your paper
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Prepare a detailed letter of response
State specifically what changes you have made to the
manuscript.
Provide a scientific response to the comment you
accept; or a convincing, solid and polite rebuttal to the
point you think the reviewer is wrong.
Revise the whole manuscript
Minor revision does NOT guarantee acceptance after
revision.
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…and if your paper is rejected
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Don’t be desperate – it happens to everybody
Try to understand WHY, consider reviewers
advice
Be self-critical
If you want to submit to another journal, begin as if
you are going to write a new article. Read the
Guide for Authors of the new journal, again and
again.
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Accepting rejection – and moving on
Suggested strategy for submitting elsewhere:
 In your cover letter, declare that the paper was
rejected and name the journal
 Include the referees reports and show how each
comment has been addressed
 Explain why you are submitting the paper to this
journal; is it a more appropriate journal?
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Ethical issues in publishing
Unethical behaviour can earn rejection and even a ban from
publishing in some journals. Unethical behaviour includes:
Scientific misconduct
 Falsification of results
Publishing misconduct
 Plagiarism
 Different forms / severities
 The paper must be original to the authors
 Duplicate/multiple submission
 Redundant publication
 Failure to acknowledge prior research and researchers
 Inappropriate identification of all co-authors
 Conflict of interest
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Consequences of breaking ethical rules
Authors of this article committed plagiarism. It
won’t be removed from ScienceDirect.
Everyone who downloads it will see the reason
for retraction
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What leads to acceptance???
Attention to details
Check and double check your work
Consider the reviewers’ comments
English must be as good as possible
Presentation is important
Take your time with revision
Acknowledge those who have helped you
New, original and previously unpublished
Critically evaluate your own manuscript
Ethical rules must be obeyed
Nigel John Cook
Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews
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A final thought…..
If your paper is accepted, you may be asked to
review papers for the journal in future.
Please accept this invitation – your accepted paper
is only published thanks to the work of editors and
other reviewers, and your participation in the review
process will be a positive contribution to the scientific
community.
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