Essential elements for high-impact scientific writing

Nature ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J. Buenz
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 858-858
Author(s):  
Suzanne Meeks

Abstract This presentation will emphasize the importance of plain, good writing. Editors of high impact journals read 10 or more manuscripts per week, and are under pressure to reject 80-90% of them. Regardless of scholarly quality, if the point and contribution are not clear in a quick scan of the paper, it likely will not be reviewed favorably. I will provide tips for strong scientific writing that are commonly violated in manuscript submissions, and provide references for additional writing support. I will also discuss some common publication ethics issues that arise during the review process, including author contributions and embedding your scholarship in the context of prior work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S223-S224
Author(s):  
Suzanne Meeks

Abstract In this section of the symposium, I will talk about manuscript preparation for maximizing the likelihood that your work will be sent for review. I will talk about common author errors that usually guarantee an immediate reject decision such as not reading and following the Instructions to Authors. I will emphasize the importance of plain, good writing. Editors of high impact journals receive 10 or more new manuscripts per week, and due to limited page space, have to reject 80-90% of them. Regardless of scholarly quality, if the point and contribution are not clear in a quick scan of the paper, it likely will not be reviewed favorably. I will provide tips for strong scientific writing that are commonly violated in manuscript submissions, and provide references for additional writing support.


Author(s):  
Neal Smith ◽  
Aaron Cumberledge

Due to the incremental nature of scientific discovery, scientific writing requires extensive referencing to the writings of others. The accuracy of this referencing is vital, yet errors do occur. These errors are called ‘quotation errors’. This paper presents the first assessment of quotation errors in high-impact general science journals. A total of 250 random citations were examined. The propositions being cited were compared with the referenced materials to verify whether the propositions could be substantiated by those materials. The study found a total error rate of 25%. This result tracks well with error rates found in similar studies in other academic fields. Additionally, several suggestions are offered that may help to decrease these errors and make similar studies more feasible in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Rubush ◽  
Kari L. Stone

Numerous American national committees have recommended the replacement of traditional labs with a more engaging curriculum that inspires inquiry and enhances scientific skills (examples include the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)’s Engage to Excel program and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Vision and Change, among others), due to a large body of evidence that shows significant enhancements in student learning and affective outcomes. The implementation of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) is a creative way to scale up the deployment of authentic research experiences to students. Another highly regarded high-impact practice in postsecondary education is the addition of learning communities. The integration of a three-course learning community and authentic research experiences to laboratory courses adds both a community of scholarship and a development of scientific communication and process skills. This study describes a course that blends these two high-impact practices in higher education in order to promote greater post-course gains in essential elements of a CURE curriculum. This collaborative course shows large post-course gains in essential elements, such as scientific communication and working collaboratively.


Author(s):  
R. C. Cieslinski ◽  
M. T. Dineen ◽  
J. L. Hahnfeld

Advanced Styrenic resins are being developed throughout the industry to bridge the properties gap between traditional HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) and ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene copolymers) resins. These new resins have an unprecedented balance of high gloss and high impact energies. Dow Chemical's contribution to this area is based on a unique combination of rubber morphologies including labyrinth, onion skin, and core-shell rubber particles. This new resin, referred as a controlled morphology resin (CMR), was investigated to determine the toughening mechanism of this unique rubber morphology. This poster will summarize the initial studies of these resins using the double-notch four-point bend test of Su and Yee, tensile stage electron microscopy, and Poisson Ratio analysis of the fracture mechanism.


1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline T. Flynn

Speech, language, and hearing professionals rely on many individuals to provide information about a client. Management programs, in part, are devised, modified, and evaluated according to responses obtained from the client, family members, educators, and other professional and lay persons who have contact with the client. The speech-language pathologist has the responsibility of obtaining pertinent, complete, unbiased information about clients. This article provides an overview of the essential elements of an interview.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Mary Zuccato ◽  
Dustin Shilling ◽  
David C. Fajgenbaum

Abstract There are ∼7000 rare diseases affecting 30 000 000 individuals in the U.S.A. 95% of these rare diseases do not have a single Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy. Relatively, limited progress has been made to develop new or repurpose existing therapies for these disorders, in part because traditional funding models are not as effective when applied to rare diseases. Due to the suboptimal research infrastructure and treatment options for Castleman disease, the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN), founded in 2012, spearheaded a novel strategy for advancing biomedical research, the ‘Collaborative Network Approach’. At its heart, the Collaborative Network Approach leverages and integrates the entire community of stakeholders — patients, physicians and researchers — to identify and prioritize high-impact research questions. It then recruits the most qualified researchers to conduct these studies. In parallel, patients are empowered to fight back by supporting research through fundraising and providing their biospecimens and clinical data. This approach democratizes research, allowing the entire community to identify the most clinically relevant and pressing questions; any idea can be translated into a study rather than limiting research to the ideas proposed by researchers in grant applications. Preliminary results from the CDCN and other organizations that have followed its Collaborative Network Approach suggest that this model is generalizable across rare diseases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
James Talmage ◽  
Jay Blaisdell

Abstract Pelvic fractures are relatively uncommon, and in workers’ compensation most pelvic fractures are the result of an acute, high-impact event such as a fall from a roof or an automobile collision. A person with osteoporosis may sustain a pelvic fracture from a lower-impact injury such as a minor fall. Further, major parts of the bladder, bowel, reproductive organs, nerves, and blood vessels pass through the pelvic ring, and traumatic pelvic fractures that result from a high-impact event often coincide with damaged organs, significant bleeding, and sensory and motor dysfunction. Following are the steps in the rating process: 1) assign the diagnosis and impairment class for the pelvis; 2) assign the functional history, physical examination, and clinical studies grade modifiers; and 3) apply the net adjustment formula. Because pelvic fractures are so uncommon, raters may be less familiar with the rating process for these types of injuries. The diagnosis-based methodology for rating pelvic fractures is consistent with the process used to rate other musculoskeletal impairments. Evaluators must base the rating on reliable data when the patient is at maximum medical impairment and must assess possible impairment from concomitant injuries.


Author(s):  
Zafer Sahin ◽  
Alpaslan Ozkurkculer ◽  
Omer Faruk Kalkan ◽  
Ahmet Ozkaya ◽  
Aynur Koc ◽  
...  

Abstract. Alterations of essential elements in the brain are associated with the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders. It is known that chronic/overwhelming stress may cause some anxiety and/or depression. We aimed to investigate the effects of two different chronic immobilization stress protocols on anxiety-related behaviors and brain minerals. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups as follows ( n = 10/group): control, immobilization stress-1 (45 minutes daily for 7-day) and immobilization stress-2 (45 minutes twice a day for 7-day). Stress-related behaviors were evaluated by open field test and forced swimming test. In the immobilization stress-1 and immobilization stress-2 groups, percentage of time spent in the central area (6.38 ± 0.41% and 6.28 ± 1.03% respectively, p < 0.05) and rearing frequency (2.75 ± 0.41 and 3.85 ± 0.46, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively) were lower, latency to center area (49.11 ± 5.87 s and 44.92 ± 8.04 s, p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively), were higher than the control group (8.65 ± 0.49%, 5.37 ± 0.44 and 15.3 ± 3.32 s, respectively). In the immobilization stress-1 group, zinc (12.65 ± 0.1 ppm, p < 0.001), magnesium (170.4 ± 1.7 ppm, p < 0.005) and phosphate (2.76 ± 0.1 ppm, p < 0.05) levels were lower than the control group (13.87 ± 0.16 ppm, 179.31 ± 1.87 ppm and 3.11 ± 0.06 ppm, respectively). In the immobilization stress-2 group, magnesium (171.56 ± 1.87 ppm, p < 0.05), phosphate (2.44 ± 0.07 ppm, p < 0.001) levels were lower, and manganese (373.68 ± 5.76 ppb, p < 0.001) and copper (2.79 ± 0.15 ppm, p < 0.05) levels were higher than the control group (179.31 ± 1.87 ppm, 3.11 ± 0.06 ppm, 327.25 ± 8.35 ppb and 2.45 ± 0.05 ppm, respectively). Our results indicated that 7-day chronic immobilization stress increased anxiety-related behaviors in both stress groups. Zinc, magnesium, phosphate, copper and manganese levels were affected in the brain.


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