How to Get Your papers Published in ISI Journals – Part 1 Fakulti Geoinformasi & Harta Tanah Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 8th April 2014 Azman Hassan Head of Enhanced Polymer Research Group (EnPRO) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Presentation Outline • Types of research outputs • Motivation for publication • UTM’s KPI and achievement in research publication • Criteria for choosing a journal • Structure of manuscript • Reasons for rejection • Addressing Reviewer’s Comments • Habits of Effective Researchers • Conclusion My Research Team - 2011 Writing a journal paper is like running a marathon. Why ? The success of research is measured from the outputs. • PhD/masters degrees • New/improved Products/Software/Process • Scholarly Publications • Other publications • Innovation awards • Networking • Training programmes • Services • Intellectual properties 5 What motivates you to publish in high impact journals ? Others Why Publish? • Publication is an important research output. • To pass on the knowledge you have gained • Publishing your work can assist you in preparing for your dissertation. Why Publish? • Publication lends credibility to our research. • Publishing increases your profile as a researcher. • Publishing your work can lead to future funding. My Experience  Submission of manuscript to a journal….  News of acceptance from the Editor….excited UTM’s Publications Achievement : 20072011 Items a. Total number of publications in citationindexed journals including refereed proceedings b. Cumulative impact factor of publications 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 367 407 973 1078 587 148 153 262 545 805 c. Cumulative citations of publications 286 1372 1992 2928 3791 d. Total number of publications in non-citationindexed Journal 223 408 271 191 300 e. No. of book Chapters 262 1176 119 62 91 f. Other Publications (including conferences) that have created an impact to government/ society/policy 883 1104 1548 890 444 Cumulative Impact Factors for: 2012: 1350 2013: 1600 Types of Journal Papers Full Papers: contains original research Short Communications Review Articles Where to Publish? Indexed Journal Non-indexed Journal Conference What is an Indexed Journal? • A journal is Indexed when its bibliographic and citation information is included by the citation data supplier. • For “Research University” the citation data supplier is Scopus & Web of Science Why submit to an ISI Journal ISI Indexed Journals Scopus indexed Journals If published: better visibility, higher credibility, good incentive If rejected: valuable experience with free useful reviews. If your paper is of high quality but submitted to a nonISI journal, you have wasted a rare chance ISI Journals and Impact Factors The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) was founded by Eugene Garfield in 1960. It was acquired by Thomson Scientific & Healthcare in 1992, became known as Thomson ISI. ISI publishes the annual Journal Citation Reports (JCR) which list the Impact Factor for the journals. A list of over 14,000 journals is maintained by the ISI. What is an Impact Factor ? A journal’s “impact factor” is an annual measure of the extent to which articles in that journal are cited. The 2011 impact factor of a journal would be calculated as follows: A = the number of times articles published in 2009 and 2010 were cited by indexed journals during 2011. B = the total number of "citable items" published by that journal in 2009 and 2010. 2011 impact factor = A/B. Criteria for choosing a journal • How good is your paper • Scope of journal • Indexing • Impact factor • Journal ranking • Publication frequency • Time to review • Publisher Criteria for choosing a journal • Time to publish • Friendliness of the editor • Rejection rate • Reference • Quality of review • Members of editorial board • Categories of journal • Who published in that journal 1. Type “PVC Composites” 2. Click Search 1 2 3. Click Analyze Results 3 4. Click Source Title 4 5. Click Author name 5 Name of journals 6. Click Affiliation name 6 Ex : Hassan, A. Name of authors UTM ranked 10th Affiliation http://journalfinder.elsevier.com/#results http://www.springer.com/authors/journal+authors International Journal of Polymeric Materials Now covered in Thomson Reuter's Web of Science, and Science Citation Index Expanded! 2010 Impact Factor: 0.458 (©2011 Thomson Reuters, 2010 Journal Citation Reports®) Published By: Taylor & Francis Volume Number: 60 Frequency: 14 issues per year Print ISSN: 0091-4037 Online ISSN: 1563-535X Abstracting & Indexing The International Journal of Polymeric Materials is abstracted and/or indexed in: Chemistry Citation Index; CSA Corrosion Abstracts; CSA Engineered Materials Abstracts; CSA Metals Abstracts/METADEX; Journal Citations Report/Science Edition; Materials Science Citation Index; Polymer Library; and Science Citation Index Read the Scope of the Journal Polymer Testing provides a forum for developments in the testing of polymers & polymeric products and is of interest to those concerned with testing rubbers & plastics in research, in production & in connection with specification & purchasing of products. It covers all branches & aspects of testing, including new apparatus, new techniques & standards, together with their application to quality assurance and product development. Structure of Manuscript (i) Titles (ii) Abstract (iii) Introduction (iv) Materials and Methods (v) Results and Discussion (vi) Conclusion (v) Acknowledgement (vi) Reference Title What your paper is all about. It should be: • Concise and relevant to the subject matter • Attract attention (editors and readers) • Interesting, significant and different from other papers • Avoid abbreviations • Less than 15 words Examples of Titles Big returns from small fibers: a review of polymer/carbon nanotube composites Future prospects for wood cellulose as reinforcement in organic polymer composites Autonomic healing of polymer composites Single-walled carbon nanotube–polymer composites: strength and weakness Controlled interactions in cellulose‐polymer composites. 1: Effect on mechanical properties Nanoparticle polymer composites: where two small worlds meet Who should be the corresponding author? Fabrication and characterization of polycaprolactone/calcium sulfate whisker composites J. Y. Liu1,2, L. Reni1, Q. Wei 3, J. L. Wu1, S. Liu1, Y. J. Wang1, G. Y. Li2* 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangdong, 510640, China 2School of Electronic and Information Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangdong, 510640, China 3China National Analytical Center, Guangzhou, 510070, China Received 9 December 2010; accepted in revised form 1 March 2011 Abstract • The abstract should be short and precise • Selling point of the paper. • It is summary of the work (Introduction & Objective, Method, Results, Conclusion) • No figure, table and reference. • About 200 words should be sufficient Vegetable oil-derived epoxy monomers and polymer blends: A comparative study with review. Glycidyl esters of epoxidized fatty acids derived from soybean oil (EGS) and linseed oil (EGL) have been synthesized to have higher oxirane content, more reactivity and lower viscosity than epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) or epoxidized linseed oil (ELO). The EGS and ESO, for comparison, were used neat and in blends with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). Thermosetting resins were fabricated with the epoxy monomers and either BF3 catalyst or anhydride. The curing behaviors, glass transition temperatures, crosslink densities and mechanical properties were tested. The results indicated that polymer glass transition temperatures were mostly a function of oxirane content with additional influence of glycidyl versus internal oxirane reactivity, pendant chain content, and chemical structure and presence of saturated components. EGS provided better compatibility with DGEBA, improved intermolecular crosslinking and glass transition temperature, and yielded mechanically stronger polymerized materials than materials obtained using ESO. Other benefits of the EGS resin blend systems were significantly reduced viscosities compared to either DGEBA or ESO-blended DGEBA counterparts. Therefore, EGS that is derived from renewable sources has improved potential for fabrication of structural and structurally complex epoxy composites, e.g., by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding. Non-uniform dispersion of toughening agents and its influence on the mechanical properties of polypropylene To achieve excellent properties of polymer blends and composites, good dispersion and uniform distribution of second component or filler in the matrix are often required. However, more and more evidences reveal that uniform distribution is not always the best. To further prove this idea, in this work, we purposely designed and prepared different samples of isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/elastomer or iPP/beta-nucleating agent with uniform and non-uniform distribution of the modifiers via stacking the blending sheets in different sequence. It was found that for a given amount of toughening agent, the impact strength of polymer blends with non-uniform distribution of elastomer or beta-nucleating agent could be much higher than its uniformly dispersed counterpart, while the tensile strength and tensile modulus remain relatively constant. The instrumented impact test confirmed that among the samples with different layered structures, the absorbed energy during crack initiation differs little from each other. Whereas absorbed energy during crack propagation process shows the same trend as final impact strength, making it the controlling parameter during the impact process. When cracks are initiated at higher toughening agents content side, the relatively smooth fracture surfaces near the crack edge area proved that they absorb small energy and the adjacent inner part showed obviously plastic deformation, corresponding to higher energy absorption. Our work demonstrates again that design and control of the hierarchical structure of polymer articles is vital for high performance properties and non-uniform distribution of filler could be much better than the uniform distribution. Keywords The keywords should reflect the subject matter of the manuscript in the same way the title of the manuscript should. Most of the keywords may already be present in the title The number of keywords should not be more than five Use only established abbreviations (i.e. DNA) Introduction  Serves as an orientation for readers, giving them the perspective they need to understand the detailed information coming in later sections.  Contain review of up-to-date literature.  Explain the novelty of the work.  Discuss the objective and significance of the work. Introduction First Stage: general statements about field of research  Second Stage: More specific statements about the aspects of the problem  Third Stage: Statements that indicate the need for more investigation.  Fourth Stage: Very specific statements giving the objectives Fifth Stage: Optional statements that give values or justification. Examples of 3rd Stage Introduction Statements that indicate the need for more investigation. Missing Information • However, few studies have reported on the effects of computer assisted instruction • But there is little information available on the air flow rates on simple flat plate solar collectors Example of 3rd Stage Introduction Flammability of Wood-Polypropylene Composites. On the basis of the above mentioned facts, it may be concluded that it is worth studying the influence of rheological properties of polymeric matrix on the supermolecular structure and mechanical properties obtained in polypropylene/wood composites. Until now, investigations of the influence of polypropylene matrix MFI on the flammability characteristic of the composites with lignocellulosic materials have not been carried out. Polymer Degradation and Stability Example of 4th Stage Introduction Very specific statements giving the purpose/objectives of the writer’s study Even though a lot of work has been reported on the flammability of polymers, very little work has been reported on the flammability of the composites. The objective of this paper is to study the effects of Mg(OH)2 on the flammability and mechanical properties of wood/natural fibre composites. High-resolution Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SS-NMR) spectroscopy has become a powerful tool in studying the structure of natural aluminosilicates [9], [10]. In particular, 29Si and 27Al Magic-Angle-Spinning (MAS) NMR have provided important information on the Si and Al distribution in tetrahedral and octahedral sites, the sequences of charged sheets, and the structural distortions for variety of clay minerals [11]-[13]. Nonetheless, much less attention has been devoted to NMR studies of chemically stabilized soils. In this paper, in order to understand the main mechanisms that contributed to the improvement of phosphoric acid stabilized bentonite and lateritic soils, the time-dependent changes occurring in the molecular structure of treated soils were investigated. Introduction Very recently, a comprehensive and general review article dealing with study on various aspects of cellulosic biofibers and biocomposite materials was published [19]. The overview on biocomposite science and technology, its environmental issues and market potential were found in the literature [8]. In year 2000 and 2004, a review article [20] about structural discussion on certain biofibers, biodegradable polymers, and biocomposites, and an overview article [21] on pineapple leaf and sisal fiber and their biocomposite reinforced with thermoset and thermoplastic polymers was published, respectively. Nevertheless, a specific review article on OPEFB fiber polymer composite materials including both thermoplastic and thermosets polymers have not been published so far to our knowledge. Indeed, it becomes essential to assess the previous and ongoing research for OPEFB fiber polymercomposite materials. This will surely enable the researchers, materialist, industrialists, scientist, and upcoming experts to establish the lag in till date research work and find approach for futuristic development for OPEFB fiber polymer composite materials. This might even open room for development of other natural fiber polymeric composite materials. Shows our understanding of the literature and our ability to or analyze people’s work. Materials and Methods The description should be detail enough for others to repeat the experiment. The equipment and materials must be adequately described The measurements must clearly described. Results & Discussion  Results and Discussions section is the most important part of the manuscript in which critical analysis of the results are done.  Sufficient number of Figures and Tables with good quality.  Compare with previous studies  Consistent with Materials and Methods. Conclusions  A review of the most important findings of the work  This section should re-inforce the originality of the work presented.  Should be consistent with the objectives – highlight the achievements. Conclusions • Must fulfill the study objectives • Include how the paper advances research in this area. • Refers to only work done in the present study • Should not be more than one third of a page • Include practical implications of the study • Recommendations for future works Acknowledgments  Give credit to funding authorities, collaborators or other colleagues whose names do not appear as co-authors but had made some contribution in producing the material for the manuscript Reference Author, year style (Harvard) Adrian, R.J., Particle-imaging techniques for experimental fluid mechanics. Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech., 1991. 23: p. 261-304. Alapati, A., Kang, S., Suh, Y.K., 3D lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in a cross-junction microchannel, in Proc. 3rd IASME/WSEAS Intl. Conf. Cont. Mech. 2008. Breyiannis, G.V., Lattice kinetic simulations in three-dimensional magneto hydrodynamics. Phys. Rev. , 2004. E 69: p. 065702/1-065702/4. Cercignani, The Boltzmann equation and its application in applied mathematical sciences. Springer, 1988. Reference Numbering style [1]Couette, M., 1890. Etudes sur le frottement des liquides. Ann. Chim. Phys., 21: 433. [2]Taylor, G.I., 1923. Stability of a viscous fluid contained between two rotating cylinders. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 233: 289. [3]Di Prima, R. C., Swinney, H. L. 1981. Instabilities and transition in flow between concentric rotating cylinders, in: Hydrodynamic instabilities and transition to turbulence (Swinney, It. L., Gollub, J. P., eds.), p. 139. Springer [4]Bühler, K., Wimmer, Zierep, M. J., and Coney J. E. R., 1986 Advances in Taylor Vortex Flow: A report on the Fourth Taylor Vortex Flow Working Party meeting Acta Mechanica, Vol 62(1) pp 47-61 Submitting the paper • Traditional submission (by mail) • As e-mail attachment • Via a journal online submission Include a cover letter Cover Letter • Title and author(s) of paper • Type of submission (full length article/ technical note) • Fact that paper is new and not being submitted elsewhere • Why the paper is important • Some possible peer reviewers (some journal request that) Subject: SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT FOR EVALUATION I and the co-authors would like to submit the attached manuscript entitled XXXX for consideration for possible publication in Polymer Science and Engineering. The following experts are the possible reviewers for this manuscript: (i) Prof Dr Zainal Ariffin Mohd Ishak School of Materials Eng, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia Email: [email protected] (ii) Dr Abdirahman Yussuf Petroleum Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scietific Research, Kuwait. Email: [email protected] With the submission of this manuscript I would like to undertake that the above mentioned manuscript has not been published elsewhere, accepted for publication elsewhere or under editorial review for publication elsewhere. Thank you Prof Dr Azman Hassan Department of Polymer Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Cover Letter Dear Editor-in Chief, I am pleased to submit a manuscript entitled Water Absorbtion and Hygrothermal Degradation Peroperties of Linear Low Density Polyethyelne Toughenned Polylactic Nanocompsoites to be considered for publication in Polymer Degradation and Stability. This manuscript is suitable for Polymer Degradation and Stability because the content is relevant to the main interest of the journal which is degradation of polymers. Looking forward for a favorable reply from you soon. Thank you. With regards Prof. Dr. Ishak Aziz Faculty of Chemical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Cover Letter Dear Azman Hassan, I have the honour to submitted my paper to publication in" Malaysian Polymer Journal" , my submitted paper is : Curing of Phenol – Formaldehyde Resin : rheological study by XXX A. S.* , TTTT K. I. ,and CCCC A. Shenta please inform me when my paper is reached to you . Thank you very much for your interest in letter with my all the best wishes to you . Yours sincerely Mawar A.S. Polymer research center University of VVVV What happens after you have submitted your manuscript to the journal? Initial screening by the Journal Editor • For appropriateness of subject matter • For compliance with instructions • For overall quality : anything new ? • Language Peer Review Purpose: • To help the editor decide whether to publish the paper • To help the authors improve the paper, whether or not the journal accepts it. Some ways peer reviewers are identified: References, literature searching, editors’ knowledge, databases, authors’ suggestions Review Process • • • • • • • It may take from 1 hr to 6 months One to 4 reviewers along with editorial comments Decision from Editor: Accept/reject/revise Corrections by production dept Proof preparation for checking by authors In press/queue/article in press Completion (vol, issue, page number, year) Journal of Applied Polymer Science Questionnaire 1. Does the manuscript contain new and significant information to justify publication? 2. Is the problem significant and concisely stated? 3. Are the experimental and/or theoretical methods described comprehensively? 4. Are the interpretations and conclusions justified by the results? 5. Is the summary (abstract) concise? 6. Is the language acceptable? European Polymer Journal Assessment • Originality • Important Contribution • Reliability of Results • Critical Discussion • Adequate References BioResources - Reviewer Guidelines 1. Are the findings sufficiently novel to warrant publication or do they simply reproduce or are insignificant variations on what is currently known in the literature? 2. Are the conclusions adequately supported by the data presented? 3. Is the article clearly and logically written so that it can be understood by one who is not an expert in the specific field? 4. Does the work provide an important contribution to its field, consistent with the scope of the journal? BioResources - Reviewer Guidelines 5. Has the article covered related scientific work in the introduction/background section. 6. Determine if the main body is organized well enough to sufficiently support the central hypothesis of the work. 7. Comments on the use of English. If the article demonstrates acute errors in standard written The editors and reviewers need to make recommendation whether your paper is acceptable: • • • • • In its present form After a minor revision After a major revision Not at all Rejection with recommendation for submission. • Rejection Based on your experience, what are the reasons your manuscript is being rejected for publication in high impact journals ? Others Decision: Rejection The manuscript apparently seems to correspond to the standard of scientific papers; however, a closer scrutiny reveals numerous deficiencies, which make it unacceptable for publication. Apart from publishing another paper, I do not see the philosophy of the work, the message sent or any new information offered, which could be used by the scientific community or anyone in industrial practice. Reviewer(s)' Comments to Author: The stated objective of the study is to determine the engineering suitability of the tested blends and no specific conclusion was made to this. In addition, the observed trends seem to be predictable, it is only the magnitude of the changes that are relevant information. Unfortunately, it is not felt that enough new and relevant information is presented for publication at the current time. Decision: Revision and Resubmission Your manuscript # APP-2009-03-0676 entitled "MECHANICAL, THERMAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYLACTIC ACID/LINEAR LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE BLENDS" which you submitted to the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, has been reviewed. I am sorry to inform you that based on the reviewers' comments, I must ask you to revise and resubmit this manuscript before I can reach an editorial decision. The comments from reviewers are included at the bottom of this letter. Please note that resubmitting your manuscript does not guarantee eventual acceptance, and that your resubmission will be subject to re-review by the reviewers before a decision is rendered. Decision: Acceptance Dear Prof. Hassan, Thank you for submitting your revised manuscript entitled "Heatsealability of Laminated Films with LLDPE and LDPE as sealant Materials in Bar Sealing Application" to the Journal of Applied Polymer Science. It is a pleasure to accept your manuscript in its current form for publication. May I take this opportunity to thank you for contributing your work to our Journal. Sincerely, Prof. Eric Baer Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Applied Polymer Science Thank you for your time