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research publication advice

bug_girl

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Nov 30, 2003
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well, maybe a pep talk? I am in the process of revising a manuscript for publication, and i am trying to decide on several different paths. Good news is that the reviews were good, and only minor changes suggested.
Bad news (but also, really, good news) is one of the reviewers pointed out a couple of really important cool things that need to be addressed.

I have already considered and discarded completely re-running the data under new analysis conditions. Might do that later, but waaaaay too big a can of worms for now.

but, i can rewrite an entire section to make the paper better---or i can add a couple sentences, make the minor typo changes, and get the d@mn thing out the door and off my desk by the end of the week.

i am saddly lacking in motivation, which is why i am going to go off and have lunch. I'm hoping to come back with a better attitude. Anyone want to offer suggestions/opinons?
 
If it were me, I'd probably just stick with the original analysis (provided it is just less than optimal, but not flawed - and gives the correct conclusion) and then save the new cool stuff for future work.
 
the data is still good, it's just that the "coolness factor" would be greater if we had done something slightly different. So, that re-analysis i decided against. (and yes, the squeezing a second pub out of it had occured to me. I don't think it's worth it, though :))

Basically, i need to rewrite the introduction and methods to make what we did clearer. The temptation to just make the minor fixes proposed by reviewers and make the paper *go away* is tempting, though.

As much as i love these moths, i am ready for a break.
 
I say, being the perfectionist that I am, do the rewrite. You will be so much prouder of the paper when it finally comes out. And by then, the feeling of inertia and boredom will be gone and you'll be wondering "why didn't I rewrite this?" Also, it'll make your reviewers happier to see you complying with more of their suggestions.


How to get over the inertia? ha ha...something I battle every day. What works for me is setting a clear deadline for (re)submission, booking a manicure/pedicure/facial (whatever) for the end of that day and then daydreaming about how happy I'll be when it is done, how pleased I'll be when it's published etc.

Go for it, bug_girl! Do it for the moths!
 
Your work will reflect on you. If you know you can make it better, I would go for it. It will be worth it, it will, it will!
rewrite the introduction and methods to make what we did clearer
Click to expand...

Clarity is always good. Go bug_girl! I'll cheer you on :)
 
Eat a good but not overfilling dinner, have a glass of beer, sit down, and rewrite the section. It'll be over before you know it, and the paper will be better.

Think how much better you'll feel when you've done it.

~~ Paul
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
Eat a good but not overfilling dinner, have a glass of beer, sit down, and rewrite the section. It'll be over before you know it, and the paper will be better.
Click to expand...
thanks guys, I made a good start. I still can't seem to focus, which I think has something to do with our first sunny day with no rain in weeks.
I'm beginning to think my spring fever will last right on into fall.

Paul, I was at a party a couple of weeks ago and had to decline any and all alcohol. My explanation went like this:
"First I have one beer. Then everyone gets a lapdance. Then I fall asleep. Then I throw up."
This makes me popular when i drink, but no fun for me. :p
I may go park myself at Starbucks tomorrow until i'm done.
 
As luck would have it, I'm also in the process of revising my manuscript. Reviewers can be incredibly valuable for suggesting new things that you might not have thought of before.

In my case, they offered a couple of suggestions that opened up a whole new window on my work. I could get by with just making simple edits and resubmitting, but I decided to go ahead and add substantial content to it.

I'd rather have 1 extremely strong paper that gets a lot of citations, rather than 2 weaker papers with the same data that gets strung out and results in less of an impact.

My PI's ideas on this are different. Of course, our goals are different too. PIs and people who manage labs are rewarded for volume of publications, whereas graduate students like me are rewarded more for quality papers over bulk quantity.
 
bug_girl said:
Bad news (but also, really, good news) is one of the reviewers pointed out a couple of really important cool things that need to be addressed.
Click to expand...

Disclaimer: This is coming from a very young, inexperienced scientist with only one published paper (well, coming out in September, anyway) under her belt. I have not *yet* been disillusioned and do not yet fully understand the strange, twisted, and sometimes frustrating politics of science, nor do I have any "publish or perish" pressure coming from my institution.

That said, this is sort of exciting, Bug Girl! More unsolved mysteries and questions for you to explore... one of the reasons that I love science so much is that it IS mysterious... you can never fully solve any question. You cannot prove anything, you can only disprove things and, by eliminating what is wrong, make progress toward what *might* be right.

Frustrating? Perhaps. But I love it.

And do have many good dinners (with dessert) as well as, perhaps, a long bubble bath with a cup of tea or coffee. Your spirits will be much improved, hopefully!

And good luck with the paper!

Kitten
 
Thanks kitten! I am making good progress, and hope to send it off next week. I really love electronic submissions--so much nicer than keeping track of 3 paper copies of edited manuscripts and returning them :)

I am mostly aggravated with myself for making some stupid mistakes--for example, forgetting to put a legend on one of the figures. :eek:

Once i went back to the original data notebooks (and man was it a b!tch finding those!) i could see the logic of our choices again, and felt better.
 
bug_girl said:
the data is still good, it's just that the "coolness factor" would be greater if we had done something slightly different. So, that re-analysis i decided against. (and yes, the squeezing a second pub out of it had occured to me. I don't think it's worth it, though :))
Click to expand...

OH yes it is :D
 
i sent it off at 12:05 this afternoon! :D

Now i will try very hard not to think that i deserve some Ben and Jerry's ice cream as a reward......

An apple. Yep. A yummy apple. much better.
:p
 
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