2016

So the reviewers’ comments have come in and they aren’t good. Not terrible, but negative enough that the editor has requested a response before making a decision on publication. How to Respond? First of all put aside your ego. Read the…

In experimental science double-blind testing is the standard procedure. To avoid bias it is important that neither the subject nor the evaluator knows which pills are the potential drug and which is the placebo. Some journals try to apply…

Although scientists are generally willing to publish their research, they are often hesitant about promoting it. The attitude seems to be to let the publication do most of the talking and let word of mouth from fellow researchers do the…

The Open Access approach is on the whole complementary to traditional publishing. It utilizes both new technological developments and their wide proliferation to ease the publication process for authors, and the availability of research…

A graduate student who works with me once remarked that he “wasn’t very good at doing literature searches.” I replied that researchers often spend as much time in the library as they do in the lab, and that he had better hone his skills at…

A candidate for an advanced degree must write up his research in a dissertation and then defend it orally before his committee. The dissertation defense comes after the long and laborious work of writing the dissertation and can be the…

No matter how well a researcher knows the material, rehearsals are important to ensure a smooth delivery of a presentation. Actors rehearse, singers rehearse, and so should scientists. All the necessary information may be in your mind, but…

According to the American psychologist Howard Gardner, human intelligence can be divided into seven categories: visual-spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical-mathematical. This implies…

There are plenty of methods for senior personalities to include their names in academic journals, even without participating in researches. There are also many ways to force researchers to add some information in their papers that grant…

Scientific authorship is an important element of any paper. It provides credit to those who worked on the paper, as well as accountability if anything is found to be incorrect. Researchers want their name on papers to help them in their…