The power of good scientific writing (and how to sell your work) Prof. dr. James Coyne Health Psychology, UMCG See also: http://youtu.be/dFR7_TfsEbo

1. The Power of Good Scientific
Writing–and How to Promote
Yours
UMCG Central Medical Library
Symposium "How to Write a World-class
Paper“
November 14th, 2014
James C. Coyne, Ph.D.
Department of Health Psychology
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG),
University of Groningen, Groningen, the
Netherlands
jcoynester@gmail.com

2. I’m not sure what makes a world class
paper, but I do have some highly cited
ones and I have some ideas why they
are highly cited.

5. Each of these papers was written with passion
and enthusiasm and there were considerable
rewrites until they said just what I wanted to
say. I still take pleasure in reading many of
them.
Each of these papers would probably be
received differently now…

6. What can be said about them?
 The hassles paper
 The paper with Geraldine Downey
Charles Bukowski- The Shoelace
My 1976 dissertation papers

7. In the good ol’
days, back
when I wrote
the two articles
from my
dissertation….

8. Getting your manuscript
published and recognized
by citation in another
article could take years.
My first article was cited 5
times in 3 years, went on
to be cited ~1300 times.

9. The published citation of your
work would have to await
•an author submitting a
manuscript.
•getting it reviewed.
•and the appearance of the
article in print.

10. Developing social capital in implementing
a complex intervention: a process
evaluation of the early implementation of a
suicide prevention intervention in four
European countries
BMC Public Health article
Revised version accepted Feb 15, 2013.
Open access PDF available at journal
website Feb 21, 2013.

12. Effective scientific communication.
Pitching your work.
Marketing your work.

13. NNeeww cchhaalllleennggeess
Increasing likelihood that manuscripts will be
returned without review and without
meaningful feedback.
Editorial decision made on basis of title,
cover letter, and abstract without anyone
reading the actual manuscript.

14. Getting your manuscript out for review
is not guaranteed.
The likelihood is increased by
capturing the editor’s interest and
attention with a well-crafted title, cover
letter, and abstract.

15. The real work begins after publication.
Use social media, listserves, and email
to those who might act on your
research.
--Richard Smith [Former editor of BMJ and
author of the excellent book, What's Wrong
With Medical Journals]

16. Why should journals publish
your manuscript?
The game of seeking early
citations.

17. Why journals are getting into
social media (and you should
too).
The prestige and high journal
impact (JIF) game requires
getting early citations and often.
Social media essential.

18. MMyy AAddaappttaattiioonn ttoo aa CChhaannggiinngg
CCoonntteexxtt
 Stay current on changing publication practices.
 Harness collective intelligence: Understand and
use internet to be more efficient.
 Routinize writing.
 Engage social media and journalists to promote
work.

19. Continual publishing across journals,
blogs and social media maximizing
impact by increasing the size of the
‘academic footprint’.

23. Nick Brown

25. Resist the temptation to hype
and spin.
Pressures from institutions and journals to
exaggerate importance of your findings.
Journalists are important allies, but are much
more interested in getting attention for
themselves than in accurately portraying your
work.

26. In promoting your
work, beware of
hype, hokum and
misrepresentation.
You might get caught
and may face having
to retract.

29. Shoot high?
SShhoouulldd YYoouu GGoo FFoorr
tthhee HHiigghheesstt IImmppaacctt
JJoouurrnnaall iinn YYoouurr
FFiieelldd??
CCAA--AA CCAANNCCEERR
JJOOUURRNNAALL FFOORR
CCLLIINNIICCIIAANNSS
Impact Factor 101.780
(2011)

30. Journal Impact Factor (JIFs)
 Lowest association ever
between JIF and number
of times your paper will
be cited.
 High impact journals have
high retraction rates.
 Declining proportion of
highly cited papers in
journals with high impact.

32. Don’t get ahead of
the revolution,
citations and journal
impact factors (JIF)
still matter.

33. Thank you
Follow me on Twitter
@CoyneoftheRealm
Blogging at Mind the Brain