How to write a manuscript Get your paper accepted AIP Afternoon Daniel Broaddus, PhD Editor and Trainer, Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) September 17, 2010
Presentation Introduction Section One: Preparations before writing Section Two: Manuscript structure Section Three: Tips for getting accepted LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 2
Why publish? To share your research findings and opinions with the international research community Publication success is linked to funding success and career advancement Many PhD programs require candidates to achieve a set number of peer-reviewed publications LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 3
Increased competition 1400 1200 1000 Growth (%) 800 600 Journal numbers Journal submissions 400 200 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Year Relative growth from 1990 LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 4
Section One Preparations before writing How to identify hot topics What do journal editors want? Howdo reviewers assess a manuscript? Choosing an appropriate journal LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 5
How to identify hot topics Look for clues unexplained findings, controversies Read the literature, including related fields Attend international meetings Greater interest = Greater competition Identify your advantages and use them LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 6
What do journal editors want? Good quality science Positive peer review outcome Well designed and executed original research Findings of interest to the journal s readership Work in an active research area (=citations!) Work that advances the field in some way Compliance with ethical regulations Clear, concise writing LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 7
Reviewers About the manuscript Are the rationale and objectives defined? Is enough background given to understand the rationale? Could a capable researcher reproduce the experiments? Are the results clearly explained and in the best format? Are the findings described in context? Are the limitations discussed? Are the conclusions supported? Is the literature cited appropriate? LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 8
Journal Selection Can be the difference between success and rejection What is the main focus of your research and who will be interested in it? What are its strengths and weaknesses? How significant are your findings? Are your findings preliminary or are they sufficient to make a story? How widely will your research appeal? To researchers in the same field or to the broader scientific community? LiwenBianji(EdanzGroup China) 9
Journal Selection what are the differences? 3.554 3.71 2.18 4.097 2000+ articles a year 7.328 2.871 Also B, C & Letters 6.171 15.491 3.093 #1 in Atomic, Molecular & Chemical Physics Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 10
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Section Two Manuscript structure The Yin and Yang Title Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results and Discussion Display items References Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 12
The Yin and Yang Reading Background Methods Design Results and Discussion Introduction Title Abstract Writing Journal Selection Peer Review Feedback Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 13
The importance of your title Hook to catch readers Sells your manuscript to the editor Relevant readers increase citations Journal editors like citations Everybody likes citations Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 14
A good title Poor Generation of few-cycle optical pulses at high-glasstransmission wavelengths using a low-cost Er 3+ - amplified carbon nanotube laser system via two-stage broadening and compression for research and applications in high-speed telecommunications, Part I: System design Good Generation of few-cycle optical pulses at telecom wavelengths via a low-cost carbon nanotube laser system Short and easy to understand contents Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 15
Abstract Many researchers will only read the abstract so must be able to stand alone Must give an accurate summary of your research, and enough information so that readers can understand: What you did Why you did it What your findings are Why your findings are useful and important Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 16
Abstract General rules for abstracts: Within the word limit Avoid technical jargon Avoid abbreviations unless necessary Avoid references Should the abstract be structured? Always consult the target journal s Guide for Authors to determine allowable length, style and abbreviations Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 17
Introduction Briefly present research question and/or hypotheses and how they were addressed Give the reader enough background information to put your work into context Do not write a comprehensive literature review of the field Docite reviews that readers can refer to if they want more information Citations must be balanced, current, and relevant Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 18
Temporal-imaging system with simple external-clock triggering D. H. Broaddus, M. A. Foster, O. Kuzucu, A. C. Turner-Foster, K. W. Koch, M Lipson, and A. L. Gaeta The demand for ultrafast-pulse characterization and waveform-generation techniques has driven research for high-bandwidth characterization systems. This has led to the development of temporal-imaging and dispersion-based techniques that exploit the space-time duality of electromagnetic fields. Recent implementations [of temporal-imaging systems] based on a fourwave mixing (FWM) time-lens require synchronized pump and signal pulses. Background Statement of the problem This is achieved by extracting the pump and the signal from the same source by spectral filtering. Conversely, using a separate mode-locked fiber laser would provide the necessary bandwidth for ultrafast temporal imaging, but would require repetition-rate locking using a feedback loop to achieve synchronous operation. Ultimately, either of these schemes is restricted by the types of signal that can be measured. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a system in which high bandwidth pump pulses can be produced on-demand via a simple external trigger. Rationale In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a fully-triggerable temporalimaging system. We base our system on a time-lens-compressed picosecond pulse source. The output of the pulsed time-lens source is then spectrally broadened in non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber through self-phase modulation (SPM), which provides the pulses with sufficient bandwidth for ultrafast temporal imaging with high temporal resolution. We What was done 2010 Optical Society of America Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 19
Materials and methods What you did Clear subheadings for methods/materials Describe methods in the past tense Novel methods must be described in sufficient detail for a capable researcher to reproduce the experiment Give manufacturers/suppliers and their locations Describe any statistical tests used Established methods can be referenced Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 20
Materials and methods Materials described Detailed information given Clear subheadings 3. Experiment In order to create a suitable, triggerablepump pulse, we used a time-lens-compressed picosecond-pulse source [20,21,26]. Unlike conventional ultrafast laser sources, the time-lens source derives its repetition rate from an input RF signal rather than an oscillator cavity. This makes the source ideal for synchronization, since the laser can be synchronized to a clock signal from any source as its input. While it is true that this system can not be driven at an arbitrarily low repetition rate, a harmonic between 5 10 GHz that will allow for optimal operation of the system while still providing a synchronized pump pulse for every signal pulse can be selected. At repetition rates above 10 GHz, electronic filtering can be used to generate a suitable drive signal from the input clock. We obtained the clock signal from a 3.2. Operation Achieving fine resolution and long record lengths in temporal imaging systems requires sufficiently high pump bandwidth. At the output of the time-lens source, the pulses had a bandwidth of 1 nm centered at 1546 nm. To increase the bandwidth, we added a spectral broadening stage to the pump source after the time-lens compression stage. After passing the pulses through another EDFA, we sent them through 250 m of Corning Vascade LS+ fiber (Corning Inc., NY). The pulses underwent SPM and saw an increase in bandwidth from 1 nm to 100 nm. We filtered a spectrally flat off-center section of the output roughly 10 nm in bandwidth at 1559 nm to serve as the pump pulse. After the broadening stage, we noted a large amplitude noise at the output for high input intensities [27]. In order to maintain a suitable pump output, we limited the pulse energy at the input of the Corning Vascade LS+ fiber to 2 nj. 2010 Optical Society of America Reference to save space Suppliers and locations Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 21
Results and Discussion What did you find? Often results and discussion are combined to help assemble your findings in a logical order to tell a story Present your findings in subsections (the same as those in your methods section) Present complementary evidence when possible Describe results in the past tense Refer to figures and tables in the present tense Discuss implications Do not duplicate data among figures, tables and text Show the results of statistical analyses in the text Put findings in perspective Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 22
Results and Discussion Combined Results and Discussion section Graphics used to show data with only brief descriptions in text Present tense to refer to table 3. Results and discussion We characterized our system s single-shot performance by temporally resolving the output of a bandpass filtered mode-locked fiber laser, and by varying the delay on the signal showing 1.5-ps resolution over a record length of 220 ps. In addition, we calculate magnification factor to be 113. Figure 7 shows a composite oscilloscope trace showing the timing of the signal pulse as it is varied over the entire record length. Figure 8 shows a blow-up of a single signal pulse demonstrating the temporal resolution of the system. Limited only by the signal repetition rate and magnification factor, the single-shot record length could easily be increased to the full 530 ps by frequency demultiplexing the output into three channels [30] In addition, we characterized the small time-scale jitter over 2 µs. The experimental configuration allowed for high frame rates, which provided the ability to characterize consecutive pulses [30]. We used this ability to analyze the timing of 77 consecutive pulses from the fiber laser utilizing the sync out for the fiber laser as a timing reference. We found that the root-mean-square (RMS) value of the timing jitter was 0.27 ps over a 2-µs measurement period. The histogram in Fig. 8(b) showed the variation in pulse-to-pulse timing. The low RMS value of the jitter suggested that resolution could be further improved. We suspect that reducing phase aberrations from higher-order dispersion and the SPM broadening stage would likely yield the desired result. 2010 Optical Society of America Past tense to describe results Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 23
Display items Tables and figures Figures and tables are the best way to present your results Data shown in figures and tables must be easy to interpret use separate panels if necessary Avoid redundancies or duplication Clearly label all components Show trendlines, scale bars and statistical significance Captions must be able to stand alone : write them in the present tense (except when describing methods) Comply with journal guidelines on display items Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 24
Display items Tables and figures Some readers will only look at the figures and their legends Which of these is stand alone? Fig. 1. Effective indices of As 2 Se 3 microspheres, silicon nanowires, and silica nanowires. (a) Effective index vs. sphere diameter for fundamental TE (red) and TM (blue) modes in an As 2 Se 3 microsphere. (b) Effective index vs. material index multiplied by cross sectional area of silicon (red) and silica (blue) waveguides. Fig. 1. Calculated effective index. Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) (Edanz Group China) 25
Display items Multi-panel: sets of related data shown in a single figure Complicated data separated into simpler components Clear, stand alone caption Fig. 9. The fringe period decreases with increasing separation. (a) 0.5 nm separation with movie showing phase procession between the lasers (Media 1). We believe the nonsinusoidal shape of these peaks arises from soliton effect compression in the amplifier before the temporal imaging stage [31]. (b) 1.5 nm separation, and (c) 2.5 nm separation. (d) The phase slip between the two lasers, which are not phase-locked, washes out the fringes when averaged over multiple shots. Axes clearly labeled Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 26
Conclusions Restate key findings and their significance Propose future studies that might follow on from your current study Give the reader a take-home message Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 27
Conclusions Restate the question/problem Conclusion We demonstrated a completely triggerable temporal-imaging system. We characterized the system s performance in both multi-shot and single-shot time-lens-based schemes. Restate main findings Use suggests and may We showed 1.4 ps resolution with 530 ps record length using time-to-frequency conversion. We demonstrated 1.5-ps resolution and 220-ps record length in a single-shot temporal magnification system. We characterized the short-term timing jitter present between our pump and signal pulses and showed it to be 0.27 ps, which corresponds to 18% of the temporal resolution. This suggests that sub-picosecond resolution can be achieved in our system. Finally, we illustrated the ability to perform complex waveform measurements by resolving the interference fringes between two frequency-separated laser pulses. Put in context of previous work Future research plans In addition to improving the resolution of the system, this system could be adapted to preform a combined phase and amplitude measurement. This would make the system more comparable with popular full-field characterization techniques such as FROG and SPIDER. 2010 Optical Society of America Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 28
Acknowledgments Your chance to acknowledge anyone who has helped with the study: Individuals who s contributions did not warrant authorship Any researchers that supplied materials or reagents Anyone who provided technical assistance Anyone who helped with the preparation of the manuscript or provided a critical assessment of it Funding bodies State why each individual is being acknowledged Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 29
References References make or break a paper! Serve as your network to past and future science Convey your knowledge of the field Give credibility to your work Acknowledge contributions to the field by others Help other researchers find your work = more citations Use a reference manager like Endnote or Zotero. Makes it easy to edit, reformat, add or remove references Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 30
References Seminal work in your field (Papers that started the field) All methods used Physical phenomena discussed Non-commercial materials used Conflicting works Outside areas Applications! Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 31
Section Three Tips for getting accepted Your cover letter Recommending reviewers Language Good writing Common language problems Post-referee revisions Summary Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 32
Your cover letter General rules for cover letters: Address to the editor personally Begin by giving your manuscript title and publication type Give a brief background, rationale and description of results Explain why your findings are important and why they would be of interest to the journal s target audience Consult the journal s Guide for Authors for cover letter requirements (e.g.,disclosures, statements, potential reviewers) Give corresponding author details Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 33
Reviewers Recommendations and exclusions Recommend Your work supports their hypotheses and ideas Your research builds on their work International collaborators in the same field Exclude Researchers working on the same research question Your study refutes their work The findings in your manuscript are are opposite to their findings or ideas Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 34
Language screening Introduction of language screening protocols to check submissions Editors don t want to send poorly written manuscripts for peer review Editors receive enough well written submissions to reject poorly written manuscripts Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 35
Language Some journals are very clear regarding their English requirements, and about what happens to manuscripts that do not meet their standards Journal of Applied Physics Language:Papers must be written in standard American English. This is the responsibility of the author, not the editors. Papers below the standard for the Journal will be returned to the authors for rewriting and can be rejected for this reason alone. Such problems may be avoided and publication expedited if the manuscript is edited by an English-speaking colleague or a professional editing service before the initial submission. Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 36
Scientific writing Good scientific writing possesses the following three C s: Clarity Conciseness Correctness (accuracy) Key points: Be as brief as possible without omitting essential details Be as specific as possible Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 37
Language Common English problems Tense Articles Plural or singular Proper nouns Hyphen or dash That/which Making comparisons Respectively Between or among Nomenclature Numbers Punctuation Such as/namely Etc. Asian fonts UK or US spelling Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 38
Simple is best Use simple language: it is often clearer, more precise and more concise than using more complex language Simple Sentence Structure! Say what you mean in as few words as possible Delete unnecessary words Avoid circular sentences, redundancies and repetition One sentence: one idea Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 39
Revisions Post-referee revisions Only 1.5% of papers are immediately accepted without need for any revisions Complete rejection Journal editor decision Rejection with major revisions Rejection with minor revisions Acceptance Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 40
Revisions Post-referee revisions Reasons for rejection: Inappropriate target journal Poor study design Poor written language Inappropriate or incompletely explained methodology Inappropriate statistical tests Incorrect description or overstatement of results Lack of balance or detail in introduction and/or discussion Lack of novelty Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 41
Revisions Post-referee revisions Rejection from journals is an important part of the publication process It is not a negative experience It exists to ensure that your paper is as scientifically robust and complete as possible before joining the collective knowledge as part of the literature Liwen Bianji(Edanz Group China) 42
Summary Checklist for acceptance Compliance with ethics guidelines Novel and interesting results Clear, concise, accurate writing Compliance with the Guide for Authors Significance of findings explained Appropriate choice of journal Special thanks to our organizer, Professor Ai; and sponsors: