PSYC 200W Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Academic Writing, Poster Session, Scientific Writing
28 Jun 2018
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Dissemination of Scientific Findings:
Journal publication: primary route)
Peer review - paper is reviewed by other scientists who have expertise in the same area
Author submits the paper to editor
Editor forwards it to 2-3 peers for review
Peers critique structure, method, concept and send their reviews to the editor
Editor chooses between:
oPublish it the same way
oPublish with minor changes
oNot accept it but ask the author to make revisions
oReject it altogether and then the author might revise and send it to another journal --
most common
Registered results - submit research idea before conducting the study so the journal can decide if
they want to publish it so that there is no bias about whether the study has significant results
Presentations at Professional Meetings:
Psychological organizations have annual meetings where researchers present their work
Researchers submit short proposal of their study
Acceptance rate is higher than journal publication
Done in 2 forms:
Paper session (symposium): give a talk for 15-20 mins and questions are asked by audience
Poster session: researchers display summaries of study on a poster board giving important
details about methods, results etc and then stand with it to give more details. Also pass around
copies of the paper. Better than paper session because gives 1 to 1 interaction
Personal Contact:
Researchers involved in a topic will meet other people interested in the same topic, share ideas,
exchange papers. Network of researchers - "hidden university"
Good Scientific writing has:
1. Goal: The goal is to clearly and accurately convey ideas via logical argument.
2. Organization: General structure is set by APA guidelines. But ideas in each section must
be presented in an orderly, logical progression. Make your case in the introduction. There have to
be smooth transitions across the paper from the prior research conducted.
3. Clarity: Use clear, articulate, precise language. The terms and abbreviations should be
defined first. Abbreviations should be used if its conventional and familiar and also saves you
space and repetition. Use "significant" properly - there is not pretty, more, less significant - It
either is or is not significant
a. Sentence construction - avoid passive voice, make easy sentences that are not too
wordy
b. Word choice - use layman terms than jargon, use specific terms
2. Conciseness: write efficiently and be economic about words but give all necessary
information
3. Proof reading - good writers are rewriters, revise and rewrite paper based on feedback
Language Pitfalls:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Peer review - paper is reviewed by other scientists who have expertise in the same area. Editor forwards it to 2-3 peers for review. Peers critique structure, method, concept and send their reviews to the editor. Publish with minor changes: not accept it but ask the author to make revisions o. Reject it altogether and then the author might revise and send it to another journal -- most common. Registered results - submit research idea before conducting the study so the journal can decide if they want to publish it so that there is no bias about whether the study has significant results. Psychological organizations have annual meetings where researchers present their work. Researchers submit short proposal of their study. Acceptance rate is higher than journal publication. Paper session (symposium): give a talk for 15-20 mins and questions are asked by audience.
