151210 Edanz Springer

Author Academy:

Insights into Publication Success for Corporate Researchers –

Effectively Communicating Your Research

10 December 2015

Dr Trevor Lane, Dr Julian Tang

Be an effective communicator

Increase your chances to be published, and also to have impact in your field

Choose the best platform to share your research

Write clearly in English

Logically organize your ideas in your manuscript

Effectively communicate with journals

Publishing your work

Section 1

Publishing your work Why should you publish?

Marketing Promote a new product to the field and stakeholders • Validate utility, establish collaborations, build reputation

Show primacy: “Strategic disclosure” Show you are first to discover something • Ensure you are allowed to disclose before writing! • Check invention disclosure forms…or keep Trade Secret?

Discontinue product development • Product development not successful or not useful • Publish findings to prevent research waste

Publishing your work Prior art

Public disclosure of a product before patent application?

Public disclosure (e.g., article,

contracts, grants)

Patent application

• Cannot publish research until after patent application • But this is not fair to the company making the product

Not novel

…Non-disclosure agreements; disclaimers; generalizations


Grace period for prior art

“Defensive/Enabling” publishing • Remain competitive academically • Secure your product before patenting • Prevent competitor from patenting similar product

Grace period Different countries have different laws that secure a product

after publication but before patent application

Disclosure Patent Grace period

United States: 12 months (35 US Code 102(b)) Japan: 6 months (Article 30 of Japanese Patent Law)


Searching for prior art

Determine the novelty of a product

Academic databases SpringerLink, Google Scholar, Web of Science*,

Scopus*, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, SciFinder*, arXiv, bioRxiv

Patent databases • Japan (www.j-platpat.inpit.co.jp) • US and China (gpsn.uspto.gov) • Europe (worldwide.espacenet.com) • PatentScope (www.wipo.int/patentscope) • Google Patents (www.google.com/patents)

Prior Art databases (google.com/patents/related; priorart.ip.com)

*Also searches patents


Academic vs. non-academic publications

Non-academic

Internal documents Regulatory agency reports/Patents

White papers

Academic

Scientific journals Conference proceedings

Books/monographs


Journals vs. conference proceedings

Journals

Proceedings

• Widely indexed • Higher visibility • Impact factor (journal

citations/articles in past 2 years)

• Faster publication; may be indexed • Usually shorter (limits on words,

references, figures); usually no major revisions after peer review

• More specialized topics/audience • Networking

e.g., Pharma/Biomed

e.g., Physical Sci/ Engineering


Factors to consider when choosing a journal

v

Aims & scope, Readership

Publication speed/frequency

Online/print Open access

Indexing, Rank, Impact factor

Acceptance rate/criteria

Article type / evidence level

“Luxury” / Traditional / Megajournal

Online first, Supplemental materials, Cost

Fast track

Which factor is most important to you?

Publishing your work What editors want

State conflicts of interest

No plagiarism or redundancy

Clear author contributions

No fabrication or falsification

Always follow ethics guidelines

Study design/data analysis, Writing, Approval, Responsibility

Possible financial, personal bias

Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Good Publication Practice 3, GPP3


Journal Selector www.edanzediting.co.jp/journal_selector

Insert your proposed abstract or keywords

springer.com/gp/authors-editors/journal-author


Filter/sort by: • Field of study • Impact factor • Open access • Publishing frequency


Journal’s aims & scope, IF, and publication frequency


• Author guidelines • Journal website

Are they currently publishing similar articles?

Similar published articles


Writing effectively

Section 2

Effective writing Improving readability

Use short sentences 15–20 words; use simpler/shorter words

One idea per sentence Use logic linkers between sentences

Use active voice More simple, direct, and easier to read

(The tests were performed We performed the tests)

Recommended by most writing style guides and journals!

Effective writing Good example 1

By continuing this simulation longer, we will be able to observe the detail competition between FO and UO dendrites in three-dimensional space in detail. In three-dimensional space, because the solute diffusion is possible in the three directions, we need a longer computational time than for the two-dimensional problem to see the unusual overgrowth phenomenon. Therefore, this is a challenging topic even using a supercomputer. Nevertheless, the results will be available in the near future.

Modified from: Shibuta et al. JOM. 2015;67:1793–1804.

Effective writing Good example 2

Tennant et al. J Electron Mater. 2014; 8: 3041–3046.

If we can make wavelength-sized detectors, we approach the limit at which smaller detectors have no further advantage for imaging focal plane arrays with practical (f/1-2) optics…. Table I below shows process-evaluation chip (PEC) device performance for the ten best wafers. Some adjustment of wavelength and thickness was made for the later layers (G-H), because it was clear from the first lots that we did not need such a long wavelength to obtain high quantum efficiency in the 8–10 µm spectral region, even with thin layers.

Effective writing

Readers expect…

verbs to closely follow their subjects heavy ends (not starts) of clauses

Subject

The viral infection that the patient caught on a trip to an outbreak-prone area in Africa spread among the hospital staff quickly.

The patient caught a viral infection on a trip to an outbreak-prone area in Africa. This infection spread quickly among the hospital staff.

Verb

Write clear sentences

Effective writing

Readers expect…

old/given/familiar information to appear first new information to appear last

An increasing number of people are relying on medical information that they find on the Internet. Hence, governments could conduct public campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles via online media.

The Internet is being used as a source of medical information by an increasing number of people. Hence, online media campaigns could be used by governments to promote healthy lifestyles among the public. (or… Hence, the public could benefit greatly if governments used online campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles.)

Write clear sentences

Effective writing

Readers focus on the end of the sentence to determine what is important.

1. You deserve the funding, but the study design is not perfect.

Which sentence suggests that you

will get funding?

2. The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the funding.

Sentence structure

Effective writing

The study design is not perfect, but you deserve the

funding. The grant will be awarded in two stages.

Stress position

Topic position

The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence

The stress position also introduces the topic of the next sentence

Sentence structure

Effective writing Good example

Markiewicz et al. J Electroceram. 2014;32:92–101

Examination of diffraction patterns of BPTC and BPT collected at the elevated temperatures shows that tetragonal deformation decreases with increasing temperature and completely vanishes at the temperatures higher than 453 K and 473 K for BPTC and BPT, respectively (Fig. 2). The patterns collected above this temperature show pure cubic perovskite structure. Accordingly, crystal structure parameters of the tetragonal and cubic phases of both samples have been refined in space groups P4mm and Pm3m, respectively.

Effective writing

One method of producing carbon fibre precursors, with the potential of commercial applicability, is electrospinning. It has previously been demonstrated that electrospinning can successfully produce precursor fibres that can be converted into high quality carbon fibres with controlled fibre diameters and morphologies. The majority of electrospun carbon fibre precursors reported in the literature are PAN-based. The high cost of PAN, depleting petroleum resources and the toxicity of its solvent, dimethylformamide, has motivated research to look into alternative electrospinnable materials to produce cheaper and more environmentally friendly carbon fibres. Because petroleum-based carbon resources exhibit negative environmental impacts and are of limited availability further motivates research towards green carbon fibres.

Recently, a wide range of renewable resource-based materials have been investigated for the fabrication of carbon materials. Among them, lignin has been looked at as a very promising candidate…

Schreiber et al. J Mater Sci. 2014; 49: 7949–7958.

Topic sentence

Stress sentence Topic sentence

Supporting sentences

Academic English writing style

Effective writing

Which is correct?

A is 4 times larger than B A is 4-fold larger than B A is 4 times as large as B

B is 4 times smaller than A

B is 75% smaller than A B is 25% the size of A

A B

Write logical sentences

Effective writing

“I should use complex words to make my writing more impressive.”

Use simple language!

• Your ideas and findings are already complex

• Explain these complex ideas simply to your reader

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”

– Albert Einstein

Effective writing Avoid complex words

To make a determination of the efficaciousness of the optional program, we conducted an interrogation of

all the participating optional program students.

To determine the success of the program, we interviewed all the participants.

Effective writing Be concise – Avoid unnecessary words

Estimate Estimation

Decide Decision

Assess Assessment

We made a/an… We conducted a/an… Extra verb

We decided… Clear, short, and direct

Don’t hide verbs inside nouns!

Effective writing Be concise – Avoid unnecessary words

“A number of studies have shown that the charged group...”

“...as described in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”

“As a matter of fact, such a low-temperature reaction…”

“That is another reason why, we believe…”

“It is well known that most of the intense diffraction peaks...” “It is well known that Most of the intense diffraction peaks...”

“As a matter of fact, such a This low-temperature reaction…”

“A number of studies have shown that The charged group...”

“That is another reason why Therefore, we believe…”

“...as described previously in our previous study.”

“...at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.”

Effective writing

Avoid At a concentration of 2 g/L At a temperature of 37C In order to In the first place Four in number Green color Subsequent to Prior to Future plans; past history

Prefer At 2 g/L At 37C To First Four Green After Before Plans; history

Be concise – Avoid unnecessary words

Effective writing Be concise – Use simpler words

Prefer Enough Clear Determine Begin Try Very Size Keep Enough End Use

Avoid Adequate Apparent Ascertain Commence Endeavor Exceedingly Magnitude* Retain Sufficient Terminate* Utilization *OK in certain fields (magnitude of earthquakes, to terminate gene expression)

Effective writing

The reliability was generally not affected by data filtering.

The reliability increased by only 2.5% after data filtering.

?

After considering all of the forum responses from all the forum respondents, around less than 20% of forum members submitted 80% of the forum replies.

Be accurate!

After considering all of the forum responses, we estimated that only 18% of members submitted 80% of the replies.

Avoid mistakes 1

Effective writing

Clarify pronouns (e.g., this, that, these, those, they, it)

Avoid mistakes 2

“Titania (TiO2) has been extensively investigated because of its practical prosperities for a diverse range of applications including pigments, photocatalysts, solar cells... It has three primary polymorphs in nature…”

“Titania (TiO2) has been extensively investigated because of its practical prosperities for a diverse range of applications including pigments, photocatalysts, solar cells... TiO2 has three primary polymorphs in nature…”

?

Effective writing

Respectively is used for corresponding list items

The two values were 143 and 21, respectively.

The values for groups A and B were 143 and 21, respectively.

The two values were 143 and 21.

Avoid mistakes 3

Effective writing

Compared with is for saying how things are different

The accuracy of the new program was reduced

compared to the previous program.

The accuracy of the new program was reduced compared with that of the previous program.

The accuracy of the new program was lower than that of the previous program.

Avoid mistakes 4

Effective writing

Check the logic of lists

Avoid mistakes 5

The variables included performance, electric and physical properties.

The variables included performance and electric and physical properties.

The recorded times were 3 minutes, 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

The recorded times were 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 40 seconds.

The cities comprised Tokyo, Japan, London, UK, and Chicago, USA.

The cities comprised Tokyo, Japan; London, UK; and Chicago, USA.

Structuring your manuscript

Section 3

Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript

structure Compliance

Procedures Follow company procedures

closely with appropriate teams

Auditing

Companies will often: • Validate assays • Check data quality

(notebooks, raw data) • Ensure manuscript accuracy

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards.htm http://www.ich.org/home.html

http://www.equator-network.org/


structure Use your figures to

structure your manuscript

Where to start?

Form the basis of your manuscript

First step, is to logically organize your findings

Share with colleagues Logical? Disclosure?

Figure 1

Figure 3

Table 1

Figure 4

Additional data? ?

Do not disclose

Figure 2

Logical presentation


structure Introduction

Current state of the field

Background information

Specific aim/approach Aim

Problem in the field

Previous studies

Current study

General

Specific Importance/Hypothesis

Worldwide relevance? Broad/specialized?

Up-to-date International

Why is your study needed？


structure Writing the Introduction

Your aims must directly address the problem

Here, we analyze data from the literature for fluorites and perovskites with different degrees of metal ion substitution, different substitutes and different host ions…, and estimate the volume of oxide vacancy as a function of ion size and crystal structure.

Study aims

Modified from: Chatzichristodoulou et al. J Electroceram. 2015;34:100–107.


The performance of fluorite and perovskite structured metal oxide ceramics is very dependent on the volume changes that are associated with the necessary substitution of some of the host ions with lower valent metal ions…, but still the detailed relationships between ionic sizes and vacancy size are debated.


structure Methods/Experimental

How it was done

• General methods • Specific techniques

– Discuss controls

• Quantification methods • Models/equations/tests

– Consult a statistician

What/who was studied

• Samples or participants • Materials

– Where purchased

How it was analyzed

What did you do？

Check guidelines: online Methods/Protocols, Methods at end,…


structure Results

1. Synthesis 2. Characterization 3. Application


What did you find？

Example:

1. Prepare Ag samples lubricated in graphene 2. Compare friction coefficients for Ag-Ag, Ag-steel,

Ag-W electrical contacts 3. Compare effects on contact lifetimes and

resistance

Mao et al. J Mater Sci. 2015;50:6518–6525.


structure Results

1. Synthesis 2. Characterization 3. Application


What did you find？

Each subsection corresponds to

one figure/method

What you found, not what it means

Subsections

Factual description


structure Discussion

Summary of findings

Relevance

Conclusion

Similarities/differences Unexpected/negative results Limitations (validity, reliability)

Implications

Previous studies

Current study

Future studies

Specific

General

How do you advance the field？


structure Combined

Results–Discussion

Results Interpretation

Figure 1


Figure 2


Figure 3


Figure 4

Synthesis


Characterization

Application


structure Good example

The effect of Ga addition to eutectic SnZn on mechanical properties can be seen from the strain–stress curves shown in Figure 7….The Ga additions caused increasing tensile strength, but at the same time elongation was reduced. The tensile strength of the Sn-37Pb, Sn-9Zn, Sn-9Zn-0.5Ag, Sn-9Zn-0.5Al, and Sn-9Zn-0.5Ga (wt pct) was 55, 78, 62, 73, and 78 MPa, respectively, according to data obtained by Chen et al.[15] Comparing published data[15] with the results obtained from our experiment, the tensile strength for 1.0 and 3.0 (wt pct) Ga are higher. All of the SnZnGa alloys showed higher values of tensile strength than Sn-37Pb.[15] The addition of Ga to SnZn thus reduced the elongation very quickly.

Modified from: Gancarz. Metall Mater Trans A. 16 November 2015;1–8.


structure Good example

The effect of Ga addition to eutectic SnZn on mechanical properties can be seen from the strain–stress curves shown in Figure 7….The Ga additions caused increasing tensile strength, but at the same time elongation was reduced. The tensile strength of the Sn-37Pb, Sn-9Zn, Sn-9Zn-0.5Ag, Sn-9Zn-0.5Al, and Sn-9Zn-0.5Ga (wt pct) was 55, 78, 62, 73, and 78 MPa, respectively, according to data obtained by Chen et al.[15] Comparing published data[15] with the results obtained from our experiment, the tensile strength for 1.0 and 3.0 (wt pct) Ga are higher. All of the SnZnGa alloys showed higher values of tensile strength than Sn-37Pb.[15] The addition of Ga to SnZn thus reduced the elongation very quickly.

Modified from: Gancarz. Metall Mater Trans A. 16 November 2015;1–8.

Result

Comparison with literature

Conclusion


structure

These results show that increasing temperature decreased the density, surface tension, and viscosity of all the tested alloys. By contrast, increasing the zinc content in these alloys decreased the density but increased the surface tension and viscosity. The surface tensions results show good agreement with the Butler model, while the viscosity results are in agreement with the Kaptay and Kozlov–Romanov–Petrov models. These findings may be useful for designing new lead-free solder materials. Further understanding of the physiochemical properties of these alloys could also extend the possible applications of this system to additional electronic materials.

Conclusions

Conclusion

Validation

What do you want your readers to remember?

Modified from: Gancarz T. J Electonic Mater. 2014; 43: 4374–4385.

Implications

Future directions


structure Linking your ideas

Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript

General background

Aims

Methodology

Results and figures

Summary of findings

Implications for the field

Relevance of findings


Current state of the field Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Solution

Situation/Problem

Evaluation/Comment


structure Abstracts

First impression of paper: clear/concise/convincing

Importance of your results

Validity of your conclusions

Relevance of your aims

It sells your work: Readers judge your style & credibility

Often first/only part that is read by

readers & reviewers


structure Sections of an abstract

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your objective/hypothesis

Techniques, models

Most important findings

Conclusion/implications

Concise summary of your research


structure

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is widely used as an important model system for investigating inorganic precipitation reaction or crystallization. However, recent results show that the yield of vaterite CaCO3 microspheres is poor—up to 16 mM—in ethanol/water in the presence of polyelectrolyte poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfate) (PSS). We now report an approach to synthesize pure vaterite CaCO3 microspheres through improving the concentration of polymer PSS, improving the yield up to 80 mM. Our time-resolved experimental results revealed that the vaterite microspheres evolved gradually from an initial amorphous precursor, to poorly crystallized nanoparticles, to sphere-like aggregates, to vaterite microspheres embedded within the calcite rhombohedra, and finally to the vaterite microspheres with smooth surface. Our findings provide valuable insight into the formation of vaterite CaCO3 microspheres and demonstrate the possibility for large-scale synthesis of CaCO3 materials with controllable morphology and crystallographic structure in aqueous solution at room temperature.

Modified from: Zhang et al. J Mater Science. 2015; 50: 5540–5548.

Physical science abstracts (unstructured)


structure

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is widely used as an important model system for investigating inorganic precipitation reaction or crystallization. However, recent results show that the yield of vaterite CaCO3 microspheres is poor—up to 16 mM—in ethanol/water in the presence of polyelectrolyte poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfate) (PSS). We now report an approach to synthesize pure vaterite CaCO3 microspheres through improving the concentration of polymer PSS, improving the yield up to 80 mM. Our time-resolved experimental results revealed that the vaterite microspheres evolved gradually from an initial amorphous precursor, to poorly crystallized nanoparticles, to sphere-like aggregates, to vaterite microspheres embedded within the calcite rhombohedra, and finally to the vaterite microspheres with smooth surface. Our findings provide valuable insight into the formation of vaterite CaCO3 microspheres and demonstrate the possibility for large-scale synthesis of CaCO3 materials with controllable morphology and crystallographic structure in aqueous solution at room temperature.

Modified from: Zhang et al. J Mater Science. 2015; 50: 5540–5548.

Physical science abstracts (unstructured)

Why study is needed

What you did

What you found

How you advance the field


structure Physical science abstracts

(short)

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your objective/hypothesis

Techniques, models

Most important findings

Conclusion/implications

Concise summary of your research


structure

Ferromagnetic SrFe12O19–ZnFe2O4 nanostructure composite particles were synthesized by co-precipitation of chloride salts, in different stoichiometric ratios, by addition of sodium hydroxide solution. The resulting precursors were heat treated at temperatures in the range 800–1200°C for 4 h. Exchange interactions of the nanostructure composite particles were studied by use of exchange-coupling theory and plots of magnetic hysteresis…As temperature and soft phase ratio increase, the exchange interaction increases because of exchange length enhancement. The modified Brown’s equation was also used to analyze the effects of exchange coupling on coercivity.

Mehdipour and Bahadoran. J Electronic Mater. 2014;43:4282–4288.

Physical science abstracts (short)


structure

Ferromagnetic SrFe12O19–ZnFe2O4 nanostructure composite particles were synthesized by co-precipitation of chloride salts, in different stoichiometric ratios, by addition of sodium hydroxide solution. The resulting precursors were heat treated at temperatures in the range 800–1200°C for 4 h. Exchange interactions of the nanostructure composite particles were studied by use of exchange-coupling theory and plots of magnetic hysteresis…As temperature and soft phase ratio increase, the exchange interaction increases because of exchange length enhancement. The modified Brown’s equation was also used to analyze the effects of exchange coupling on coercivity.

Mehdipour and Bahadoran. J Electronic Mater. 2014;43:4282–4288.

Physical science abstracts (short)

What you did

What you found


structure

Check author guidelines

Check recently published articles

Consider your audience

For interdisciplinary audiences, include background and conclusion

Identify journal editor preference

What the journal requires

Physical science abstracts

When should you include background and conclusions?


structure Title

Important points

Only main idea/s Accurate, simple Population/animals/

model Include keywords Fewer than 20 words

Avoid

Unneeded words (A study of) Complex or sensational words Abbreviations, jargon “New” or “novel”


structure

Interrogative Highly dynamic chalcogen chains in

silver(I) (poly)chalcogenide halides: a new concept for thermoelectrics?

Indicative/ Descriptive

Bulk and surface properties of liquid Al-Li and Li-Zn alloys

… + Method in subtitle

Xxxxxxx: Modeling, fabrication, and characterization

Assertive/ Declarative

Ag2O3 clathrate is a novel and effective antimicrobial agent/

Retardation of plastic instability via damage-enabled microstrain

delocalization

J Electronic Mater; J Mater Sci; Metall Mater Trans A

Title


structure Keywords

Search Engine Optimization

Identify 7–8 keywords (use standard terms*)

Use 2 in your title, 5–6 in the keyword list

Use 3 keywords 3–4 times in your abstract

Use keywords in headings when appropriate

Be consistent throughout your paper but include some synonyms

Cite your previous publications when relevant

*From PsycINFO, BIOSIS, ChemWeb, ERIC Thesaurus, GeoRef, MeSH, etc

Where to publish your work

Write effectively

Clearly structure your manuscript

Ready to submit!

Communicating with journals

Section 4


Dear Dr Carter,

Please find enclosed our manuscript titled “Prediction of the nonlinear stress response of asymmetric structures under bi-

directional excitation,” which we would like to submit for publication as an Original Article in the Journal of Materials Science.

Assessing the stress performance of asymmetric structures is challenging because of their elevation irregularities. Various methods have been proposed to estimate the peak response of asymmetric structures to stress motion, with considerable progress seen over recent decades in methods that combine non-linear static (pushover) analysis of a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) mathematical model with the response spectrum analysis of an equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model. In this study, we improve an earlier nonlinear analysis method by determining the nonlinear properties of two independent equivalent SDOF models based on the principal direction of the first modal response of the structure in each nonlinear stage. This is determined based on the results of the pushover analysis of the structure. The largest peak response is then estimated by combining the analysis of the two modal responses. Previous methods rely on the elastic mode shape for estimating the seismic response, where a change in mode shape can markedly alter the results. By contrast, the current method takes into account changes in the principal direction of the first modal response, allowing for a more reliable estimation of the response of asymmetric structures to ground motion acting at an arbitrary angle of incidence. We believe the findings presented here would be of considerable interest to the readers of the Journal of Materials Science. The implementation of stress performance evaluation is expanding worldwide, and the evaluation methods are improving with the progress of computational methods. These recent advancements, including those presented here, have implications in many fields related to seismology including building engineering, and mining and exploration, all of which are of interest to your readers.

Why study needs to be

done

What was done and what

was found

Interest to journal’s readers

A good cover letter

We would also like to suggest the following reviewers for our manuscript…

Editor’s name Manuscript title

Article type

Recommend reviewers / non-reviewers


Recommending reviewers

Where to find them?

From your reading/references, networking at conferences

How senior? Aim for mid-level researchers

Who to avoid? Collaborators (past 5 years),

researchers from your company

International list: 1 or 2 from Asia, 1 or 2 from Europe, and 1 or 2 from North America

Choose reviewers who have published in your target journal

Communicating with journals Additional Tips

However, …an alternative approach… …a challenge …a need for clarification… …a problem/weakness with… …has not been dealt with… …remains unstudied …requires clarification …is not sufficiently (+ adjective) …is ineffective/inaccurate/inadequate/inconclusive/incorrect Few studies have… There is an urgent need to… There is growing concern that… Little evidence is available on… It is necessary to… Little work has been done on…

Key phrases: Problem statement (para 2)


We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal. All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with submission to the Journal of Material Sciences. This study was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. The corresponding author can be contacted at…

Last paragraph:

Declarations related to publication ethics Source of funding, Conflicts of interest Your contact details


We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal. All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with submission to the Journal of Material Sciences. This study was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. The corresponding author can be contacted at…

Last paragraph:

Declarations related to publication ethics Source of funding, Conflicts of interest Your contact details

Ethics

Funding

Conflicts of interest

Contact details

Communicating with journals Writing response letters

Read by the journal editor, and maybe the reviewers

Respond to every reviewer comment

Easy for editor & reviewers to

see changes

• Revise and keep to the deadline; be polite! • Restate reviewer’s comment; refer to line and page numbers

Use a different color font

Highlight the text

Strikethrough font for deletions

Communicating with journals Agreeing with reviewers

Reviewer Comment: In your analysis of the data you have chosen to use a somewhat obscure fitting function (regression). In my opinion, a simple Gaussian function would have sufficed. Moreover, the results would be more instructive and easier to compare to previous results.

Response: We agree with the Reviewer’s assessment of the analysis. Our tailored function, in its current form, makes it difficult to tell that this measurement constitutes a significant improvement over previously reported values. We describe our new analysis using a Gaussian fitting function in our revised Results section (Page 6, Lines 12–18).

Agreement

Revisions

Location

Why agree



Response: It’s very clear that you’re not familiar with the current analytical methods in the field. I recommend that you identify a more suitable reviewer for my manuscript right now!!!

Disagreeing with reviewers



Response: Although a simple Gaussian fit would facilitate comparison with the results of other studies, our tailored function allows for the analysis of the data in terms of the Smith model [Robens et al., 2012]. We have now explained the use of this function and the Smith model in our revised Discussion section (Page 12, Lines 2–6).

Evidence

Revisions

Location

Disagreeing with reviewers

Be an effective communicator

Increase your chances to be published, and also to have impact in your field

Choose the best platform to share your research

Write clearly in English

Logically organize your ideas in your manuscript

Effectively communicate with journals

Thank you!

Any questions?

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Trevor Lane: [email protected] Julian Tang: [email protected]

Education

151210 Edanz Springer