1. From Research To Publication Ali Alsam Norway 2009

2. What is Research? The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking. Albert Einstein

3. From Research To Publication in 15 Minutes? Let’s aim to cover the basics, There is no teaching aid better than a simple example, We start with a case study.

4. A Cake Study

5. We want a better cake What does better mean? Better is the refinement: what you do now, next time do it better! But refinement is infinite: What should we refine? A simple question is the best start for a research article, According to research: An important cause for having no research results is large size, too ambitious, research projects. Research questions are simple! Think of small problems that you can solve, not of getting to the moon. It took billions of years of evolution to make it; and the result was based on solving many simple questions. If you need ten steps to get to your goal, focus on the first step not the tenth!

6. What is it about a cake that we can refine? We can make a cake that is tastier: Refine taste, We can make a cake that is healthier: Refine fat content, We can make a cake that has no eggs or flour: Refine allergic reactions, We can make a cake that is cheaper: Refine cost, We can make a cake that is long-lasting: Refine use-by-date, We can make any cake we wish to make. Research meetings are brainstorming sessions where researchers refine their questions!

7. But where do we start this work? Like all research, our cake article starts with literature review, We need to get all the cake baking books that we can find, Make sure that we read the best ones on the topic. Every topic has its prophets. We need to make a list of everything we have read, If we don’t read, we can never publish!

8. But this is baking not science! As stated, science is a refinement of everyday thinking, And cake baking is scientific, We have many parameters to control, Temperature, how long we whisk the eggs for, how much of each of the ingredients we use, which ingredients, etc

9. But can we publish this? Of course we can, We just need to be scientific, First we decide what we are going to refine: Taste, health, cost, etc. We need to have a good research question! Then we go to the literature  cook books, Then we bake cakes in all the different ways  following the recipes that we read, To publish the cake work we need to perfect our cake baking skills=bake many cakes! If we don’t try what others have done, we can never publish! If we cannot bake a cake, we cannot improve it!

10. Then we start refining But when do we publish? Not yet! We need to make sure that the result is a refinement. We need to answer our question! We can judge that by taste if that is the objective, cost, or that it doesn’t cause an allergic reaction, What if we like the results?

11. The Experiment We need a group of people, The more the better, Then we need a list of questions, Then we need to analyse the results, That means that we need a statistician, If the results are negative, we refine more, If they are positive, we need to start writing.

12. Very important Our experiment has to be documented in detail, A good baker with knowledge of cakes should be able to repeat our experiment and verify our findings, The results should be scientific: We present people with four different cakes and ask them which they prefer. We don’t say which is ours and we don’t ask our friends, The most important thing in science is your name! If people trust your work, you can publish. If they don’t, you publish a few poor papers! In life, you know where to go to get your cake! In science, you know where to go for solutions, We need to aim for excellence!

13. The paper Abstract In this paper, we introduce a novel recipe for a healthy cake. Our results show that the cake tastes better than commercial alternatives and causes no allergic reactions. Furthermore, results based on a population of ten adults, five females and five males, in the age group of 20-75, show that 90% preferred our cake over the alternatives. As few as 10% died after the first bite. This was, however, shown to be due to the poor general heath of the late individual. Red is future work. Next time, no one dies.

14. Conclusions- The Researcher The most important quality in a researcher is interest in the topic. No interest means no research. You cannot ask someone to ski, bake, paint, write, learn or kiss if they don’t enjoy it. Second is knowledge in the field. Good researchers read on daily basis. They know the topic like the back of their hands. A researcher is like an athlete: No training means no results! Top athletes practice 4-5 times a week! Knowledge in the topic means good research questions. No research question means no research. You need to know what is wrong to be able to fix it!

15. Conclusions- The Researcher Car manufacturers don’t research in cars, they research in brakes, power-consumption, windshield design and tires, Brake manufacturers don’t research in brakes, they research in materials and heat transfer. Research questions are very clear=simple and defined! Training is crucial. You cannot play concert- piano after two lessons. It takes a long time= interest! When all that is there: Publishing is not difficult!

16. Conclusions- The Institute Research institutes are like football clubs, Football clubs hire excellent coaches  Training =Teaching, Football clubs recruit excellent players, Football clubs give the players the time and space to play their game, Can we achieve excellent results with less?

17. Everything should be as simple as possible but not simpler than that. Albert Einstein

18. Thank You For Your Time Ali Alsam Oppdal, Norway 2009