1. How to write your first research paper
Shameel Farhan (夏明汉)
PhD student2013 batch
Materials Science & Engineering
NPU Xi’an China
2016/12/19

2. About myself
PhD Topic: A new method for making carbon foam containing in-situ grown nanomaterials
Paper published as 1st author (2013-to date)
SCI papers
SCI-2 08 papers
SCI-3 02 papers
SCI-4 01 paper
EI ind. 01 paper
Paper under review/in progress
Under review 03 papers
In planning 03 papers
15 as 1st author
10 as 3rd or 4th author
Target = 20+

3. About myself
Journals
Journal of European Ceramic Society SCI-1 1st of 27, Q1 (Ceramics)
Ceramics International (Elsevier) SCI-2, 3rd of 27, Q1 (Ceramics)
Journal of Alloys and Compounds SCI-1 4th of 73, Q1 (Metallurgy)
Journal of Applied and Analytical Pyrolysis (Elsevier) SCI-1 5th of 43
Materials & Design (Elsevier) SCI-2 45th of 271,Q1 (Materials)
Materials Letters (Elsevier) SCI-2 73rd of 271, Q2 (Materials)
Journal of Materials Science (Springer) SCI-2 82nd of 271, Q2 (Materials)
Journal of Porous Materials (Springer) SCI of 271, Q2 (Materials)
New Carbon Materials (Elsevier) SCI-4
Transactions of Non-ferrous Society of China (Elsevier) SCI-3

4. Fantastic or weedy just do it!!
Fantastic Idea
Knowledge
Get Published
Fantastic idea is a fallacy. any idea, no matter how weedy and insignificant it may seem to you
Any Idea
Knowledge
Get Published
Insignificant Idea
Knowledge
Get Published

5. Here is my idea Your Research Paper Here is a problem
It’s an interesting problem
It’s an unsolved problem
Here is my idea
My idea works (details, data)
Here’s how my idea compares to other people’s approaches

6. Author versus Reader Behaviour
Author behaviour
Want to publish more
Peer review essential
Other journal functions crucial
Wider dissemination
Reader behaviour
Want integrated system
Browsing is crucial
Quality information important
Want to read less

7. Lets start writing first paper
step by step
Selection of the most appropriate keywords is the life line writing a paper
Key Words
Carbon Foam
Porous Ceramics
Pyrolysis
Porosity
Compressive Strength
In situ
Nanowires
Anti-oxidative Coatings

8. First Step Download at least 25-30 research papers.
Key Words
Carbon Foam
Download at least research papers.
Search Engines: Science Direct, Scopus, ACS, AIAA, Google etc.
Be careful in paper selection: citation, affiliation etc.
Statistics
Journal IF =6
SCI-1
Article References = 218
Citation = 48

9. First Step Be careful in paper selection: citation, affiliation etc.
Statistics
Journal IF =26.9
SCI-1
Article References = 239
Citation = 297

10. Step Two
Read selected papers and make a list of target journals (from the references of papers).
Journal of European Ceramics Society SCI-1
Carbon SCI-1
Nano Letters SCI-1
Journal of Applied and Analytical Pyrolysis SCI-1
Journal of Alloys and Compounds SCI-1
Ceramics International SCI-2
Materials Letters SCI-2
Microporous and Mesoporous Materials SCI-2
Materials & Design SCI-2
RSC Advances SCI-2
Journal of Materials Science SCI-2
Materials Chemistry and Physics SCI-2
J Porous Materials SCI-4
New Carbon Materials SCI-4
Carbon Letter SCI-4

11. Step Three Introduction Methods/Experimental Results Discussion
Read and select further out of and print.
Printed papers = Review+Full length+Letters+Conference
Underline/mark important information related to your idea.
Make IMRD model using MS Word;
Introduction
Methods/Experimental
Results
Discussion

12. Copied First Draft is Ready
Introduction
Copy the literature review with references from papers.
Methods/Experimental
Copy the methods/experimental from papers.
Results
Copy the results from papers.
Discussion
Copied First Draft is Ready

13. Your First Draft is Ready
Replace the data of the First Copied Draft with;
Your own data/inputs
Your own analysis/graphs
Your own results/discussions
So you must have your own research data in hand.
Your First Draft is Ready

14. Your Second Draft is Ready
Discuss your data/inputs.
Discuss your analysis /graphs.
Discuss your results.
See how other people discuss (from copied draft).
Compare and contrast your data with others.
Your Second Draft is Ready

15. Your Third Draft is Ready
Rearrange the introduction part.
Cite 5-10 works of different researcher.
Select citations more from journal you want to submit.
Give novelty at the end of Introduction.
Your Third Draft is Ready
Statistics
Journal IF =6
SCI-1
Article References = 218
Citation = 48

16. Your Fourth Draft is Ready
Finalize the title of the paper.
Write the conclusions and abstract.
Format references.
Write down the acknowledgements.
Check for English language and spelling errors.
Your Fourth Draft is Ready

17. Final Draft Select the journal e.g. Journal A. Read about the editor.
Follow the guidelines strictly.
Most of the journals accept “your paper your style”.
The minimum requirement;
Double space
Times new roman, 12 pt.
Wide margin
Align text to the right
Write cover letter/graphical abstract/highlights etc.
Give % references from Journal A
Submit.

18. Reviewer Selection Carefully select the reviewers.
Select a well known expert of the field.
Nominate 3-5 reviewers.
Give brief intro of reviewers and reason.
Add reviewers’ papers in the reference section.

19. Journal Selection See the stats of the journal like;
Publishing frequency/year
Ranking like SCI-1,2,3,4, EI, Q1, 2 etc.
Paper processing time after acceptance.
I.F.
Review speed

20. My all time favourite
Ceramics International (Elsevier) SCI-2, 3rd of 27, Q1 (Ceramics)
Chairman of Council
WORLD ACADEMY OF CERAMICS
Chairman of Board
TECHNA GROUP
General Chair
CIMTEC Conferences
General Editor
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
Very Fast
My experience=19 days
Others = 16 days

21. Impact Factor
Impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year.
The impact factor will help you evaluate a journal’s relative importance, especially when you compare it to others in the same field.

22. Variation in Impact Factor!!
IF variations between disciplines
Medical
Annual Review of Immunology = 54
JAMA = 24
General
Nature and Science IF = 30
Materials science
Carbon = 6
Journal of European Ceramic Society = 2.9
Aerospace Engineering
Progress in Aerospace Science = 2.9
AIAA Journal = 1.08

23. Understanding I.F. Consider a journal named X, 2015 impact factor
Citations in 2015 to articles published in 2014 = 168
Citations in 2015 to articles published in 2013 = 293
TOTAL = 461
Number of article published in 2014 = 54
Number of article published in 2013 = 54
TOTAL = 108
X’ 2015 impact factor: 461 ∕108 = 4.269

24. Understanding different terms
SCI: Science Citation Index
SSCI: Social Science Citation Index
CSSCI: Chinese Social Science Citation Index
ISI : Institute for Scientific Information
JCR: Journal Citation Report
EI: The Engineering Index
ISTP: Index of Scientific & Technical Proceedings

25. Search SCI Ranking

33. The News We Like
Just Received
SCI-1
16th paper

34. The News We Like

35. The News We Like

36. The News We Like

37. The News We Like

38. The News We Like

39. Conclusions This is my experience of writing a paper.
Strong working before writing is crucial.
Spend 2-3 months in searching/downloading data.
Carefully select the journals.
Start your work right now.

40. THANKS
-for the attention-