Do you know the phrase “the data speak for themselves?” According to Dr. Stephen Heard, professor at the University of New Brunswick, past Subject Editor for FACETS, and author of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing, “The data don’t speak for themselves—or at least, they don’t easily or clearly. That’s why we write papers rather than just publish datasets.” It’s also why papers have a discussion section. “It offers the writer a chance to explain how they think a study’s results should be interpreted and why they matter,” says Heard. The discussion section, he says, is an opportunity to consider…
New Search
If you are not happy with the results below please do another searchThe painful truth: no matter how fantastic your research is, there is a good chance that most people who come across it will only read your abstract. Ouch. “People scan abstracts when they’re looking for papers to read,” says Dr. Cecile Badenhorst, Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and author of several books on academic writing. “Readers will skip over articles if the abstracts are not attractive to them.” It’s therefore important that your abstract contains a clear, focused description of your study that highlights the information most relevant to readers. Then there is the issue…
How should you present information in your paper? In the body of the manuscript? In a graph? A diagram? A map? An illustration? When it comes to data, tables are often the go-to choice. Creating tables may seem like a relatively straightforward affair. However, the construction of a high-quality table is not easy. "I found it very difficult when I first started my career as a researcher,” says Dr. Brian Beres, Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science. “You know the data and results intimately, but that doesn’t mean it’s simple to put them together in a table…
You’ve done the research. You’ve written the manuscript. You’ve revised the introduction, the methods, the results, and the discussion several times. Have you paid attention to the title? “The title is the first (and sometimes the only) thing the majority of people will read when it comes to your paper”, says Dr. Brendan Connors, Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (CJFAS). “To stand out in the sea of papers that are produced today, a good title has become even more important than ever.” But what makes for a great title? We asked Dr. Connors,…
The days of research staying within the walls of “the ivory tower” are over. Today, research communications aren’t just about education and engagement, building trust, or funding support. Good communications are also about supporting decision-making. Understandably, decision-makers are unlikely to keep an eye on all the latest research, nor will they fully understand the terminology, nuances, or even the statistics presented in peer-reviewed papers. After all, peer-reviewed publications are, first and foremost, a way to communicate with specialists in a particular field. For those researchers who want to connect with decision-makers, a briefing note may be just what they…
From geography to ecology to epidemiology to sociology and beyond, much of the data we generate has a spatial element – a physical location, distribution patterns, and geographical relationships with other data or variables, for example. The tool of choice for showing those elements? Maps. “Maps are an extremely useful tool,” says Thomas Herbreteau, Chair of the Canadian Cartographic Association’s Geovisualization and Map Design Special Interest Group. “They can be leveraged to improve your projects, our cities, and our society. They can save lives. They can also visualize a story like no other medium.” We asked Herbreteau to share…
A commitment to quality Our three gold open access journals (Arctic Science, Drone Systems and Applications, and FACETS) proudly received the prestigious DOAJ Seal, a testament to our commitment to quality content. Eleven of our journals embraced the…
With a program boasting nearly 600 talks, posters, and plenaries from researchers…
Introduction. Methods. Results. Discussion. The typical structure of an original research paper. Known as the IMRaD format, these papers start with an Introduction section, explain the Methods, present the Results, and finish with a Discussion. Chances are if you’ve peer-reviewed a paper, it followed IMRaD. You assessed the paper, making sure the methods and study design are appropriate, that the analysis is sound, and that the conclusions are sound. But not all papers follow IMRaD. We’d like to introduce you to data papers. Data papers are scientific publications that focus on describing one or more datasets. They highlight the…
Q&A with Paola Marino Microscopes allow researchers to visualize seemingly invisible things. But practical purposes aside, these glimpses into the microscopic world often look like works of art. For Paola Marino, conducting lab work is very much an artistic experience. A Master of Science candidate at Concordia University, Paola is studying the design, synthesis, and functionalization of metal–organic frameworks for ophthalmic drug delivery. Paola was a 2020 Visualizing Science Contest participant whose image was selected for the 2021 cover of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry. Where do you find inspiration for your microscopy work? When it comes to…