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How to Conduct Decent Research Work

How to Conduct Decent Research Work. Feng Zheng, Ph.D. Materials Chemistry Central South University. Aims. Provide a simple but formal introduction to young researchers the basic strategy employed by peer-reviewed scientists around the world Personal experience home and abroad

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How to Conduct Decent Research Work

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  1. How to Conduct Decent Research Work Feng Zheng, Ph.D. Materials Chemistry Central South University

  2. Aims • Provide a simple but formal introduction to young researchers the basic strategy employed by peer-reviewed scientists around the world • Personal experience home and abroad • Suggestions for future work • Editorial work • Itches of translation/interpretation

  3. Identify a Project • Literature search (up to now) • Introduction (why, what, how, what) • Why is/are this/these important • What has/have been done • How did they do • What was/were left (for you) and • What do you want to do • Theoretical work? • Experimental work?

  4. Title • Proper words for your title • 好的开头是成功的一半 • A good beginning is half done. • Be caution when using on, investigation, research and study for title

  5. Theory & Experiment Set-up • What do you want to do • Improve or against existing theory? • Provide more data? • Propose novel ideas? • How to achieve your goals • Better or reliable theoretical analysis • Better or new experimental results • Raw materials • Equipments • Experiment procedure

  6. Results • New theoretical analysis (not ease) • For most engineering work we need: • Chemical composition • Structure • Mechanical properties • Physical properties • Etc. • In proper order

  7. Analysis or Discussion • How to describe your results • How to make comparison with literature • Why are your work important • What are your contribution to science or engineering • What are your conclusions

  8. Conclusions • What are your conclusions • Theoretical analysis • Experimental results • Work ongoing or suggestions

  9. Abstract • What has/have been done • Most important results • Tune of past – was/were, has/have been

  10. Acknowledgements • Financial support • Help for discussion and theoretical analysis • Help of technicians

  11. Literature Citation • History of this work • Make yours part of the history • Later work has to cite your paper (important) • Style according to instruction for authors of chosen journal

  12. Check list • Title (eye-catching) • Authors (team work*) • Abstract (concise) • Introduction (story-telling) • Experimental procedure (book-keeping) • Results (book-keeping) • Discussion (elegance, cross-reference) • Conclusion (solid) • Acknowledgements (polite) • Literature citation (honest)

  13. Text Layout • Keep it consistent throughout the manuscript. Double line spacing and 12 font is preferred: make it convenient for reviewers to make annotations. • Number the pages. • Number the lines if the journal requires to do so.

  14. Length of Full Article “…25- 30 pages is the ideal length for a submitted manuscript, including essential data only.” – Julian Eastoe, Co-editor, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Title page Abstract 1 paragraph Introduction 1.5-2 manuscript pages (double-spaced, 12pt) Methods 2-4 manuscript pages Results and Discussion 10-12 manuscript pages Conclusions 1-2 manuscript pages Figures 6-8 Tables 1-3 References 20-50 items Letters or short communications have a stricter limitation of the length. For example, 3000 words with no more than 5 illustrations.

  15. Submission • Where to publish your work • Impact factor • Scientific Community (bulletin, transactions and journals of well-established international or national society) • Electrical submission • Cover letter • Corresponding author

  16. Communication to Editors • Acknowledge editorial work • Address exactly the questions raised by reviewers • Rebuttal with sound evidences

  17. What Gets You Accepted? • Attention to details • Check and double check your work • Consider the reviews • English must be as good as possible • Presentation is important • Take your time with revision • Acknowledge those who have helped you • New, original and previously unpublished • Critically evaluate your own manuscript • Ethical rules must be obeyed – Nigel John Cook, Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews

  18. Suggestions for Students • Lab records (experiment results) • Literature reviewing (introduction & discussion) • Talk to supervisor (bring copied articles & data) • Discussion with other faculty/fellow students • Write down anything of interest • Try to do one paper in one month! • This can be done and we have done and can do that in a regular base (once for each student). • "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". – Albert Einstein

  19. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) • Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good. • What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. • Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it. • Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind. • Great English author, critic, & lexicographer; wrote "Dictionary of the English Language" 1747-1755, novel "Rasselas" 1759, 10-volume "Lives of the Poets" 1779-1781. Next only to William Shakespeare.

  20. Good References • Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing • The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition: CD-ROM for Windows (CD-ROM), June 15, 2007 (Note 1st Edition in 1906) • A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, April 15, 2007 • The Craft of Research, 2nd edition, March 2003 All by University of Chicago Press

  21. Itches of Translation/Interpretation • Idiom, phrase, proverb, saying, slag etc. • 信-Meaningful, 达-Loyalty, 雅-Elegance • 不懂外语的林纾(琴南)，《巴黎茶花女遗事》和《撒克逊劫后英雄略》译笔流畅，对中国文学界影响很大。 • 向西方介绍中国文化的林语堂, 《吾国与吾民》于1935年在纽约出版和立即成为畅销书, 被赛珍珠认为是“历来有关中国的著作中最忠实、最巨丽、最完备、最重要的成绩” 。两脚踏东西文化, 一心评宇宙文章。 • 译《毛选、诗、词》的人中之龙钱钟书, 《管锥编》凭记忆默写征引西方千余学者多种语言著作1780多种。

  22. 翻译-编辑之痒与痛 • 春风得意马蹄疾 • Happy horse runs fast in Spring (???) • 师范大学 • Normal university (???) • 名利双收 • To have wild dreams of glory (围城英译) • To have wild dreams of gaining both fame and wealth? • 一年之计在于春,一日之计在于晨 • One hour in the morning is worth two in the evening (?) • Early bird catches the worm

  23. Plagiarism and Data Fabrication • “Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including those obtained through confidential review of others’ research proposals and manuscripts.” • the Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1999. • 剽窃他人和剽窃自己以及数据造假都不行! • Automatic text check system underway

  24. 熟能生巧 • Every dog has his/her own days (人不可貌相, 人生终有得意时) • Loss face (丢脸) • Dare to loss (one’s) face (不怕丢脸) • Practice makes perfect (熟能生巧) • Kills two birds with one stone 一箭双雕, 围魏救赵, 名利双收 • Funny little words: at, in, of, on, up, the etc.

  25. 班门弄斧-不自量力 • 关公面前耍大刀 • 孔夫子面前卖文章 • 当自己是个人物 • Wave axe in front of Master LuBan (???) • Pretend to be James Bond (?) • To be someone • To teach a fish how to swim 谢 谢 大 家 !

  26. Personal Experience • Cu out diffusion in Si wafer (UW) • F. Zheng and T.G. Stoebe, Low Temperature Out-Diffusion of Cu from Silicon, Journal of Electrochemical Society 146 (1999) 1238-1240. • Nanosized ZnO (CSU) • Y. Chen, R.Z. Yu, Q. Shi, J.L. Qin, F. Zheng，Hydrothermal Synthesis of hexagonal ZnO clusters，Materials Letter61 (2007) 4438-4441. • High temperature electrode reactions (CSU) • F. Zheng, Y. Chen, High temperature electrode reactions of Sr and Mg doped LaGaO3 perovskite, J Mater Sci.,43(2008)2058-2065. DOI 10.1007/s10853-007-2423-y • B-C-Si-Zr ultra high temperature ceramics (CSU) • H.M. Chen, F. Zheng, Z.P. Jin, Thermodynamic Assessment of B-Zr and Si-Zr Binary Systems, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, accepted • Accepted with no change

  27. Jokes • Around 2000, MIT students set-up a computer program to automatically generate several artificial research papers and submitted them to both conference and journal editors and those papers went through strict peer-review process and got published with no doubt at all! • Some Science and Nature papers are forged • “Half” Science and Nature papers could not be confirmed later (<1 year)

  28. Metallurgy & Ceramic Fuel Cells • 中南矿冶学院材料系压加792班(1979~1983) • Metallurgy (1983-94, China & UK) • Metallurgist by trade (BS, 1983) • Taught & worked on Metallurgy(1983~1992) • Metallurgist at Sheffield, UK (1992~1994) • Fuel Cells (1994-2003, USA) • AWU Fellow @PNNL (1994~1999, SOFC) • LSM cathode, WSU, Master, 1996 • LSGM electrolyte, UW, Ph.D., 2000 • Director of R&D @ NEI (00~01, PEM/ SOFC) • Chief scientist @ Hydrovolt (01~02, SOFC) • Visiting scientist @ LBNL (02~03, SOFC) • 中南大学材料学院教授 (2003~)

  29. Materials Science Lecture Engineering Properties-Performance 谢 谢 大 家 ! MSE MSE Processing Chemistry Composition Physics Mathematics Structure

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