Course information

Learning outcomes: This course provides doctoral students with understanding over writing scientific journal articles. The lecture will motivate students to start writing sooner. After the lecture the student will understand what is required from a scientific article and what the related publishing processes entail. The student will know how to approach and write a scientific journal article effectively.

The lecture aims at providing tips to researchers in all fields. Especially starting researchers have experienced the lecture as very beneficial. Also researchers that have written multiple articles have given positive feedback.

Contents: The course consists of

• lecture on Tue 10 February at 12-16 (4 hours)
• pre-assignment
• seminar work (11 Feb (group 1) or 12 Feb (group 2)) at 9-16 o'clock

Lecture, 10 February at 12-16 o'clock (Room A4, Main building)

Contents:
 - Practical tips for writing scientific articles
 - Improving chances for acceptance
 - Article logic, beginning and end
 - Editor's viewpoints
 - Group dynamics for writing articles
 - Discussion

Seminar

- 11 Feb (group 1 at Room D14 (Main building)) at 9-16 o'clock

OR

- 12 Feb (group 2 at Room KH 3 (Main building)) at 9-16 o'clock

Seminar will deepen issues discussed on the lecture.

Reference material: Tips for writing scientific journal articles

Pre-meeting assignment:

•             Read the guidebook "Tips for writing scientific journal articles" (http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9789514293801/isbn9789514293801.pdf). Choose a potential target journal where you wish to publish in the future. Analyse the structure, not substance, of 2-3 articles recently published in this journal by comparing them against the structure presented in the guidebook. Write a report in text format (e.g. MSWord) of your observations, pay attention to any deviations in structure. 

•             Prepare a short presentation of your observations, for instance, using 3-4 PowerPoint slides. This presentation will be publicly shown.
•             In the report, include your reflections about the issues you consider as bottlenecks in your scientific writing. These will be discussed in the workshop anonymously.
•             In the report, include the topics you wish to be discussed during the workshop
•             Please, remember to include your name, academic field, and your research topic

Pre-meeting assignment to be sent to course Moodle-area by 5.2.2015.

Lecturer: Dr Pekka Belt, University of Oulu

More information about the lecturer: www.tinyurl.com/efficient-doctoral-studies

Enrolment: Enrolment in NettiOpsu either to group 1 or 2. The student has to check the selection from NettiOpsu after the enrolment period. Maximum 18 students per seminar group can be accepted.

Evaluation: Pass/fail.