如何選擇投稿期刊

身為科學家，自然會希望可以讓研究論文發表到知名國際期刊和同儕審閱期刊。不過，超過百分之九十投稿至頂尖期刊的論文會遭到拒絕．而與其刊登在不是那麼知名的期刊也總比沒有被刊登好。謹慎的挑選要投稿的期刊可以有效的提高被接受的機會，在這裡我們就要提供您除了影響係數與知名度外選擇期刊的小技巧。

範疇：期刊經常在還沒有看過文章前就拒絕刊登，這是因為該文章並不符合期刊範疇。假如你的研究是關於蘋果凍傷生理學，那麼不管這是多麼原創或突出的研究都不會被Tropical Agriculture所接受。期刊通常是以區域（如亞太區能原研究）、收成（如馬鈴薯期刊）、器官或系統（如歐洲心臟期刊，循環系統研究）來定義範疇。在投稿前除了確認自己的研究符合期刊範疇外，也需要在cover letter中詳細解釋。

刊登文章：觀察近幾期刊登的文章，有哪些主題以及文章多長。有些期刊僅刊登重要且相關的短篇文章。另一方面，同儕審閱期刊則選用有深度申論主題的文章，文章可能長好幾頁。記得大部分審閱的文章都是經過邀請的。觀察近期出版的期刊也能夠幫助你了解期刊範疇，尤其這在期刊說明中通常不會清楚定義。

頻率：一般而言，相較於每季、每四個月或每半年發行的期刊，固定發行頻率的期刊（每週，每兩週，或是每個月）都會有較快的回覆。經常發行的期刊有較緊湊的行程及順暢的運作機制，這對作者來說是好的。許多期刊也公告投稿日及改版日，這些資訊在衡量期刊工作速度上是很有用的。

作者群：檢視出版作者群也是一個好主意。如果您發現有固定集中在某些單位或是某些國家的話，可能要三思這個期刊是否適合您的論文。

是什麼讓期刊國際化？

國際期刊相較於區域期刊通常較具有聲望，也因此大部分作者傾向投稿國際期刊。這些期刊有時並不會將“國際”放進名稱，但有幾個線索可判斷。以下我們提供您幾項指標：

編者的組成：大部分的期刊皆有編輯群提供期刊編輯出版上規模及政策的建議。尤其是包含多種領域的期刊通常擁有包含各學科領域的編輯群。典型的國際期刊編輯群亦橫跨各地理區，成員遍佈世界各地。

刊登論文的學科：期刊之所以國際化源自於刊登的文章，即使期刊的名稱是另外一回事（比如British Medical Journal亦接受非來自英國的醫學文章）。具有國際規模的期刊通常會有明白的學科領域標示，而這些期刊的學科並沒有任何區域或國家的限制，例如：農業（分子生物和數學）。

期刊作者群：一個真正的國際期刊作者來自世界各地。這點可從文章作者群窺伺一二。重要的是這群作者，而不是他們個別的名字；他們有可能是日本人、德國人、澳洲人、或美國人，但他們也許都在同一個國家工作。對組織來說這群在一起工作的作者能夠來自世界各地是一件重要的事情。

出版商：許多知名期刊都是透過商業出版商或是學術單位、專業組織等等印刷出版。有些學術單位或專業組織有明確的重點而出版的期刊主要是給會員。這類型的期刊就不太可能國際化。不過，這些期刊也有許多像國際期刊一樣知名，而您可能在列表的時候也會考慮投稿至這些期刊。

為何期刊會有排版要求？

期刊通常都會有一定的聲望，尤其是同儕審閱回覆的期刊。投稿這類型的期刊可以提高您的研究能見度同時也是一種研究品質保證。其中部分的品質來自於外觀，印刷的精美程度。而印刷的精美程度則取決於清楚、一致且仔細的排版。

雖然期刊提供詳細的排版指示，但仍有很多的作者會忽略這些說明。這項行為造成文章在獲得錄取後可能會延後出版，因為印刷業者無法分辨比如那一行是標題，那一行是副標題等之類的問題；畢竟，印刷業者並非相關學術背景出身。這也就是為什麼作者依照期刊指示排版會這麼重要的原因了。下面我們提供了幾個排版的要點：

保持排版簡單清爽：作者不需要將文章整理成像出版品一樣，那是編審跟印刷業者的工作。因此，僅需要使用統一的字型，例如Times New Roman，統一字體大小為12。將所有的標題、副標題、內文、圖表、文獻等都設成統一格式，即使有些在印出的時候會變成比較小的字體。

根據期刊在內文中的方式使用粗體及斜體：科學專有名詞通常會以斜體表示，所以請將該名詞用斜體標示。表示Probability的字母P也應用斜體。

句點後只留一個空格：最好使用word裡”尋找和替代”的功能將所有兩個空格代換成一個空格。可以重複這個動作確認所有多餘的空格被刪除。

標題，摘要，副標題長度符合規定：許多期刊會要求摘要長度在150到200字內。同時他們也會限定標題長度。通常是以字數做限定（包含所有空格）。如果您下了比較長的標題，屆時期刊編輯還是會做刪減，如此一來會拖延出版時間。期刊送印的時候，文章標題通常都會是在頁面上方邊緣。這種印刷稱做欄外標題（running heads or headers），由於只有一行的空間，因此需要非常簡短。這也就是為什麼期刊會要求標題長度的原因。

遵守期刊對於標題及副標題大寫之要求：通篇使用同樣的字型並且靠左對齊可能會使您的標題不顯眼。此時依照期刊在標題採用大寫的方式就變得很重要。

為何期刊要求關鍵字?

To publish is to make known. By publishing research papers, journals make research known to their readers. However, most researchers read only a few journals regularly. Typically, these are the journals that focus on topics most relevant to a researcher: those working on rheumatology, for example, may read the Journal of Rheumatology; those working on environmental economics may read the Journal of Environmental Economics; and those working on plant diseases may read Phytopathology. In addition to these specialist journals, most researchers also read – or at least look at the contents page of – one or two multidisciplinary journals such as Nature, Science, or PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [USA]). Researchers read these journals to keep themselves up to date. However, papers that are relevant to or useful to a particular researcher may appear in journals that the researcher does not see regularly or may not see at all. This is where search engines and indexing services prove useful—and they need keywords to do their job.
A keyword is a key to information. Keywords point researchers to relevant papers—papers that may not come to a researcher’s attention in the normal course of her or his reading. Relevant papers may escape notice because they are published in journals that a particular researcher does not read regularly. And even when such papers are published in journals that the researcher does read regularly, he or she may not realize that those papers are relevant because their titles may fail to indicate their relevance. Let us take an example to see why keywords are useful. A paper titled ‘New approaches to the treatment of diabetes’ describes how some medicinal herbs can help in treating the disease. However, the title does not mention this, nor does it mention the names of those herbs. Suitable keywords for such a paper will include the scientific names of those herbs, and a search for any of those names will lead other researchers to that paper.
Therefore, do not use words or terms in the title as keywords: the function of keywords is to supplement the information given in the title. Words in the title are automatically included in indexes, and keywords serve as additional pointers. Lastly, how should you pick keywords? Here are some suggestions.
# If the paper focuses on a particular region (geographic, climatic, etc.), use that as a keyword (semi-arid tropics, the polar region, coniferous forests).
# Consider the experimental material and techniques, which may suggest suitable keywords (HPLC, alkaloids, x-ray crystallography, animal dung).
# Check whether potential applications can serve as keywords (organic farming, treatment of cancer, long-term preservation, energy-efficiency).
# Use specific phenomena or issues as keywords (climate change, air pollution, sustainable development, genetic engineering).
# Lastly, as already mentioned, do not use words or phrases from the title as keywords.

請勿打擾：寫作時間沒有極限！

研究人員通常常不會把自己跟作家聯想在一起，所以覺得出版是一個恐怖的惡魔。不過，如果能在一開始就能把自己當成作家的話會比較安全。不是只覺得自己該寫些什麼，還覺得可以做些什麼。

通常，當開始一個全新的工作，我們都會想像成品的樣子：文章被刊登在你選擇的期刊上。這會是一段冗長、複雜又艱難的路程。因此，這個計畫就是要一步一步完成整個過程；而且總是只往前看一小步。在大部分的情況下，期刊已經提供了一些要點：標題、摘要、介紹、研究目的與方法、結論、討論及參考資料。身為一個研究員作家必須要延伸這些要點。假設現在的你正面臨這些要點，本篇文章要給你一點小小的建議：說到寫幾段文字，試想你有好長一段時間可以完成（至少一個小時，基本上來說有好幾個小時）。
這是因為剛開始寫作的時候文字出來的很慢，一旦你暖身完成之後，一切就會變得順利且快速許多。如果你中途被打斷，就會失去手感然後重新再來一遍。你可以準備一份綱要在手邊並隨時修改它，增加參考文獻遺漏部分或是在沒有靈感時修改圖表。不過這些動作最好在被打斷的中間空檔時間進行。
再補充幾個小技巧。首先，以字數而非時間作為底線；告訴自己＂在寫完五百字以前我絕對不起來＂。其次，在你覺得可以很容易重新開始的地方停下。換句話說，才在新段落中寫一兩句話的時候絕對不要停下來。這樣子的話，當你重新開始工作的時候就會容易的多。

教您撰寫科學論文的隨身手冊

如果您想要一本隨身手冊來隨時提醒您在發表科學資訊時易犯的錯誤，今天Editage要推薦您一本好用的書。
Reader-friendly Scientific Documents是一本大約92頁的小手冊（12.7*18.4公分）。該手冊提供科學研究人員各式撰寫溝通方式的實用指南與實例。Ann Bless和Ed Hull將他們過去四十五年來教導無數科學研究人員溝通技巧的經驗寫在書中。Ed Hull用他特有的幽默表示本書”也會對不希望別人讀他們文章的研究人員有幫助，因為他們會知道不可以怎麼寫。”

簡介強調這本書是給希望有效撰寫給那些不需要讀或是沒有足夠時間閱讀的＂真實世界＂的人們。接下來的兩個章節將會涵蓋句型與段落，而後面的五個章節將個別針對不同類型的檔案：複查文章、海報、信函、履歷表和摘要。四個實際演練（及其解答）各包含在其中，因此讀者可檢視他們對文章內容吸收多少。總的來說，這是讀這篇網誌的您一定會感到實用的工具書。

Three short lines: the hyphen, the en dash, and the em dash

As a researcher, you notice details relevant to your subject of interest that others never see. What to most people was simply a dish of glass was to Alexander Fleming an indication of the power of Penicillium to stop the growth of bacteria.
Similarly, what to most casual readers are simply dashes are to careful readers distinct punctuation marks, each with its separate function. The shortest dash is the hyphen, which is also the most common. It joins two or more words to represent them as a single unit, for example, a test-tube, 4-aminobenzensulphonic acid, fail-safe, or state-of-the-art facilities. Use a hyphen – but only with non-SI units – to combine a value (number) with a noun, as in a 15-inch rod or a 2-month vacation. Note that in most such cases with only one hyphen, the part before the hyphen modifies the part after the hyphen.
Intermediate in length is the en dash; use it to indicate a range, as in 6–10 kg or 6–10 mm. In references, separate the first and last page numbers with the en dash, as in Information Design Journal 17: 153–154. In such cases, the en dash simply replaces the preposition to. The second use of the en dash is to join two words that are equal in status as it were. In other words, the first part does not modify the second part, as in Michaelis–Menten equation, energy–environment interface, and nature–nurture debate.
The third, and the longest, is the em dash, which is rarely used in scientific texts. Think of it as a counterpart of the colon (:), which comes before a list or an explanation. The em dash follows such items and either sums up their contents or introduces a contradiction, as in "Solar water heaters, wind turbines, water mills, or even a simple fire made by burning a few dried branches, all share a common feature—they all use renewable sources of energy." or "The floor was washed with disinfectant; the air was filtered through a fine filter; the surgeon used a mask and sterilized gloves—it was the food that was contaminated."

在表格中撰寫"實驗句"

由於作者對研究數據已經非常熟悉，導致常常在表格中遺漏某些訊息，例如數據單位就是常常被遺忘的訊息。如果單位跟數據爲人所熟知，這樣的遺漏並不會造成太大的影響，比如身高體重或是空間的面積。不過，並不是所有人可以正確判斷單位。比如美國讀者可能對公斤、公分、公尺等單位不熟悉。所以他們有可能將這些沒有單位標示數據當作是磅而非公斤。
在一般的表格中，標題應該表示在最左邊的表格，如：東京月均溫表，月份是該表格資料的計量單位，而實驗句就可寫”東京的六月均溫為攝氏30度” 。根據這個例子，如果您忘記在表格中標示測量單位或是沒有提及這是來自東京的資料，那麼實驗句看起來就會不合邏輯。
因此，在投稿期刊前，養成在文章的每個表格中撰寫實驗句的習慣以檢查表格。

Scientific names of organisms in italics? Not always

Scientific names of organisms in italics? Not always Written by Yateendra Joshi

It is standard to print the names of organisms in italics, as in Oryza sativa for rice and Escherichia coli for the most common species of bacteria in the human gut.

Italics are so used for differentiation: printed in italics, the names appear different from other text that surrounds them, enough to catch the reader’s attention but not to clamour for it.

However, there are other categories of text that have equal claim on italics: titles of books and journals, for example. And the typographer or the designer may well employ italics for setting figure captions, for headings, and for quotations, to name a few legitimate and common uses. And this is where you need to ignore the convention that scientific names are always in italics: if the text that surrounds such names is going to be in italics, print the names in normal (or upright or roman) font, not in italics; if you do, the names can no longer be differentiated—and the whole point of printing them in italics is lost.

["Publish and prosper" is a series of posts about tips for researchers whose first language is not English but who submit papers to journals published in English. The series touches upon not only writing (spelling, grammar, punctuation, usage, and style) but everything else relevant to publishing research papers that journal editors wish their authors knew.]