RSC550 - Textbook.pdf

RSC550. Research and Scientific Communication. 1 Published by Evidentia University of Behavioral & Forensic Sciences 111 E Monument Ave Kissimmee, Florida, USA © 2022 Evidentia University of Behavioral & Forensic Sciences Index. 1- INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE WRITING...................

RSC550. Research and Scientific Communication. 1 Published by Evidentia University of Behavioral & Forensic Sciences 111 E Monument Ave Kissimmee, Florida, USA © 2022 Evidentia University of Behavioral & Forensic Sciences Index. 1- INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE WRITING................................................................... 2 2- USE OF SCIENTIFIC DATABASES. CASE OF USE OF LIRN IN UBFS.............................. 3 2.1. What is a database?........................................................................................................3 2.2. Why should I use a database?..........................................................................................3 2.3. Case of use of LIRN in UBFS.............................................................................................4 2.4. How to start to use LIRN in UBFS?...................................................................................4 3- REFERENCE MANAGERS AND APA REFERENCES..................................................... 9 3.1. What is a reference manager?.........................................................................................9 3.2. How to get started with Mendeley Reference Manager?............................................... 10 3.3. APA style: seventh edition............................................................................................. 16 4- THESIS OR DISSERTATION STRUCTURE................................................................. 22 5- SCIENTIFIC PAPER STRUCTURE: INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................ 23 5.1. What is a scientific paper?............................................................................................. 23 5.2. Which are the rules?...................................................................................................... 23 5.3. Which is the structure of a scientific paper?.................................................................. 24 6- PREPARING YOUR PAPER TO SEND. LaTeX FORMAT............................................ 29 7- PEER REVIEW....................................................................................................... 29 8- ETHICS IN WRITING.............................................................................................. 32 8.1. Which are the most common types of plagiarism?......................................................... 32 8.2. What are the consequences of plagiarism?................................................................... 33 8.3. How to avoid plagiarism?.............................................................................................. 33 9- HOW TO PREPARE A SCIENTIFIC POSTER.............................................................. 34 10- PRESENTATION AT A CONGRESS: PREPARING A POWERFUL PRESENTATION................................................................................................... 37 11- PRESENTATION AT A CONGRESS: HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC.............................. 38 1 1- INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE WRITING As a scientist you are also a professional writer, so you have to know how to use the language for describe your ideas as well as to communicate the results of your research. In science you succeed when your peers understand your work and use it to motivate their own. Success, therefore, comes not from writing and publishing but from writing effectively, making it easy to assimilate and spreading your influence. Even if your career takes you away from research and academia and you never need to write a scientific paper again, the effort you put in improving your writing will not be wasted because doing it sharpens your logical thinking skills and everybody is going to need and use those skills whatever will be your field (writing technical reports, sales brochures, case summaries, etc.). Writing is a strategy with two key elements: 1- Focus on the goal of crystal-clear communication, always choosing the words and style that lets the reader more easily and effortlessly understand your message. 2- Deliberate attention not just about what to write, but also how to write it (your process). With the aim to improve your scientific writing it is essential to read scientific papers and books related to your field of knowledge. Another handicap usually all types of writers have to face is to be slow writing, to not know how to do it. It’s essential to recognize the behaviors underlying your slow writing and to find the way to change them. Maybe you can recognize one of these in your own writing behavior. Avoidance: The blank page in front of you can be very intimidating but the only way to get rid of it is to start writing something on it. Distraction: Here is essential the ability to avoid it and to maintain the focus on writing. Feeling stuck: To overcome this feeling is a matter of maintaining the ‘writing momentum’. Perfectionism: The best option is always a little moderation. Is better to start writing something lousy on paper and fixing and polishing it later. Fear of criticism: Reluctance to share our work with our colleagues or supervisors but the only way to improve our communication skills is sharing draft writing and accepting criticism. Reluctance to revise: Criticism of your work is essential but only if you put it to use and agree to revise it and make changes. The first step to manage this kind of behavior is making a deliberate decision to be conscious of it. Is what we call ‘self-awareness’. People who are more successful and successful longer are those who think consciously about their own behavior and how it is related to the task. 2 The first step in scientific writing is to answer a simple question: what are you going to talk about? What’s your ‘story’? Usually, you’re going to write about your results, but which results and why? But if you believe that writing a paper is only about presenting data and results, you have to know that raw data have limited direct value and usually are interpretable only by a small group of experts in this field. You should use the data to tell a story about nature/history/economy, etc. and how it works. The role of scientists is to collect data and transform them into understanding in a multi-step process: the flow of science. Figure 1. The flow of science, from data to understanding (extracted from Josua Schimel book ‘Writing Science’) DATA INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTANDING The raw data obtained from an instrument needs to be converted into information, which is then transformed into knowledge, which is used to produce understanding. The main goal when you are writing in science is that people will be able to assimilate your contributions, your ‘story’. The recognition of this process is critical to developing good stories and writing good papers. 2- USE OF SCIENTIFIC DATABASES. CASE OF USE OF LIRN IN UBFS. 2.1. What is a database? Research databases enable you to see what has been published in the area you are researching or working. They contain detailed records of thousands of journal articles, book references and conference proceedings, that usually include the article title, authors, abstract (a brief summary), keywords (to enable your search to find it) and more. 2.2. Why should I use a database? They are a good way of searching for published scholarly research across a wide number of sources. You can make complex searches using different search interfaces. There will be plenty of options to refine your searches, ensuring that the results are likely to be relevant to your needs. They contain a big number of records, and thus provide comprehensive subject coverage. They also provide frequent indexing so are very up to date. 3 2.3. Case of use of LIRN in UBFS We are going to use LIRN (Library and Information Resources Network). This is a digital space of scientific and academic knowledge and includes multidisciplinary databases. It supplies archives from diverse sources such as papers, articles, magazines, eBooks, PhD thesis and aggregated databases. Has more than 90 electronic resources and almost 85 databases. Another of its advantages is that it is free and accessible for professors and students. 2.4. How to start to use LIRN in UBFS? Go to ‘Evidentia University Campus’ and access the Home Page. Go to ‘Courses’ → ‘Library’→ ‘Library Resources’→ ‘LIRN Evidentia. Three ways for searching: 1- Alphabetical View: research fields by alphabetical order. 2- Subject View: by research field. 3- Vendor View: by service provider (ProQuest). Also ‘Gale’ and ‘Open Access Resources’. At bottom right you have some ‘Tutorials’ about how to use the database. Is highly recommended to watch them. An example of search: On the main page go to ‘Subject View’ → ’Psychology Database’. We are going to use the topic “prospect theory”. We are using quotation marks because we want that both words appear together in our results. 4 At Left you have filters for narrowing your results. We could filter by ‘subject’, for example. When you choose a paper and open the ‘Paper page’ you have this view: 5 At top right you can find different options as: - Download PDF - Email - Cite - Print - All options (you can save the paper to Drive) In the option ‘Cite’ is providing you the citation for this paper. Is very important you keep the citation of every article you’re reading for your research and later you can copy it directly into your paper. Remember to choose the ‘APA 7th edition style’→’Select citation’→Copy’→’Paste’ (you can save it in a Word final paper). You also can ‘Email’ the paper to yourself. Remember to correctly fill the gaps: ‘Content’: PDF; ‘Bibliography’: Include bibliographic citations at the end; ‘Citation style’: APA 7th edition; ‘Email address’; ‘Your name’ and ‘Subject’. 6 LIRN also lets you do advanced searches. An example of ‘Advance Search’ with the field of my search “behavioral economics” AND (the topic I’m looking for): ‘income’. Another example of a search directly from the ‘Main Page Search’ for searching in all the electronic resources of LIRN. 7 LIRN also lets you make searches in eBooks. Here also you can search by ‘Advanced Search’ (filters for narrowing your search at left) or by ‘Browse Subject’. Look to the right icons and click to ‘Create Account to use your bookshelf’. Then you can create your own Bookshelf section and save all the eBooks. 8 3- REFERENCE MANAGERS AND APA REFERENCES. 3.1. What is a reference manager? A reference manager or citation manager is a software package that allows researchers, writers, and authors to collect, organize, and use bibliographic references or citations. There are many benefits of using a reference manager that saves you time, because it is an efficient way of keeping track of your references, and also avoids you having to have to type out each reference manually. Another benefit of their use is that it ensures consistent referencing so there is less room for error, compared with referencing manually. Good reference management software can make all the difference for academic researchers Ph.D. students and scientific writers, from making sure your references are formatted correctly to helping you find and use them quickly and easily. They also allow you to keep track of your references, create bibliographies, and collaborate with other researchers and authors. There are many reference managers available, some of them free. We have chosen to use Mendeley. Is maybe the most popular reference tool. “Mendeley is a software that helps researchers manage their references. It can be used to create bibliographies and citations, and it also allows users to collaborate with other researchers. Mendeley can be accessed online or offline, and it is available for both Windows and Mac users. Mendeley reference manager allows you to store, organize, and search all of your references from just one reference library. It makes it easy to add references and bibliographies to your google docs. Mendeley reference manager allows you to read, highlight, and annotate PDFs, and retain all of your ideas in one location across numerous pages.” Pros: - Increased collaboration as it allows you to invite your teammates who have Mendeley to share the same paper. - Portability is made easier as the software can simultaneously be installed on different devices. - It offers a browser plugin that works with Firefox and Google Chrome, so all you need to do is bookmark your desired web pages, and it saves on your Mendeley library. Cons: Not allow you to edit subscript and superscript characters in the title. For instance, number 2 in H2O needs to be in a small subscript which cannot be done through it. Pricing/Free Version 9 Free Version available with up to 2GB of cloud storage. (https://www.scijournal.org/articles/best-reference-management-software) 3.2. How to get started with Mendeley Reference Manager? 10 11 12 13 14 3.3. APA REFERENCES APA7 (American Psychological Association – 7th edition) is an 'author-date' citation style. This means it uses in-text citations which include the author’s name and the resource’s publication date, followed by a reference list containing fuller item details at the end of the document. It is a very common, multidisciplinary referencing style. https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa- referencing/7GettingStarted#:~:text=APA%207th%20is%20an%20'author,Use%20round%20bracke ts. https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/apa-7th Some examples of citations with APA 7th edition style: 15 https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-guide.pdf 3.3. APA style: seventh edition These guidelines follow the 2020 7th edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual, which is widely used in the health and social sciences. They focus on documentation, but the manual addresses issues from abbreviations to layout and should be consulted for further information. In an APA-style paper, you’ll identify the author and year of each source any time you use it. That information directs readers to more detailed entries on a reference list at the paper’s end. Citing Sources in Your Paper Your readers can’t know where any word, idea, or information in your sentence comes from unless you tell them. It could be your own idea, or from the source you just mentioned, or from a completely different source. That’s why you need to tell them! Once you’ve told them, they may want to find out more about that source. To help them, your citation will always include the first word(s) of your reference page entry--usually the name of the person(s) or group considered the “author” of the work. Direct quotations require page or paragraph numbers, but paraphrases usually don’t. Both can be cited narratively (author’s name as part of the sentence) or parenthetically (author’s name in parentheses after the sentence). 1. Dates. APA includes the year of publication in every parenthetical citation and in the first narrative citation of each source in any paragraph (although some teachers require it in all narrative citations). Only the year of publication goes in your in-text citation, even if the reference page entry includes a month. Manual, p. 262. 2. Page numbers. APA requires specific page, paragraph, or location numbers for all direct quotations. Specific page numbers are rarely included for paraphrases and most teachers don’t allow them, although APA does. 16  List all digits in every page number. For written sources without page numbers, use “para.,” the paragraph number, and, when possible, the section heading. Put document-specific headings in quotation marks and shorten them if needed. For video or audio sources, use the timestamp; for PowerPoint presentations, use the slide number. Manual, p. 264. (Drew, 2002, para. 4) (Marvin, 2009, Introduction, para. 12)… (Fayne, 2013, “Idaho Dentists Find,” para. 3) Major classical works like the Qur’an, The Odyssey, and Macbeth have standard numbering systems that cross all editions and translations, so use those systems instead of page numbers. Manual, p. 274. (Shakespeare, 1623/2003, 1.5.45-60) (King James Bible, 1769/2017, 2 Sam. 12:1-10) 3. Names. The body of an APA paper typically uses last names only, even on first reference. Endings like “Jr.” and academic degrees are not included. Manual, p. 262. Garland and Wilder (2013) found that… Other research suggests that this model may be inadequate (Garland & Wilder, 2013). APA doesn’t use first names or initials in citations unless that’s the only way of distinguishing between two sources. However, be aware that some fields like English may expect first and last names on first narrative reference. Manual, p. 262. 4. No author. When you don’t know the name of your source’s author, use the first words of its title. Italicize the title of a periodical, book, or report; use quotation marks for an article. Manual, p. 265. Book: (Eating Disorders, 2018) or the book Eating Disorders (2018) Article: …benefits have been demonstrated (“Holistic Approach,” 2002) 5. Multiple authors. If your source has two authors, cite both every time. If it has three or more authors, use the first author’s name with “et al.” Note that “et al.” is not italicized and that there is a period after “al.” If you name two authors in a narrative citation, write out the “and” between their names. In a parenthetical citation, use “&.” Manual, p. 266. One study of peer relationships… (Granger & Patil, 1997). A later study of peer relationships… (Longbottom et al., 1999). 6. Group authors. When the author of your source is an organization, its name is spelled out in full on first reference. If it’s well-known or will be used at least two more times, an abbreviation (in parentheses) follows the full name and replaces the full name later. Don’t go back and forth between the full name and the abbreviation. Manual, p. 268. 17 7. One author, multiple works. If you’re citing two works written by the same author(s) in different years, cite them as you normally would. If you have two works written by the same author(s) in the same year, however, those works will be listed alphabetically by title on your reference page, where they’ll be labeled (YYYYa) and (YYYYb). Manual, p. 267. Cisneros (2011a) found…. …..direction for future research (Cisneros, 2011a). 8. One citation, multiple sources. If you refer to several sources within the same parentheses, put them in the same order in which they appear in your reference list and separate them with a semicolon. Manual, p. 263. (Andrews et al., 1996; Gillis, 2017; Gillis, 2019; Shirley & Blythe, 2013) 9. One paragraph, multiple references to same source. If all the information in a paragraph comes from one part of one source, identify its author and date at the beginning. If you use transitional phrases and pronouns like “these findings” to show that each following sentence paraphrases material in the same source, you won’t have to repeat the citation unless your teacher requires it. Manual, pp. 269-270. If you cite a source by putting the author’s name in your sentence, you don’t have to include the date again in other sentences within the same paragraph (although some teachers will expect you to). You do have to include the date in any parenthetical citations. Manual, p. 265. Travers (2006) found that the children underestimated the amount of sugar in their diets. Travers also found that the children in the study consumed more than twice the recommended amount of sugar. They also failed to recognize the sugar content of many common foods. If your paragraph moves back and forth between different sources or between one source and your discussion, you’ll cite the source of each sentence to help keep the reader on track. Any sentence you don’t cite is understood to represent your own words and ideas. Ray and Kelly (2014) proposed that creative writing assignments be integrated into composition classes. It is unclear, however, that this suggestion would improve test scores. Although 72% of students surveyed believed that creative writing exercises improved their written fluency (Ray & Kelly, 2014), other research suggests that those gains in fluency do not transfer to research assignments (Collins, 2011). 10. Secondary citations. If an idea or phrase that you want to use is quoted in another source, find the original source if you can. If not, name the original source in your sentence and then use parentheses and the words “as cited in” to identify the source (listed on your reference page) where you found it. Manual, p. 258. 18  Laurence (2001) found no correlation between the variables (as cited in Brooke, 2003). No correlation was found (Laurence, 2001, as cited in Brooke, 2003). 11. Email and personal interviews. Personal communications that a reader can’t retrieve (ex. letters, memos, e-mail, interviews, telephone conversations) appear as in-text citations only. Don’t put them in your reference list. Include your source’s initials and last name and as exact a date as possible. Manual, p. 260. S. Crewe argued that not all sources agree (personal communication, May 3, 2012). Not all sources agree (S. Crewe, personal communication, May 3, 2012). 12. Long quotations. If you use a quotation that’s 40 or more words long (also called a “block quotation”), set it off from the rest of your paper by indenting it five spaces (one tab space). Double space it and don’t use quotation marks. The final period goes before, not after, the citation at the end. Manual, p. 272-273. 13. How much can I quote? As a general rule, not more than 10% of any paper should consist of direct quotations. Formal research papers in APA style often include no quotations at all. The Reference List The reference list at the end of the paper contains all the sources cited in the paper. Its purpose is to help readers find the materials you used, so each entry must be complete and accurate. 1. Page format. The reference list starts on a new page. Every line is double-spaced, without extra spaces between entries. The word “References” is centered at the top and bolded. The pages are numbered as if they were part of your paper. Manual, pp. 66, 303. Use the “hanging indent” format: start the first line of each entry at the left margin but indent all subsequent lines one tab space (five spaces). Manual, p. 66. 2. Order of references. List each source alphabetically by the last name of its first author. If there is no author, alphabetize the source by the first word of its title (excluding a, an, the) Manual, pp. 303-304. 3. Names. Shorten all first and middle names to initials. List all authors by last name first, then initials. If a source has multiple authors, don’t change the order they’re in. Manual, p. 286. 4. Multiple authors. If a source has up to 20 authors, list them all. If it has 21 or more, list the first 19, add an ellipse (three dots separated by spaces), and name the last. Manual, p. 286. 5. One author, multiple works. List more than one work by the same author in the order of the years they were published. If multiple works were published in the same year, alphabetize them by their titles and label them (2011a), (2011b). Manual, p. 304. World Health Organization. (2012). Immunization: Closing the gap… World Health Organization. (2015a). Global vaccination targets… World Health Organization. (2015b). Keeping Syrian children free from polio… 19 6. Dates. Put the year of publication in parentheses immediately after the author’s name(s). In a book, the date is usually on the copyright page behind the title page. The date of a website is trickier: don’t use a “Last Reviewed” date or a website copyright date. Use a “Last Updated” date only when the update clearly applies to the information you’re reading as opposed to some other feature of the page. If your source truly provides no date, use the abbreviation “n.d.” (“no date”) instead of the year. Manual, pp. 262, 290. If you’re citing a work that’s been republished, put the recent publication date in the usual place, after the author’s name. The original date closes the citation, after any DOI or URL, and looks like this: (Original work published 1815). Manual, p. 265, 325. 7. Capitalization. In the title and subtitle of a book, chapter, or article, capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns. In journal, magazine, and newspaper titles, capitalize all major words. Manual, p. 291. 8. Italics. Italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Also italicize volume numbers in journal references. Leave article and chapter titles alone: don’t italicize them or put them in quotation marks. Manual, p. 293. 9. Publication information. The publication information required for books includes only the name of the publisher; if the publisher is the same as the author, it doesn’t even need that. The requirement for articles includes volume, issue, and page numbers. Manual, pp. 295- 296. 10. Databases. APA doesn’t include database information unless a source is available only from a particular database, like Cochran. If you include a database name in your reference (some archival documents can only be found in electronic databases), put it in italics. Manual, p. 296. 11. DOIs. Many sources have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a permanent number that goes with them wherever they’re published online. If your source has a DOI, your citation must include it. The doi itself looks something like 10.xxxx/gobbledygook. It can appear in many formats, but APA only uses one. If you find a doi as part of a larger URL that doesn’t look like the one below, cut out everything except the doi and reformat it. Don’t put a period at the end. Manual, pp. 299-300. htpps://doi.org/10.xxxx/gobbledygook 12. URLs. If an electronic source has a DOI, don’t include the URL. No DOI? Try to find a URL that links to the source directly. Don’t use a URL specific to a particular library; don’t use a URL specific to a general database like EBSCO or Academic Search Complete. If those are the only URLs you can find, don’t include a URL in your citation. Manual, pp. 299-300. 20  If your source is available only from a specific database and the URL linking to the document doesn’t require a login, use that URL. If it does require a login, list the URL for the database instead. A URL begins with “http” or “https”: don’t put a “retrieved from” statement before it (except in special situations—see F. below) or a period after it. You can leave your URLs live and hyperlinked (blue, underlined) or you can remove the hyperlinks. Check your teacher’s preference. Manual, pp. 298-299. 13. Retrieval dates. Don’t include retrieval dates for online sources unless the source is both unarchived and expected to change over time (e.g., online dictionary, Google map). Wikipedia pages are archived, so you don’t need to include a retrieval date for them. Manual, p. 290. Sample References A. Book with subtitle. Manual, p. 321. Fraser, C. (2017). Prairie fires: The American dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Metropolitan Books. B. Book with two editors instead of author. Manual, p. 322. Melendy, R., & Kincaid, C. (Eds.). (2018). Birth order and personality. Doubleday. C. Essay, chapter, or section in edited work. Manual, p. 326. Gale, D. (2008). Innocence abroad. In L.F. Baum (Ed.), The way home (pp. 27-43). Cyclone Press. D. Journal article with DOI. Manual, p. 317. Slethaug, G. E. (1986). The paradoxical double in Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea. Extrapolation, 27(4), 326-333. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.1986.27.4.326 E. Magazine article, online, no volume issue or pages. Manual, p. 320 Beck, J. (2015, May 3). Science’s love affair with The Lord of the Rings. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/sciences-love-affair-with-the- lord-of- the-rings/392216/ F. Unsigned entry in continuously updated, unarchived online dictionary. Manual, p. 328. Merriam-Webster. (n.d). Literacy. In Merriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literacy G. Wikipedia entry. Manual, p, 329. Stonehenge. (2020, January 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge H. Website article with author. Manual, p. 351. Spritzler, F. (2017, January 29). 13 ways to prevent type 2 diabetes. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/prevent-diabetes I. Website article without author or date. Manual, p. 351 What are pulses? (n.d.). Half-Cup Habit. https://pulses.org/nap/what-are-pulses/ 21 4- THESIS OR DISSERTATION STRUCTURE A thesis or a dissertation is the document written and defended by a graduate student, describing the research done to earn the graduate degree. Also is named like this the postgraduate research document. Thesis differs from other writing forms in that they don’t have a single audience or a single function. The three main functions of a dissertation or thesis are the following: Communicating science: as a novel contribution to scientific knowledge. The document must communicate this contribution to the other scientists in your field (the audience in this case), just as a journal paper would. The structure of a paper journal will be described in the next chapter. Establishing credentials: then the thesis is evaluated as evidence that its author merits credentialing in the field. The audience, in this case, is the examining committee, who vote on whether to accept the thesis. They assess the author’s understanding of the methods, results, and implications of the work, and their awareness of the work’s context in the field. Usually requires a detailed presentation of methods and analyses, a comprehensive review of past literature, and a discussion of what the results suggest for the field as a whole. These are also normal elements of a journal paper. Archiving unpublished material: in many laboratories the thesis serves as archives, recording unpublished material for an audience consisting of future researchers in the lab. The material recorded might include detailed methodologies and annotated datasets. Regarding thesis and dissertation documents exist two different standard formats: the ‘thesis’ and ‘papers format’. Most programs offer both options. A thesis-format thesis is a single lengthy document that may be divided into chapters but are not intended to stand on their own. It will often contain much more detail than could be published in a set of journal papers. This kind of format emphasizes the credentialing and archiving functions, with the communication function implicit. By contrast, a papers-format thesis consists of a series of chapters that are simply manuscripts prepared for journal publication, plus usually an introductory and concluding chapters. The manuscript chapters address the communication function just as journal papers do, because they are journal papers. The introductory and concluding chapters serve only the credentialing function and will rarely be read by anyone outside the examining committee. The archiving function is served by appendices. This format serves both students and science well, as its compartmentalization allows different parts of the thesis to be tailored to their different audiences and functions. Furthermore, this format requires the additional work to adapt the thesis for journal publication. (extracted from Stephen B. Heard (2016). The scientist’s guide to writing. How to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career (2nd Edition, 2022). Princeton University Press). 22 5- SCIENTIFIC PAPER STRUCTURE: INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. A scientific paper is one of the common ways to show the results of your research but not the only one. Other ways to communicate our findings are the scientific poster and oral communication in a congress. SCIENTIFIC WRITING LITERARY WRITING Communicates a finding Entertain, educate, excite One aim: to inform about a scientific Uses resources as metaphors, figurative finding. language, etc. 5.1. What is a scientific paper? “Written and published report describing original results of an investigation”. It has to be: ACCURATE, CLEAR AND BRIEF. ACCURACY: means using words that communicate exactly, without a doubt, what I know you mean. CLARITY: means that the text is easily read and understood. The text is easy to understand when the language is simple, the sentences are well constructed, and the paragraphs present the ideas following a logical order. BREVITY: means two things: - Include only information relevant to the content of the article. - Communicate information using the fewest possible number of words. 5.2. Which are the rules? 1- Sketch out the results. 2- To be referee. 3- Answer to a common guideline. 23 5.3. Which is the structure of a scientific paper? The IMRYD Model INTRODUCTION→ What is the aim of the study? METHOD → How was studied? RESULTS → What has been discovered/found? DISCUSSION → What’s the meaning of that? Þ Identifying data: o Title o Author o Affiliation Þ Analytical data: o Abstract o Keywords Þ Main text: o Introduction o Methods and Materials o Results o Discussion Þ Appendix: o Acknowledgements o References o Appendix 24 TITLE: It should not contain more than 15 words and should describe the content of the article clearly and concisely. It should grab the reader's attention and it must be true to its content. Its function is advertisement: it invites a potential reader to pick up your paper and read further. Should be brief, clear, and informative. It should communicate your paper’s story. It should be the shortest possible summary of your paper. AUTHORS: Maximum 6 authors. Those who actually contributed significantly to the research are included. It allows indexing of your paper under your name in databases such as the ‘Web of Science’ and Google Scholar. Also allows readers interested in learning more to contact you directly. AFFILIATION: It is important to always include the research institution to which you are affiliated. It helps establish the authority of your work indicating your membership in the society of science. ABSTRACT: It is one of the most important parts, along with the title. Provides scientific visibility in databases. MUST synthesize: 25 Introduction (what was studied), Method (how it was studied), Results (what findings we found) and Conclusions (what they mean). The Abstract summarizes the entire paper, including the research question and its importance. It is the synthesis of a production scientific. It is the regulated summary of a work and is a short form of scientific communication, with many journals imposing strict word limits, usually around 200 words or even fewer. Abstracts should be self-contained, because it will be common for someone to read this section but not the whole paper, and even cite your paper based only on their reading of the Abstract. KEYWORDS: 3 to 10 keywords on the topic of the article. They help to find the article in databases. It is recommended to use the usual terms of search. You have to put yourself in the head of the person you are looking for. INTRODUCTION: The problem to be dealt with, what has been written by others, the objective and the hypothesis must be included. You should consider: - The purpose of the article. - Knowledge of the topic (what others have written). - The importance of the topic. The structure and components of a typical ‘Introduction’: 1- Define a research territory: first you have to establish the general context of your work and then narrow it by identifying your more specific research territory. This part of the ‘Introduction’ normally includes some literature review to establish the state of the art in the research territory. 2- Establish a niche within the research territory: a concrete open problem within the research territory, pointing out a gap in our knowledge of some topic, notting an apparent contradiction in the literature or a published claim that is vulnerable to new information, or identifying rival theoretical models that can be distinguished by new data. Finally, the ‘Introduction’ will state, clearly and specifically your central research question. 3- Occupy the niche: here you have to indicate to a reader how your work occupies the niche you have just identified. You should indicate your basic approach (which kind of experiments or observations you will do), the general form of your data, and how analyses of those data can answer your central research question. 26 (extracted from Stephen B. Heard (2016). The scientist’s guide to writing. How to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career (2nd Edition, 2022). Princeton University Press). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Explain how the research was done. It must be reproducible as it’s best. So, they outline the materials you used and the procedures you followed to obtain and analyze the data. Often this section can be written while you are planning or conducting the research, when the procedures are fresh in your mind It is written in the past tense. Should be mentioned: - The sample of the study. - Materials used (software, questionnaires,...). - Procedure. - Statistical tests used. There are three issues that should be considered: 1- Organization: there is no standard recommendation for organizing this section. One possibility is a three-part presentation of background, experiments or observations and analysis. This could begin with material that sets the stage (description of the material and equipment, description of the sample and methods for selecting them, etc.). 2- Level of detail: you must decide how much detail to supply for each procedure. Some details must be included, for example, mention of ethics-board approvals for work involving human subjects. Some authors recommend giving readers enough detail that they could repeat your work and verify the results themselves. But very few published papers have this level of detail, so it is best seen in this section as establishing the credibility of your approach, and thus giving readers a reason to believe your findings. The most important is to tell readers what they need to know about procedures if they are to understand the ‘Results’. 3- Avoiding self-plagiarism: it is common to find yourself writing multiple papers that use the same methods or study system, but to reuse old ‘Methods’ text (beyond short phrases) is a form of plagiarism. To avoid it you can use one of two techniques: - Sometimes a later paper includes only the bare bones of a method, citing your older work for more detail. - You also can rephrase your earlier ‘Methods’ section. (extracted from Stephen B. Heard (2016). The scientist’s guide to writing. How to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career (2nd Edition, 2022). Princeton University Press). 27 RESULTS: This is our objective from the beginning of the investigation. The findings found are collected in a way: Clear and Detailed. It contains the results of your experiments. Show only the data the reader needs to understand and accept the answer to your central research question. Will be a short and simple section in which every word, graphic and data point contributes directly to telling your paper’s story. Try to place the main result (the one that most directly answers your central research question) in the first paragraph. Subsequent paragraphs can include data and analyses that support or complement your main result. The best way to communicate quantitative data or information is using tables, graphics, and figures. DISCUSSION: Explain the implication of the results found in relation to the objective. Its main function is to turn data into knowledge and relate your answers to your broader discipline. Is necessary pointing out how your results provide novel understanding, resolve a longstanding problem or challenge previous consensus. Often are signaled by words or phrases such as “clearly”, “major” or “entirely novel”. You also need to be aware of limitations of your data or uncertainties in your argument, seeing your work as if you were a critical reviewer. Compare your findings with those of other authors. It is interesting to include some CONCLUSIONS. In summary, the elements of a ‘Discussion’ must include: 1- Interpret results to answer your research question 2- Consider possible limitations 3- Relate your results to previous literature, and consider broader implications 4- Consider prospects for future progress and research (extracted from Stephen B. Heard (2016). The scientist’s guide to writing. How to write more easily and effectively throughout your scientific career (2nd Edition, 2022). Princeton University Press). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: It is important to include gratitude to people and especially to institutions that have facilitated the research work. Send a copy of the article to these people/institutions. REFERENCES: All authors referenced in the text are included. Helps the reader to go deep into the subject. A certain format is used: APA, Vancouver, ISO, etc. 28 APPENDIX: Are included: - Templates of the material used. - Additional tables. - Material mentioned in the methodology. 6- PREPARING YOUR PAPER TO SEND. LaTeX FORMAT. Given the complexity of the LaTeX system, we are not going to include it in the exam material. We are going to provide the material and video tutorials to to be able to carry out the proposed activities. 7- PEER REVIEW. Peer review is the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity, and significance to help editors determine whether a manuscript should be published in their journal. Peer review is an integral part of scientific publishing that confirms the validity of the manuscript. Peer reviewers are experts who volunteer their time to help improve the manuscripts they review. By undergoing peer review, manuscripts should become: More robust: peer reviewers may point out gaps in a paper that require more explanation or additional experiments. Easier to read: if parts of your paper are difficult to understand, reviewers can suggest changes. More useful: peer reviewers also consider the importance of your paper to others in your field. There are four main types of peer review: 1- Single-blind: the reviewers know the names of the authors, but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript unless the reviewer chooses to sign their report. 2- Double-blind: the reviewers do not know the names of the authors, and the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript. 29 3- Open peer: authors know who the reviewers are, and the reviewers know who the authors are. If the manuscript is accepted, the named reviewer reports are published alongside the article and the authors’ response to the reviewer. 4- Transparent peer: the reviewers know the names of the authors, but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript unless the reviewer chooses to sign their report. If the manuscript is accepted, the anonymous reviewer reports are published alongside the article and the authors’ response to the reviewer. Taken from: https://www.biomedcentral.com/getpublished/peer-review- process#:~:text=Peer%20review%20is%20the%20system,be%20published%20in%20their%20journ al. Different peer-review journals have different reviewing processes, but they usually follow a similar structure. In general, when a manuscript is submitted to a journal, the journal editor sends the manuscript to at least two reviewers. These reviewers are typically experts in the field but should have no direct affiliation with the authors. These experts then read and assess the article, providing feedback that the editor sends to the authors. The authors can then make changes, conduct more experiments, and improve upon the manuscript based on the reviewers suggestions. After the authors have answered all of the reviewers’ comments and concerns, the manuscript can either be accepted or rejected for publication by the journal as seen in the NEXT figure. The reviewing process can not only be difficult for the researchers who have to go through rounds of editing and answering reviewers’ comments, but taxing for the reviewers as well. Most of the time, reviewers are not paid for their time spent reviewing manuscripts and are usually fellow academics who are expected to take time away from their regular job to be a reviewer. Taken from: https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2022/peer-review-in-science-the-pains-and-problems/ Peer review manuscripts submitted for publication have more than one audience. They’re written by authors and a handling editor and serve a different function for each. For the editor, your review communicates your opinion of whether the manuscript should be published, and if so, what changes should be made first. This is an evaluative function. For the authors, the review’s function is to improve the quality of the manuscript. Some journals separate these two functions. In this case, you will write a paragraph or two recommending and justifying an editorial decision, addressed to the editor, and not copied to the authors. A separate, longer document, addressed to the authors, will content your specific criticisms and suggestions for improvement. Other journals combine the two functions in a single document, usually addressed to the editor but seen by both audiences. A scientific paper gets rejected when there is a lack of originality, relevance, and inadequacy in reported results. A thorough review of the manuscript ensures proper formatting of the results, 30 avoids grammatical or language errors, and improves the research communication quality (https://www.freyrsolutions.com/blog/the-vital-role-of-ethics-in-scientific-writing) A good peer-review always has to be dispassionate in tone, being critical of the work, when necessary, but never of its author. They have to serve both functions and to distinguish them, communicating whether a manuscript is rejected for publication due to this criticism or is merely an avenue for improvement. The peer-review also has to be detailed, referring to problem areas in the manuscript by line number or at least by section. They provide concrete criticisms and suggestions. Always you have a doubt apply the golden rule: “treat the authors you’re reviewing as you’d like reviewers to treat you”. Another issue to have in mind is the decision to remain anonymous or to sign your review. Almost all journals offer both options. 31 For some excellent step-by-step advice on writing peer reviews, see: Nicholas KA, Gordon W (2011) A quick guide to writing a solid peer review. Eos 92:233-240. 8- ETHICS IN WRITING. Apart from the format, structure, and grammar, there are certain ethical principles to be followed in scientific writing. Since you write scientific papers you need a proper understanding, interpreting, summarizing complex scientific and statistical data via scientific journals, literature, etc., in providing effective guidance to other scientists as well as researchers. One of the main principles of ethical writing is to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as a stealing of ideas, concepts, or words of others as your own without citing or quoting or referencing them intentionally or unintentionally (Khushali 2018). Characteristics of plagiarism: Is considered academic dishonesty. Is not defined or published or punished by law, but rather by institutions including professional in academia and industry. Plagiarism associations, educational institutions, and commercial entities, such as publishing companies. Extracted from: https://www.freyrsolutions.com/blog/the-vital-role-of-ethics-in-scientific-writing) 8.1. Which are the most common types of plagiarism? 1- Direct plagiarism: when copying the exact piece of someone else's work as their own work without giving credit to the original author. When cannot be avoided because a paper journal or a book chapter is published you can paraphrase the primary source or acknowledge its use into footnote. 32 2- Self-plagiarism: when an author republishes their own previous written work as their present work and that is without citing them or quoting them. 3- Mosaic plagiarism: represents stealing the ideas or words from other sources and without giving them quotation marks and putting it into your own paper. For example, writing authors' concepts by using synonyms words but preserving the actual structure and meaning of the original document. 4- Accidental plagiarism: occurs when the researcher or a student or those who are writing the paper ignores citing the original source as well as makes improper paraphrasing. 5- Patchwork plagiarism: happens in many cases where a student or researcher steals the ideas, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs from different sources and puts them together into essays. In this situation it is very difficult to assess. 8.2. What are the consequences of plagiarism? The consequences of plagiarism can be personal, professional, ethical, or legal: Destroyed students' reputation: in schools, colleges, and universities. It can directly cause a student to be suspended or expelled from the institution. Destroyed professional reputation: and caused damage to their entire career. Not only will they be fired or let down from their current position, but they will find difficulty obtaining another job. 8.3. How to avoid plagiarism? 1- Paraphrasing: you have to make sure that you will not copy the same words which are there in the original paper. Read it and put it into your own words. Try not to copy verbatim more than two words in a row from the original text. 2- Cite: citing the copied material is the best way to avoid plagiarism. You can follow any format guideline followed by your educational institution like APA, Vancouver, etc. 3- Quotation: use quotation marks for those parts which you’re going to use from another author. 4- Citing quotes: here citing a quote which is different from citing paraphrased materials which usually follow the practice of using page numbers or a paragraph number in the case of web content. 5- Referencing: you can include reference pages at the end of your research paper. At the same time this reference pages should have to meet the document formatting guideline which is being used by your institution. There are different types of plagiarism detection software, some free (DupliChecker, Paperrater…) and others under payment (Plagiarism Checker X, Plagiarism Detector…). Rani, S. (2018). Ethical issues in research, writing and publication. International Journal of Research, 1771-1774. 33 9- HOW TO PREPARE A SCIENTIFIC POSTER. When we want to participate in a Scientific Congress, we can choose between different types of contributions to show our research findings: Abstract Oral Presentation Scientific Poster “A research poster is a visual medium to communicate the results of a research work.” Fabio A. & González O. (2004). Guía para el Desarrollo de Posters de Investigación. Seminario de Investigación de Posgrado. Depto. de Ing. de Sistemas e Industrial. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Research posters summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. The poster is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and interact with the author. A good poster should guide the viewer using visual logic, with a hierarchical structure that emphasizes the main points of the work. Generally, the posters are exhibited in special sessions at conferences. In these sessions, attendees have the opportunity to interact directly with the authors and obtain additional information in case they are interested. For this reason, it is very important that the poster is visually attractive so that it can capture the attention of the public and motivate them to ask about the details. Usually, a poster presentation have the following parts, the same as a scientific paper: 1.Title / Author(s) / Center(s) 2.Introduction, hypothesis, and objective 3.Methodology (materials and methods) 4.Results 5. Conclusions Two aspects are considered in a poster: 1-The content: what we want to say through the poster ("we want to present a study, an experience, a specific job"). 34  2-And the presentation: how are we going to present it ("how are we going to structure the information"). The poster must follow a logical sequence that progresses from left to right and from the top to the bottom (in our writing system!!). WHAT MAKES A GOOD POSTER? Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away Title is short and draws interest Word count of about 300 to 800 words Text is clear and to the point Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read Effective use of graphics, color, and fonts Consistent and clean layout Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation https://guides.nyu.edu/posters Common sizes: Sizes ISO 216 A (Wikipedia, “ISO 216”, CC-BY-SA 3.0) A0 (841mm x 1189mm) is popular in Europe takes 4 A4 high and 4 A4 wide. In events outside Europe imperial sizes could be used: 2 x 4 feet, for example. The formats in portrait suggest to use arrangements in rows and in columns when landscape format. 35 A sample of a well-designed poster Whitechapel 1888 Murders Revisited with SAVE Method Antonio Domínguez-Muñoz The Case Rafael M. López Pérez Jorge Jiménez Serrano This classic & cold case is an old murder series happened in London East End attributed to an almost SAVE applies four stages to study mithical offender, Jack the Ripper. the case using original sources first. Five (canonicals) to ten victims were killed by a sexual serial killer, IXa Agrawal necrophilic homicide The Method These are: Verisimilitude or V1 type (Sánchez, 2018). (verbal and writing analysis), Evidentia Veracity or V2 (nonverbal behavior), Verification or V3 Ripper Project (testimonials, evidence, etc.) and Valoration of Identity or V0 We are gathering a task force with (criminal & personality profiling) Evidentia University professors to (Domínguez-Muñoz, 2021a). address the study of the different aspects of this classic & cold case, V1 using SAVE methods and an interdisciplinary approach (López, Verisimilitude et al., 2018). V2 The analysis of the lingüistics and verbal content of the discourse is included in this section; we have Veracity reviewed here press reports, witness statements and ripper letters, The analysis of non-verbal behavior selecting the Hutchinson testimony refers to Veracity or Congruence (V2). and the From Hell letter for further We highlight elements of the crime scenes and, mainly, modus operandi investigation. (Grau, 2021). and signature. Specifically; knife skill and anatomical knowledge, both V3 Verification presents given the timing and the removal of various hidden organs, as part of the mutilations on the corpses, publicly exposed (Juárez, 2021). This phase, also Context or V3, is V0 closely relate to the concept of evidence in Law, the search for external elements to confirm or falsify Valoration what was declared or suspected. Beside crime scenes, police and The Calibration of the Identity of witness statements, we have the subject under study, based on included here geographic profiling indirect profiling of personality (Jiménez, 2021) traits based on evidences and inferences about criminal profiling; this is the first case with known References criminal profiling by Dr. Thomas 1. Domínguez-Muñoz, A. (2021a). Scientific basis of the System for Analysis of Validity in Evaluation: The SAVE Metaprotocol. South Florida Journal of Development, 2 (2), 3679– 84. 2. Domínguez-Muñoz, A. (Coord.) (2021b). MOSAVE. Manual Operativo del Sistema de Análisis de Bond, surgeon to Met. Police Validez en la Evaluación. Madrid: Behavior & Law Ediciones. 3. Grau Olivares, M. (2021). Verbal content analysis for the study of Verisimilitude (V1) in the System for Analysis of Validity in Evaluation (SAVE). South Florida Journal of Development, 2(2), 3685–3688. (Jiménez, 2011 & Garrido, 2021). 4. Garrido Antón, M. J. (2021). Valuation of Subject Identity by Indirect Personality Profiling (V0) in the System for Analysis of Validity in Evaluation (SAVE). South Florida Journal of Development, 2(2), 3697–3699. Preliminary 5. Jiménez Serrano, J. (2011). Manual Práctico del Perfil Criminológico. Criminal Profiling. Valladolid: Lex Nova. 6. Jiménez Serrano, J. (2021). Verification of Contextual Information (V3) in the System for Analysis of Validity in Evaluation: The SAVE Metaprotocol. South Florida Journal of Development, 2(2), 3694–96. 7. Juárez Bielsa, A. (2021). Verbal-nonverbal Congruence or Veracity (V2) in the System for Conclusions Analysis of Validity in Evaluation (SAVE). South Florida Journal of Development, 2(2), 3689–3693 8. López Pérez, Rafael M., Gordillo León, F. y Grau Olivares, M. (2016). Comportamiento no verbal. Más allá de la comunicación y el lenguaje. Ediciones Pirámide. ISBN: 978-84-368-3529 9. López Pérez, R. M., Domínguez-Muñoz, A., Grau Olivares, M., Juárez Bielsa, A., Jiménez Serrano, J., & Garrido Antón, M. J. (2018). Metaprotocolo SAVE de análisis de conducta. Una propuesta integradora. In E. Arias, J. Sanmarco, & X. Camplá (Eds.), XI Congreso Internacional de Psicología A priori, we are able to support: Jurídica y Forense. (pp. 528–541). Granada: Sociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y Forense. 10. Sánchez, N., López, R. & Domínguez-Muñoz, A.. (2018). Parafilias: una revisión comparativa desde el DSM-5 y la CIE-10. Behavior & Law Journal, 4(1), 41-49. 11. Viñambres González, R., Ramos Romero, M., Juárez Bielsa, A. y López Pérez R.M. (Coords.) -The author was a man, living in and (2020). Manual de Detección de la Mentira y el Engaño. Una aproximación académico- aplicada. Madrid: Behavior & Law Ediciones. connaisseur of the neiborhood of crimes. -Organized, with average or higher intelligence, B&LJ Full Text articulate. Not mentally impaired; antisocial or Use the QR to get the next issue of psychopathic, not psychotic. Behavior & Law Journal (december 2022) with the full text of the article. -Able to control and knock out victims noiselessly, with proficiency. Skilled using the knife. Good knowledge of We are happy if you want to human anatomy and capable of remove organs. colaborate, write us ! -Not interested about personal interaction, only the [email protected] corpse to mutilate. A necrophilic sexual serial killer. 36 10- PRESENTATION AT A CONGRESS: PREPARING A POWERFUL PRESENTATION. Scholars, professionals, and students in all fields desire to disseminate the new knowledge they produce, and this is often accomplished by delivering oral presentations in class, at conferences, in public lectures, or in company meetings. Oral presentations typically involve three important steps: 1) planning, 2) practicing, and 3) presenting. 1. Planning: Oral presentations require a good deal of planning. Scholars estimate that approximately 50% of all mistakes in an oral presentation actually occur in the planning stage (or rather, lack of a planning stage). Make sure to address the following issues: Audience: Focus your presentation on the audience. Your presentation is not about how much you can say, but about how much your audience can understand. Organize your information into three to five points/categories. Audiences can only easily remember a maximum of three to five points. Introduction: Introduce yourself if needed, providing your affiliation and/or credibility. Reveal your topic to the audience and explain why it is important for them to learn about. Give a brief outline of the major points you will cover in your presentation. Main Body: Explain your points. Give clear explanations. Provide sufficient evidence to be convincing. Use analogies and stories to explain complicated ideas and to build repetition. Conclusion: Summarize your points. Refer to future action if needed. End with, “Thank You.” The structure of the presentation is the same as the poster and the paper. 1.Title / Author(s) / Center(s) 2.Introduction, hypothesis, and objective 3.Methodology (materials and methods) 4.Results 5. Conclusions 2. Practicing: Practicing your presentation is essential. It is at this stage of the process that you figure out word and phrase emphasis and the timing of your sections and overall presentation. Record your presentation and review it in order to know how you sound and appear to your audience. You may notice that you are pausing awkwardly, talking too fast, or using distracting gestures. 37 Practice in front of peers and elicit feedback. Ask your peers to comment on your delivery and content. Remember that the more you practice, the more comfortable you will become with the material. 3. Presenting: This point will be widely exposed in the next lesson. As the person in charge of the situation when presenting, it is your job to make your audience feel comfortable and engaged with both you and the material of the presentation. Taken from: https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/oral-presentation- handout.original.pdf Few tips for a good presentation: - Assessment Anxiety (fear of public speaking). - Approximate time 10-15 minutes. - PowerPoint is organized and easy to follow by the public: few words and more images, tables, graphics. 11- PRESENTATION AT A CONGRESS: HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC. Nervousness is normal. Practice and Prepare! Some nerves are good. The adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready to give your best performance. The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Know your audience Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization pattern, and motivational statement. Organize your material in the most effective manner to attain your purpose Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Watch for feedback and adapt to it Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible. Let your personality come through You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through, and your audience will trust what you have to say if they can see you as a real person. Use humor, tell stories, and use effective language 38 Audiences generally like a personal touch in a speech. Don’t read unless you have to Reading from a script or slide fractures the interpersonal connection. Better maintain eye contact with the audience and to keep the focus on yourself and your message. A brief outline can serve to jog your memory and keep you on task. Avoid nervous gestures Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly and without distraction. Grab attention at the beginning and close with a dynamic end Use a startling statistic, an interesting anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember. Use audiovisual aids They should enhance or clarify your content or capture and maintain your audience’s attention. Taken from: https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/10-tips-for-improving-your-public-speaking-skills/ Conclusions for a good public speaking: - Maintain eye contact. - Only look at notes or slides very briefly. - Sweep the room with your gaze, pausing briefly on various people. - Be aware of your body posture and all non-verbal communication. - Be enthusiastic about your topic. - Smile. - Slow down your speech. We naturally talk faster when we are nervous. Include pauses to allow your listeners to keep up and time for you to think ahead. - Use gestures to emphasize points and move about the space if possible. - Calibrate the volume of your voice so that people in the back of the room can hear you. Avoid fillers, such as “Ah, uh, I mean, like, okay, um….” - Act as natural and relaxed as possible. Dress appropriately. Questions and Answers: Do not underestimate the challenge of running a successful question and answer session. Acknowledge the question. (“Good Question!”) This polite gesture shows your interest. 39  Rephrase the question. This important step allows you to: make sure you understand the question, ensure all audience members hear the question, phrase the question into one you want to or are willing to answer, and gain time to think about your answer. Answer the question as clearly and concisely as possible. Check for comprehension with the questioner and your audience. (“Does that make sense? Is that clear?”). Taken from: https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/oral-presentation- handout.original.pdf 40